The Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) in Public Administration at Empire State University is designed for civil servants and others who aspire to career advancement in public service or the not-for-profit service sector. Providing students with advanced skill sets that are necessary for supervisory and managerial positions, the M.P.A. will introduce students to the historical development of the field, as well as to recent trends in Public Administration. Through understanding the interplay of governmental interventions, political factors, and ethical implications, students will be able to analyze, evaluate, and formulate policies. Graduates of the program qualify for director, coordinator and management and leadership roles in public and not-for-profit organizations.

Program Delivery and Tuition Rate

This degree program is delivered through online courses and is billed at the non-MBA rate.

The Master of Public Administration program is selective. Students may enroll in the fall and spring terms.

Application

Please see the Graduate Admission section of this catalog for a complete listing of materials required to complete a graduate application.

Curriculum Requirements and Course Sequencing

Curriculum RequirementS

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
PPOL 6007	Policy Process	3
PPOL 6010	History and Social Context of U.S. Policy	3
PPOL 6015	Policy Implementation	3
PPOL 6020	Research Methods	3
PPOL 6030	Public Policy Analysis	3
PADM 6085	Public Administration	3
PADM 6170	Public Finance	3
PADM 6175	Leadership, Decision-Making, and Governance	3
PADM 6180	State & Local Government	3
PADM 7020	Final Project: Professional Project in Public Administration	3
Total Credits		30

Transfer Credit

After admission, students should discuss the possibility of transfer credit with their academic advisor. To request transfer credit, students complete the Transfer Request Form available through the Quicklinks box of the Graduate Student Center on the MySUNYEmpire portal.

Typically, 9 credits are acceptable for transfer subject to the Transfer Credit Policy (located elsewhere in this catalog).

Final Project

The final project for the Masters in Public Administration program is a policy memorandum written from the perspective of an executive level program administrator to a governmental oversight committee. The memorandum addresses program planning, evaluation measures, and performance indicators. The memorandum requests funding for the program for the next fiscal year. The simulated exercise can be undertaken at any level of government appropriate for the personal and professional goals and objectives of the student with the approval of the course instructor. The assignment may also be adapted for the not-for-profit sector to meet the needs of students interested in professional career opportunities in that sector. The student shall demonstrate integrative learning acquired during the program of study based on coursework undertaken during the degree program. In some cases, students may choose to do a Practicum, a learning opportunity to develop skills and practical insights related to workplace development, analysis, and implementation.

Learning Activities and Course Goals

As the capstone project for the MPA program, the policy memo builds on prior coursework and provides the opportunity for the student to engage in a sustained examination of a major policy issue. The purpose is to reinforce the knowledge and skills required to analyze policy issues, develop defensible positions on policy issues, and clearly communicate a position taken by an administrative leader in the form of a policy memo, which is standard fare in the work of legislators, elected officials, agency heads and other organizational leaders involved in the formation of policy.

The policy memo includes the exploration of a critical issue facing the organization, the development of alternative approaches to the issue and a reasoned, evidence-based, defensible argument about how the issue should be addressed. It is important to keep in mind the distinction between a policy memo and other academic papers. Whereas academic papers build arguments by gradually introducing the least important ideas first, a policy memo uses an “inverted pyramid” of ideas, delivered as efficiently as possible, beginning with the most important. In a policy memo getting at the truth through the exploration and the interpretation of what is known about an issue is more important than developing new knowledge. As such, no thesis statement or theoretical framework underpins a policy memo.

Course goals:

• the ability to clearly identify a critical administrative issue;
• the ability to identify and access relevant information related to the problem;
• demonstration of a nuanced comprehension, evaluation and interpretation of the body of knowledge surrounding the issue;
• exhibition of a disciplined application of knowledge in the formulation of alternative, feasible approaches to the issue; and
• presentation, in tightly-constructed prose, of a well-reasoned defensible approach to the issue that draws on relevant concepts from previously completed coursework.

The student will engage in the relevant readings for this project and prepare drafts of the policy memo. As opposed to preparing the entire memo all at once, the student will develop the memo in sections as follows: Executive Summary (while this appears first in a policy memo, its exact contents will change as the student progresses through this course); Argument, Counter Arguments, Analysis, Recommendations.

Following instructions in the online course, drafts will be submitted to the instructor for review and comments; the student will revise project drafts and return. This process will be repeated until the draft is accepted by the instructor. While there is no set number of pages for a policy memo, which can range from a page to a hundred pages, for the purposes of this program, 20-30 pages is the target. The specific task should dictate the length. The writer should use a direct, efficient style of writing that results in a “tight” memo that does not ramble or engage in needless repetition.

Practicum

A practicum must be a learning opportunity where you develop skills and practical insights related to the development, analysis, implementation or evaluation in the workplace. It involves considerable work at a specific site or in a fieldwork setting where you can try out the ideas you have developed in this program. A practicum is a very effective way to expand the program knowledge and provide an exciting and challenging culminating experience. It also allows you to use your coursework and gain experience in actual field settings.

In the final project term:

120 hours of unpaid work in the practicum during the term in which a student is registered for final project. The work must be substantive, meaning it cannot be something like routine production or administrative work. Students should consult with their final project instructor for approval of the work to be completed.

Field site supervision by an appropriate professional, or observations of the nature and quality of the work that you do or the projects that you undertake during the practicum. At the end of the practicum, your field supervisor will need to provide an evaluation of the work done in the practicum.

The practicum reflection paper should be 20 to 25 pages long, double-spaced, and in an appropriate font (Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial). It should include primary and secondary source references. The practicum paper should include:

• Analysis of the experience;
• Evaluation of self-identified goals;
• Recommendations for practice or research in the area.

Upon successful completion of this program, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the historical development of the field and recent trends in public administration.
• Characterize leading theorists and their contributions to the field.
• Differentiate between the structures and functions of bureaucracy.
• Exhibit an understanding of government intervention in the economy.
• Characterize and differentiate taxation, government expenditures, revenue models, program reporting, and budgetary processes.
• Demonstrate a comprehension of federalism and intergovernmental relations.
• Characterize how policy programs create binding relationships between levels of government administration.
• Characterize and differentiate administrative decision-making models: Rational Choice, Incremental, Bargaining, Participative.
• Analyze policy and programs using analytical methods and tools used by administrators.
• Perform cost-benefit/cost effectiveness analysis on government of not-for-profit program.
• Explain political factors in policy formulation and implementation: lobbying, interest group politics, ideology, political pluralism, and elite model.
• Characterize the role and behavior of bureaucrats and end-users in policy implementation.
• Explain ethical implications and approaches to social and public policy issues.
• Articulate views and perspectives based on evidence and data.
• Create sound social science-based study projects. They will be able to articulate clear, concise, persuasive research methods with ethical considerations observed.
• Differentiate between policy formulation and implementation and categorize the range of actors from political appointees to top level administrative decision makes and to civil servants.
• Integrate theories and concepts studied over the course of the program by producing a summative project in the form of a policy memorandum by a program administrator to a governmental oversight committee.