M.P.A. Program Director-- Dr. Margaret Reid 
Note: In case of any discrepancy between this handbook and the Graduate Catalog, the latter will prevail.

	to provide a broad, flexible program for students to prepare themselves for careers in the public or non-profit sector;
	to afford opportunities to practicing administrators and managers for improving their careers through advanced education and training; and
	to prepare scholars for further graduate study in the field of public administration.

Students have six years to complete the program's academic requirements including the internship and internship paper. Exceeding the six year time frame will require revalidating all courses which have exceeded the six year limit to obtain the degree.
It is the student's responsibility to keep track of his/her academic progress, and academic calendar deadlines set by the Graduate School. Before enrolling for the semester, students are required to seek academic counseling from the MPA director. MPA FACULTY

 Seok-Eun Kim (B.P.A., University of Seoul, Seoul, Korea, 1991; M.P.A., Iowa State University, Ames, 1997; Ph. D., University of Georgia (School of Public and International Affairs), December 2002) is an Assistant Professor. He joined the MPA program in the fall of 2007.  His research interests are in Nonprofit Management and Accountability; Organization Behavior in Public and Nonprofit Organizations; Performance Measurement and Productivity; Organizational Change and Development; Public Trust and Bureaucratic Legitimacy. His work has been published in among others Review of Public Personnel Administration,  Administration & Society, Public Performance and Management Review.

Kim teaches the Seminar in Public Administration, Human Resource Management and a Special Topics course on Public Sector and Nonprofit Management Issues. He can be reached Seokeun@uark.edu

Margaret F. Reid ( Staatsex., Universities of Marburg and Bonn, 1975;1977; M.P.A., University of Oklahoma, 1979; M.B.A., University of Central Oklahoma, 1984; Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 1986) is  professor and Graduate Coordinator/M.P.A. Director. She has published numerous essays in books and professional journals, focusing on organizational transformation and change and on economic development activities at the local level in the US and abroad. Her most recent research interests, together with colleagues Miller and Kerr, focus on workplace issues such as glass ceilings/glass walls through the Center for the Study of Representation. She offers ethics training for the Arkansas Public Administration Consortium (APAC).

Reid teaches Human Behavior in Complex Organizations, Nonprofit Management, Intergovernmental Relations/Federalism, Grantwriting and a PhD level seminar on Policy Implementation.  mreid@mail.uark.edu

William Schreckhise (B.A., Washington State University, 1991; M.A., Washington State University, 1994; Ph.D., Washington State University,1999) is an Associate Professor. He has published studies on interest groups, jury selection, and environmental policy formulation. He is currently conducting research on bureaucratic decision making and on public opinion in the state of Arkansas. He and Miller were instrumental in the design and analysis of the Arkansas Poll

He teaches Administrative Law, and Supreme Court and the Constitution.  schreckw@mail.uark.edu

Patrick Stewart (B.A. Political Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL. 1988; M.A.Political Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL. 1991; Ph.D.   Political Science, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.  1998.) is an Assistant Professor.

 

 

Our colleague Prof. Will Miller left in 2006 to assume the MPA director position at the University of Illinois in Springfield. If you would like to contact him, here is his e-mail wmill3@uis.edu

Prof. Steven Neuse retired in 2001. If you would like to contact him, here is is e-mail sneuse@mail.uark.edu

PROGRAM STRUCTURE: COURSE WORK, CONCENTRATIONS and the JD/MPA

The M.P.A. Degree is a 42 semester hour program. At least 27 semester hours counted toward the degree must be in courses numbered 5000 or above. Completion of the program is contingent upon passing a written comprehensive examination covering major course work.

CORE COURSES

Specific degree requirements include the following 3 core courses:

PLSC 5193 Seminar in Public Administration

PADM 5803 Measurement and Analysis in Public Administration 

PADM 5813 Quantitative Methods in Public Administration

AND

Select 5 from the following 10 courses:

PLSC 5103 Human Behavior in Complex Organizations

PLSC 5113 Human Resource Management

PLSC 5123 Public Budgeting

PLSC 5163 Public Policy Formation and Analysis

PLSC 5133 Management of Service Sector Organizations

PLSC 5143 Administrative Law

        PLSC 5243 Seminar in State and Local Politics

        PLSC 4283 Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations

        Open Topics in Public Administration (or classes such as PADM 5823: Grant Writing Seminar; PLSC 5183 Comparative     
        Public Administration; PLSC 5153 Environmental Politics, and Policy or PADM 584:Open Topics)

Under certain circumstances, including scheduling difficulties, other similar and/or suitable courses may be substituted for those in the core. Any such substitution, requires approval of the M.P.A. Program Director.

SPECIAL INTEREST CONCENTRATIONS

The student is advised by the M.P.A director in consultation with persons knowledgeable about the student's special interest. Students select a block of 12-18 semester hours, depending upon hours credited for the internship option, from a specific interest area. Possible options include Local Government Administration, Information and technology Management, Health Administration, Nonprofit Management, Public Policy, Recreation Management, or Environmental Policy Management.
We recently added a special interest area in Cultural Resource Management (CRM).

A new formal concentration in Community Development and Design is currently being contemplated.

The maximum course load for M.P.A students is 12 hours and 9 hours is considered a full load. Graduate assistants must take and complete 9 hours to maintain their assistantships.

 

 JD/MPA   DUAL DEGREE (and handbook)

The Department of Political Science, the Graduate School, and the School of Law cooperate in offering a dual degree program that allows a student to pursue the M.P.A. and the J.D. degrees concurrently. Students must be admitted to the M.P.A. program, the School of Law. If a student seeks to enter the dual degree program after enrolling in either the Law School or the M.P.A. program, he or she must obtain admission to the other degree program during the first year of study.

The School of Law accepts 9 (nine)-semester hours of MPA courses to satisfy requirements for the J.D. degree. Fifteen hours of law school courses may be counted toward the M.P.A degree. To qualify for J.D. credit, the M.P.A. courses must come from a set of core courses and must be approved by the law school. Students must earn a grade of B or higher in any M.P.A. courses offered for credit toward the J.D. For purposes of the M.P.A. degree, fifteen hours of elective courses may be taken in the law school, provided they are not required for the J.D. degree and are in an area of concentration approved by the director of the M.P.A program. The students must make a " C" of better in law courses considered for the MPA concentration. They will not be counted against the student's GPA as calculated by the Graduate School.

Students admitted to both programs may commence their studies in either the law school or the M.P.A. program but must complete first year course requirements before taking courses in the other degree program. If they do not maintain the academic or ethical standards of either degree program, students can be terminated from the dual degree program. Students in good standing in one degree program but not in the other may be allowed to continue in the other program in which they have good standing and must meet the degree requirements of that program.

If for any reason, a student admitted to the dual degree program does not complete the M.P.A. degree, he or she cannot count nine (9) hours of M.P.A. courses toward the J.D. degree. Likewise, M.P.A. students may not be able to count certain law courses if they decide to discontinue their studies in the law school. The J.D. will be awarded upon completion of all degree requirements; the MPA will be awarded upon completion of the comprehensive examination and the internship (and internship report), or alternately alternatively, six hours of additional course work.

All students will be required to take a written comprehensive examination covering their M.P.A. program. This exam will be graded by at least a three person faculty committee selected by the M.P.A. Program Director. In addition to the successful completion of all course requirements and a pass on the written comprehensive examination, each student must present a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00.

INTERNSHIP Option

The internship (or externships in the School of Law--check with your Law advisor) is strongly recommended but not required.

Students may receive up to 6 semester hours MPA credit depending on the length of the internship (as rule of thumb: 1 month internship working full time equals one credit hr). Several options are available: one, is  6 months at the end of the program; another is 3 months each split between two summers; a third, a part-time internship of variable length.

Internship credit is available only to those students without significant full-time work experience in public or nonprofit organizations. In no case will a student who is employed in a permanent position be allowed to use that experience for internship credit. At the conclusion of the internship the student must submit a substantial paper which integrates practice and theory. A three person faculty committee, selected with the approval of the M.P.A. Program Director, will grade the paper. Find below the Guidelines to assist you with the composition and content of the project (those of you selecting the "professional project" route may use the same).

The M.P.A. Program is part of an extensive internship program under the auspices of the Arkansas Public Administration Consortium (A.P.A.C), a cooperative program with the M.P.A. programs at Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A stipend is provided for students selected for this program. However, many of our students have sought and found their own internships in the immediate area. The City of Fayetteville, several nonprofit organziations in the region as well as the City of Fort Smith have worked with us in the past

The International City Management Association (ICMA) recently developed its own set of internship guidelines that closely mirrors those adopted by our accrediting body (National Association of  Schools of Public Administration and Public Affairs --NASPAA) and is reflected in the following below. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

INTERNSHIP PAPER GUIDELINES

A. The Internship paper is designed to be a substantial paper in which the student shows his/her ability to integrate practice and theory. The internship paper is NOT a thesis. It is intended to synthesize professional experiences with thesis quality writing.

B. Internship papers typically run 40-50 pages in length (for 6 month internships and half that for three months or the equivalent part-time internships), excluding endnotes, references and appendices. The topic and nature of the project analyzed largely determines the length of the paper. Consult with the MPA director before embarking on this project.

Development of the topic

The internship paper is composed of three discrete, yet interlinked components:

1. Organizational assessment

The first part of the paper of about 10 pages in length should include a brief history of the organization (leadership, management, structural changes, changes in the relationships with the clients served, and the funding structure; it also covers the interns work responsibilities and projects)

2. Substantive Analysis of an Issue

The intern selects a specific topic or project that relates to the internship experience. The paper should demonstrate the student's ability to tie practice to theoretical constructs and theories of the field of public administration/nonprofit management. This component should be 20-25 pages in length. The rationale for the selection of the topic should be evident from the issues discussed in the first paper.

This part of about 5-10 pages in length and affords the intern the opportunity to reflect on the internship experience and provides the program with a feedback on issues and problems encountered.

1. In the first 4-6 weeks the intern acquaints him or herself with the agency. The first paper, due at the end of 6 weeks, covers this initial experience, and affords the intern the time to identify and discuss a suitable topic;

2. The second, substantive project is due between the 4th and the 6th month of the internship. The intern should consult with his or her supervisor and with the MPA director and other MPA faculty about the development of the topic.

3. The third paper is due at the end of the 6th month of the internship for students intending to graduate during that term. Any revisions of prior segments should also be performed and a final draft submitted to the MPA director for distribution to the MPA faculty for any feedback.

If the worked is deemed satisfactory, a final grade will be assigned for the internship.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

I. Comprehensive Exam Guidelines

The attached guidelines are intended to standardize the design and grading of comprehensive examinations across the PLSC sub-fields, and to assure equitable treatment of students as well as effective expedition of the grading process.

A call to students to declare their candidacy for the exams will go out early in the semester and a general date will be set (usually 4 weeks before the end of the semester--check our Graduate Calendar). The students are to indicate to the Graduate Coordinator --in writing-- that they plan to sit for the exams. They must provide a list of all of their courses separated by fields (MAs) or by core/track (MPAs). The Graduate Coordinator will then assemble a list of those students and distribute it to the field coordinators.

The exam coordinator is charged with the task to assemble a team of colleagues that will compose and grade the examination. Depending on a student’s preparation, a colleague from another department may be asked to also submit a question for that student. The exam coordinator shall distribute to the field team a list of courses that the student has taken. Questions should be substantial enough to allow students to demonstrate their ability to integrate their knowledge of relevant authors and theories with appropriate applications, empirical materials, or cases reflecting the student’s preparation.

After all committee members have submitted their questions/case examples, the exam coordinator shall prepare a draft version of the exam and circulate it among colleagues for comment. If disagreements about language or content arise, the coordinator shall convene the team to discuss these issues and then to assemble the final draft.

Students who wish to withdraw from the examinations should do this at the earliest time possible, but no later than 2 weeks before the date that the examinations are given. The wish to withdraw should be submitted in writing to the Graduate Coordinator.

A final draft of the exam should be made available to the office staff for typing and/or copying no later than 1 week before the scheduled examination time.

The Graduate Coordinator shall announce the final examination schedule no later than 4 weeks before the first day of examinations. A written examination schedule will be made available to the office. Room assignments and other exam-specific questions will be communicated to exam takers via e-mail.

Examinations typically are 4 hours in length if taken in the department. Other examination formats may be adopted in the future.

The MPA comprehensive examination is a take-home examination to be completed over a weekend. Students will pick up the question on Friday and return them by Monday, noon, to the main office.

Graders should take no longer than 2 weeks to arrive at a final grade.

Each grader should indicate his or her grade for every question/case on a grading form provided along with a copy of the student’s examination. The field coordinator then determines the grade for each question and the overall grade for the exam. Examinations are graded as "fail,""pass" and "pass with distinction." As a general rule, if two of the three graders pass the question, the result is a "pass".

If disagreements about a grade occur, the coordinator shall convene a meeting of all graders to discuss the merits of the case and then arrive at a grade.

The Graduate Coordinator then informs each student in writing of the outcome of the examination. A copy of this letter will be added to the student’s file.

Students who do not pass the exam can retake it one more time at the next scheduled exam date.

Students should consult with the field coordinator and field faculty as to why they failed the examination and to advise them of their options.

If a student feels that he or she was provided with a set of questions unrelated to their preparation, he/she can petition the Graduate Coordinator in writing, providing sufficient reasoning, to have their exam reviewed. In the case that the Graduate Coordinator is a member of the examination team whose grading was contested, the Chair of the Department shall assume that role. The Graduate Coordinator or Chair will then meet with the field faculty to review the complaint and provide the student with a written response. If the committee arrives at the conclusion that the student’s concerns have merit, an oral re-examination may be scheduled.

Students have the right to review their exams and to take notes about comments provided by graders to help them in their preparation in re-taking the exams. Under no circumstances will the student be permitted to take the exam or the diskette out of the office area.

Spring semester:

Fall semester:

III. SAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. Given our longstanding and often questioned contention in Public Administration that politics and administration can or should be separated, reflect on the following.
a. This contention raises a number of thorny issues: Can elected institutions effectively control or shape behavior of the bureaucracy?  And  makes effective control difficult? 

b. What tools do elected bodies and executives have at their disposal to ensure
bureaucrats do comply with the will of the legislature?

c. What happens if that will is less lucidly expressed and/or bureaucrats are given wide berth of discretion in the exercise of their duties?

2. Is the “administrative state” bad for democracy? 
a. In what ways might it hinder the operation of democracy (reflect on the works of traditional scholars that have advanced such an argument)?
b. Some contemporary scholars (such as Wood and Waterman) ague there are ways to alleviate such concerns? 
c. Which do you agree with?  Why?  If you argue that both might both be right, how would you support your view?

3. As a management consultant to a public organization you have been requested to make recommendations on how to improve its operations. After reviewing the organization's activities for a full week, you have discovered the following:

--The number of constituent complaints concerning the delivery of public services have steadily increased over the past year.

--first-line supervisors and department heads have continually overspent their budgeted appropriations for operating expenditures.

--employee morale in several departments is quite low and is based on attitudes toward their supervisors and the lack of information about personnel actions affecting them.

--capital project completions have consistently fallen behind scheduled dates and have delayed service provision plans by several months.

 

Given your knowledge of the field of public administration, provide a diagnosis of why these problems might have occurred and how your readings suggest you address them.

 

Analyze ONE CASE

Assistantships are available on a semester by semester basis for a maximum of four semesters. Assistants spend approximately 20 hours per week helping faculty members with research and other tasks. Recipients are given stipends and most fees are remitted. Successful applicants are required to maintain at least a 3.00 grade point average and avoid incompletes. Admission to the graduate program is necessary before a student can be considered for an assistantship. The assistant must consult with assigned faculty on a regular basis and complete tasks on a timely basis. The deadline for receipt of completed applications is March 15. Additional information concerning these assistantships and application forms may be obtained from the Department of Political Science.THe majority of our assistantships are teaching assistantships (TAs will be mentored in the semester prior to their beginning to teach their classes).

In 1989 the M.P.A. Program instituted a yearly scholarship in honor of the former M.P.A. Director, Hugh T. Henry. This scholarship is based on a generous contribution from Mrs. Hugh T. Henry and friends of the M.P.A. Program. This scholarship carries a cash award and a special recognition at the annual University Honors Ceremony.

The M.P.A. Program also grants, on a yearly basis, the Hugh T. Henry outstanding M.P.A. Student Award. This award carries a cash prize and special recognition at the annual University Honors Ceremony.

The University offers the Benjamin Franklin Lever Graduate Tuition Fellowship to new or continuing minority graduate students who show potential. For further information contact the Graduate School.

From time to time, other forms of financial assistance may be available to students in the M.P.A. Program. These might include grants that faculty members have received that require the assistance of a graduate student. Other job opportunities are often available on campus. Students should also inquire about student loan programs open to graduate students.

Inquiries should be directed to the M.P.A. Program Director.

Students are expected to take responsibility for their academic progress by familiarizing themselves with academic calendar, and meeting deadlines as stipulated by the department or the Graduate School. Graduate students should become involved in activities that will contribute their professional development and the development of their professional contacts.

At the beginning of the program, ALL NEW GRADUATE STUDENTS are REQUIRED to participate in a graduate orientation which is offered in the fall semester of every year. The orientation is composed of a general session introducing the new students to the Department's graduate programs and the faculty, and to departmental expectations and suggestions for professional development. The general introduction is linked to an extensive library orientation conducted by a staff member of Mullins Library, as well as a familiarization with academic and professional expectations, standards and conduct offered by members of the M.P.A faculty. Students entering in the spring are expected to participate in the orientation in the fall of the year that the enter the program.

The Department makes opportunities available to participate in professional conferences, workshops and field trips, as well as projects involving direct services to area communities and organizations. Participation and membership in professional organizations or the Department's honor society Pi Sigma Alpha are other ways to contribute to professional development.

True professionals aspire to behavior that does not compromise the integrity of their workplace and their fellow workers or colleagues. The University of Arkansas has adopted procedures to discourage inappropriate behavior (see 1998/99Graduate Catalog, p. 17) that does not uphold such standards. Professional programs such as ours are especially concerned with creating an ethical work environment, and provide conditions that are supportive of the students' academic and professional development.

In academic settings plagiarism is an offense that requires the strongest action by the Department.

Consider the following as general guidelines. First, any passage, no matter how short, which is taken word for word from another work must be marked as a quotation and the source must be shown in a footnote. Second, when the wording of a passage is not taken directly from another work, a reference showing the source must be inserted. In general, it is preferable to paraphrase in your own words the opinion of an author, with proper citations, instead of copying lengthy literal quotations.

If you feel that you cannot express an idea as well as the author, however, copy the passage exactly and mark it as a quotation. Individual facts which are common knowledge in the field need not be footnoted. In case of doubt whether plagiarism is being committed, consult a reference work, or with your instructor.

Students desiring help in securing professional opportunities should consult with the M.P.A. faculty all of whom have established good working relationships with local governments, state agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Additionally, numerous public employment job listings and announcements from a number of sources are available to aid the student.

There are a number of post-graduate internships with large cities (e.g., Kansas City, Phoenix, Long Beach, Miami), the prestigious Presidential Management Internship program (several of our students have been selected in recent years), and opportunities with private and nonprofit organizations. Finally, an important resource are professionals in the field such as our M.P.A. alumni or professionals you meet becoming a member in an appropriate organizations. Students should therefore consult, at an early date, with the faculty regarding the kinds of jobs in which they are interested.

Also check: http://career.uark.edu/

The political science faculty encourages graduate student participation in state, regional, and national professional conferences. To enhance professional development and the benefits of conference participation, the faculty urges that graduate students observe the following guidelines: 

The graduate advisor shall be responsible for notifying all graduate students and faculty of the time, place, and agenda for the assembly.

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville   Department of Political Science
Old Main 428
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
Tel:  479-575-3356
Fax: 479-575-2642

today is 07/21/08