RaJade M. Berry, Coordinator,

[ /acad_affairs/grad_school/mpublic.html ]

MISSION

The purpose of the Master of Public Administration degree program at Georgia College & State University is to help its graduates develop the knowledge and competencies needed to be effective, efficient, responsible, and humane public managers. This program is offered at the residential campus in Milledgeville and at the University's commuter campuses in Macon and Robins Air Force Base. The program provides students a strong generalized public administration education, covering those skills and perspectives needed by all public managers, and provides students opportunities for concentrated study in specific functional areas.

ACCREDITATION

The Georgia College & State University MPA program is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

REGULAR ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Prospective students seeking admission to the MPA program must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and show promise of high quality work at the graduate level. There is no specific undergraduate course of study for admission. However, students demonstrating marginal achievement may be advised to take preparatory course work. Students may begin their programs during any academic term. All application materials must be filed with the Office of Enrollment Services. These materials consist of the following: (1) the application forms; (2) official copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts; (3) official scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Applicants need only submit scores from the GRE general test, not from a subject test. To be granted regular admission status, the applicant must score 1200 on the MPA admissions formula. The formula is: GRE verbal score + GRE quantitative or analytical score + (100 times undergraduate grade point average). For example, an applicant scoring 450 on the verbal portion and 450 on the quantitative or analytical portion and having a 3.00 GPA would have an admissions formula score of 450 + 450 + (100 X 3.00) = 1200. Prospective students seeking additional infomration on the MPA program may view the Handbook online at [ /acad_affairs/
coll_artsci/gov_soc/mpainfo.html ].

PROVISIONAL ADMISSION

Applicants who score under 1200 on the admissions formula may be granted provisional status, which would allow you to take some courses on a trial basis. If one's score on the formula is less than 1000, the coordinator may require the applicant to re-take the GRE and/or provide reference letters, or may deny admission. While holding provisional status, students must take the equivalent of a semester's full load of MPA courses (i.e., 8-12 semester hours) and earn no final course grades below B to qualify for regular status. Provisional students who prefer to take lighter course loads will need two or more semesters of satisfactory work (not to exceed a total of 12 semester hours) to become eligible for regular status. Courses taken under provisional status with satisfactory grades will be counted as part of the regular MPA degree program. Earning a final course grade of less than B while in provisional status will cause the student to be dismissed from the MPA program. All courses taken in provisional status must be approved by the MPA coordinator

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION

Applicants who apply too late for full consideration for admission and/or have not submitted all required documents for evaluation may be assigned conditional admission status. While in this status a student may register for one semester only by completing a GCSU Conditional Registration Agreement for Graduate Students; this form requires the signatures of both the student and the graduate coordinator. Any student who registers under this agreement must be admitted to either regular or provisional status by the end of the first semester of enrollment to continue taking courses in the degree program. Earning a final course grade of less than B while in conditional status will cause the student to be ineligible for provisional or regular status in the MPA program. Any course taken in conditional status that will be counted in the MPA program must be approved by the MPA coordinator. Students may take no more than 12 semester hours of course work in conditional and provisional status combined.

Applicants should understand that the MPA program does not encourage students to enter under the conditional status. The GRE and undergraduate transcripts are indicators of the ability to do graduate work, and it is helpful to both the MPA coordinator and the applicant to know something of that ability before registering for courses.

Students may take no more than 12 hours of course work in conditional and provisional status combined.

CAREER INFORMATION

Most students in the MPA program are already employed in the public sector and are interested in the MPA program for reasons of career development and mobility. In-service students come from practically every possible public sector setting and every level of government. Pre-service students will have available to them the information and assistance of the GCSU Career Services Office. Faculty will work with students in exploring career options. Many students have found their classmates to be valuable sources of networking information. Students should understand, however, that the purpose of graduate education in public administration is to prepare one to be a better public manager. No graduate degree is a guarantee of employment.

A brief sampling of the positions now held by graduates of the Georgia College & State University MPA program would include: city manager, county manager, director of social service agency, director of public works agency, budget officer, personnel officer, grants manager, contracts officer, director of planning agency, management analyst, county sheriff, city police chief, corrections administrator, health care administrator, and higher education administrator. Most MPA graduates work for governmental agencies. A growing number work with not-for-profit agencies that are neither fully public nor private in nature. Some work in private sector settings, especially for companies that have extensive dealings with the public sector.

PROGRAM OF STUDY

Students classified as in-service (i.e., working full-time in public sector-related positions) will take a 36-hour program with two major options. The first option consists of 35 semester hours of regular course work and a 1-hour career assessment project. The second option has 29 hours of regular course work and 7 semester hours of thesis research, writing, and defense. Detailed guidelines are available from the MPA coordinator for both the career assessment option and the thesis option. Pre-service students (i.e., not having held full-time public sector-related employment) who choose the non-thesis option will take 35 semester hours of regular course work and a 1-semester hour internship (total of 36 semester hours); those choosing the thesis option will have 29 semester hours of regular course work, 6 semester hours of thesis, and a 1-semester hour internship (36 semester hours). The thesis option for in-service and pre-service students is designed for those who have strong research interests and who may want to enter doctoral programs after completion of the MPA.

There is a common base of knowledge which students of public administration should master and which is specified by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. The particular educational needs and interests of public administration students, however, can vary. The MPA program offers a core -- the basic curriculum -- that all students should take. There is some limited flexibility in the advanced curriculum and greater leeway in the concentration and elective areas. Some sequencing of courses may be desirable, but there is no set arrangement of course scheduling to which all students must adhere, with the exception of taking PUAD 6538 in the first term and PUAD 6689 in the final term of enrollment. Every student's program must be approved by the MPA Coordinator. Consult the MPA Handbook for more details about the curriculum and various options within the program. The Handbook is available online at [ /acad_affairs/coll_artsci/gov_soc/mpainfo.html ]

I. BASIC CURRICULUM, 11 semester hours

Required of all students:

	PUAD	6538	Public Administration and the Public Service *(students are strongly encouraged to take this course in their first term of enrollment in the MPA program)
	PUAD	6558	Public Personnel Management
	PUAD	6568	Administrative Law for the Public Manager
	PUAD	6578	Public Finance and Budgeting
II.	ADVANCED CURRICULUM, 9 semester hours

Required of all students:

PUAD	6601	Policy Making, Implementation, and Evaluation
PUAD	6605	Quantitative Techniques *(students considering the thesis option should take this course before beginning the thesis course sequence)

Students choose one of the following:

	PUAD	6615	Administrative Ethics
	PUAD	6625	Intergovernmental Relations
III.	AREA OF CONCENTRATION 12 semester hours

A concentration of 12 semester hours is selected to fit each student's requirements. Individualized programs can be developed. Additional information is available from the Graduate Coordinator. The following are some frequently chosen concentrations:

A. Policy Management

B. General Management Systems

C. Criminal Justice Administration (consists of 15 hours)

D. Local Government Administration

E. International Policy

A variety of courses is available to complete each of these concentrations. See the MPA Handbook online for more details.

IV. ELECTIVE, 3 semester hours

The MPA program allows for three or more hours of elective course work. Students are allowed substantial flexibility in choosing their elective, with the resources of GCSU's various graduate programs being generally available. Courses in Public Administration, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Logistics, Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Management, and Information Systems may be allowed. Please note that students in the Criminal Justice concentration must choose their elective from an approved Criminal Justice list of courses.

V. CAREER ASSESSMENT PROJECT, THESIS, INTERNSHIP, 1-7 semester hours

PUAD 6689 Career Assessment Project (1 hour credit)

PUAD 6960 Internship (1 hour credit)

PUAD 6971, 6972, 6973 Thesis Research, Writing, and Defense (7 hours credit)

Career Assessment Project. This project is required of all in-service students not taking the thesis option during the final quarter of coursework. Under the supervision of the instructional faculty, each student demonstrates, both orally and in writing, the relationship among course work taken, present job performance, and future career plans. Guidelines are available from the MPA coordinator and are summarized in the MPA Handbook

Internship. PUAD 6971 is This is an individually structured course involving one semester of full-time supervised work with a public sector agency. The internship is intended for pre-service students who have had little or no exposure to work in the public sector.

Thesis Option. PUAD 6971 is Thesis Research Design (3 hours); PUAD 6972 is Thesis Writing and Development (3 hours); and PUAD 6973 (1 hour) is Thesis Defense. Guidelines for the thesis option are available from the MPA coordinator and are summarized in the MPA Handbook.

Total Degree Hours, 36

[ Refer to the Course Description Section of this catalog for courses and course descriptions. ]

FURTHER INFORMATION

Prospective students desiring further information may contact the Graduate Coordinator, Department of Government and Sociology, Georgia College & State University, Campus Box 18, Milledgeville, GA 31061. The department's telephone number is 478-445-4562. The coordinator's e-mail address is jberry@gcsu.edu, and her faculty web page is www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~jberry. Additional information regarding the MPA program can be obtained by accessing the MPA newletter online at [ http:// www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~jberry/MPANews.htm ]

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