Robert J. Thompson, PhD Associate Professor and Director, MPA Program Department of Political Science East Carolina University August 1, 2014
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Transcript Robert J. Thompson, PhD Associate Professor and Director, MPA Program Department of Political Science East Carolina University August 1, 2014
Robert J. Thompson, PhD
Associate Professor and Director, MPA Program
Department of Political Science
East Carolina University
August 1, 2014
Topical Overview
Decisions prior to applying
Application and admissions process
Structure of the MPA Program
Financing your graduate education
MPA Faculty
What some former students are doing
Website links
Contact information
MPA Program Mission Statement
The MPA program's mission is: to prepare professional to
meet the needs and challenges of public service; conduct
scholarly and applied research in public administration and
policy; and to engage students and faculty in partnerships
with governmental, non-profit, professional, and educational
organizations
About Graduate Education
1. Understand the nature of graduate education. It is not
simply an extension of your undergraduate work
2. Do your homework before choosing a program. Think in
terms of your career goals and the strengths of the
programs under consideration
3. Each program makes admission decisions for its own
students
4. Most programs use a variety of factors in deciding on
admissibility
Researching Potential Programs
Here are a few websites that can provide you
with information on various graduate
programs.
www.naspaa.org
www.petersons.com
www.Gradschools.com
www.Collegeview.com
www.kaplan.com
www.usnews.com
Requirements for Admission
ECU Graduate School
Application
Application fee
Undergraduate degree
Acceptable GRE or other standardized test score
Transcripts – all institutions of higher education
attended – official – sealed envelopes
Letters of Reference
In addition - MPA Program
Statement of Purpose
Personal Data Sheet
Minimum GRE Scores and GPA
Required By the Graduate School
What are the minimum GRE score required for admission?
Answer: Score at or above the 30th percentile on both the GRE
verbal + quantitative sections
What is the minimum GPA score required for admission?
Answer: Have a minimum overall GPA of 2.7 based on a 4.0
scale or a minimum graduate GPA of 3.0.
When should I apply?
The Graduate School has established these deadlines
for admission to graduate programs
Fall terms
Spring terms
First Summer Session
Second Summer Session
June 1
October 15
March 15
May 1
These deadlines are important for ensuring receipt of
all materials and if financial aid applications are also
being submitted
The MPA Program is relatively small and will be as
flexible with its deadlines as feasible
Graduate Application Process at ECU
Step 1 – Applicant Applies Online for Degree/Certificate
Status
Step 2 – Applicant Sends Application Components to the
Graduate School (Fee, Official Transcripts, Statement of Purpose,
Letters of Reference, and GRE Scores
Step 3 – Graduate School Send Complete Application to MPA
Director
• MPA Faculty and director assess application
Graduate Application Process at ECU - 2
Step 4 – Accept/Reject response from the MPA Program is
forwarded to the Graduate School
Step 5 – The Acceptance/Rejection letter is generated and
forwarded to the applicant by the Graduate School
• If positive, then Graduate School and MPA Program notifies
student
• If negative, then Graduate School notifies student
How and when are admissions
decision made?
Admissions decisions for the MPA Program are made upon
receipt of each individual student’s complete application
Each faculty member of the program reviews each
application and makes a recommendation to the MPA
Program Director.
Admissions Decisions may include:
•
Graduate Assistantship or Out of Tuition Remission
•
Waiver of Internship Requirement
Categories of Admission’s Decisions
Regular Admission
Conditional Admission: Students not meeting regular
admission requirements may be considered for
conditional admission with the support of the MPA
program, plus review and approval by the Graduate
School
Provisional admission (awaiting transcripts)
Professional admission: Individuals whose baccalaureate
degree is more than ten years old and who have extensive
professional experience related to the intended program
of study may be eligible for admission through this policy
upon recommendation of the MPA director
Additional Information on Admission
Conditional Admission: may stipulate admissions
conditions which must be met prior to full enrollment into
the MPA Program
Provisional admission (awaiting transcripts): may take
up to 9 s.h. of work pending receipt of transcripts
Non-Degree Students: may take up to 9 s.h. of work that
can be accepted toward the MPA degree.
Transfer of Credit: Students may transfer up to 15 s.h. of
work from another regionally accredited institution
Prerequisites
A firm understanding of American political institutions
and policy processes is required.
Students in need of a review may be required to enroll in
POLS 5000, an introductory survey course of readings in
American government and politics that does not count
toward the 45-semester-hour requirement.
An understanding of statistics is strongly recommended.
International Students
The MPA Program welcomes applications from international
students.
The ECU Graduate School governs the admission process and
requirements for international students. These processes and
procedures can be found at: http://www.ecu.edu/csacad/gradschool/International-Students.cfm
The MPA Program does have access to several out of state tuition
remissions and graduate assistantships which can be awarded to
international students.
Structure of the MPA Program
Our MPA program is a 45 hour program:
27 hours of core courses
12 hours in an area of emphasis of your choice
3 hours of internship experience
3 hours devoted to an MPA Professional paper
Students may choose their area of emphasis from
among an established list or may request a
personalized one providing adequate courses are
available.
When and how are our classes offered
The bulk of our classes are currently offered in a face-
to-face format 6:30-9:30 pm Monday-Thursdays.
Several courses are also offered each term online.
These are generally elective courses.
Elective courses for the areas of emphasis offered
outside the department may be either face-.to-face or
online.
Most courses are offered only once per year.
Program Details
Our program generally has about 40 students enrolled
in any one semester
Our student body has roughly an equal number of full
and part-time students
Our classes range in size from about 5-15 students
Our classes are usually offered once a year
All of our core courses are offered once a year and our
elective courses are usually offered at least once every
two years.
MPA Core Courses
Politics and Management in Public Agencies (PADM 6100)
Analysis for the Public Sector (PADM 6101)
Quantitative Methods for Public Administration (PADM
6102)
Human Resource Management in Public Agencies (PADM
6110)
Public Budgeting and Finance (PADM 6120)
Public Policy Formulation and Implementation (PADM
6160)
Applied Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation (PADM
6161)
Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector (PADM 6220)
Management of Public Information Technology (PADM
6260)
MPA Areas of Emphasis
Students may choose a general area of emphasis from the
following or request a personalized one providing adequate
courses are available.
Management
Public Policy
Graduate Certificates
Public Policy students may use one of these Graduate
Certificates as their area of emphasis electives.
Community Health Administration
Economic Development
Security Studies
Internship Requirement
All students without significant public sector work
experience are required to complete a public service
internship.
The MPA Committee will review each student’s work
history at the time of admission to determine if an
internship will be required.
The requirements of the internship are: 300 hours of work
(for 3 semester hours of credit) in a position approved by
the Internship Coordinator, and a written report.
A student who accepts a full-time position involving
significant administrative or policy making responsibilities
after admission to the MPA program may petition for a
review of the internship requirement.
Professional Paper
For this requirement, students must identify a real management
problem or policy issue that concerns some level of government or
quasi-government agency and then develop problem-resolution
strategies to resolve the problem or substantially ameliorate the
situation.
Students will be expected to develop a set of alternative strategies and
evaluation criteria, and then analyze them in order to determine a
preferred alternative based on selected criteria.
The student is expected to demonstrate that he or she has acquired the
skills necessary to solve problems in a practical sense and is ready to
begin work in the public sector or to improve work conducted by those
already in the public work force.
The student is also expected to assess any ethical issues associated with
the proposed recommendations and implementation strategy.
Registration Procedures/Issues
Incoming students are required to consult the MPA
director about their proposed courses of study and
areas of emphasis.
Once students have received their Banner ID #’s they
May register online for their courses.
If a student does not maintain continuous enrollment
for each fall and spring, he/she will need to apply to
the Graduate School for readmission.
Academic Progression
All students are expected to maintain a 3.0 GPA
Students whose GPA falls below 3.0 may be dropped from the
MPA Program.
No one may graduate with less than a 3.0.
Graduate students who take an Incomplete in a course have 1
calendar year to complete the work. Failure to complete the work
satisfactorily in this time frame will receive an “F”
The University Calendar lists the deadlines for making up
incompletes, dropping courses, and filing for graduation.
Expectations
MPA students are expected to display the same
characteristics and behaviors as students as will be
expected of them as public sector employees.
Therefore, they are expected to behave with as
professionals with a high degree of commitment and
integrity in their personal interactions and in their
academic work.
They are also expected to ask questions and challenge
their fellow student and the faculty.
Students, in turn, can expect the same behavior and
professionalism from the faculty.
Typical full-time student schedule
YEAR ONE:
Fall
PADM 6100 Politics and Management in Public Agencies
PADM 6101 Analysis for the Public Sector
PADM Elective or Internship**
Spring
PADM 6110 Human Resource Management in Public Agencies
PADM 6102 Quantitative Methods for Public Administration
PADM 6160 Public Policy Formulation and Implementation
Typical full-time student schedule- 2
Summer Session I
PADM Elective or Internship**
PADM Elective or Internship**
Summer Session II
PADM Elective or Internship**
PADM Elective or Internship**
Typical full-time student schedule - 3
YEAR TWO:
Fall
PADM 6120 Public Budgeting and Finance
PADM 6161 Applied Policy Analysis
PADM 6260 Management of Public Information Technology
Spring
PADM 6220 Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector
PADM 6900 MPA Professional Paper
Elective
Financing Your Graduate Education
• Graduate Assistantships
• Loans
• Out of State Tuition Remissions
• Federal Work Study
• Employment – sometimes in other academic units
• North Carolina City County Managers Association
Scholarship
www.ecu.edu/financial/
Graduation Procedures
All incompletes and other degree requirements must be
successfully met before one can graduate.
The semester before students expect to graduate they should
submit an Application for Graduation with the Registrar’s Office.
The MPA Program will confirm the student’s academic progress
with the Registrar’s Office during the semester of graduation.
All students must be enrolled during the semester in which they
graduate.
Honor Societies
There are a number of honor societies for which you
may qualify as an MPA student.
Pi Alpha Alpha - Public Administration national honor
society
Pi Sigma Alpha - Political Science national honor society
Phi Kappa Phi - a national academic honor society
Omicron Delta Kappa - a national academic honor
society
Internship & Fellowship Opportunities
There are a number of opportunities for MPA students to
continue their learning beyond their degree and to
gain valuable professional experience. These often lead
to full-time positions afterwards.
PMF - Presidential Management Fellowship
Postgraduate Technical Assistant Program -Government
Accounting Standards Board
New York State’s Public Management Institute
Internships
Loudon County, VA, Management Training Program
Maryland Governor’s Policy Fellows Program
Internship & Fellowship Opportunities
These are important web sites listing internship opportunities
http://ourpublicservice.org/OPS/ This site is a partnership
between the US Office of Personnel Management and the
Partnership for Public Service
https://www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGradsThis site is
maintained by the US Office of Personnel Management.
NC Carolina State Government Internship Program:
http://www.doa.nc.gov/yaio/interns.htm
http://www.firescience.org/public-administration-degree-
programs-online/ This site addresses several public safety
and service career fields.
Our accrediting body, NASPAA (National Association of
Schools of Public Affairs and Administration), www.naspaa.org,
maintains a site on which various internships are posted.
http://www.publicservicecareers.org/
MPA Faculty
Dr. Robert J. Thompson, Director & Associate Professor
Health Policy; Leadership
Dr. Bonnie Mani, Professor
Human Resource Management; Women in Public Administration
Dr. Younhee Kim, Assistant Professor
Research Methods; Information Technology Management; Performance
Measurement
Dr. Sharon Paynter, Assistant Professor
Non-Profit Management; Public Policy
Dr. Carmine Scavo, Associate Professor
State and Local Administration; Intergovernmental and Interagency
Relations; Public Policy
Dr. Olga Smirnova, Assistant Professor
Transportation Policy; Public Policy
What some of our graduates are doing
Federal Positions
National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA)
Department of the Navy Office of Personnel Management
Department of Transportation
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Rural Electric Administration
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Homeland Security
State Positions
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation
Virginia Department of Transportation
Office of Budget and Management
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
State Department Human Health Services
Community Insurance Office
North Carolina Community College System
NC Department of Transportation
What some of our graduates are doing
Local Positions
County, Town, and City Manager
County Director of Social Services
Environmental Health Specialist
Police Chief
County Health Director
Public Affairs Officer
City Planning Director
Nonprofit and Private Sector Positions
Research Triangle Institute
Hospital Administrators
Important Websites
The basic information concerning the MPA Program:
http://www.ecu.edu/polsci/mpa/index.html
The application for admission to the ECU Graduate
School: http://www.ecu.edu/gradschool/
Graduate Catalog:
Tuition and fee information:
http://www.ecu.edu/financial_serv/cashier/tufee.cfm
ECU Financial Aid: www.ecu.edu/financial/
Contact Information
Dr. Robert J. Thompson
Interim Chair and Director, MPA Program
Department of Political Science
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
252-328-5686 (office)
252-328-4134 (fax)
[email protected]