Graduate Programs In Administration Research Articles

Public Works and Oral History: Three Retrospectives

The three oral histories under review here examine the long, distinguished careers of three men involved in public works programs during the years spanning the New Deal and World War II. Major General Hugh J. Casey was an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers who saw service with General MacArthur in the Pacific; Gilbert F. White was a geographer who pursued an academic career after working on floodplain planning for government agencies in the 1930s and 1940s; and Donald C. Stone, founder of the American Public Works Association, worked on New Deal programs, helped develop the Marshall Plan, and later instituted a graduate program in public works administration at the University of Pittsburgh.

Teaching Intergovernmental Relations and Management

ABSTRACTCourses on intergovernmental relations are included in many graduate programs in public administration, but little has been done to assess the content of intergovernmental education. This a...

Social and Cultural Influences on Schooling: A Commentary on the UCEA Knowledge Base Project, Domain I

In 1994, the University Councilfor Educational Administration (UCEA) published the first part of its knowledge base in educational administration. The council set forth to establish 7 domain overviews, to compile key articles and bibliographies, and to create taxonomies and case studies. In the domain overview for social and cultural influences on schooling, the authors argue that (a) illegitimate forms of exclusion provide the foundation of the social and cultural influences on schools; (b) the focus needs to be on the creation of a true democracy; (c) schools are local national and public entities; and (d) efforts should be directed at alleviating the disenfranchisement of students in schools. Implications for practice include the fact that teacher and administrator training programs should pay closer attention to the failure to prepare educators to deal with diverse student bodies. The work on the disenfranchisement of large numbers of students in schools needs to be summarized, synthesized, and reviewed. Also those graduate programs in educational administration that have been successful in enrolling, graduating, and placing members of traditionally underrepresented groups need to be studied Finally, urban schools should be given greater attention in research and policy efforts.

Teaching the Craft of Policy and Management Analysis: The Workshop Sequence at Columbia University's Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration

Although the knowledge base and methods of microeconomics, operations research, social psychology, statistics, and organization and communication theory provide critical concepts to public sector professionals as they struggle through the tasks described above, they are not designed to solve public policy problems and they are not capable of so. The direct application of these tools to policy problems is rare. How do public sector professionals learn to craft solutions to the problems they face? They learn by doing. They apprentice with senior practitioners of the craft and learn how to interpret problems and environments and to structure solutions and sell them. They learn when to move fast, when to slow down, what is feasible, and why. Learning by doing ultimately takes place on the job, not in school. Unfortunately, policy analysts and managers often learn the wrong lessons in the early stages of their careers; they sometimes learn a form of bureaucratic conservatism that facilitates organizational maintenance rather than publicsector problem solving. They may learn to use information to buttress preset positions rather than to help decide the best course of action. Given the gulf between academic theory and methods on the one hand and the often chaotic, always political, reality of public practice, they may be frustrated as they find it difficult to apply their education to their jobs.

Civic networking in the United States: A report by Columbia University students

During the 1994 spring semester, twelve students, enrolled in Columbia University′s graduate program in public policy and administration and explored the new phenomenon of civic networking for a workshop in applied public policy analysis. Each workshop is required to be sponsored by a governmental client, which in this case was the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. The commission was interested in ascertaining the range of activities sponsored by the networks and in determining their involvement or lack of involvement with local public libraries. Participating in this project were representatives of twenty‐four civic networks, who answered telephone queries covering a range of topics dealing with network services, users, goals, funding, governance, technical design, social benefits, government information provision, evaluation, and definition. This paper summarizes the findings of the students′ investigation.

Women's Perceptions of the Superintendency

The majority of students enrolled in graduate programs in educational administration are women. However, few of these students aspire to be superintendents. This study was undertaken to identify the sources of job satisfaction, the benefits of the job, the sources of self-fulfillment, and the personal strengths that women bring to the superintendent's role. The study results are based on interviews with 51 women superintendents from rural and urban settings. For individuals considering assuming a superintendent's position, the findings offer a positive portrait of the superintendency from the perspectives of the women interviewed.

Total Quality Management in Government: A Practical Guide for the Real World

Part One: What Is Total Quality Management? 1. How TQM Can Strengthen Government Performance 2. The Basic Concepts of TQM 3. How TQM Revolutionizes Management Part Two: Implementing Total Quality Management in Public Organizations 4. Getting Prepared: Understanding and Overcoming Barriers to Change 5. Taking the First Steps: Analyzing Your Work 6. Managerial Strategies for Implementing TQM Part Three: Total Quality Management in the Real World 7. Bringing TQM to the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Underground Storage Tanks 8. TQM Success Stories 9. Making TQM Work in Government: Real-World Strategies Steven Cohen is associate dean, school of international and public affairs, and director, graduate program in public policy and administration, Columbia University. He is author of The Effective Public Manager (Jossey- Bass, 1989). Ronald Brand, a management consultant, is former director, office of underground storage tanks, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Letter to the Editor

Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration and Center for Health Services Research, College of Medicine and Graduate College, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Education for the Public Service

What curriculum components are contained in professional master's programs in public affairs and administration? Using information from Self Study Reports submitted by graduate programs in public affairs and administration in the period 1983-1989 as part of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration's (NASPAA) accreditation process, core curriculum components are described and assessed. To explore why NASPAA-accredited programs vary in their curricula, relationships between curriculum emphases and other program characteristics are analyzed. Programs are covering NASPAA curriculum components, but not in any uniform manner. Although programs vary in allocations of time to the various curriculum components, two relatively distinct curriculum emphases can be delineated Programs tend to have primarily an institutional/management orientation or an analytical orientation. These curriculum emphases are related to several program characteristics including institutional location, numbers and types of students, credit hour requirements, and program age.

The status of small mpa programs: A commitment to quality, diversity, and uniqueness

Smaller graduate programs in public administration and public affairs represent a significant portion of NASPAA member programs. As a result, decisions by leaders of the profession concerning these small programs must be guided by a comprehensive assessment of their needs as is done with larger MPA programs. The purpose of this research effort is to identify the needs of the small MPA program constituency. A survey of 84 directors of small MPA programs was conducted to define small programs, review NASPAA guidelines and standards and their application to smaller programs, and to address small program involvement in NASPAA governance. The results show a commitment to quality, from these directors, for all programs regardless of size or reputation, and the findings indicate diversity and uniqueness among small MPA programs.

Disarming the Hunter: Improving Administrative Writing in the Classroom

The teaching of writing within academic disciplines, known as writing across the curriculum (WAC), has gained momentum in traditional undergraduate programs. A recent teleconference featured WAC programs at UCLA, Clemson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Prince George's Community College, Spelman College, and Robert Morris College (Issues, 1991). The call for incorporating writing skills within existing coursework has come from a variety of disciplines as well; specifically, in political science, Goodman and Lanser addressed this issue in 1987. They pointed out that writing is inseparable from the practice of political science (1987, 61), an observation that may be even more pertinent to those students who enter graduate -programs in public administration. This article, while concentrating on writing within public administration graduate programs, speaks to issues that concern all teachers whose students intend careers in public service. Agreement among those who teach and those who practice public administration seems to be clear: writing skills are important. The National Association of Schools of Public Administration and Affairs has included in its accreditation standards the expectation that MPA programs will graduate students who can write clearly. However, former presidential management interns revealed in a survey that, although they ranked communication skills as the most important component of their public administration education, they rated their programs as poor or very poor in providing written and oral skill development (Dennis 1984). Competent writing skills are not the exclusive concern of public administration education. In the natural sciences (Woodford 1967), concern for competent writing has been expressed. Private sector executives have complained about the lack of writing ability among recent graduates from business schools (Speck 1990). Management education has been criticized as emphasizing technical and quantitative skills over such

Assessing MPA Program Outcomes: Current Practice and Policy Alternatives

Outcomes assessment has become a critical issue in higher education during the past few years, and graduate programs in public administration must demonstrate their effectiveness. Al though it is often assumed that schools have little experience with assessment, a substantial number of public administration schools occasionally use a variety of techniques to evaluate their outcomes. Schools use assessment for program planning or revision and for accreditation, although no formal link with the NASPAA accreditation process exists. The authors recommend a decentralized model that would require schools to use outcomes assessment but would give them wide latitude in defining and measuring results.

Increasing Public Awareness of Statistics as a Science and a Profession—Reinforcing the Message in Universities

A recurring theme throughout the history of is a perceived lack of an effective public presence. In the August 1981 Presidential Address to the American Statistical Association, for instance, Ralph Bradley (1982) questioned the identity of and centered his presentation on actions and activities that would enhance its future. This concern with the identity of has continued to surface with successive Presidential Addresses. More recently, Barbara Bailar (1988) focused her address on the among those involved in statistical practice and statistical research, and . . . interactions with the wider world outside of statistics (p. 1). Although may lack an effective public presence, it is also likely true that it is one of the most widely required background courses in a broad variety of university undergraduate and graduate programs. Minton (1983) may have been correct when he wrote many (college students) will have had a course in statistics, taken as an onerous requirement, as a minor part of a degree program in the Department of XYZ (p. 285), but onerous and minor notwithstanding, is a course they will have had. The objective of this article is to review the about these students are receiving from their required courses and how this message might be used to improve the public presence of statistics. Statisticians have a large target audience in their applied students that could be used very effectively to increase public awareness of as a science and profession. The argument to be pursued in this article is that, to date, the opportunities offered by this group have not been maximized. The example of being taught to health administration students will be used as the case study, with a focus on how these criteria for health administration graduate programs are implemented in accredited programs and the implications this has for the field of statistics.

Toward a model curriculum in mental health administration

In leadership and management, trial and error is an inefficient way for administrators to gain knowledge and experience. Graduate training in mental health administration is now essential. This article suggests a model curriculum in mental health administration and discusses the wisdom of introducing such programs into existing graduate programs in health or public health administration. A one year practicum under an experienced administrator is recommended as an integral part of graduate training in mental health administration.

Cultural Adjustment of International Graduate Students in American Hospitality and Tourism Programs

Cultural adjustment of international graduate students from three graduate programs in hospitality and tourism administration was examined. Students reported that most information about the program was provided by friends. They also noted that the programs had not provided adequate orientation to the university or the program Itself. Language differences were identified as a major problem in fulfillment of academic requirements and relationships with faculty, fellow students, and program administration. In preparation for expanding international enrollments, American hospitality and tourism programs must develop formal orientation processes to ease the adaptation of international students.

Clinical Issues in a Nursing Administration Graduate Program

Should clinical nursing content be part of the preparation of future nurse executives? This issue has been debated by nursing administrators and nursing educators; many advocate some type of clinical knowledge base for nurse executives. In the graduate program in Nursing Administration at the State University of New York at Buffalo, we have developed a course that focuses on the administrative implications of current clinical issues. This course enables future nurse executives to explore clinical nursing problems and plan appropriate administrative strategies for confronting these problems.

Editorial

STEPHEN F. LOEBS is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Services Administration at Ohio State University, and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Frontiers.

Professionalism in Public Administration: Problems, Perspectives, and the Role of ASPA

Since the founding of the earliest graduate programs in public administration in the early 1920s, a debate has periodically erupted over whether public administration is or is not capable of becoming a profession. At different times this debate has focused on various facets of the field resulting in systematic and thorough analyses and critiques of public administration theory, education, training, practice, and ethics. Although this exercise has served to enlighten, the answer to the issue, whether or not public administration can be professionalized, remains uncertain. Yet, despite this uncertainty, the field, through its primary association, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and other activities, continues to compile the various accouterments associated with most professions; namely, schools, an accrediting organization, occupational associations, journals, professional honors and awards, even professional standards and ethics.

Editorial

STEPHEN F. LOEBS is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Services Administration at Ohio State University, and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Frontiers.

From a Constellation to a Continuum: Policy and Management Implications for Long-Term Care

Bonnie S. Kantor is Assistant Professor and Jacqualyn L. Martin is Graduate Associate, Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Services Administration, The Ohio State University, Columbus.