Master of Public Administration
and
Department of Administrative
Services
Public Policy Fellows Program MAC Meeting
January 15, 2014
Department of Public Policy
Agenda
• What is the Master of Public Administration?
• What do our accreditors say?
• What do alumni do?
• What areas do faculty conduct research?
• What is the MPA curriculum?
• What is the Public Policy Fellows Program?
• What is the Fellows Application process and what is the cost?
About the Department of Public Policy
• Currently located at the Greater Hartford Campus in West Hartford
• To be located in downtown Hartford
• Programs
– Master of Public Administration
– Graduate Program in Survey Research – Nonprofit Leadership Program
– Graduate Certificate Programs – The UConn Poll
– Undergraduate Minor
– Fast‐Track to the MPA Program
• Over 100 students
• 12 full‐time faculty and several adjunct & affiliated faculty.
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What is the MPA?
• It’s a professional degree
• UConn MPA has a rigorous analytical and experiential approach to problem solving in the public service
– Analytical‐‐diagnose problems, develop solutions, implement them, and evaluate results
– Experiential‐ how this is done in the “real world”
Some MPA information
• Some MPA information
– Late afternoon, early evening courses, once a week – Full and part‐time students
• Fall 2013 Class Profile
– Undergraduate GPA: 3.27 – 3.76 (middle 50% range) – Average GRE’s:
• Verbal: 160 (568 old scoring)
• Quantitative 155 (652 old scoring)
– Average class size: 21 – 78% full‐time
– Average age: 27 – 561 MPA alumni
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Some more MPA information
• US News Rankings:
– 46th overall out of 266 programs nationally – 7th in Public Budgeting and Finance
• Accredited by NASPAA
– What do the Accreditors say?
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Learning community
The University of Connecticut’s MPA Program is the center of a productive and positive learning community. While using different words and
phrases, students, staff, faculty, administrators, and alumni agree that there is a shared sense of community and a positive environment for
learning where faculty are viewed by students as welcoming and helpful.
– NASPAA Accreditation Site Visit Report
More accreditation report
The University of Connecticut’s MPA is a rigorous program, where students gain
professional competencies at the cutting edge of the field. While the focus is on analytical
approaches, there is also a strong effort to help students master a broad range of professional competencies. The students report the work is difficult but they are confident they are
developing competencies required to lead in the workplace.
Some MPA Faculty research areas
• Gender and diversity in organizations
• Social networks
• Debt management
• Public budgeting
• Education policy
• Education finance
• Family leave policy
• State and local public finance
• Human resource management
• Disaster policy
• Public management
• Race and ethnic policy
• Social policy
• Citizen participation techniques
• Program evaluation
• Election policy
Some MPA alumni
• Commissioner, Department of Administrative Services
• CFO, Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services (retired)
• Executive Director, Office of Military Affairs
• Executive Budget Officer, OPM
• Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager for Mansfield, CT
• Budget Director for the City of Denver
• Vice President at Webster Bank (Financial Advising for Governments)
• Chief for life of the Mohegan Tribe
• Evaluation specialist with Mathematica
• Chief Executive Officer Oak Hill
• Program Officer for Connecticut Humanities Council
• Vice President of Travelers Community Foundation
• Securities Analyst, Hartford Investments Management Group
• Research Associate, Pew Center on the States
• Associate Director, Harrison Group
• Investment Credit Research Analyst, Chilton Private Clients
More Alums
• The MPA program has dozens of alums working for the State of Connecticut
• Some departments/agencies with UConn MPA alums include Administrative Services, OPM, Environmental Protection, Transportation, Housing, Military Affairs, Developmental Services, Social Services, Consumer
Protection, among others
Department of Public Policy
Public Policy Fellows Program
• The Public Policy Fellows Program has been designed in conjunction with DAS.
• It is directed at preparing state employees
who are now, or are expected to be, the next generation of state leaders with the
management and analytic skills that they need.
• We expect the fellows program will help the state to recruit and retain talented employees.
Department of Public Policy
Two Fellows Options
• There are two options
– The MPA can be earned in six semesters, or two calendar years including summers
– The Leadership and Public Management (LPM) Graduate Certificate can be earned in two
semesters or about nine months
• In both cases, the curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of state employees
Department of Public Policy
MPA Option
MPA Fellows will complete 36 credits (12 classes) that include:
• 8 core MPA courses designed to develop a common set of skills in writing, analysis, management, research, and evaluation.
• 3 elective courses chosen to meet the goals of the Fellow
• 1 capstone course where the Fellow works on a project for her/his organization under faculty supervision
Department of Public Policy
Leadership and Public Management
Graduate Certificate
• The LPM consists of four courses
• These can be tailored to meet the needs of the Public Policy Fellow. Below are two possible examples:
Department of Public Policy
Management Program Evaluation
Human Resource Management Quantitative Methods for Public Administration
Organizational Theory Applied Research Design Financial Management for
Public Organizations
Causal Program Evaluation
Program Development and Evaluation
Analytic Tools for Public Problems
Other Features
• The classes are offered in one day per week format either from 4‐6:30 or 6:30 to 9 at the West Hartford Campus (in the future,
downtown Hartford)
• The Fellows will have the opportunity to meet frequently as a group for support and to
develop their own learning community
Department of Public Policy
Cost
• Agencies are expected to pay the cost of the MPA or the LPM program for applicants who do not
have tuition reimbursement.
• The current cost per class is $2,250 and includes all tuition and fees.
• The cost for a Public Policy Fellow in the LPM program totals $9,000
• The annual cost for the MPA Public Policy Fellow will be $13,500 and the total program cost over two calendar years will be $27,000.
Department of Public Policy
Application Process
• Eligibility Requirements
– All full‐time state employees with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited undergraduate
institution are eligible to apply. An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 is required unless there are
extraordinary circumstances.
Department of Public Policy
Admissions requirements
• Official university transcripts
• Statement describing why they should be selected for the Master of Public Administration program (MPA) or Leadership and Public Management (LPM) Certificate program
• Supervisor’s recommendation
• Supervisor’s acknowledgement that the employee might need to attend class during work hours (some classes begin at 4pm).
• Resume
• Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores for MPA if undergraduate GPA is less than 3.20
Department of Public Policy
Time Line
Department of Public Policy
Task Time frame
Applicants submit applications* Monday 4/14 Committee reviews applicants 4/15-5/5
Committee decisions on applicants Monday 5/5 Applicant deadline to accept/reject
offer of admission
Monday 6/2
Funding for the Fellows transferred to DAS from agencies
June 2 to July 31
UConn invoices DAS Monday July 14 or earlier if requested DAS transfers funding from the
Fellows to UConn for the Fall semester
Monday 8/4
Semester begins Monday 8/25
* Applications will be accepted after 4/14 and reviewed on a rolling basis.
Further Information
• For further information
Contact: Bill Simonsen at:
william.simonsen@uconn.edu
Visit our website at: dpp.uconn.edu
Department of Public Policy
