Program Director: Rosemarie Pelletier
The Master of Public Administration program is designed for working professionals who seek to become leaders in the field of the administration of public services. The curriculum places a high emphasis on experiential learning with a focus on demonstrating knowledge of the principles and concepts of leadership, implementation of ethical principles in operations, program evaluation, critical analysis of operational practices, policy making and strategic planning, management of groups, workforce development, fostering community relations and identifying stakeholders.
The Master of Public Administration program provides students with the tools to meet these objectives by creating an environment of academic interaction between the students and faculty, all of whom are leaders in the field of public administration. Emphasis is placed on problem-solving, using scenarios that replicate real-world operational and policy-oriented situations. Each student is required to submit a capstone paper and, prior to the completion of the program, a shorter publishable paper addressing the capstone project.
Mission
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program prepares and supports diversified adult learners who are military and non-military, to become knowledgeable, innovative public sector leaders. The MPA program develops leadership characteristics driven by fundamental public administration values, including those that are at the core of Norwich’s history and tradition. Norwich MPA faculty members are academically and professionally prepared to advance the mission with practitioner-oriented educational experiences available through state-of-the-art, online course delivery, and external partnership. Culminating experiences of a Capstone Project, portfolio development and Residency Week complement the MPA on-line delivery method, providing the opportunity for problem-solving, a retrospective on course work, face-to-face collaboration and networking.
Goals:
- Prepare and support diversified learners
- Help students become knowledgeable innovative public sector leaders based upon better communication
- Reinforce public administration best practices
- Use Practitioner-oriented learning
Curriculum Map/Plan of Study
| Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| Public Administration Research and Analysis (or one concentration course) | 6 |
| Public Organization Resources & Processes (or one concentration course) | 6 |
| 6 |
| 6 |
| 6 |
| MPA Portfolio | 0 |
| Residency 1 | 0 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Curriculum Requirements
Required Courses
All students are required to begin their program with AD 511, Foundations of Public Administration and Policy, followed by five six-credit concentration courses. All students are also required to complete the exit portfolio, AD 590.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| AD 590 | MPA Portfolio | 0 |
| AD 595 | Residency | 0 |
| Total Cr. | 24 |
Concentrations Courses:
Criminal Justice and Public Safety Concentration
Our criminal justice and public safety concentration is designed to help students develop the skills needed to pursue or further their careers in law enforcement or transition into another area of public service. This concentration explores the best practices of law enforcement agencies, corrections administration, and public safety management.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| |
| GJ 551 | Law Enforcement Administration | 6 |
| GJ 552 | Corrections Administration | 6 |
| GJ 556 | Critical Incident Management for Public Safety | 6 |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Fiscal Management Concentration
This two course concentration explores the legal and regulatory foundation of financial reporting and accountability for public organizations. Topics include development of transactions, enactment of appropriations, and incurrence of obligations or encumbrances. Other topics include financial reporting, analysis of governmental financial performance, costing of government services, and auditing governmental organizations.
Students will be provided with the current study guides published by the Association of Government Accountants' Certified Government Financial Manager, designed specifically to prepare professionals and students for the CGFM certification examination. This concentration also introduces students to four major areas of financial concern: preparation of budgets, creating management strategies for the organization based on the principles of strategic financial management, obtaining financial resources by issuing bonds and levying taxes, and managing cash and employee retirement funds. Students will also examine contemporary perspectives on professional ethics and ethical behavior of leaders in the public sector, particularly in regard to their fiduciary responsibility in investing and managing public funds
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 558 | Fiscal Management Accounting & Contracting | 6 |
| AD 559 | Fiscal Management Finance/Tax & Budgeting | 6 |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Municipal Governance Concentration
The Municipal Governance concentration focuses on three key areas of study:
- Municipal Governance in general,
- Rural Municipal Governance,
- Urban Municipal Governance.
These three seminars will explore key best practices for municipal leadership, including the challenges of providing direction to a wide scope of departments and agencies necessary to serve the needs of communities. The seminars will also study how to create and maintain intergovernmental relationships, form partnerships with elected officials, staff, and private sector business. Studies in these three seminars will provide a graduate MPA student with a skill set that includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary competence, effective leadership skills, and action plan development and implementation.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 543 | Municipal Governance | 6 |
| AD 553 | Rural Municipal Governance | 6 |
| or AD 563 | Urban Municipal Governance |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Nonprofit Management Concentration
The Nonprofit Management concentration focuses on these key areas of study:
- Nonprofit leadership and management,
- Nonprofit Administration,
- Transformational Organizational Culture, Human Resource Development and
- Management,
- Resource Development and Efficiency by Nonprofit Organizations,
- Healthcare Management
These seminars will explore key best practices for nonprofit leadership in areas such as: workforce focus, volunteer staff management, leadership and governance, nonprofit law, ethics, grant writing, accounting and economics, healthcare information technology and knowledge management. Studies in these seminars will provide a graduate MPA student with a skill set that includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary competence, effective leadership and management skills, and action plan development and implementation.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 542 | Leading the Nonprofit Organization | 6 |
| AD 552 | Nonprofit Administration | 6 |
| or AD 562 | Transformational Organizational Culture, Human Resources Devel and Mngt in NonProfit Organizations |
| or AD 572 | Resource Development, Management & Efficiency by Nonprofit Organizations |
| or AD 582 | Healthcare Management |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Policy Analysis and Analytics Concentration
The Public Policy Analysis and Analytics concentration focuses on these key areas of study:
- Policy, Politics, and Planning,
- Methods of Policy Analysis,
- Policy and Policy Implementation,
- Tools for Policy Analysis, and
- Economics and Decision Making.
These seminars will explore key best practices for policy planning, implementation, analysis and analytics. Data mining, data gathering, decision making based upon analysis and analytics all contribute to a growing field of policy analysis and the need for those who understand public administration, public policy AND the process of analysis using up to date tools.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 545 | Policy, Politics, and Planning | 6 |
| AD 555 | Methods of Policy Analysis | 6 |
| AD 565 | Policy and Policy Implementation | 6 |
| AD 575 | Tools for Policy Analysis | 6 |
| AD 585 | Economics & Decision Making | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Public Administration Leadership and Crisis Management Concentration
These courses introduce students to the fundamentals of management and leadership in public administration. Students explore major models of leadership from theoretical, ethical, and practical perspectives. Students develop a thorough understanding of leadership concepts and how to apply them in their own work environment. Leading in crisis situations, including how discussions are made and implemented, how information is communicated in critical situations, how political leaders are held accountable in crisis situations and how communities can be returned to a state of normality after a critical incident has occurred are key topics covered in this concentration.
The concentration's seminars explore key best practices for public administration leadership and management in areas such as: workforce focus, leadership and governance, ethics, information technology, and knowledge management. Studies in these seminars will provide a graduate with a skill set that includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary competence, effective leadership and management skills, and action plan development and implementation.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 576 | Foundations of Leadership and Ethical Decision Making | 6 |
| AD 586 | Public Leadership, Crisis Management, and Organizational Change | 6 |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Procurement and Government Contract Management
After completing this concentration, students will have the ability to analyze data and craft plans to conduct and actively engage public procurement, contracting, and contract management processes from a functional and management vantage.
| AD 511 | Foundations of Public Administration and Policy | 6 |
| AD 521 | Public Administration Research and Analysis | 6 |
| AD 531 | Public Organization Resources & Processes | 6 |
| AD 568 | Government Procurement and Contract Management | 6 |
| AD 578 | Government Contract Management | 6 |
| AD 561 | Capstone Studies | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 36 |
Cyber Law and International Perspectives on Cyber Space
This concentration for public administration professionals helps expand the potential number of employees qualified in this field of cyber security and begins to blend the fields of policy, law, technology, international cyber policies and cyber security, much as the “real world” is blended. Public Administration students will study and learn side-by-side with Information Security students.
Because the overwhelming majority of cyber infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, the course focus is on those laws that affect the interaction between government and the private sector information technology industry, including the privacy rights so often implicated in modern data storage systems. After completing this concentration, students have the ability to better understand these specific fields of laws, policies and regulations that specifically address topics and the impact these have on public administration.
| GI 557 | Cyber Law | 6 |
| GI 567 | International Perspectives on Cyberspace | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 12 |
Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Crime
This concentration examines the security of information critical to national security and the nature of conflict in cyberspace. This concentration strengthens knowledge of supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) in the flow of resources such as electricity, water, and fuel. The courses in this concentration help information leaders leverage the benefits of Internet technologies while minimizing the risks that such technologies pose to their organizations.
These include the sectors of banking, securities and commodities markets, industrial supply chain, electrical/smart grid, energy, transportation, communications, water supply and health. Special attention is paid to the risk management of information in critical infrastructure environments through an analysis and synthesis of assets, threats, vulnerabilities, impacts, and countermeasures.
Opening this concentration to public administration professionals helps expand the potential number of employees qualified in this field of cyber security and begins to blend the fields of policy, technology, and cyber security, much as the “real world” is blended. Public Administration students will study and learn side-by-side with Information Security students.
After completing this concentration, students have the ability to better understand these specific fields of cyber security and the impact these have on public administration.
| GI 556 | Cyber Crime | 6 |
| GI 566 | Critical Infra. Protection | 6 |
| Total Cr. | 12 |
Exit Portfolio
The Exit Portfolio is a graduation requirement for students who enter the program on or after December 2014. Upon entering their sixth and final course, students are required to submit to their portfolio the final graded assignment from each of their first five (5) courses. The student's final course instructor will assess the portfolio and assign a grade of Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) and provide an assessment summary for each student, noting the student's strengths, interests, and improvements.
One-Week Residency
All degree candidates of the Master of Public Administration are required to attend a one-week Residency Conference on the Norwich University campus, during which they may attend professional presentations, participate in roundtable discussions with faculty, and present papers. The one-week residency is a degree requirement.