Public Administration

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Dean: Joel Kassiola

Public Administration Program
HSS 236
415-338-2985
Director: Genie Stowers

Graduate Coordinator: Genie Stowers

Faculty

Professors—Berry, DeLeon, LeGates, LeVeen, Osman, Seashore, Stowers

Associate Professor—Naff

Assistant Professors—Cook, Gen, Paarlberg, Pamuk

Program

Master of Public Administration

Program Scope

The goal of the program is to prepare people for responsible positions in the public sector. This includes positions in government but also in such entities as community development corporations, nonprofit social service agencies, planning and consulting organizations, and activities of private firms in public affairs and public policy areas. Applications are welcome both from persons proceeding directly from an undergraduate degree without prior experience and from those with experience who wish to strengthen their capabilities or prepare themselves for new opportunities.

The Master of Public Administration is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

The program is based on the premise that policy and administration must be understood in relation to each other, and the core of the program seeks to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding in both public policy and public administration. The common core of the program is heavily focused on essential knowledge and skills for public management. Beyond the core, the program offers five areas of emphasis as an opportunity for specialization. They are Integrated and Collaborative Service Delivery, Nonprofit Administration, Policy Making andAnalysis, Public Management, and Urban Administration. The requirements for the M.P.A., in general, and the specialty emphases, in particular, are shown in detail on the following pages. Taking an emphasis for specialization is optional and not mandatory. Those who choose not to pursue an emphasis may take appropriate electives to satisfy their professional needs, and students may opt to design their own emphasis. Students may choose courses relevant to their professional interests offered by other departments and programs throughout the university.

Career Outlook

Graduates from the M.P.A. program pursue their professional careers in various government agencies at federal, state, and local levels, such as the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Government Accounting Office, city management, and state offices. In addition, many others find careers in nonprofit organizations, and consulting and research firms. Some go on to the Ph.D. in Public Administration at other universities to enter into a career in higher education.

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Graduate Advisers—Berry, Cook, DeLeon, Gen, LeGates, LeVeen, Naff, Osman, Paarlberg, Seashore, Stowers

Admission to Program

After submitting the application for post-baccalaureate study to the university graduate admissions office, applicants should:

Write a letter of application or intent to the MPA program, setting forth professional and academic interests and relevant experience.
Send two letters of recommendation to the MPA program from persons familiar with the applicant's academic or professional ability.
Send one set of transcripts of prior academic work directly to the MPA program. Another set is required by the graduate admissions office.
Have a GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 units, or submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) combined scores of at least 1100 for the Verbal and Quantitative portions.
Foreign students from non-English speaking countries must submit a paper-based TOEFL score of at least 550 or a computer-based score of 213 to the graduate admissions office.

Applicants must meet all university admission requirements to be accepted into the MPA program.

For fully classified status in the program, applicants must meet the following prerequisites:

A course in microeconomics.
An upper division course in statistics or data analysis applied to the social sciences.
An upper division course in research design and research methods in the social sciences.

Applicants who do not meet the prerequisites may be admitted on the condition that they complete these prerequisites within one academic year.

Potential applicants who are still completing their undergraduate work may wish to strengthen their preparation for the program with courses in public administration, economics, politics, public policy, and research techniques.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Level One: satisfactory performance on the Graduate Essay Test (GET) before or during the first semester of attendance. Level Two: master's project, thesis, or case study analysis must be written at a level commensurate with professional standards in the field.

Advancement to Candidacy

Approval of a student's proposed course of study (the Graduate Approved Program) advances a student to candidacy. Completion of the Graduate Approved Program requirements qualifies the student to apply for the award of the master's degree. Besides meeting university requirements for advancement to candidacy, students are required to:

Complete prerequisites and any other conditions specified by the program.
Complete at least six units of work in graduate courses.
Maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all course work and in courses specified in the Graduate Approved Program.
Consult regularly with a program adviser.

On-line course descriptions are available. Upon advisement, upper division and graduate courses in other disciplines may be accepted if they contribute to a coherent program related to the student's educational objectives.

Core Requirements		Units
PA 700	Democracy and Public Administration in Diverse Environments	3
PA 705	Research Methods for Public Administration	4
PA 710	Microeconomic Applications for Public Administration	3
PA 715	Politics of Policy-making and Implementation	4
PA 720	Managing Organizational Behavior	3
PA 725	Managing Human Resources	3
PA 730	Managing Budgets in the Public Sector	4
Internship Requirement ¹
PLSI 603	Public Service Internships (3) and	0-4
PLSI 604	Internship Seminar (1) or
URBS 603	Urban Internship Fieldwork (3) and
URBS 604	Urban Internship Seminar (1)
Culminating Experience Requirement		3
PA 800	Capstone Course in Public Administration and Written Comprehensive Examination or
PA 898	Master's Thesis
Emphasis or Electives on advisement		10
	Minimum total	37-41

Emphases

*Integrated and Collaborative Service Delivery*		Units
BSS/EDUC 703	School/Community Partnership for Change	3
EDUC/BSS 803	Integrated and Collaborative Services for Children	3
Units selected from the following:		4
PA 740	Public Sector Management (4)
PA 745	Administration of Nonprofit Organizations (4)
PA 780	Urban Administration (If selected, one additional unit of electives is required.)
	Total for emphasis	10

Students choosing this emphasis must take the internship, having been placed in an integrated services placement: PLSI 603/URBS 603, Public Service Internship, and PLSI 604/URBS 604, Internship Seminar.

Nonprofit Administration		Units
PA 745	Administration of Nonprofit Organizations	4
Units selected from the following:		6
PA 742	Strategic Public and Nonprofit Management
PA 747	Developing Nonprofit Resources
PA 750	Financial Management in the Public Sector
PA 755	Managing Information Systems in the Public Sector (4)
PA 760	Diversity in Public Organizations
PA 762	Leadership for the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
PA 764	Contemporary Issues in Public Service Ethics
PA 770	Policy and Organizational Analysis (4)
PA 775	Program Evaluation
MS 800	Museum Management, Law, and Ethics
MS 860	Fundraising in Museums
SW 800	Program Planning and Program Development
	Total for emphasis	10

Policy Making and Analysis		Units
PA 770	Policy and Organizational Analysis	4
Policy methods or process course		3
PA 764	Contemporary Issues in Public Service Ethics
PA 775	Program Evaluation
ECON 320	Introduction to Econometrics
ECON 508	Economics and Public Policy
ECON 805	Applied Public Finance
Students must take one substantive policy area course like URBS 560 or URBS 570, upon advisement		3
	Total for emphasis	10

Public Management		Units
PA 740	Public Sector Management	4
Units selected from the following		6
PA 742	Strategic Public and Nonprofit Management
PA 750	Financial Management in the Public Sector
PA 752	Public Administration and the Law
PA 755	Public Sector Information Systems Management (4)
PA 757	E-Government
PA 760	Diversity in Public Organizations
PA 762	Leadership for the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
PA 764	Contemporary Issues in Public Service Ethics
PA 770	Policy and Organizational Analysis
PA 775	Program Evaluation
ECON 601	Applied Microeconomics
PLSI 731	Ethics and Politics (4)
	Total for emphasis	10

Urban Administration		Units
PA 780	Urban Administration	3
Units selected from the following		7
PA 752	Public Administration and the Law
PA 755	Managing Information Systems in the Public Sector (4)
PA 757	E-Government
PA 760	Diversity in Public Organizations
PA 762	Leadership for the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
PA 764	Contemporary Issues in Public Service Ethics
PA 770	Policy and Organizational Analysis
PA 775	Program Evaluation
ECON/URBS 535	Urban Economics
GEOG/URBS 433	Urban Transportation (4)
GEOG/PA 858	Seminar in Environmental and Land Use Planning
URBS 560	Urban Poverty and Policy (4)
URBS 565	Social Policy and Family Systems (4)
URBS 570	Urban Health Policy
URBS 580	Urban Housing
URBS 582	Homelessness and Public Policy
	Total for emphasis	10

Culminating Experience Requirement

Students in the public administration program can choose between two options for their culminating experience:

Students may choose to take a capstone course (PA 800) and to complete a written comprehensive examination, the Strategic Assessment. The capstone course focuses upon synthesizing the knowledge, skills, and abilities learned during the course of each student's program through the analysis of case studies of policy and organizational issues from the field. Students summarize their Student Learning Portfolio, analyze selected case studies, and present their strategic assessment of what managers operating in those cases should do to take the issue "to the next step"—to resolve it. The Strategic Assessment Essay is the written presentation of each student's analysis and plan for that case.
Students may also choose to undertake a traditional social science research project in the guise of the Master's Thesis (PA 898) option. Working with a faculty committee, students write a prospectus, have it approved the semester before undertaking the research, and write the thesis. After initiating this option, students must enroll each additional semester in PA 897, Research in Public Administration, until the thesis is completed.

Public Administration Program Portfolio

San Francisco State University public administration students graduate with a portfolio of work products and evaluations of student work designed to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in the public administration program. The required components of the portfolio have been chosen based upon a careful assessment of the skills that are crucial for the success of the public administrator in the new millennium.

Cho Public Service Scholarships

Each spring for the following fall admissions, program faculty choose two promising students to be recipients of the SFSU Cho Public Service Scholarships and become Cho Public Service Fellows. Each fellow receives a $750 scholarship as well as other benefits. Students are selected on the basis of outstanding academic achievement, outstanding community service, and potential for excellence in the public and nonprofit sectors.

Footnote

Internship requirement may be waived upon evidence and approval of previous or concurrent educationally appropriate work experience in public policy or administration or may be met with equivalent courses in related programs.