MPA Annual Report Upper Iowa University 2015-2016
I. Program Overview UIU MPA Mission: (December 2011, revised March 2015) The UIU MPA program provides an opportunity for a diverse population of adult learners to develop the analytical, leadership, and managerial skills in a collaborative environment needed to promote the public interest and strengthen core democratic values through public service in government and non-profit organizations. The original program mission statement was adopted in 2011 and revised in 2015. UIU MPA faculty Dr. Rod Erakovich, Dr. Alex Kadrie, Dr. Sharon Chanely, and Dr. John Grummel were instrumental in writing the original mission statement. Dr. Lisa Bryan, Prof. Jim Block, Dr. Sharon Chanley, Dr. Jesse Chanley, Prof. Mary Cline, Dr. Rod Erakovich, Dr. Alex Kadrie, Dr. John Grummel, and Dr. Tim Hunt participated in the 2015 re-evaluation. The UIU MPA Advisory Board 1 also has reviewed the mission statement. Its suggestions have been integrated into the statement. UIU MPA Program Values (March 2012, revised March 2015) Diversity: Diversity obligates public administrators to respect the humanity of all people. Democracy: Public administrators are committed to the inclusive, effective, and constructive participation of stakeholders in the political process by providing them with transparent, clear, accurate, and relevant information. Due Process: The UIU MPA program defines due process to include all processes that provide important checks (procedural and substantive) on the discretionary authority of unelected public administrators. The program values were reviewed and modified by the MPA Faculty Governance Committee 2 and the MPA Advisory Board in 2015. Our program values are used to give the UIU MPA program a distinct identity in an otherwise crowded educational environment. The faculty continues to work on meaningfully integrating the values into the program s curriculum. UIU MPA Goals and Core Competencies Goal 1: Develop in our students the ability to form critical judgments that support democratic values. Measurement: We are using the competency To analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems and make decisions to measure this goal. Goal 2: Prepare our students to assume effective leadership and managerial positions in government and nonprofit organizations. Measurement: We are using two competencies to measure this goal: (1) to lead and manage in public governance, and (2) to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry. Goal 3: Create a community of students committed to serving the public interest. 1 The MPA Advisory Board is comprised of nine alumni of the program. These alumni hold significant management positions in their respective organizations. Industries represented on the Board include local government, health care, higher education, energy, and social/human services. 2 The MPA Faculty Governance Committee includes Dr. Lisa Bryan, Prof. Jim Block, Dr. Sharon Chanley, Dr. Jesse Chanley, Prof. Mary Cline, Dr. Rod Erakovich, Dr. Alex Kadrie, Dr. John Grummel, Dr. Tim Hunt, and Dr. Jerry Poppe. The Committee, comprised mainly of adjunct faculty who teach more than four MPA courses per academic year, exercise assessment and curriculum oversight of the program. The Committee was originally created in 2011 and meets six times per year. 1
Measurement: We are using two competencies to measure this goal: (1) to participate in and contribute to the public policy process, and (2) to articulate and apply a public service perspective. We have developed an operational definition for each of our core competencies. Rubrics for each competency have been created and used to assess student performance. The results were posted on our MPA website which the University disabled when it overhauled the UIU homepage. I am working with IT to create a new webpage on myuiu. Starting in term 1 of 2016, we are going to review each core competency rubric and make necessary changes. The core competencies will be assessed again beginning in 2017. UIU MPA Emphasis Area Competencies The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) 3 requires accredited programs also have a competency for each emphasis area offered in the program. While the UIU MPA program is not a NASPAA accredited program, it is our plan to become accredited in the near future. We are following NASPAA accreditation guidelines as we prepare for accreditation. Beginning in 2014, we began the process of operationally defining our emphasis area competencies and creating rubrics for each one. The final rubric was written in 2015. To date, we have assessed two emphasis areas. The results will be posted on our MPA webpage once it becomes operational. We will assess the remaining three emphasis areas in 2016. Table 1 Emphasis area competencies Emphasis Area Emergency Management and Homeland Security Health and Human Services Government Administration Public Management Nonprofit Organizations Management Competency Students will possess the knowledge needed to provide strategic leadership for an all hazards/ Whole Community approach to an emergency event given a networked environment operating within a democratic political system. To demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of continuous quality improvement in healthcare organizations. To analyze, develop, and utilize government capacity. The student demonstrates the knowledge, skills and ability to evaluate and apply contemporary managerial research, theories, concepts and principles in order to successfully maximize the potential of diverse human talent in order to develop contributing and productive public employees and teams so they are able to serve the needs of diverse citizen groups. To provide effective nonprofit organizational leadership through the development and responsible use of financial and human resources from the government and private sectors in compliance with local, state, federal regulations and laws. II. Program Assessment Our assessment efforts continue to yield a significant amount of policy-relevant information that the MPA Faculty Governance Committee uses to improve teaching and learning. There are two key findings 3 NASPAA is the premier accrediting agency of graduate programs in the fields of public administration and public policy. Information about the accrediting process can be found at https://accreditation.naspaa.org/. UIU is a member of NASPAA. 2
from this year s assessment that are worth noting. First, we need to do a better job aligning our assignments with the competencies. Too many of our assignments fail to adequately measure each element of the competency. The faculty is addressing this issue over the coming months. Second, our learning objectives are not clearly and directly linked to our core and emphasis area competencies. All learning objectives were mapped to a core or emphasis area competency in 2014-2015. As a result, the faculty will begin reviewing the learning objectives in each course beginning in term 1 of 2016. Learning objectives that need to be revised will be addressed with the new or revised learning objectives vetted through UIU s curriculum pathways. III. Program Statistics Admissions The program has entered a rebuilding phase after a very dismal 2014-2015 admissions 4 year (Table 2). Our marketing efforts in 2014-2015 were not as strong as they had been in previous years. Starting in 2015, I worked closely with Assistant VP Dawn Novak to develop a marketing plan that would be integrated into the larger IEC marketing effort. VP Novak also created a post card marketing campaign directed at alumni who had earned an undergraduate degree in public administration or related field. The results have contributed to stronger admissions in 2015-2016. Table 2 Total MPA admissions Year Admissions % change 2010-2011 51 2011-2012 81 58.82 2012-2013 103 27.16 2013-2014 104.01 2014-2015 62-40.38 2015-2016* 84 35.48 * As of May 2, 2016 A second factor that may have adversely affected admissions was the change in admissions requirements that went into effect in 2014-2015. Historically, admission to the MPA program required the applicant have an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and at least a 2.75 cumulative GPA. The new admissions standards required all applicants submit two short essays, a resume, and two letters of reference. Applicants still needed an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university. However, the cumulative GPA requirement was relaxed to a minimum of 2.0. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the new degree requirements hurt admissions in the MPA program. There is as at least one case of a student who switched to the MBA program because the admissions process was perceived to be less burdensome. Beginning in 2015-2016, the MPA program modified how it would apply the new admissions policy. All applicants with an earned undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college and university and a 2.75 cumulative GPA would automatically be admitted to the program. Applicants who had a cumulative GPA of 2.749 or lower would have to submit the two short essays, a resume, and two letters of reference. No systematic evidence has been produced that would allow us to conclude the 4 The number of students admitted into the program is defined as those students who have been admitted into the program and registered in a course. 3
modification led to an increase in admissions. The widespread perception is that the return to the old standard did not hurt admissions. It is worth mentioning that MPA program chair Jerry Poppe, working collaboratively with Admissions Advisor Colene Sassmann, has developed some additional tools to drive admissions. One tool is a document that provides interested applicants with a general overview of what to expect once admitted to the MPA program. At least prospective students are provided with better information about how the program aligns with their individual needs. Another tool spearheaded by Ms. Sassmann are videos of alumni describing the value of their MPA degree. The videos will be posted on the new UIU MPA webpage which should go live this year. A major curriculum change to the program s foundation requirements was made to support program growth. The MPA program requires all incoming students have foundation knowledge in economics, finance, management, political science, and statistics. The foundation courses can be met through work experience or academic coursework. Potentially, the foundation requirement can add five additional courses to a student s course of study. The MPA Faculty Governance Committee did not want to reduce the number of foundation requirements. The general consensus was that our students needed a stronger grasp of economics, management, finance, research methods, government, and public policy. However, the faculty also recognized that the number of foundation requirements could be an obstacle that makes it difficult to attract students to the program. As a compromise, the MPA faculty authorized the creation of a foundation course that combined economics, finance, and management into a study of politics, power, and government. The new course is PA488 Politics and Public Administration. Incoming students can now meet their foundation requirements by taking two courses: PA488 Politics and Public Administration and MATH 220 Elementary Statistics. Graduates Students have five years to complete the program. The number of graduates has noticeably increased since 2013-2014. While there is no empirical evidence to pin-point the exact reasons for the recent increase, there was one significant program change that may have contributed to the trend. Starting in 2014, the program went from 42 credits to 36 credits. Combined with the changes we made to our foundation requirements, the change to the graduate curriculum has shortened the amount of time it takes a student to graduate. Table 3 Total MPA graduates Comparing the number of graduates to the number of admitted students does reveal a weakness that the program needs to address. Too many students are dropping out of the program. We do not have any systematic method for collecting data that would allow us to determine why the students are not completing their course of study. After consulting with Interim School of Liberal Arts Dean Dr. Year Graduates % change 2010-2011 22 2011-2012 27 22.73 2012-2013 18-33.33 2013-2014 15-16.67 2014-2015 35 133.33 2015-2016* 28-20.00 * As of May 2, 2016 4
Doug McReynolds, the MPA program enlisted the help of the IEC to reverse this trend. Beginning in February of 2016, the academic advising of all MPA students is being handled by the IEC academic advising staff. The IEC academic advisors are able to proactively address many administrative issues including: registration, restarts, student account/billing/financial aid questions, book questions, change of major, graduation processes, etc. The IEC academic advising staff has had success increasing graduate student persistence. When the online (IEC) advisors took over advising of the MBA program we were able to increase the stop out conversion from the 50-60% mark to 75-85% (Novak, 2015). 5 MPA Program Chair Dr. Jerry Poppe conducted a three hour training session with the IEC advising staff in January of 2016. The transition has been smooth and well received by all stakeholders. III. Students by Emphasis Area We have six emphasis areas in the MPA program (Table 4). Three of the emphasis areas, government administration, nonprofit organizational management, and public management have closely related subject matter. The difference between emphasis areas is in the perspective. Our government administration emphasis area assumes an institutional approach to governing while the public management emphasis focuses more on the organization. The nonprofit organizational management emphasis examines the specific skills and techniques managers need to be effective in an organization. Our general studies emphasis is designed for those students who have a unique or specialized career path in mind. The emphasis is only available with the permission of the program chair. Most students in the health and human services emphasis have careers in a hospital or nursing home. Our emergency management and homeland security emphasis is intended to give students working in local or state government the knowledge and skills needed to manage a governmental response to a man-made or natural disaster. Table 4 Emphasis area descriptions Emphasis Emergency Management and Homeland Security General Study Government Administration Health and Human Services Nonprofit Organizational Management Public Management Description This emphasis area is designed to prepare students for leadership positions in agencies and organizations with missions to protect life, liberty, and property. This emphasis area allows students, in collaboration with the MPA coordinator, to develop a program that meets their specific needs and goals. This emphasis area is intended for students who are pursuing leadership positions in local, state, or national government. This emphasis area is designed to provide students with specialized knowledge of the issues and challenges facing leaders in health and human services organizations. This emphasis is designed to prepare students with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead organization in the growing nonprofit sector. This emphasis is designed to assist students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully manage in complex and dynamic public organizational settings. 5 Novak, D. (2015). Personal email with MPA program chair Jerry Poppe. 5
The size of each emphasis area has remained relatively stable over the past five years (Table 5). Our health and human services emphasis (HHS) remains the most popular among students. What has been surprising is the popularity of the government administration (GA) emphasis. The government administration emphasis has more students than the nonprofit organizational management (NPM) emphasis which is the exact opposite what we predicted when they were created. We expected the NPM emphasis to be the second most popular emphasis in the program. Why this has not happened is something of a mystery. We do some limited marketing of the nonprofit organizational management emphasis but spend no marketing dollars on the GA emphasis. We have revised the NPM curriculum adding specialized content to bring the curriculum in closer alignment with NASPAA standards. Still, our NPM admissions are not meeting our expectations. Table 5 Total students by emphasis area Year EM/HS HHS PM GA NPM GS Total 2011-2012 32 43 29 16 23 4 147 2012-2013 33 49 36 28 22 4 172 2013-2014 28 63 25 38 24 5 183 2014-2015 28 53 25 31 20 4 161 2015-2016* 27 42 19 24 18 3 133 Total 148 250 134 137 107 20 796 * As of May 2, 2016 The total number of students in the emergency management and homeland security emphasis is somewhat misleading. It remains a very popular program but the number of students who actually take courses in the emphasis area remains relatively small. The reason for the small number is not clear. We do have a number of students who have to stop out to meet military obligations or to respond to natural disasters. IV. Demographics 6 Our program s demographics reveal some interesting patterns (Table 6). The program attracts a fair number of students from the south especially in the emergency management and homeland security emphasis area. The emphasis area is popular with students in the military which, given the strong military presence in southern states like Texas, could explain the large student contingency from that region. Table 6 Demographic composition by emphasis area Age Gender Race Geography Avg. Female Male White Black Hispanic Other Midwest West South East EMHS 39.3.32.68.68.19.07.06.62.08.24.06 GA 37.79.55.45.66.13.06.15.70.14.11.05 HHS 42.07.80.20.62.29.04.05.73.07.18.02 NPM 40.75.71.29.57.25.07.11.70.06.18.06 PM 39.9.55.45.72.22.03.03.71.08.19.02 Note: All categories except for age are reported as a percentage based on total by emphasis area. The statistics reveal an imbalance by gender. Women definitely gravitate to the health and human services and nonprofit management emphasis areas while men have a larger presence in the emergency 6 The data used in this section is from the time the program started in 2004. The statistics should be viewed as preliminary. While all data came from Jenzabar, how the data was collected needs to be reviewed and verified. 6
management and homeland security emphasis area. NASPAA has made diversity an important component of the accreditation process. The program is going to have to address the imbalance as it prepares for program accreditation. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2015 whites represented approximately 62% of the total US population. At the same time, African Americans represented approximately 13% of the population with Hispanics comprising almost 18%. 7 Hispanics are underrepresented in all emphasis areas. Achieving a racial composition that more closely reflects the US population is a topic the program is going to have to investigate. IV. Strategic Planning Our program initiated a strategic planning process in January of 2015. Unfortunately, the process is not progressing as quickly as planned. The MPA faculty initiated a review of our SWOT analysis in May of 2016. Our Advisory Board should begin its review this summer. While a plan has yet to be produced, the process has highlighted one area in which more data is needed. Over the course of the summer, we will be analyzing state and federal job descriptions to determine what knowledge and skills are in demand. The Advisory Board will also discuss what knowledge and skills our graduates need to be effective public administrators. Once we have this data, the faculty can begin a more in-depth analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. V. Conclusion The MPA program continues to collaborate with its internal and external stakeholders so it can provide its students with a relevant and academically rigorous educational experience. Our enrollment numbers are trending up. We are working with the IEC to improve retention and market the program. The faculty is actively engaged in teaching, assessment, and strategic planning. In all, our UIU MPA program remains strong and vibrant. 7 US Statistical Abstract(2012). Section 1 Population. Table 12 Address: https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/statab/131ed/tables/pop.pdf 7