DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE and PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Ph.D. IN PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM MANUAL DECEMBER 2009 1
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES Doctorates in public policy and administration concentrate on the application of theory to administrative practices in public sector and nonprofit organizations and on the environment in which these organizations function. Program graduates will possess the skills to delve into the complex policy issues and create organizational conditions that enable public and nonprofit organizations to achieve their public policy objectives. Program graduates will be prepared to teach and conduct research in public policy, public administration, and American politics. Mississippi State s program strives to increase the racial and gender diversity of governmental, nonprofit, and academic organizations. Ph.D. COMMITTEE The Ph.D. Committee will consist of the Graduate Coordinator as chair, one person elected by the public administration core faculty, one person elected by the public policy faculty, one person elected by the remaining faculty members of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, one person appointed by the Department of Political Science and Public Administration Head, and two persons elected by Ph.D. students. The student representatives shall be nonvoting members. Committee responsibilities will include: A. Serve as the Ph.D. admissions committee. This committee will be responsible for gathering and evaluating all relevant data and for admitting students to the Ph.D. program. B. Review and recommend changes in Ph.D. policies to the faculty. C. Serve as an appeals board for Ph.D. students. 2
Ph.D. REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES Program of Study The Graduate Coordinator will advise all students for their first 9 credits of doctoral courses. A program of study will be developed after the major professor is designated and the student s preliminary exam committee is formed. The program of study will list all courses that the student must take to fulfill degree requirements. The major professor and the student s preliminary exam committee must approve programs of study. The program of study should be sent to the Office of the Graduate School when the preliminary written exams are scheduled (see Graduate School Bulletin of 2009-2010, pg. 66). STUDENT MAJOR PROFESSOR AND PRELIMINARY EXAM COMMITTEE The student will select the major professor, who must be a member of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration Level One Graduate Faculty, after completing nine credits of doctoral work. The student and the major professor then will select other members of the student s preliminary exam committee. The preliminary exam committee will include the committee chair, one faculty member teaching courses in the public administration concentration, and one faculty member teaching courses in the public policy concentration, one person teaching courses in the elective concentration or minor area. If a faculty member outside the department serves as an elective concentration or minor area professor, one additional committee member will be added from among the remaining department faculty members. The student and the elective concentration or minor area professor will select elective concentration or minor area courses in conjunction with the major professor. This committee will monitor the student s progress and concur in necessary program modifications. The major professor will serve as the student s advisor. 3
COURSE REQUIRMENTS Required Courses: Public Administration Concentration Courses (15 credits) PPA 9603 PPA 9703 PPA 9713 PPA 9723 PPA 9613 Scope of American Public Administration Organization Behavior in the Public Sector Administration of Human Resources in a Public Sector Environment Public Budgeting Processes and Their Policy Implications Rural Government Administration Required Public Policy Concentration Courses (12 credits) PPA 9903 PPA/PS 9413 PPA/PS 9103 PPA/PS 9893 Public Policy Formulation and Implementation Normative Analysis of American Public Policy American Political Institutions American Political Behavior Elective Concentration (9 credits) Students will develop an elective concentration consistent with their professional goals. The major professor and the student s preliminary exam committee must approve courses in the student s elective concentration. Students completing a minor in another department will be required to complete 12 hours course work. Research Methodology (9 credits)** Quantitative Anal. Prerequisite PPA 8993 PPA 9803 Qualitative Anal. Students who do not pass a departmental methods exam or equivalent must take one of the following analysis classes PPA 8813 (may no longer exist; not offered recently) SO 8274 ST 8114 EPY 6214 Research Design and Philosophy of Science Multivariate Analysis and Design for Public Affairs Students must take one of the following classes. PPA 9813 SO 8233 **For students interested in having an elective concentration in Research Methods, one of the required courses will count as three of their nine elective hours. Thus, they will need to complete only 6 additional hours of course work to achieve an elective concentration in Research Methods. Dissertation Research PPA 9000 Dissertation Research and Dissertation 4
A minimum of 20 semester credits of dissertation research must be scheduled Transfer Credits Students who are enrolled in doctoral programs at other institutions may transfer up to nine credits of doctoral work if approved by the Ph.D. Admissions Committee. MASTER LEVEL CLASSES Students who take classes open to master s students should complete additional assignments over and above those completed by the master s students. STUDENT DIAGNOSTIC REVIEWS The Ph.D. faculty will review the performance of each student after the completion of 18 hours of graduate work at Mississippi State University but no later than the end of the second year. The examination shall include a review of grades, and where appropriate, seminar papers and other evidence of potential to complete preliminary examinations and dissertation. It shall also include an oral interview with the Ph.D. faculty. The committee shall, in writing, advise the student to continue, terminate or continue with reservations. In each case the student will be advised of what, if anything, should be done to improve the quality of the student s academic work. The decision of the faculty will be binding. WRITTEN AND ORAL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION In order to ensure that the student has acquired the skills and basic knowledge to carry our the research necessary for the dissertation, the student will be required to pass preliminary examinations, both written and oral, when all course work on the program of study has been completed. Students who pass all parts of the preliminary examination will be admitted to the candidacy to the Ph.D. degree. 5
PRELIMINARY WRITTEN EXAMINATION Each student will take a three section written preliminary examination covering the public administration concentration, the public policy concentration, and their elective concentration respectively. Students must take all sections of the exam during the same semester. Students who fail a portion of the exam must wait until the failed portion normally is offered again to retake it. Persons taking a minor area outside of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration will follow the time schedule and exam procedures of the outside department. Students may complete outside exams either before or after taking the public administration and public policy concentrations. The Graduate Coordinator will distribute a memo to Ph.D. students at the beginning of each semester outlining the logistics for preliminary examinations. Students normally will use word processing to prepare their answers. Alternative methods for taking the exams may be approved by the Graduate Coordinator, but arrangements for alternative methods must be made no less than one week in advance of the exam. The public administration exam will ordinarily be offered during the last week in September and the third week in February. The public policy exam will be offered the first week in October and the last week in February. The elective exam for persons taking elective classes within the department will be offered during the second week in October and the first week in March. Public Administration Concentration Exams The closed book public administration exam normally will consist of a six-hour required field question routinely administered on Wednesday and a six-hour focused exam usually administered on Friday in which students will be required to answer two of the four questions. 6
Three faculty members with substantive knowledge of public administration selected by the Graduate Coordinator and affirmed by the Department Head will serve as exam graders. The graders will meet to discuss and evaluate the student s performance on the exam. An absolute majority of graders present must vote to pass before that individual can proceed to the oral stage of the examination process. Public Policy Concentration Exams The Public Policy Exam normally will be administered on Wednesday and Friday of the designated week. The exam will be an in-house, open book, open notes exam. However, the students will not be allowed to bring diskettes into the exam, nor have access to the Internet. On Wednesday the student will be given a maximum of six hours to answer a mandatory question. The question will be constructed so as to require the student to integrate material from the different courses in public policy area into their answer. On Friday, the student will be given a maximum of six hours to answer two of four questions. These questions will be oriented around course specific information. Three faculty members with substantive knowledge of public policy selected by the Graduate Coordinator and affirmed by the Department Head will comprise the student s examining committee. The graders will then meet to discuss and evaluate the student s performance on the exam. An absolute majority of graders present must vote to pass a student, before that individual can proceed to the oral stage of the examination process. Elective Concentration The elective concentration exam will normally be offered on Friday of the designated week. It will be prepared by at least three faculty members with substantive knowledge in the elective subjects and who are selected by the student s graduate program committee chair and affirmed by the Department Head. This six-hour exam can be open or closed book at the 7
discretion of the examiners. If the exam is open book, the student will not be allowed to bring diskettes into the exam, nor have access to the Internet. The graders will then meet to discuss and evaluate the student s performance on the exam. An absolute majority of graders present must vote to pass a student before that individual can process to the oral stage of the examination process. Students who minor in another discipline will follow the exam procedures of the minor department. Notification of Exam Results The student s performance on each concentration written examination (administration, policy, of elective) will be designated pass with distinction, pass, or fail. The Graduate coordinator will inform the student in writing as to whether the student passed or failed various areas of the written examination. Once the Graduate coordinator notifies the student about performance on the written examination, the student may discuss the examination with faculty members. A student who fails any portion of the written exam cannot retake the failed portion of the exam until the next time it is offered and must retake it within one year of failing the written exam. Students who fail any portion of the exam a second time will be dropped from the doctoral program (see Bulletin of the Graduate School 2009-2010, pp. 69-70). ORAL EXAMINATION Oral Examination Committee The oral examination committee will consist of the student s specific graduate program committee. 8
The Oral Examination Students must pass the written exam in all areas (public administration, public policy and elective concentration/minor area) before proceeding to the oral exam. The major professor, in conjunction with the student and the graduate coordinator, will schedule the oral examination. The oral examination committee will designate the student s overall preliminary examination performance pass with distinction, pass, fail, of pass with conditions immediately upon completion of the oral examination. Whether the preliminary examination committee consists of four or five persons, if more than one member votes to fail the person being examined, the student fails the preliminary oral examination. All oral examination committee members must vote in the affirmative for the student to pass with distinction. The oral examination committee may terminate the oral exam at any point during the session. The oral examination committee may ask questions about public administration and public policy concepts and ideas not covered on the written examination. Notification of Preliminary Examination Results The graduate coordinator will inform the student in writing whether or not the student passed or failed the preliminary examination. Office of Graduate Studies policy specifies that two failures of the preliminary examination result in automatic termination from the program. DISSERTATION COMMITTEE After the preliminary examinations have been passed, the student s dissertation committee will be constituted. The major professor may continue to serve in the capacity and as dissertation director, and the student and major professor will select the remainder of the committee members. 9
A dissertation committee consists of four Political Science and Public Administration graduate faculty members. At least one person must come from the core public administration faculty and one person from public policy faculty. If the dissertation committee includes one additional graduate faculty member from outside the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, whether from other units of Mississippi State or another university, the dissertation committee consists of five persons. ADMISSION TO Ph.D. CANDIDACY Students are admitted to Ph.D. candidacy once the following items are completed: 1. The preliminary examination is passed. 2. The dissertation topic is selected and approved. DISSERTATION The dissertation must be an original work that makes a significant contribution to an area of public administration and/or public policy. Students will prepare a written dissertation prospectus in consultation with their dissertation committee. Once the written prospectus is completed to the satisfaction of the committee chair and committee members, students will conduct a scheduled oral defense of the prospectus before a joint meeting of the student s dissertation committee. These steps are intended to encourage adequate planning for the research and to correct problems at any early stage. Successful defense of the dissertation prospectus requires approval of at least four members of the dissertation committee. DISSERTATION DEFENSE With the approval of the major professor, the student will circulate copies of the draft dissertation to all members of the dissertation committee. Whether the dissertation committee consists of four or five persons, if more than one member does not approve the dissertation prior 10
to the oral defense, an oral defense may not be scheduled. The defense date must be advertised at least two weeks prior to the scheduled date. In addition to the dissertation committee, other interested persons are invited to attend. The oral defense constitutes a seminar that affords the student an opportunity to share the results of the research with members of the dissertation committee and others present. Once the oral defense is completed, the dissertation must be approved by four of the five dissertation committee members. After the student has successfully defended the dissertation, it shall be submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Mitchell Memorial Library. GENERAL PROGRAM PROCEDURES RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT There is no specific on-campus residency requirement. However, Ph.D. students will be required to complete one-half of required course work and all dissertation credits from Mississippi State University (See 2009-2010 Graduate School Bulletin, p. 68). TIME LIMIT Students must complete the Ph.D. within eight years, with the date of the initial enrollment in courses for the Ph.D. degree (including any prerequisites) serving as the beginning point. DOCUMENT INTERPRETATION Responsibility for the interpretation of this document resides with the Ph.D. Committee. 11