The implementation of NASPAA’s 2009 accreditation standards embodied a shift toward outcomes-based assessment. NASPAA-accredited programs must now identify, operationalize, and assess mission-related competencies within five competency domains with the goal of demonstrating that their programs lead to student learning. This move aligns with broader trends in governance as efforts to ascertain impact, value, and return on investment permeate the discussions of public sector actors. Public administration programs, like other services that deal in difficult-to-measure outcomes, have discovered the challenges inherent in such an effort. This paper considers the landscape of competency assessment strategies and then examines the experiences of designing a competency-based model at James Madison University.
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