Public service values education: A call to service for public affairs programs

Abstract

Public affairs programs have long aimed to advance public service education. First defined as preparing public servants for government employment, public affairs programs have expanded to advancing the public interest and governance across all sectors. While modern public affairs programs have become more expansive in how they define public service education and the mechanisms they use to advance education (e.g. applied learning, skills training, professionalization, service learning), they continue to follow a general model of limiting training to those who select into a singular disciplinary track. We outline a new approach to public service education – Next Generation Service – which seeks to cultivate public service education to undergraduates outside the core discipline and across campus. We call on public affairs programs to expand their service to the university and broader community by advancing public service values across campus regardless of major.