Journal of Public Affairs Education

Despite big budgets, political endorsement, and formal frameworks for information policy, technology, and management, government information technology (IT) projects continue to falter or fail. This paper argues that public management education must include information strategy and management topics as core concerns. MPA programs should be teaching the next generation of public managers to appreciate how deeply embedded IT is in every aspect of government—and to appreciate their own roles and responsibilities in it. The paper reviews practical experience and academic research on information systems in government and identifies five kinds of competencies that are most needed to build successful information strategies and systems in the public sector.These include strategic thinking and evaluation, system-oriented analytical skills, information stewardship, technical concepts, and complex project management skills.The article concludes with a variety of approaches for bringing these competencies into the master of public administration curriculum.

Cover Photo: The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, completed in 1850. This structure was the first to combine all the elements of the capitol building type now common in America—a cruciform footprint, a temple front, a dome above a rotunda, and parklike grounds. Photo and caption courtesy of Charles T. Goodsell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Students enrolling in public affairs come from increasingly diverse academic backgrounds, and, although that diversity is a valuable asset, it represents a challenge for institutions, faculty, and students. Many students from nontraditional backgrounds lack adequate preparation in the public affairs foundation:American government, political science, mathematics, statistics, and economics.The authors examine the common strategies that programs use to ensure that students have an appropriate knowledge base before beginning a graduate program, and then describe and evaluate a tactic referred to as “camping”—intenstive instruction outside the regular academic year. Based on a study of the Web sites of sixty NASPAA-affiliated programs, the authors find that camping, although not yet a widely adopted preparation method, is a promising approach to leveling the playing field for incoming students.They conclude that institutions and students would be best served by multiple methods of preparing students for graduate study in public affairs.

A little power is a dangerous thing. Department chairs in small U.S. universities are half faculty members and half administrators. In dealing with the faculty, chairs work in a collegial, Theory Y/Z environment characterized by long-term employment, slow promotion, and a generalist orientation to university governance. In dealing with the university administration, however, chairs operate in a bureaucratic environment. The resulting role ambiguity means that chairs have weak leadership positions—and rightly so.Attempts to put on their little ring of power and rule bureaucratically are likely to be counterproductive. Golden Role Management is recommended as the most adequate philosophy for what should be a limited-term position: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you if the roles were reversed.”

Today’s forward-looking organizations and agencies actively strive to determine what employee characteristics are of greatest value in enhancing organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Empirical research has shown that emotional intelligence is important to the performance of workers. In other words, one’s knowledge, skills, and overall intelligence must be augmented by the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions. Few graduate professional schools are capitalizing on the research addressing emotional intelligence as a means to develop students’ intrapersonal and interpersonal capabilities.This study explored the potential for enhancing the emotional capabilities of students in a traditional graduate classroom. Findings suggest that emotional intelligence can be improved and that a strong relationship exists between emotional intelligence and academic performance.