Journal of Public Affairs Education

Cover Photo

Parrington Hall on the University of Washington campus is home to the Evans School of Public Affairs.

Cover and Interior Deslgn

Val Escher

This is one teacher’s personal chronicle of his quest to remain relevant as technology dramatically revolutionizes the higher education environment. The enlightening narrative of how he “flipped his classroom” traces the evolution of his pedagogic conclusions, details specific and successful implementation strategies, and documents the results of the new model, which achieved significant improvements in student engagement and mastery. Both academically rigorous and entertainingly instructive, his account makes a compelling case for institutional change—one classroom at a time. It is must reading for any teacher open to exploring new instructional methods that successfully blend the best of both traditional and online worlds by introducing learning flexibility while retaining and improving the efficacy of direct instructional contact.

The article analyzes current challenges faced by schools of administration in view of value changes at societal as well as organizational levels. Despite far-reaching structural and procedural changes, the set of values, attitudes, and role understandings held by administrators may be relatively impervious to short- and medium-term changes. As a result, this likely gap between required “cultural dispositions” and dominant value patterns presents a challenge to public sector training programs. It flows from this that public sector training programs have to take values seriously. So, the design and management of training institutions and the content and teaching philosophy of their programs need to reflect those changes. Though written from a European perspective and drawing particularly on the German experience, the paper offers primarily a theoretical and conceptual discussion of the role of values, work-related attitudes, and role understandings in governance reform.

In order for public affairs and administration education programs to successfully prepare future public administrators, the link between public service values (PSVs), professionalism in the public sector, and information literacy (IL) needs to be acknowledged and elevated. Through the development of a Communications for Public Administrators course focused on IL with a public service perspective, the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at West Chester University (WCU) is attempting to do just that. This article considers separately the role of PSVs, professionalism, and IL in the study and practice of public administration and discusses the rationale for linking the three concepts in public affairs and administration education programs. Recommendations for the institutionalization of the PSVs-professionalism-IL nexus are also considered. The article then describes a specific WCU MPA course used to explore the efficacy of integrating PSVs, professionalism, and IL into a graduate public affairs curriculum. The benefits of this approach and its applicability to other public administration, public policy, and public affairs graduate programs are discussed.

This article discusses how community partnerships can be used to facilitate critical service-learning opportunities aimed at social change and political advocacy while creating reciprocal gains for all parties. First, a brief literature review discusses the growth of community-campus partnerships and service-learning activities within academic institutions. It summarizes the differences between the traditional charity service-learning approach and the critical service-learning approach. Then, the case of the Mar Vista housing development is introduced. The case involved local college students in a community development course partnering with high school students from a local housing project in Los Angeles. Working together, the two groups of students surveyed community residents in the housing development as part of joint learning activity. The case demonstrates how long-term relationships with community partners can promote service-learning opportunities that teach students important instrumental skills about social change while also helping them to reexamine their assumptions and increase their awareness of community issues.

In most of the Master of Public Administration/Affairs (MPA) programs in the United States, an internship or work experience is a key component of the curriculum. A 2014 inventory of MPA curricula indicated that 77% of domestic programs accredited by NASPAA require an internship of pre-service students. This paper assesses the current state of the relationship between the internship and classroom experiences in MPA programs and the use of the internship as an academic exercise. We focus specifically on (a) the value of internships in the MPA curriculum, (b) the timing and function of internships, (c) the diversity of student needs in internship experiences, (d) internship models and the relationship between the internship and the MPA curriculum, and (e) the internship course. We conclude by addressing the growing concerns of intern pay and online MPA programs.

Although scholars have examined the federal government’s competition with the private sector for talented new workers, undergraduate attraction to careers in state or local government has been largely ignored. Yet, such knowledge would be valuable to educators who advise students on internships, graduate school options, or public sector job opportunities. This study explores preferences for federal, state, and local employment among a broad cross section of undergraduates with at least some interest in government work. It examines three sets of factors—altruistic service motives, perceptions of government capability, and job attributes—on respondent selection among government levels. After discussing why more students would prefer work at the federal level, it posits that two factors—higher levels of public service motivation and greater confidence in statelocal capability—will influence interest in subnational employment. Data from a major Midwestern university largely confirm these expectations. Recommendations are discussed for raising student interest through student self-assessments, internship, and service programs, with an emphasis on students who are outside majors related to public affairs.

The amount of online learning has increased significantly in recent years. A Midwest university offers three modes of instruction for its Masters in Public Policy and Administration Program: totally on-campus courses, totally online courses, and a hybrid of eight on-campus courses and four online courses. The author conducted a survey of the Midwest university alumni and students to assess the preferences of adult learners for the different modes of instruction, their perceptions of the process, and their perceptions of the learning outcomes. Analysis of the survey responses indicates that the majority of adult learners value the flexibility and other aspects of online classes while still desiring on-campus classes for the interaction with other students and the professor for the learning outcomes.

This study provides a preliminary analysis of the market for PhDs in public affairs and administration projected over the next several years. Drawing on data gathered from three surveys, we explore the demand for academic PhDs (survey 1) and the supply of PhDs (surveys 2 and 3). The analysis of demand is further refined to estimate nonacademic employment (surveys 2 and 3 and examination of job postings). We also explore the diversity of PhD graduates. This kind of analysis is largely missing from the literature and is therefore an important, albeit initial contribution. We found that a gap exists between production of PhDs and the demand for them by universities, and that demand exceeds production. The gap is made much larger, though, because almost half of the PhDs graduating with degrees in public affairs and administration do not take positions in U. S. academia but rather assume positions in federal state and local governments, in the nonprofit sector, in think tanks, and in foreign universities and governments.