College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Quick work

Public policy and administration program receives accreditation on first try
Two years ago Around LAS wrote that Kurt Thurmaier had "hit the ground running" soon after he arrived on campus as the new director of Iowa State's public policy and administration program.

The first sprint of Thurmaier's job is finished, but neither he nor any of his fellow faculty members in the public policy and administration program are slowing to a jog.

The initial two-year sprint has resulted in Iowa State's Master of Public Administration (MPA) program within the Department of Political Science receiving accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

The program will be accredited for a period of seven years and will be included on NASPAA's annual roster of accredited programs. The program is the only NASPAA accredited program in the state of Iowa.

Iowa State's MPA program received accreditation in its first attempt. Only about 57% of the 250 institutions in the United States offering the MPA are accredited by NASPAA.

"This accreditation is the result of many people working for several years to build the quality and infrastructure needed to meet the stringent accreditation standards of NASPAA," Thurmaier said. "We are now recognized by NASPAA to have built a program that is a mission-driven organization focused on our students while serving our practitioners in local, state and national governments.

"We're feeling pretty excited and pleased," Thurmaier said. "We've accomplished a great deal in two years, but this is the accumulation of a lot of hard work and planning by a lot of people over the past decade to get this program to this point."

One of the first things Thurmaier did when he arrived on campus was hold several strategic planning sessions. Out of those sessions came the desire to apply for NASPAA accreditation.

"The most important goal was for us to gain national accreditation" said Yong Lee, professor of political science and a public policy and administration faculty member. "It's the key to the future of the program."

Faculty took a year to develop a self-study of the program.

"That was an incredibly intensive process," Thurmaier said. "It's especially difficult for first time applicants because there are so many requirements we have to meet and so much data that we had to collect essentially for the first time ever."

Those strategic planning sessions that the public policy and administration faculty held also developed a second goal for the program.

" We wanted to be a student-centered program," Thurmaier said, "and NASPAA has told us that we are such a program with their accreditation. You ca'’t gain accreditation in two years without being a student-centered program."

The initial sprint may be done for Thurmaier, but the public policy and administration program isn’t slowing down. Think of it as a marathon.

With accreditation, the MPA program will become more attractive to prospective students both in Iowa and nationally. Thurmaier also hopes to be able to attract additional first-rate faculty to campus. All with the ultimate goal of becoming a nationally recognized program.

"These are essential components as we continue to build the program so that we can achieve our mission to improve the practice of government at the local, state, national and international levels" he said. "We're working hard on recruiting students nationally into the program."

But that's not all Thurmaier and his faculty members are working on.

New courses and curriculum are being developed in public management. An interdisciplinary minor in public service leadership is being proposed. The program is also working with numerous academic departments on campus to develop dual degree majors and graduate degrees.

An emphasis on E-Government (Electronic Government) is the key component of these discussions.

"E-Government is the future of government globally, not only on the national level, but also for local and state governments, and non-profit organizations," Thurmaier said. "Information technology has transformed the way citizens interact with government."

Information technology has enabled governments at all levels to get information quickly and more efficiently to the public. Budgets and zoning regulations are now available on governmental web sites. Citizens can pay utility bills or sign up for park and recreation classes through the Internet.

Chat rooms, bulletin boards and other public forms on the Internet are beginning to supplement traditional open forums for many governments.

"Continuing to develop our E-Government program here at Iowa State is one way we can become unique and also help improve the way government works," Thurmaier said.