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Stepping out
The public administration program has become a semi-autonomous unit
within the Department of Political Science.
- In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences there are numerous academic
programs within departments that are somewhat autonomous.
You can now add political science and public administration to that list.
"In the past, the public administration program was an integral part
of the Department of Political Science," said Yong Lee, professor of
political science. "The new governance structure creates the public
administration program as a semi-autonomous unit in the same manner as philosophy
and religious studies and music and theatre.
"The public administration program is still part of the Department
of Political Science," he continued. "But there are some changes."
Earlier this semester, the faculty in the Department of Political Science,
acting on a recommendation from LAS Dean Peter Rabideau, approved a new
governance document for the public administration program. That program,
now called Public Policy and Administration, operates as a semi-autonomous
unit with the academic department.
Some of the changes Lee was referring to focuses in the area of faculty
hiring, curriculum development, course scheduling, and promotion and tenure.
Lee is serving as the interim director of the program, which will continue
to report to the chair of the Department of Political Science.
"The position of director will be equivalent to that of a professor
in charge," Lee said, "and the director will be eligible to serve
as a member of the LAS Dean’s Cabinet."
Iowa State's public administration program offers a professional master's
degree. Undergraduate courses are taught, but those will remain within the
Department of Political Science's offerings. The degree program is designed
to educate students for careers in management and administration at the
federal, state and local levels of government, and in the related areas
in the private and nonprivate sectors of the economy.
While to most people there doesn’t seem to be much difference between political
science and public administration, Lee says there are very distinctive roles
that each academic discipline employs.
"Political science is more general and theoretical," he said.
"Public administration degrees tend to evolve into more practical governance
administration courses."
Currently, the MPA (Master of Public Administration) is offered at three
different "sites" including on the main Ames campus, in Des Moines
through the University's Des Moines Initiative, and as a component of the
ICN.
Lee says there are more than 50 individuals enrolled in the program with
35 full-time and 25 in-service students. Increasing the enrollment figure
is one of the three top goals of the program.
"First of all we need to fill the director's position with a senior-level
faculty member," he said. "Then we want to solidify our position
in Des Moines and on campus in order to increase enrollment to around 70."
Once those two goals are accomplished, then Lee sees a third priority is
to get the MPA degree program accredited by the National Association of
Schools of Public Administration and Public Affairs.
"Public administration is a professional degree program which requires
accreditation by a national accrediting agency," he said. "This
program is not currently accredited."
One of the most important factors in receiving accreditation for the programs
that remain in political science departments is the concept of autonomy
the program enjoys in all matters that are critically important to the degree
program.
"Accreditation requires a substantial degree of autonomy and independence
from political science departments," Lee said. "We hope that once
our first two priorities are accomplished, we can move rapidly towards accreditation.
Once that happens we will be recognized nationally and it will be much easier
to recruit students and faculty into the program."
Lee is currently one of five political science professors in the public
administration program. The others are Paul Coates, associate professor;
Alfred Ho, assistant professor; Ardith Maney, professor; and Matthew Potoski,
assistant professor.
All are actively involved in research with Coates and Ho the recent recipients
of a $1.2 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to conduct a
statewide study with a goal of getting Iowans more involved with their local
governments.
Maney has also received $600,000 from the U.S. State Department to give
a public administration program in the Eastern European countries of Slovakia
and the Ukraine.
Yong Lee
Around LAS
November 12-18, 2001
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