Approved June MPA Oral Exam Guide

Transcription

1 MPA Oral Exam Guide Purpose The MPA oral exam requires students (1) to demonstrate their knowledge of the themes, issues, and central debates of public administration; (2) to integrate and articulate their career goals as they relate to their portfolio and to specific areas of public administration; (3) to demonstrate applying theory to practice; and (4) to demonstrate effective oral communication skills. Preparation Successful completion of this independent requirement of the MPA degree requires that students integrate materials from across the curriculum. Students are encouraged to document and maintain core lessons learned from their coursework and internship as to accumulate the necessary reference materials to guide their preparation for the oral exam. Students must engage the curriculum to develop an understanding of how their career goals, and associated knowledge and skills, are embedded in the specific areas of public administration as a discipline and as a practice. The exam also requires students to demonstrate effective communication skills, which they work on and develop during course participation, internships, and networking opportunities. Competencies Students should be prepared to answer questions that demonstrate the achievement of the core competencies that support the MPA program s mission of preparing public service leaders. They are the ability: to lead, manage, and engage others in public service to articulate and apply public service values to understand social, economic, and political context to communicate effectively to analyze information for decision making to understand law and legal process to manage financial resources to manage human capital Prerequisite While the oral exam is an independent requirement of the MPA program, students must successfully complete their portfolios (see MPA Portfolio Guide) before scheduling the oral exam. 1

2 Exam Preparation and Administration Process Exam Committee Students register for PUBA 746 in the term for which they expect to graduate. While this course is primarily associated with the student s portfolio, it also serves as the administrative mechanism to appoint an exam committee. The instructor of PUBA 746 assigns a threeperson faculty committee to evaluate each student s completed portfolio. If the evaluation is successful, the student is responsible for scheduling the oral exam with the same three-person faculty committee. The oral exam is scheduled for up to 90 minutes. Exam Process The oral exam begins with the student giving a presentation to the exam committee on the major components of his or her portfolio as shown in Appendix A. Committee members then ask questions that focus on the competency areas of leadership, public service values, and research methods, including questions that probe substantive knowledge of public administration relevant to the student s identified concentration areas and career goals. The student also must be prepared to respond to decision-making and foundational questions as shown in Appendix A. The exam concludes, and the student is excused while committee members discuss the student s understanding of public administration and the student s ability to articulate this understanding. Exam Evaluation a) The committee chair is responsible for aggregating each committee member s evaluation and determining if a majority of the exam committee passed the student on the oral exam. b) The student returns to the exam room and the committee chair informs the student of the committee s evaluation. c) If the student passes the exam, the committee chair is responsible for completing Part II of the Master s Comprehensive Exam or Approved Substitute Report. The committee chair submits the completed report to the MPA program manager for submission to The Graduate School. A student, who fails the oral exam (i.e. does not have a majority of the committee passing them), may take the oral exam a second time after at least three months have passed from the first attempt. During this period of time, the student is expected to obtain feedback from his or her exam committee on areas that need improvement in preparation of taking the exam again. The same evaluation committee serves for the second administration of the exam. A student who fails the oral exam the second time becomes academically ineligible to continue in The Graduate School. A student may petition the MPA program for reinstatement when special circumstances warrant according to the policy of The Graduate School. The student and the MPA program must jointly complete the Request for Reinstatement to Graduate School. 2

3 Appendix A: MPA Oral Exam Process Student Presentation Portfolio Questions Leadership Public Service Values Research Methods Concentration Areas Portfolio Questions Career Goals Decision Making Discipline Questions (all) Foundation Student Presentation (Approximately 10 minutes roughly evenly divided) The oral exam begins with the student addressing how he or she has developed an understanding of leadership and how the artifacts of the portfolio integrate with his or her concentration areas and career goals. Student summarizes the major components of his or her portfolio and begins to address (as needed) the written feedback from the review process. 3

4 Leadership, Public Service Values, and Research Methods Students will then be expected to respond to three question areas: leadership, public service values, and research methods. The portfolio will serve as the starting point for the questions, but the committee will expect the student to demonstrate more integrated learning within the broader discipline of public administration rather than just repeating what they have included in the portfolio. Example leadership question: The committee may ask the student to talk about other leadership theories and practices that they think will inform their future actions if the student provides a discussion of his or her leadership style within the context of the leader-member exchange theory. Example public service values question: The committee may ask the student to further expand on the choices of which values they included and what values they opted not to include in his or her portfolio discussion. Example research methods question: The committee may ask the student how he or she would redesign the project as a quantitative research project if the student included a qualitative based research paper as an example in the portfolio. Concentration Areas and Career Goals Committee members then ask questions that probe substantive knowledge of public administration relevant to the student s identified concentration areas and career goals. Example finance question: A student identifies finance as an area of concentration, including an example of a local government budget as an artifact. The committee may ask the student to discuss two ways in which local government budgeting is different from budgeting in state and federal government. Decision-Making and Foundation Finally, committee members will ask questions on two main areas of the field: A context question that seeks to probe the student s knowledge about managing and making decisions in a political environment and an integrating question that aims to evaluate the student s understanding of the broader discipline of public administration. Example decision-making question: Please explain what context variables you believe are important for a public manager to consider when making decisions regarding a change in service delivery? Example foundation question: Which three scholars have had the greatest impact on the study and practice of public administration? 4

5 Additional Example Questions Leadership Leadership, Public Service Values, and Research Methods What are the key practices of effective leaders and why? How is leading in an inter-organizational or intersectorial setting different than leading subordinates within an organization? Public service values Research methods What are three core values of public service and how are these similar to and different from non-profit and for-profit organizations? How has the growth of social equity as a pillar of public administration affected the pillars of efficiency and effectiveness? Based on a specific area of public administration, can you describe an open research question and how you might design a research study to address it? To understand law and legal process What methodological weaknesses would you test for as part of a research study? Concentration Areas and Career Goals Briefly describe the factors that courts consider in determining what due process is required before an administrative action can be taken that impairs liberty or property interests. To manage financial resources To manage human capital Briefly describe legal issues that a government contract administration may need to consider when selecting a vendor for a contract that are not likely to apply to a private company. Discuss three ways in which state and local government budgeting are different from the federal government. Explain Tiebout s theory on voting with your feet and explain why its application should be limited to local government. What are the biggest challenges that public managers face over the next two decades in developing an effective public sector workforce? What role should human resource departments and professionals play in developing effective public organizations? 5

6 Decision-Making Foundation Discipline How is making decisions in the public sector different than making decisions in the private sector? Which three scholars have had the greatest impact on the study and practice of public administration? What are the three most significant contemporary tensions in the field of public administration? 6