The graduate programs in public administration and policy are designed for persons preparing for careers in governmental and non-profit service, research, consulting, and teaching. The public administration and policy programs draw on concepts and methods from a number of social and behavioral sciences as they relate to the formulation and implementation of governmental policies and programs.
The Public Administration curriculum is oriented to the environment of Public Administration law, the political process, and the economy and to the major components of the administrative process including program planning and evaluation, policy analysis, financial management, personnel management, organizational development, and executive leadership.
The Public Policy curriculum is oriented toward the application of policy analysis skills to action in the public sector. The program is intended to educate current and future empower managers in the public and not-for-profit sectors to design innovative solutions to problems in the public sector and to bring about the changes necessary to implement these policies. The Master of Arts in Public Affairs and Policy aims to provide students with analytic and quantitative skills to identity issues, and the ability to translate those skills into effective action through reasoning and argument.
The Department offers three graduate degrees: Master of Public Administration, Master of Arts in Public Affairs and Policy, and the Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy. The masters degrees are designed for those persons who desire graduate education before entering public service or for persons in the public service who desire additional education as an important factor in career development.
The Ph.D. Degree in Public Administration and Policy is a degree designed to develop research capabilities in the field of Public Administration. It is designed for individuals planning careers in research, teaching, and consulting in the field. The Ph.D. degree program builds upon a multi-disciplinary view of the field of Public Administration, stressing basic concepts in political science, economics and finance, organizational behavior and theory, and research methods and analysis.
In conjunction with Albany Law School, the Rockefeller College offers a joint J.D./M.P.A. degree program. This program integrates the fields of law and Public Administration and enables students to earn both degrees in not more than four years of full-time study. The Department also participates in the Certificate Programs for Women and Public Policy, Public Sector Management, Non-Profit Management, and Advanced Study in Planning and Policy Analysis. Qualified University at Albany undergraduates majoring in political science, public policy, sociology, or economics may apply for admission to the M.P.A. program, and if accepted, work toward completion of the requirements for both degrees applying 12 of their graduate credits toward the requirements of their undergraduate degrees. Undergraduates majoring in Public Policy may apply for admission to the Master's degree, and similarly work toward completion of both degrees.
