MPPM
Program - Proposal (July 16 2001)
Table of Contents.................................................................................................................... 1
I. Background
and General Information........................................................................... 2
1. General
Information................................................................................................... 2
2. Relationship
to University Research Priorities........................................................... 3
3.
Governance.................................................................................................................... 4
II. Academic
Merit and Structural Integrity of the Programme..................................... 4
1.
Relationship to Similar Existing Canadian Programmes.................................................. 4
2.
Admissions..................................................................................................................... 4
3.
Curriculum...................................................................................................................... 4
III.
Adequacy of Faculty and Other Resources.................................................................. 4
1. Faculty............................................................................................................................ 4
2. Administrative, Faculty, Library and
Budgetary Needs..................................................... 4
IV. Demand
for the Programme from Prospective Students............................................ 4
V. Demand
for Graduates From Prospective Employers................................................... 4
APPENDIX
I - Resumes and CVs of Contributing SFU Faculty...................................... 4
APPENDIX
II - Proposed Calendar Language................................................................... 4
I. Background and General Information
This proposal provides for the establishment of a new professional
credential - the degree of Master
of Public Policy and Management (MPPM) - which will bring together existing faculty expertise from across Simon
Fraser University to create a new and innovative graduate teaching program and
research centre. The MPPM program will form the teaching arm of a new Centre of
Public Policy Education and Research, to be created within the Department of
Political Science to provide opportunities for leading edge research and training in the fields of
policy analysis and public sector management.
The MPPM teaching program will emphasize new policy concerns
associated with the management of government in an era of increasingly
sophisticated and complex government-society relations.[1] The program will enable administrators
to deal with the challenges posed by the evolution of administrative practices
in which numerous government functions are implemented via contracting-out,
partnerships, and various other forms of non-traditional service delivery[2]
- and by the need to manage public programs in an era of increased citizen's
concerns for open government, public participation, consultation and other
forms of "collaborative government".[3] The program will stress how government
organizational management, communication, and policy processes are adapting to
a dynamic policy environment, requiring a new set of management skills in so
doing.[4] A focus on managing innovation in the
public sphere and dealing with the
need for more complex management of conflict and fragmentation among the
clienteles of government will be hallmarks of the program.[5]
It is expected that the first entrants would begin the program in
the fall of 2002. Anticipated annual enrollment is 20 – 25 students.
The
2000 SFU Strategic Research Plan[6]
establishes ten research priority
areas. These areas were singled out due to their actual record of, or potential
for, research excellence, their ability to foster innovative research, their
ability to promote intra-and extra-university collaboration, their ability to
create research niches within British Columbia, and their overall ability to
meet the criteria set out in the overall university research plan. Plans for
creating an MPPM credential accord with the priorities established by the SFU
University Research Plan which establishes "Policy, Management and
Leadership" as one of ten priority areas for University advancement.
Creation
of an MPPM program would:
·
"build
upon our existing strengths and research excellence and maintain our reputation
as the best comprehensive university in Canada"; by creating a
nodal point for already existing but scattered SFU faculty expertise in areas
such as labour-market, trade, environment, social, health, education, economic,
housing, immigration, land use, technology, foreign policy, national and international
security policy, international development policy, Canadian and international
political economy and other policy areas.. The creation of an MPPM degree would
also increase the visibility of SFU faculty and research through seminars,
public lectures, workshops, speakers series, regular conference activity and
enhanced publication of policy-relevant research.
·
"support
and create opportunities for the pursuit of new knowledge, discovery and
innovation";
by bringing together existing SFU expertise in policy analysis, policy
implementation and evaluation in a number of University units in several
faculties, including Political Science, Criminology, Economics, Sociology, and
Philosophy within the Faculty of Arts, Communications and Resources Management
within the Faculty of Applied Science, and the Faculties of Business and
Education.
·
"promote
strategic alliances and cross-disciplinary research within the University and
seek new collaborations with all our communities to foster intellectual,
social, cultural, and economic development in the province of BC"; by developing a
graduate level professional credential for the BC public sector in the Lower
Mainland area;
·
"recruit
and retain outstanding faculty to enhance research capacity and provide
leadership for new initiatives and key research programs"; by selecting an
excellent candidate to lead the SFU initiatives; and
·
"enrich
the learning experience of our students through participation in, and exposure
to, the ground-breaking research and new knowledge being generated by our
outstanding researchers so they can fully participate in the knowledge society
of the 21st Century";
through the creation of the new teaching and research opportunities listed
above.[7]
Offices
will be located in a new Centre of Public Policy Education and Research within
the Political Science Department. The new Centre will be created by the Dean of
Arts and will be managed by a Director who may also serve as Program Director
of the MPPM programme, or may appoint an Associate-Director to undertake this
task. The Director will report to the Board of Directors of the Centre, which
will be composed of at least one representative of each of the Programs,
Schools, Departments and Faculties participating in the MPPM teaching
programme. The Director will be responsible for the on-going administration of
the programme in consultation with the Chair of the Department of Political
Science. More specifically, the Director will be responsible to the Chair of
the Department of Political
Science on administrative, budget and staffing issues and to the Board of
Directors of the Centre on matters relating to the academic content of the
program.
II. Academic Merit and Structural
Integrity of the Programme
Proposed Calendar language is set
out in Appendix II. The following provides background information and
additional explanatory material.
The general trend in North American
universities has been away from the establishment of traditional MPA programs
emphasizing organizational issues in public administration towards programs
emphasizing specific skills in public policy analysis and management.[8]
At the present time there are 10
graduate level professional programs in public administration in English in
Canada (See Figure II below).[9]
Three programs exist in Western Canada with the only current program in British
Columbia located at the University of Victoria.
Figure I: Canadian
MPA Program Data - 2000-2001[10]
|
University/ URL |
FTE Faculty |
Program Type |
Half-Courses |
Other |
Project |
Students |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alberta http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/previous/1995-96calendar/Business/51.html |
4 |
MPM |
16 |
Part of MBA Program |
No |
15 |
|
Carleton http://www.carleton.ca/spa/ |
22 |
MPA/PHD |
12-20 |
Advanced credit given.
Separate School of Public Administration. Specializations in Canadian,
Development Administration, and Innovation, Science and Environmental
Administration |
No |
55 |
|
Dalhousie http://www.mgmt.dal.ca/spa/ |
10 |
MPA |
10-20 |
One year/Two year
degrees plus diploma/certificate and jt. MPA/LL.B. programs |
Practicum |
25 |
|
Manitoba/ Winnipeg http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/student/calendar/poli-sci.html http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/political_studies/mpa.htm |
5 |
MPA |
8-16 |
One Year and Two Year
programs offered as Jt. Program through Depts. of Political Studies |
Optional thesis or exams |
10-15 |
|
UNB http://uregina.ca/~rasmussk/newbruns.html |
6 |
MPA |
20 |
Through Faculty of
Administration |
No |
5-10 |
|
McMaster/Guelph http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/polisci/grad/collaborative.htm |
4 |
MPPA |
9 |
Jt. through Depts of
Political Science |
Exams |
8-10 |
|
Queen's http://qsilver.queensu.ca/sps/teaching/teach-mpa.shtml |
6 |
MPA |
12 |
One Year Program; Two
Streams * 30 FTE Students; Part of School of Policy Studies |
Optional |
60 |
|
Western http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/localgovernment/MPA-Right.htm |
2.5 |
MPA |
14 |
Local Government
Emphasis; Offered through Dept. of Political Science |
Yes |
18-22 |
|
York http://www.schulich.yorku.ca/ssb.nsf?open |
4 |
MPA |
12 |
Offered through
Faculty of Administration |
No |
10 |
|
UVIC http://web.uvic.ca/padm/ |
13 |
MPA |
10-20 |
Advance Credits
Possible. Offered by Separate School of Public Administration; Diploma in
Aboriginal Management/ Public Sector Management plus Certificate Programs and
jt. MPA/LL.B. |
Yes |
50 |
|
SFU Proposal |
3.5 |
MPPM |
10 |
Two year program; 5
Core + 5 Program; Specialization; Advanced credit possible |
Yes |
20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The program likely to be closest to
the proposed SFU program in structure and content is located at Queen's
University. That program
emphasizes the links between public administration and public policy studies
and is structured to allow students to take advantage of expertise in the
subjects located in various Departments throughout the University.[11]
The SFU program will employ a small
core of permanent faculty to teach core courses. It will utilize course
buy-outs to access the teaching time of senior faculty members present in four
university faculties (Arts, Applied Science, Education and Business
Administration) to teach specialized courses. Detail on proposed MPPM faculty
resources is contained in section 3.1 below. The core-specialization
arrangement provides for continuity in the programme while allowing students to
maximize their options in designing their programme of courses and pursuing
specific subjects of interest. It allows a flexible, yet rigorous, programme to
be created at relatively little cost.
The program is intended for students desiring a professional career.
Students are normally admitted to the MPPM program with a four year Bachelor's degree. Depending
upon the nature of the degree, the successful completion of qualifying courses
may be required prior to admittance to the program. While work experience will
not replace academic qualifications, admission decisions, which will be taken
by the MPPM programme Director, will take into consideration both academic and
experiential qualifications.
Graduate courses will be offered within a three-semester
academic year, although the majority of courses will be offered over the fall
and spring semesters. All students will enter the programme in the fall semester
and will complete five core courses in their first year of study. In the second year of the programme, students
will complete five additional courses from two fields of specialization. These
courses may be taken on either a full-time or part-time basis and qualified
students may also opt for a co-op internship as part of this component of their
program. Full-time students are expected to complete the MPPM program within 6
consecutive semesters.
The core courses for the programme
are intended to cover the basic foundations of policy analysis and ensure
students have the requisite background in the politics and economics of public
policy making, as well as the necessary quantitative and qualitative research
skills required to undertake analyses of
specialized policy fields. Once these core courses are completed,
students will choose program specializations from those offered by faculty
members seconded to the program or already offered in existing courses at SFU.
Specializations are expected to change over time but will include course
offerings in areas such as democratic governance, political communications,
family and gender issues and others (see below). Upon the approval of the
Director, students may also include advanced language training opportunities
available at SFU as part of their program.
Depending upon their educational and
experiential backgrounds, students may be granted advance credits towards their
degree. In no case, however, shall the degree be awarded with students taking
less than 7 courses at SFU.
Courses
are divided into 5 core courses students are expected to take in their first
year in the program and 5 courses in two areas of program specialization in
year two. A Research Project is also required to complete the degree. The
research project will involve the analysis of an aspect of the public policy
and administrative process under the supervision of a faculty member. A co-op
internship option for the programme is also available.
The five new five-credit core
courses which will be created for the MPPM program are:
1. Economic
Foundations of Policy Analysis: This
course examines the basic operation of a market economy and introduces students
to key concepts and techniques in its analysis including market and government
failure and aspects of marginal analysis.
2. Political
Foundations of Policy Analysis: An examination of the basic
institutions of government in Canada and their context in the evolving Canadian
political economy. It introduces students to key actors in the policy process
including state structures and agencies, a variety of societal actors such as
pressure groups, social movements, and peak associations, as well as legal and
regulatory processes of government.
3. Policy
Analysis and Evaluation: This course sets out the basic elements of
common techniques of public policy analysis and evaluation carried out in
governments and elsewhere, including cost-benefit analysis.
4. The
Policy Process: The stages through which public policies are developed and the
formal and informal institutions and rules which affect policy actors in their
deliberations and decisions are set out in this course.
5. Research
Techniques: Provides
instruction in the basic statistical and conceptual elements of techniques of
quantitative and qualitative policy analysis.
Students are expected to
choose a major and a minor area from among the following Program Specializations. Three courses will be
taken in the Major area and two in the Minor. Most of the courses contained in
each proposed area of Program Specialization already exist at the graduate
level at SFU. The areas of program specialization for which multiple courses at
Simon Fraser University currently exist include the following. Examples of
existing course offerings on these subjects at the University are also listed:
1. Governance, Public
Management and Law:
Includes courses on subjects such as institutional and policy design;
organizational behaviour; public finance, and administrative law and public
administration.
BUS 836-4 Human Resource
Management I
BUS 839-4 Organizational
Assessment and Planned Change
EDUC 813-5
Organizational Theory and Analyses
EDUC 815-5
Administrative Processes
EDUC 817-5 Policy
Processes
REM 625-5 Risk
Assessment and Decision Analysis for Management of Natural Resources
REM 651-5 Project
Evaluation
REM 625-5 Risk
Assessment and Decision Analysis for Management of Natural Resources
ECON 890-4 Public
Finance
2. Local,
Urban and Regional Government: Includes courses on subjects such as
city management; regional and urban planning; and urban politics.
REM 652-5
Community Tourism Planning and Development
REM 642-5
Regional Planning I
ECON 865-4
Regional Economic Theory
ECON 867-4
Regional Development Problems
GEOG 742-4
Regional Development
GEOG 745-4
Multinational Corporations and Regional Development
URB 600-4
Urban Transformations
URB 601-4
Urban Problems and Solutions
3. The
Welfare State and the Political Economy of Public Policy: Includes
courses on subjects such as family and social policy, health policy, and labour
market policy as well as subjects such as political economy and the state.
ECON 856-4 Theories of
Economic Growth
ECON 881-4 Labor
Economics
ECON 886-4 Industrial
Relations
POL 825-5 Canadian
Political Economy
POL 844-5 International
Political Economy
POL 856-5 Issues in
Social and Economic Policy
POL 861-5 Issues in
Political Development
WS 824-5 Graduate
Seminar on Women and Social Policy
SA 886-5 Selected
Problems in Social Analysis
4.
Contemporary Policy Issues: Includes courses on subjects such as
communications and cultural industries; globalization, resource and
environmental policy, land use policy, science and technology policy,
immigration policy, education policy and others currently taught by associated
faculty (see Figure II above).
REM 655-5
Water Planning and Management;
REM 613-5
Current Topics in Fisheries Management
REM 601-5
Natural Resources Management I: Theory and Practice
REM 650-5
Energy Management and Policy
REM 613-5
Current Topics in Fisheries Management
ECON 861-4
Natural Resource Economics
GEOG 734-4
Resources Management
GERO 801-4
Health Policy and Applied Issues in Gerontology
POL 827-5
Issues in Canadian Government and Politics
POL 855-5
Science, Technology and Public Policy
POL 843-5
Canadian Foreign Policy
POL 844-5 International
Political Economy
POL 845-5 Foreign Policy
Analysis
POL 846-5
International Security Studies
5. Law
and Society: Includes discussion of the administration of justice, legal
issues surrounding regulatory processes, and state-society relations.
REM 641-5
Law and Resources
CRIM 820-3 Criminal
Justice Policy Analysis I
CRIM 831-3 Law and
Social Control II
CRIM 830-3
Law and Social Control I
ECON 888-4
The Economics of Legal Relationships
ECON 889-4
Seminar in Law and Economics
GEOG 755-4
Law and the Geographies of Power
PSYC 790-5 Proseminar in
Law and Psychology (area course 1)
PSYC 815-3
Mental Health Law and Policy (area course 2)
Other
specializations which have been proposed and which are currently under
development. These include: Democratic Administration – which would includes
courses on subjects such as public participation, freedom of information and
privacy, and alternative dispute resolution processes; Administrative Ethics - including
material on the politics and philosophy of the public sphere, as well as the
moral and ethical aspects of public sector behaviour and conduct; and Political
Communications - including courses on subjects such as public relations; media
relations; and surveys and polling.
III. Adequacy of Faculty and Other Resources
Simon Fraser University is currently
home to several of Canada's outstanding experts in fields such as
labour-market, environment, trade, social policy, immigration, money and
banking, Canadian and international political economy, international
development policy, housing, land
use, gerontology, communication, demographics, foreign policy, national and
international security policy, among others. SFU faculty have authored
widely-used texts in public policy processes and analysis as well as within
specific policy fields. At present, this expertise is fragmented. Although many
faculty members at Simon Fraser currently teach in the areas of public policy,
public administration and public management, no specific research centre or
professional degree in public policy analysis or management is currently
awarded.
Teaching resources for the programme
will be based in core courses offered by a small continuing faculty and the
utilization of many specialized courses already existing throughout the
university rather than a centralized and self-contained School. Faculty areas
of teaching and research among interim steering committee members are set out
in Figure II below for illustrative purposes. Brief resumes and full CVs of
contributing faculty are set out in Appendix I.
Figure II - Teaching Specializations and
Research Interests -
|
Department or Unit Name |
Faculty |
Teaching Areas/ |
|
|
|
|
|
Economics |
Arts |
Financial, Fiscal and Monetary Policy,
Macro-economics, Labour Market Policy, Resource Policy, Education Policy,
Immigration Policy (RIIM) |
|
Geography |
Arts |
Land Use, Resource Policy, Tourism Policy |
|
Gerontology |
Arts |
Health, Aging, Demography |
|
Philosophy |
Arts |
Ethics, Philosophy of the Public Sphere |
|
Political Science |
Arts |
Public Sector Management, Provincial Politics,
Policy Process, Resource and Environmental Policy, National and International
Security Policy, Foreign Policy, Labour Market Policy,
Canadian and International Political Economy, International Development
Policy, Comparative Public Policy, Urban and Regional Policy, and Governance |
|
Sociology |
Arts |
Demography, Immigration, Family and Gender
Policy, Aboriginal Policy, Social Policy |
|
Natural Resources and Environmental Management |
Applied Science |
Resource Policy, Alternate Dispute Resolution,
Conflict Management |
|
Communications |
Applied Science |
Science and Technology, Communications Policy,
Policy Industrial Policy, Agricultural Policy, Comparative Administration,
Political Communications, Industrial Policy, Management, Media Studies |
|
Policy Section |
Business |
Social Policy, Resource Policy, Canadian Political Economy, Policy Evaluation,
Micro-economics, Policy Process |
|
Professional Programs |
Education |
Policy Evaluation, Education Policy, Policy
Analysis, Policy Cultures |
This faculty complement is consistent with similar programmes
found in other Canadian provinces (See Figure I above). With the faculty
expertise currently at SFU, it is possible to offer an exceptional programme at little cost.
Library and other start-up costs for
the new program will be minimal as instruction in most of the areas covered in
the program already exist in the University.
Initial faculty staffing for the
program will be provided from a
variety of sources. A senior academic position has been authorized from the
University allocation of Canada Research Chairs (Tier I renewable indefinitely).
The Faculty of Arts is providing funding equivalent to an additional Tier II
Canada Research Chair, administrative release and course time for an Internal
Program Director, and funding for a Senior Research Fellow position which will
include at least a one course teaching load. Combined these positions will
provide a permanent base for at least six annual courses, including most of the
program core courses. The University will also provide at least ten course
equivalent buy-outs for existing faculty in order to cover costs associated
with program specializations.
Administrative costs include secretarial and other clerical assistance
which will be provided by the Department of Political Science. Other cost items
include research project supervision.
Infrastructure costs will be covered
at least in part from CFI New Opportunities grants associated with the CRC
position. Part of the cost of mounting the program will be recovered from a
differential fee of between 50-100% of the regular Arts graduate tuition fee
which will be charged for the programme. This fee is required to offset the
additional costs associated with mounting a multi-faculty, multi-disciplinary
programme and reflect the additional earning capacity graduates will attain as
a result of their specialized, professional training. A portion of the fees
collected from the program will be allocated to a scholarship fund which may be
accessed by the Program Director to offset the differential in the case of
students demonstrating acute financial need.
IV. Demand for the Programme from Prospective Students
Creation of a
graduate-level professional program in public policy and management is of direct
benefit and use to client groups in the community such as local, regional,
provincial and federal agencies and Crown Corporations, as well as NGOs, think
tanks, community associations, and other non-government actors, and furthers
University priorities in these areas such as those set out by the President's
Committee on University Planning and others.[12]
The program will enhance the learning experience of students through participation
in, and exposure to, ground-breaking research and provide increased student understanding of diverse
research approaches, paradigms, and perspectives.
The focus on public policy analysis,
the core/specialization format of the program, and the use of a range of
interdisciplinary senior faculty sets the degree proposed for Simon Fraser
University apart from that of the University of Victoria and makes it
distinctive in Western Canada.
The University of Victoria program
draws students from the middle ranks of the Victoria-area provincial civil
service and emphasizes training to meet the traditional concerns of
middle-managers with subjects such as personnel relations and financial
management. The proposed Simon Fraser program intends to focus on issues of
public policy management rather than traditional public administration and will
draw from a much larger pool of students in the private and non-governmental
sectors as well as the federal, provincial, local and regional public sectors
of whom the overwhelming proportion in British Columbia are located in the
Vancouver-Lower Mainland area. It will offer training related to the
understanding of the workings of policy processes in government as well as the
social, economic, cultural and organizational contexts in which these processes
occur. This orientation towards public policy will set the SFU MPPM program
apart from the MPA credential offered at the University of Victoria.
It is expected that the majority of
admitted students will be relatively recent university social science graduates
with some policy-related job experience who are seeking to acquire specific
additional skills and knowledge in order to enhance their employment and career
prospects. However, it is also expected that mid-career entrants who are
willing and able to pursue full-time study for at least one consecutive
two-semester period will also enroll in the programme in order to further their
training and career possibilities.
V. Demand for Graduates From Prospective Employers
Graduates of the MPPM program can
expect to find employment in a variety of public, private and not-for-profit
enterprises and organizations who partake in public policy-making in the local
community, the province and the country as a whole. The establishment of such a
program will improve the capacity of SFU to train future participants in public
administration and public policy-making in British Columbia, Canada, and abroad
and provides obvious benefits to the University and University community in so
doing.
Graduates may seek employment in the
public services of Canada and abroad. Although overall levels of employment in
the clerical area of the public service have stabilized over recent years,
growth continues to occur at the managerial ranks. This growth in new intake at
the managerial level is expected to be augmented by a retirement bulge over the
next two decades, resulting in increased demand in these professional ranks.
The provincial work futures data base reveals that senior management
occupations (Major Group 00) made up about 16,540 workers in B.C. in 1998. The
Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) projects employment in this
group to grow at an annual rate of 2.2%, faster than the average for all
occupations. According to this
projection, a total of 7,770 positions will become available from 1998 to 2008.
Slightly more than half these openings will result from growth in the number of
new positions, and the rest will result from retirements.[13]
It is also important to note that
the academic credentials for employment and promotion in the managerial ranks
continue to increase. Employment opportunities in the non-profit sector are
also significant and are expected to increase over the next decade.
Opportunities in private sector organizations with an interest in public policy
issues and business-government relations also exist.
APPENDIX I - Resumes and CVs of Contributing SFU Faculty
APPENDIX II - Proposed Calendar Language
MPPM Program
Department of Political Science , Academic
Quadrangle, 604-291-3838, FAX
604-291-4293 http://www.sfu.ca/politics
Program Director
TBA
Faculty
TBA
This program offers the skills, insights and
frameworks that public sector and non-profit managers need to prepare for their
careers. The program focuses on the political and economic contexts of public
policy and management and offers opportunities for specialized study in a
number of policy areas. The program is designed to develop the strategic and
global perspective required of tomorrow's senior policy managers. The program
uses a cohort model where students take courses in the same sequence, and
encourages student interaction and co-operation. A research project undertaken under the direction of a
senior faculty member is an integral part of the program of study.
The MPPM program has the following core courses
which must be successfully completed by all students in their first year of
study:
1. Economic
Foundations of Policy Analysis
2. Political
Foundations of Policy Analysis
3. Policy
Evaluation
4. The
Policy Process
5. Research
Techniques
Five additional specialized courses are selected
with the approval of the MPPM Program Director from among existing graduate
level course offerings in participating Departments, Schools and Faculties.
Admission
For admission, a student must have a bachelor's
degree from a recognized university, normally in an Arts or Social Sciences
discipline. Students admitted with other credentials or those with Arts degrees
who in the judgement of the Program Director are without adequate foundation in
the social sciences, may be required to make up any deficiency without graduate
credit.
Students are normally admitted in September. The
maximum number of students directly admitted in any one year to the program is
expected to be 15. The normal minimum undergraduate grade point average
required for admission is 3.0 (or equivalent), although the Program Director
may take relevant work experience into account in determining eligibility for
admission to the program. Criteria for admission, in addition to undergraduate
grades, include strong letters of
reference, and for students whose native language is not English, acceptable
TOEFL scores (570 minimum) and a score of 5 or above on the Test of Written
English.
Courses are sequenced through the fall and
spring semesters with an effort made to offer some course options in the
summer. The maximum course load is
three courses per semester. With the addition of a research project it is
expected that the full-time students will complete the degree programme within
two years.
Application
Students must submit the following documentation
when applying.
· Simon Fraser University graduate
application form
· official transcript of undergraduate
grades (mailed directly from the granting institution)
· three confidential letters of reference
(mailed directly by the referees), at least two of which come from faculty
members at universities. (Forms are supplied for references.)
· Students whose first language is not
English and whose undergraduate degrees have not been obtained at an
institution where English is the language of instruction, require scores on the
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Test of Written English.
Degree Requirements
To qualify for the MPPM degree, the candidate
must complete five core MPPM courses plus five additional courses approved by
the MPPM Program Director. Students are expected to choose a major and a minor
area from among the following
Program Specializations. Three courses will be taken in the Major area and two
in the Minor. In addition, students
must complete a written research project. A project will generally
represent successful original research regarding some practical problem. While
students are expected to conduct a literature search regarding the problem, it
will generally be less exhaustive in comparison with that of a thesis.
Core Courses
MPPM 801
- Economic Foundations of Policy
Analysis
MPPM 802
-Political Foundations of Policy Analysis
MPPM 803
-Policy Evaluation
MPPM 804
-The Policy Process
MPPM 805
-Research Techniques
MPPM 830
- Research Project
Specialization Courses
The MPPM Program Director, in consultation with
the student, selects supporting courses, from graduate courses offered in units
affiliated with the program. MPPM 810, MPPM 811, MPPM 812, MPPM 813, MPPM 825
and MPPM 826 may be used when appropriate to satisfy major and minor
specialization requirements.
Co-operative Education Program
A Co-op Internship option is available to
qualified MPPM students at the Burnaby campus. The goal of the co-op internship
is to give students applied experience so that they can link concepts with
practice, and advance their career opportunities. Students must be admitted to
the MPPM program before applying for the co-op internship option and must have
a CGPA and previous semester GPA of at least 3.0. Students must maintain these
grade levels to continue in the MPPM co-op option. To qualify for an MPPM with
a co-operative internship designation, students must complete at least one
co-op practicum semester and receive credit for MPPM 820 - Co-Op Practicum I as
well as satisfy other MPPM graduation requirements. These work terms are
normally interlaced with study semesters. A pass/fail evaluation is assigned
for each co-op practicum course by a co-op co-ordinator. The grade is based on
an evaluation of a work term report and assessment of the student's work by
both the MPPM Program Director and Faculty of Arts co-op co-ordinator.
Arrangements for the work semesters are made through the Faculty of Arts Co-op
Coordinator at least one semester in advance. For further details, students
should refer to the Co-operative Education section of the calendar.
MPPM Course Descriptions
MPPM
801-5 - Economic Foundations
of Policy Analysis
Examines the
basic operation of a market economy and introduces students to key concepts and
techniques in its analysis including market and government failure and aspects
of marginal analysis.
MPPM
802-5 -Political Foundations of
Policy Analysis
Examines the
basic institutions of government in Canada and their context in the evolving
Canadian political economy. It introduces students to key actors in the policy
process including state structures and agencies, and a variety of societal
actors such as pressure groups and social movements.
MPPM
803-5 - Policy Evaluation
Sets out the
basic elements of common techniques of public policy evaluation carried out in
governments and elsewhere, including cost-benefit analysis.
MPPM
804-5 -The Policy Process
Outlines the
stages through which public policies are developed and sets out the formal and
informal institutions and rules which affect policy actors in their
deliberations and decisions.
MPPM
805-5 -Research Techniques
Covers the
basic statistical and conceptual elements of techniques of quantitative and
qualitative policy analysis.
MPPM
810-5 Issues in Public Policy and Management I
MPPM
811-5 Issues in Public Policy and Management II
MPPM
812-5 Selected Topics in Public Policy and Management I
MPPM
813-5 Selected Topics in Public Policy and Management II
MPPM
820-0 - Co-op Practicum I
MPPM
821-0 - Co-op Practicum II
MPPM
825-5 MPPM Directed Readings I
MPPM
826-5 MPPM Directed Readings II
MPPM
830-0 MPPM Research Project
[1] On these general directions in the evolution of state-society relations in advanced liberal democracies see Gerhard Lehmbruch, “The Organization of Society, Administrative Strategies, and Policy Networks,” in Roland M. Czada and Adrienne Windhoff-Heritier (ed.), Political Choice: Institutions, Rules, and the Limits of Rationality, (Boulder: Westview, 1991), pp. 121-155 and Renate Mayntz, “Modernization and the Logic of Interorganizational Networks,” in J. Child, M. Crozier, and Mayntz R (ed.), Societal Change Between Market and Organization, (Aldershot: Avebury, 1993), pp. 3-18.
[2] On the "hollow state" see Milward, H. Brinton and Keith G. Provan. “Governing the Hollow State.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 10, no. 2 (2000): 359-380 and Milward, H. Brinton, Keith G. Provan, and Barbara A. Else. “What Does the 'Hollow State' Look Like?” In B. Bozeman, ed(s), Public Management: The State of the Art, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. 309-323.
[3] See Armstrong, Jim and Donald G. Lenihan. From Controlling to Collaborating; When Governments Want to be Partners: A Report on the Collaborative Partnership Project. Toronto: Institute of Public Administration of Canada New Directions - Number 3, 1999; Delacourt, Susan and Lenihan Donald G, ed. Collaborative Government: Is There a Canadian Way? Toronto: Institute of Public Administration of Canada New Directions Number 6, 2000; Lenihan, Donald G. and Reg Alcock. Collaborative Government in the Post-Industrial Age: Five Discussion Pieces - Changing Government Volume I. Ottawa: Centre for Collaborative Government, 2000. More generally see Laurent Dobuzinskis "Policy Analysis And Policy Advice in Canada" in L. Dobuzinskis, M. Howlett and D. Laycock eds. Policy Studies in Canada: The State of the Art (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996) and L.E. Lynn, Managing Public Policy (Boston: Little Brown, 1987)
[4] Lindquist, Evert A. “Public Managers and Policy Communities: Learning to Meet New Challenges.” Canadian Public Administration. 35, no. 2 (1992): 127-159.
[5]On the evolution of U.S. schools of public administration towards such aims see Donald E. Stokes, "'Presidential' Address: The Changing Environment of Education for Public Service" in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 15(2) 1996 pp. 158-170. On West European models see Kickert, Walter J. M. and Richard J. Stillman, ed. The Modern State and Its Study: New Administrative Sciences in a Changing Europe and the United States. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1999.
[6] Simon Fraser University
Canada Research Chairs - Strategic Research Plan at URL http://www.sfu.ca/vpresearch/crc/crcsumff.html
[7] Simon Fraser University Canada Research Chairs - Strategic Research Plan Summary 31 July 2000 http://www.sfu.ca/vpresearch/crc/crcsumff.html.
[8] See George Mason University PHD proposal at URL: http://ralph.gmu.edu/tipp/phd.html. Recent programs established in Canada have also emphasized innovative teaching delivery mechanisms See McMaster/Guelph University Joint Program information at URL: http://www.uoguelph.ca/GraduateStudies/politic/0politic.html
[9] The largest French language program is located at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration Publique. It offers an MPA and Ph.D. degree with approximately 40 faculty and over 100 students.
[10] Most of this information is available on line through the WWW homepage of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) at URL: http://uregina.ca/~rasmussk/
[11] See Queen's Material at URL: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/sps/teaching/teach-mpa.shtml
[12] President's Committee on University Planning, Graduate Studies and Research Discussion Paper, Burnaby: Supplement to Simon Fraser News, October 19, 1995
[13]Electronic data available at URL: http://workfutures.bc.ca/En/def/occs/00___e1.html