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MPA Mission, Vision, Values

Mission

The mission of our MPA program is to develop the best public leaders in the world.

Vision

We strive to be the institution of choice for prospective students seeking the education they need to excel as public and nonprofit sector leaders. Our aim is to help students reach their academic and professional goals by providing them with an exceptional applied instruction that allows them to compete successfully for top jobs, and fully prepares them to meet the challenges they will face in an increasingly complex, demanding, interdependent world. We want every student to emerge from our program ready and able to employ the theories, methods, and practices of public administration and public policy to solve problems and make our communities and society better.

Values

Premier teaching. We are explicitly committed to maintaining the highest standards of instruction. Our program centers on strengths in public budgeting and finance, nonprofit management, public policy analysis, and survey research. The courses we provide are useful, engaging, relevant, and thorough. Likewise, we emphasize helping students develop rigorous analytic skills that they can apply to solve a wide array of research, management, and policy problems.

Rigorous scholarship. We investigate important problems facing society from an array of policy analytic perspectives and using a wide variety of methodologies. We produce respected research that enhances knowledge and informs policy and practice. Our program explicitly draws together theoretical insight, analytic skills, and field practice.

Ethical, energetic service. We are committed to preparing students by education, outlook, and commitment for public service. Our faculty, staff, and students are actively engaged members of the public policy, public management, and survey research communities. We are attentive and responsive to the needs of our university, state, nation, and the world. Through our example and curriculum, we work to instill in our students a strong commitment to the ethical and integrous practice of public service. In our program, students learn the responsibilities of accountability and responsiveness that accrue to public servants in a democracy, how to evaluate the implications of administrative decisions, and how to promulgate governance that prizes fairness and respect.