Admission Requirements
Students interested in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program must first present a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, preferably in the social or behavioral sciences, with an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale. Also acceptable, is an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 2.7, but with a 3.2 or better for the last 90 quarter hours (60 semester hours) earned toward the undergraduate degree.
Public Administration applicants must also submit
three letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with
their work or academic achievements. In addition, the Department
requires applicants to write a 400-word essay outlining their
personal and professional goals and describing how an MPA degree
will help them achieve their goals.
Advising
Students admitted to the MPA program begin their studies in the fall
quarter with URS 710 (see core courses listed below) Upon entering the
Public Administration program, every student must attend a fall orientation
and discuss a projected course plan with the Director of the MPA program.
Degree Requirements
The program curriculum for the MPA degree consists of 52 credit hours of approved course work. The program requires 28 hours of core courses; four hours of either a research project or a capstone course, or eight hours of thesis; a four-hour internship, which can be repeated once for a total of eight hours; and elective courses in planning, management, development, and special courses totaling the remainder of the credit hours. Please see the Program of Study for details of the curriculum.
Internships are arranged for those students with no prior experience in governmental or non-profit administration. Internships require 200 hours of supervised work in a public institution or non-profit agency. For students already holding administrative positions that warrant waiving the internship requirement, the Department substitutes an elective course for the internship.
The core courses offer students a broad range of topics addressing analytical, problem solving, and management skills. Students select electives in conjunction with the MPA Director or another faculty advisor. Electives may be taken to enhance knowledge areas such as community planning, development, or organization; public management; or to serve individual career goals. The number of elective hours to be completed range from 12 to 20 credit hours.
Students have the option of completing an applied research paper (URS 724) focusing on an urban management or policy issue, completing a thesis (URS 799), or taking a capstone course (URS 724) as their final requirement. These options are discussed with students during their residency in the program.
Financial Assistance
The Department of Urban Affairs and Geography annually awards a limited number of graduate research assistantships to qualified students. We encourage all regular students who carry at least eight credit hours and are not employed full-time to apply for a graduate research assistant position. Applications may be obtained either by picking one up from the department office, or by phoning the department office at (937) 775-4451 and requesting one via FAX or e-mail.If awarded the position, the Department grants a tuition waiver and pays a bi-weekly stipend. In return, graduate research assistants work twenty hours per week during the academic year. The department chair assigns graduate research assistants to work on projects that will develop their skills in and knowledge of public administration.
Financial assistance is also available through scholarships. Scholarship information can be found in the School of Graduate Studies or in the Department of Urban Affairs and Geography.
The Faculty
All faculty have extensive service and applied research experience in public administration and urban management. The faculty serve on numerous professional boards both in the Dayton community and national professional associations in planning, policy, and public administration. The teaching philosophy of the faculty incorporates an applied approach to public learning and nonprofit management skills with an emphasis on written and oral expression. A list of affiliated faculty and their respective areas of expertise follows.
Jack L. Dustin, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Jack Dustin joined the WSU faculty in 1989. He serves as both Chair of the Department of Urban Affairs and Geography and Director of the Center for Urban and Public Affairs. This dual role keeps him active in the local community and in the statewide university system. Dr. Dustin's expertise in urban development, housing, and aiding disenfranchised segments of society combine with his interests in ethics to inform the present and future of public service. As a faculty member, Dr. Dustin typically teaches courses in research, organization change, technology, and development. He currently directs two community self-sufficiency projects and is the co-chair of the Urban Affairs Association Annual Conference for 2002 and 2003.
Jerri Killian, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Jerri Killian joined the WSU faculty in 2000. Her professional background includes extensive management experience in the high technology industry and serving as a managerial and organizational development consultant to a wide range of public and private organizations. Dr. Killian’s research interests include postbureaucratic governance, administrative ethics, organizational behavior, and the pedagogy of public administration. Courses taught by Dr. Killian include Organizational Theory and Management Behavior, Public Service Ethics, Human Resource Management, and Leadership. Dr. Killian is a frequent presenter at the national ASPA and Teaching in Public Administration conferences and has been published in the Journal of Public Affairs Education. She is currently co-editing a book addressing conflict management in the public sector for Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Kenneth Lowrey, M.S., Lecturer
Mr. Lowrey has an M.S. in Geography from Southern Illinois University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from The University of Cincinnati. He teaches Comparative Studies in Non-Western Environments, Principles of Physical Geography, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and World Regional Geography. His research interests include Urban Housing in the United States and Geographic Information Systems.
Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D., Professor
Mary Ellen Mazey joined the WSU faculty in 1979 and is currently serving as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. She obtained her Ph.D. from University of Cincinnati and her M.A. and B.A from West Virginia University. Dr. Mazey's research interests include economic development, facilitative leadership, university/community partnerships, and regionalism. She teaches courses in Introduction to Administration, Public Planning, Strategic Planning, Regionalism, Community Development, Urban Leadership. Dr. Mazey has been published in the following journals: The Regionalist, National Civic Review,Metropolitan Universities: An International Forum, and Journal of Urban Affairs. In addition, she is the co-author of Her Space, Her Place: The Geography of Women published by the American Association of Geographers. Dr. Mazey has also presented over 20 papers at various conferences, and is a member of the Editorial Boards for Journal of Urban Affairs, The Regionalist, Metropolitan Universities: An International Forum and is the Symposium Editor for Urban Resources and National Civic Review.
Kenji Oshiro, Ph.D., Professor
Dr. Oshiro obtained his Ph.D. University of Washington in 1972. He teaches courses in Geography, Asian Studies, and Regional Studies. Served as chair of the Department of Geography. Dr. Oshiro is the Director of the East-Asian Section of the American Association of Geographers and he has received two Fulbright Senior Scholar Awards. His research interests and areas of scholarship include urban and agricultural land use, and development policy and urban development in Japan.
William J. Pammer, Jr., Ph.D., Professor
Dr. Pammer joined the WSU faculty in 1986. He is the Director of the Master of Public Administration program. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma; M.A. from the University of Akron; and B.A. from SUNY at Stony Brook. Dr. Pammer's research interests include Economic Development and Sustainability, Program Evaluation, Conflict Management, and Policy Analysis. The courses he teaches at WSU include: Introduction to Public Administration, Environment of Public Administration, Research Methods, Quantitative Aids for Public Managers, Policy Analysis, Budgeting, Fiscal Administration, Introduction to Urban Affairs, and Public Administration Capstone Course (Service Learning Based). Dr. Pammer has been published in the following journals: Public Administration Quarterly, State and Local Government Review, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Pediatrics, Public Productivity and Management Review, Review of Black Political Economy, Management Science and Policy Analysis, and Social Science Quarterly. He is also the author of Managing Financial Strain in Major American Cities: Understanding Retrenchment in the Public Sector, published by Greenwood Press and is currently co-editing a Book with Jerri Killian entitled Handbook of Conflict Management, which will be published by Marcel-Dekker in 2003. He has also presented over 25 papers at various conferences, such as American Society for Public Administration Conference, Southeast Conference on Public Administration, Annual Teaching Conference on Public Administration, and Urban Affairs Association Meetings. In addition, Dr. Pammer is a member of the Editorial Board of Public Administration Quarterly and Symposium Editor for both State and Local Government Review and Public Administration Quarterly.
Jennifer Subban, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Jennifer Subban joined the WSU faculty in 2001. She holds a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and a Ph.D. in Urban Studies, both from the University of New Orleans. Prior to assuming her current position at Wright State, Dr. Subban served as Assistant Director of the International Project for Nonprofit Leadership where her work involved developing a nonprofit leadership concentration for an MPA program, training local nonprofit agencies, program development and project management. She also directed a Family Literacy program that focused on building community capacity and served as a consultant on evaluation and research projects. Dr. Subban’s research and scholarship interests include literacy as a catalyst for community development, and issues of race, culture, and gender in community development and the nonprofit sector. During the 2001-02 academic year, Dr. Subban will teach courses on Collaboration, Managing Volunteer Organizations, Poverty and Welfare Reform, Managing Nonprofit Organizations and Urban Public Policy Analysis. Dr. Subban has made academic presentations at national and international conferences and her most recent publication is a book chapter in Gendering the City: Women, Boundaries, and Visions of Urban Life.
Mary Wenning, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Wenning joined the faculty at WSU in 1999. She obtained a Ph.D., an M.R.C.P. and a B.S.S.W. all from The Ohio State University. She is also the Campus Director of American Humanics Program and Project Coordinator for WSU Women's Research Network. Dr. Wenning's research interests include housing and community development, policy analysis, and women's issues. The courses she has taught at WSU include: Planning, Introduction to Urban Affairs, Public Personnel Management, Urban Policy Analysis, Housing, Community Development, and Urban Affairs Internship. Dr. Wenning has been published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Planning Literature. In addition, she has presented papers at various conferences including: the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conferences (various years) and the American Association of Geographers Conference 2000.
225 Millett Hall
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton, OH 45435
(937) 775 2941
Fax: (937) 775-2422
