Public administration” is a term Woodrow Wilson coined in 1887 to distinguish the stable, ongoing operation of government from the political dynamics of government. Of more than 150 million people in the U.S. work force, roughly 20 million work in government (mostly at local levels) and another 10 million work in the nonprofit sector. Our families, friends and neighbors make up this public service work force. They help our towns run smoothly, regulate banking across the state, manage hospitals and group homes, monitor environmental dangers, and much more.
These jobs are set in the grit of the real world and exist to benefit the public rather than create profit. In higher education, public administration degree programs instill concepts, skills and an ethical foundation that enable students to provide more professional and effective public service. The University of Maine has offered generations of Maine students undergraduate and graduate degree programs in this field.
The university’s administration is considering dropping these degree programs as a cost-cutting measure, but UMaine’s faculty Senate has taken a different position. After reviewing the record and holding a public hearing earlier this month, the faculty senate last Wednesday recommended unanimously to President Robert Kennedy that the university continue its graduate and undergraduate programs in public administration.
Education for public service careers has distinct requirements and expectations not addressed through other academic disciplines. For example, although business administration and political science contribute to aspects of public administration education, they leave critical gaps. Political science probes such things as democratic theory, campaigns and elections, and the legislative process rather than sustainable economic development and technology impact on public services. Business courses emphasize profit-driven decisions and domination of competitors rather than the public good, regional cooperation and transparency.
UMaine’s public administration department is small, with four faculty members and a cooperating faculty member from another discipline. Through it, the university offers a bachelor of arts, or BA, degree in public management and a master of public administration, or MPA, degree. It is also a strong player in the university’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D., or I.Ph.D., program. The public management undergraduate program began 65 years ago, making it the oldest in the nation.
UMaine’s MPA is the only degree program in the state with continuing accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration and was among the first programs to earn this accreditation. It is a destination for Fulbright scholars. The MPA program operates in Orono and Augusta, including classes at the State Office Building adjacent to the Capitol and, through videoconferencing, at the University of Maine at Augusta campus and other sites across the state.
Whether midcareer or just beginning public service, many public administration students undertake classroom projects of value to the state, a community, or a nonprofit organization. Their projects range from hospital staffing forecasts to analyses of community transportation needs, from coordinating municipal comprehensive plans to examining landfill practices, from analyzing donation patterns for a nonprofit organization to constructing environmental hazard risk-assessment tools and assessing the effect of grant programs. These students are dedicated to their fellow Mainers and their careers here in public service.
President Kennedy and Provost Susan Hunter formed a working group last spring to recommend cuts and priorities “aligned with state needs and global realities in the early 21st century.” This is a commendable goal, and our higher education systems are under legitimate pressure to reduce spending while bolstering quality. That said, eliminating public administration degrees for UMaine’s students is false economy for the short-term as well as the long-term.
The university’s public administration programs cost little as part of its investment in academic programs. But, for the people of Maine, the payoff is huge because the public sector affects everyone, everyday.
Let’s foster — not discard — public service education for students at the University of Maine.
Kenneth Nichols is professor of public administration at the University of Maine and president of Pi Alpha Alpha, the national honor society for public affairs and administration. He is co-author of “Organization Theory: A Public and Nonprofit Perspective.”