U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

The MDCs have established partnerships with two prominent universities that support our commitment to leadership development. Our partnerships are intended to provide our graduates with enhanced opportunities to join with their colleagues from other public agencies-Federal, state and local-as well as those from the nonprofit sector, in advanced degree programs designed for:

• Public or nonprofit sector executives who seek the opportunity to engage in structured studies in public management and policy
• Senior professionals contemplating a career change who can benefit from acquiring an advanced degree
• Managers on the verge of promotion into senior ranks who wish to enhance their analytic, managerial and leadership skills

University of Colorado/U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Executive Master of Public Administration Program
The Executive Master of Public Administration Program (Executive MPA) is the result of a unique partnership between the University of Colorado's School of Public Affairs (SPA) and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Management Development Centers: the Western Management Development Center (WMDC) in Aurora, Colorado and the Eastern Management Development Center (EMDC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

The Executive MPA program requires 36 semester hours of credit. Students should begin their program with the "Leadership Assessment Program - Level 2" seminar (2 credit hours) at the WMDC. The other required WMDC course is the "Executive Development Seminar: Leading Change" (4 credit hours), which is best taken when the student nears completion of the program.

Students must then select four courses from among the six core courses offered by SPA (for a total of 12 credit hours). The core courses include:

• Introduction to Public Administration and Public Service (Required Course)
• Organizational Management and Change
• Information and Analytic Methods
• Economics and Public Finance
• The Policy Process and Democracy
• Leadership and Professional Ethics

These courses may be taken on-line, or for students who live in Colorado, they may be taken at one of SPA's sites (Denver or Colorado Springs).

Students also take five elective courses (15 credit hours), which may be selected from the offerings at either the Western Management Development Center or Eastern Western Management Development Center or from SPA. Since students must take at least 18 units of their coursework at SPA, at least one of the five electives must be taken at SPA. The balance of credits can be from the WMDC, or from a combination of WMDC courses and transfer credits from other programs. Note: the maximum transfer credit that students can bring in to the Executive MPA program is 9 credit hours, i.e., if the units are taken at a NASPAA-accredited master's program. At or very near the end of their program, students participate in an Advanced Seminar (3 credit hours), also referred to as the "capstone."

Most students take approximately two to two-and-a-half years to complete the degree program.

For more information please contact Cynthia Dewey at cynthia.dewey@opm.gov or 303-671-1020.

American University in Washington, DC
American University's Key Executive Leadership MPA Program is a 36-credit graduate degree program designed for busy professionals at or above the GS-13 level. Key courses cover all ECQs required for Senior Executive Service (SES) consideration.

The Key MPA is the only NASPAA-accredited executive MPA in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks the School of Public Affairs at American University 10th in the nation and the Master of Public Administration program 8th in the nation.

Students who wish to reduce their Key credit load by 6 credits must transfer 9 OPM credits (earned prior to or during the Key program) from the following OPM courses:

• Crisis Leadership Workshop;
• Dynamics of Public Policy Seminar;
• Environmental Policy Issues Seminar;
• Executive Development Seminar;
• Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes Seminar;
• Natural Resources Policy and Issues Seminar;
• Science, Technology and Public Policy Seminar;
• Management Development Seminar;
• FEI, Leadership for a Democratic Society; and
• FEI, Applied Leadership for a Democratic Society.

For application information, contact Jacqueline McLaughlin Linde, Assistant Dean, Marketing, Admissions & Outreach, School of Public Affairs, American University, at (202) 885-6248 or linde@american.edu. Learn more about the program or apply online at http://spa.american.edu/key/ .

Many courses offered by the MDCs are certified by the American Council on Education (ACE) for college or graduate credit. The credit hours vary depending on the length and content of the course. ACE serves as a registry for students to collect ACE-certified course credits for nontraditional training courses. After paying a one-time fee to establish a transcript with ACE, students can use ACE to collect and maintain a permanent record of classes and credits. The ACE transcript is accepted for transfer credit at most universities, depending on specific degree programs. The transcript also serves as an easy way for degreed participants to document continuous learning.

In keeping with our commitment to continuous learning to foster informed and creative leadership in the Federal Service, the MDCs offer several ways to turn your quality educational experiences with us into graduate-level university credit toward an advanced degree.

Seminar	Undergrad Lower	Undergrad Upper	Graduate
Crisis Leadership Workshop	-	2	2
Dynamics of Public Policy	-	3	3
Environmental Policy Issues	-	3	3
Executive Communications Workshop	-	2	-
Executive Development Seminar: Leading Change	-	-	4
Executive Development Seminar: Leading Change (Blended)	-	-	4
Facilitative Leadership Seminar	-	2	-
Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes	-	3	3
Homeland Defense: Critical Infrastructure Protection	-	2	-
Homeland Defense: Understanding the Enemy	-	2	-
Leadership Assessment Program	-	2	2
Leadership Communications Workshop	2	-	-
Leadership Potential Seminar	-	-	3
Leadership Skills for Non-Supervisors and Non-Managers	3	-	-
Leadership for a Democratic Society	-	-	12
Management Development Seminar	-	3	3
Project Management Principles	-	2	-
Science, Technology, and Public Policy	-	3	3
Seminar for New Managers: Leading People	-	3	3
Seminar for New Managers: Leading People (Blended)	-	3	3
Supervisory Leadership Seminar (Split Program) - Week 1: Supervision	2	2	2
Supervisory Leadership Seminar ( Split Program) - Week 2: Leadership	2	2	2
Team Building and Team Leadership	-	3	-
Women’s Leadership Seminar	-	-	2

Offered by: EMDC, WMDC