Main Departmental Office
Chilton Hall, Room 204
Mailing address:
1155 Union Circle #310617
Denton, TX 76203-5017
940-565-2165
Fax: 940-565-4466
E-mail: phdpadm@unt.edu
Web site: www.padm.unt.edu
Robert L. Bland, Co-MPA Program Coordinator
Abraham D. Benavides, Co-MPA Program Coordinator
Amy Thompson, Internship Coordinator
Brian Collins, PhD Program Coordinator
Graduate Faculty: Andrew, Arlikatti, Benavides, Bland, Collins, Dicke, Kendra, Krueger, Maghelal, McEntire.
The Department of Public Administration offers a graduate program leading to the following degrees:
The faculty in the Department of Public Administration pursue an active research program that focuses on policy and administrative issues of concern to government. The department maintains an emphasis on issues of concern to city and county management, including economic development and growth management, executive recruitment, personnel management, municipal debt acquisition, health policy and administration, emergency and disaster planning, county government organization and management, state government administration, career paths of city managers, intergovernmental management, public/private partnerships, city managers as policy-makers, capital spending for infrastructure, and property tax policy and administration.
Books authored, co-authored or edited by the faculty include Disaster Response Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience; A Revenue Guide for Local Government; Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism with an Emergency Management Perspective; Texas Politics; Budgeting: A Guide for Local Government; and The Effective Local Government Manager.
The department’s research is supported by grants from within the university as well as grants and contracts with local and federal government, other universities and professional associations. The department also supports the Center for Public Management, which provides contract research, training and technical assistance to local governments throughout Texas and the Southwest, and occasionally provides part-time employment opportunities for qualified graduate students.
More than 1,000 alumni of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program work in the public sector as well as the private and nonprofit sectors. The curriculum in the MPA program emphasizes a combination of courses and practical experience leading to entry-level management positions for students beginning their professional careers and job advancement for students already in government service. All faculty members have professionally relevant experience and are involved with a number of professional associations.
Current information may be obtained by accessing the department’s web site at www.unt.edu/padm.
The MPA degree at the University of North Texas is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) (1029 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005; 202-628-8965). The curriculum conforms to NASPAA standards.
Graduates of the MPA program enter a wide range of careers in government and the nonprofit sector, and, to a lesser extent, in business. The greatest employment opportunities are in city and county government, primarily because of faculty ties and an extensive alumni network in management positions. A growing number of graduates, however, serve in state and federal government, and in nonprofit organizations. A few serve in administrative positions in other countries. Graduates of the MPA program at UNT work in management positions in such areas as city management, disaster and emergency response, budgeting and finance, human resources, utilities, planning, public safety and public works, evaluation and auditing, and in administrative positions in such nonprofit organizations as Habitat for Humanity, chambers of commerce and the United Way.
Students without prior government experience are required, in most cases, to complete an internship for which they receive 3 hours of credit. The department assists students in locating internship positions as well as full-time employment.
All general admission requirements to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies, as outlined elsewhere in this bulletin, must be fulfilled, including Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and grade point requirements. Application must first be made to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies through the office of the graduate dean. Once the student is admitted to the graduate school, the application will be reviewed by the department for admission to the MPA program. Applications to the MPA program are reviewed throughout the year.
The Master of Public Administration program uses a holistic review process for reviewing applications for admission. The application packet includes official transcripts for all college work (from which a grade point average is computed), GRE scores (verbal, quantitative and analytical writing), three letters of recommendation from persons capable of evaluating the applicant’s potential for graduate study, an essay describing the applicant’s career objectives and explaining how an MPA degree will help achieve those objectives, and a current resume.
A minimum of 42 hours of graduate credit for pre-career students is required. For students with up to three years of full-time management experience at the time of admission, the number of required hours is reduced to 39; for students with more than three years of mid-level managerial experience, 36 hours of graduate credit are required. These program length requirements are distributed as follows:
1. 24 hours of required course work in public administration;
2. a 3-hour internship for most pre-career students (the 3 hours of intern credit is not available to those in the 39- or 36-hour programs); and
3. the remaining hours selected from a variety of electives or as part of a specialization appropriate to the student’s interests. Specializations supported by the MPA program include local government management, emergency management, financial management, nonprofit management, and personnel management.
In addition to the course requirements, students must pass a written comprehensive examination or an oral examination in conjunction with a master’s thesis defense. Students selecting the written examination option must take an examination covering the core courses and areas included in the MPA degree program. The examination may be taken after completion of 30 hours of course work. Students selecting the thesis option must complete 36 hours of course work plus a master’s thesis for which 6 hours of credit will be granted. For pre-career students completing a thesis, a public service internship is required and the degree program is extended to 48 hours. The thesis option is especially appropriate for students planning to pursue a doctorate after completing the MPA.
Curriculum options are adapted to the needs of both pre-career and in-career students. Additional program information is contained in the MPA Student Handbook. The student is responsible for obtaining a copy of the document from this department and for knowing its contents.
A number of financial assistance programs are available to students in the MPA program. Each year the department awards to entering MPA students up to five Hatton W. Sumners Fellowships, each of which provides a $12,000 stipend paid over 16 months plus $8,000 toward tuition. For the first 12 months of their appointment, Sumners Scholars work 10 hours each week as research assistants for a faculty member. Other financial assistance available to students includes Alumni Scholarships worth up to $2,000 each for tuition and fees and the E. Ray Griffin Alumni Scholarship for tuition and fees. Under current rules, nonresidents of Texas receiving at least $1,000 per year in scholarships qualify for in-state tuition.
The PhD in public administration and management is designed primarily for those interested in scholarly careers as researchers and teachers. The program accepts full-time students and is structured to be completed in four years. The PhD program emphasizes theory, methods and research in the field to enable its graduates to become effective teachers and contribute to the development and dissemination of public administration knowledge. Since students entering the PhD program are expected to have satisfied the core competencies of an MPA degree, the curriculum for doctoral students emphasizes analytic tools and theoretical issues confronting the study and practice of public administration. Students specialize in one of four minor fields: emergency management, financial management, nonprofit management or urban management.
Admission to the PhD program is a two-tiered process that requires applicants to make simultaneous application to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Public Administration’s PhD program. Students must first be admitted to the Graduate School. Once admitted, students must then receive admission to the department’s PhD program. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the application process by January 15th of each year. Students can apply after this deadline, but doing so reduces access to financial assistance, and the cohort entering in the fall semester of each year is limited. Admission decisions involve a holistic review process that includes consideration of previous degrees, GPA, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, current resume, and academic writing sample. International students must also provide proof of English proficiency requirement.
There are two categories of admission to the program: unconditional and conditional. First, an applicant may receive unconditional admission to the program if the portfolio provides evidence that the applicant is highly likely to complete all requirements of the PhD program. Unconditional admission is available to students who have completed an MPA degree or the core MPA competencies as established by NASPAA. If an applicant has not completed an MPA, but is otherwise qualified, then the applicant may obtain a conditional admission. Students accepted into the program under conditional admission must complete leveling course work. In most cases, leveling course work constitutes 12 to 24 hours of course work to be completed before beginning doctoral seminars in the department. Additional information regarding admissions is available at www.padm.unt.edu.
Official transcripts and test scores must be sent directly to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies by the institution and ETS, respectively. Letters of recommendation, the resume and personal statement can be sent directly to: PhD Coordinator, Department of Public Administration; 1155 Union Circle #310617; Denton, TX 76203-5017.
The PhD program requires students to earn a minimum of 60 hours of graduate credit beyond the master’s degree or 90 hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. Required course work includes the following:
1. Core requirements in public administration and management (12 credit hours)
2. Research methods (12 credit hours and departmental exam)
3. Minor field (15 credit hours)
4. Non-dissertation research (9 hours)
5. Dissertation hours (12 hours minimum)
Once all course work (excluding dissertation hours) has been completed, the student then must pass a comprehensive qualifying examination. This consists of three sections: two written exams taken on site covering the core public administration courses, a written take-home exam in one field of specialization (offered in the PhD in public administration and management), and an oral examination. Successful completion results in the student’s admission to candidacy for the PhD degree. Students then enroll for a minimum of 12 dissertation hours.
The doctoral candidate must submit a dissertation that contributes new knowledge to the field. The dissertation is prepared under the supervision of the major professor and a committee in accordance with the guidelines of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. The topic of the dissertation is selected by the student and approved by the PhD coordinator. The student qualifies for graduation once the student has defended his or her original work before the dissertation examination committee.
A Bachelor of Science with a major in emergency administration and planning is offered at the undergraduate level (see the Undergraduate Catalog for description).
All Courses of Instruction are located in one section at the back of this catalog.
The “Course and Subject Guide,” found in the Courses of Instruction section of this book, serves as a table of contents and provides quick access to subject areas and prefixes.
Date of initial release: July 1, 2010 — Copyright © 2010 University of North Texas
Page updated:
August 27, 2010
— Comments or corrections: catalog@unt.edu
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