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Public Administration and Policy

Doctoral Program Minor

The Ph.D. Program Director and the faculty of the School of Public Administration and Policy (SPAP) have developed and approved the following requirements for doctoral students in other departments who wish to have a SPAP minor:

  1. Students must complete four courses (12 credit units) in SPAP and receive a final grade in each course of either ‘A’ or ‘B.’  Students must take at least two of the following three SPAP doctoral seminars: History of Public Management Research (PA 696f), Theory of Management and Organization (MGMT 580b), and Public Policy Seminar (PA 595g).  The third and fourth courses comprising the minor can be any graduate level PA course (excluding MPA core courses except by special permission of the instructor, since these are restricted to MPA students), including the remaining PhD doctoral seminar as mentioned above.  Choice of the third and fourth courses in the minor are subject to approval by the student’s primary minor advisor and should be consistent with the student’s minor focus and interests.  Alternatives to the above mix of courses may occasionally be made under unusual circumstances, but only with the approval of the director of the School’s doctoral program and the student’s primary minor advisor.  In no cases can less than four, 3-credit courses count as a SPAP minor.
     
  2. Two SPAP faculty members must agree to serve as the student’s minor committee.  One of these faculty members will serve as the student’s primary advisor.  This agreement must be in writing, consistent with Graduate College regulations.
     
  3. SPAP minors must take a written, comprehensive exam after completing all minor course work.  Students must submit a written request to sit for the exam and both committee members must give their approval.  Exceptions regarding timing of the exam can be made if necessary, to satisfy requirements of the student’s major and upon approval by the minor committee.  However, the earliest a student can sit for the minor exam is after first fully completing 3 courses (including the two required doctoral seminars), and then, only during the last half of the semester in which the fourth course is being taken.  The content of the uncompleted course can be included on the exam.
     
  4. The content of the exam will be comprehensive and draw on the body of knowledge covered in the student’s minor course work.  The exam will typically consist of two or three essay questions and will be approximately 4 hours in length.
     
  5. The SPAP faculty exercises its option to waive the minor field qualifying exam required by any student’s major department in the first or second semester of the student’s residence. (see the current Graduate Catalog).

For additional information, please contact us.

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