Public Service Administraion

The College of Business , Humanities and Sciences offers an interdisciplinary major in Public Service Administration. The degree in public service provides career training for students desiring research and administrative positions involving the prevention, processing, and solution of social and economic problems. While the student obtains a basic background in the various social sciences, further competence is enhanced through the choice of restricted electives. Each student will participate in a unique semester-long supervised practicum internship in which the student gains academic credit for work experience in a cooperating government, public/ private agency, firm or economic development office.

Restricted electives must be selected from courses in human services (code HUMS), ACCT- 345, ACCT-202, economics, labor studies, political science, psychology, sociology, or with approval of the adviser, can consist of an 18-hour minor in any additional field in the College of Business, Humanities and Sciences. The college offers minors in human resources administration, economics, political science, business administration, and sociology. With careful planning, a student may minor in two of these without taking additional hours. In addition, the student may use general and restricted electives and obtain a strong concentration in law, taking ECON-345 Labor Law and ECON-346 Interpreting Labor Agreements. A student completing the first two years of the program will meet the requirements for the Associate of Arts degree in General Studies.

Public Service Administration majors also have a choice of a track in Community Economic Development, Non-Profit Administration, Construction Administration, Law and Legal Services Administration, and Criminal Justice Administration as noted elsewhere in the catalog.

Program Learning Outcomes

In addition to the general education learning outcomes listed elsewhere in the catalog, this program has the following specific outcomes.

1. To prepare students for management positions in government agencies.
2. To offer students the opportunity to develop skills needed for the quickly growing notfor- profit sectors.
3. To provide students a broad liberal arts background so that they can adapt to the changing job requirements of the public agencies.
4. To give students interest in graduate school in public administration or political science sufficient academic preparation for such career options.