Sept. 5, 2003
Programs Merge to Form New School
School of Public Policy and Public Administration Brings
Comprehensive Focus to Disciplines
By Greg
Licamele
Almost 17 years after the idea first percolated, the University now boasts
a new academic unit the School of Public Policy and Public Administration
which will guide GW as a national leader in public affairs education
and research.
Formed from existing departments and programs, the new school will provide
a cohesive banner within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS)
to attract a rapidly growing graduate student body and a bountiful collection
of research dollars for faculty and students.
I think now, for the very first time, this will position the University
as a focused player in public affairs, said Donald R. Lehman, executive
vice president for academic affairs.
Under this academic merger, the Department of Public Administration, a
bedrock of education for more than 40 years, moved from the School of
Business and Public Management (SBPM) to CCAS. The new school will offer
a masters degree in public administration and a masters degree
in public policy, as well as affiliated graduate programs in such areas
as telecommunications, philosophy and womens studies. Another key
to the new school is a revised doctoral degree in public policy and administration.
This will help us to be more visible to our competitors and attract
students, said Kathryn Newcomer, the new director of the school
and professor of public policy and public administration. They will
perceive, correctly, that GW is leveraging its resources.
These resources include a nationally recognized faculty conducting public
affairs research in areas ranging from the federal government to non-profit
management. Because of its diverse nature, the new school will have its
own core faculty, and will also draw from most schools at GW.
One major strength of the school is the caliber of the outstanding
faculty moving over to arts and sciences, Lehman said. Their
presence, side-by-side with the very productive policy faculty already
in CCAS, will make this new school work.
Of the 46 faculty members listed, more than half hold appointments in
other schools such as the Graduate School of Education and Human Development,
the School of Public Health and Health Services, and in CCAS departments
such as economics, political science, history and philosophy.
We are all very excited about having the new School of Public Policy
and Public Administration in CCAS, said William Frawley, CCAS dean.
We are already well known in policy matters generally, and have
unusual additional strengths in such areas as philosophy and public policy,
womens issues and policy, and environmental and resource policy.
I am especially happy to have faculty with such excellent research and
teaching credentials join CCAS from SBPM.
Combining resources and positioning the new school as a public affairs
leader is part of GWs larger plan for selective academic excellence,
of which public policy/public administration was chosen as a center of
strength. As part of this designation, the school received six additional
graduate assistants, salary for a research-grants manager and support
money for policy research scholars.
We are one of the seven centers of excellence within the University,
so we know we have the Universitys full support, Newcomer
said. And we are clearly the best school for study of these degrees
in the Washington, DC, area. We have more jobs and internships than we
can possibly fill for our students.
Newcomer said students will benefit from this merger because the masters
degrees will no longer be competing with each other.
We dont care which degree students choose; we want to make
sure they go in the most appropriate degree for their career objectives,
Newcomer said. We market our degrees as a package. We can consolidate
or make interesting curriculum adjustments. There are lots of ways students
will be better served.
The revised PhD program, led by Joseph Cordes, professor of economics,
public policy and public administration, and international affairs, will
combine elements of the public administration and public policy programs
into one terminal degree.
I think were all of the opinion that what we have done is
taken two degrees that were quite successful, but bringing them together
and producing a product that we think in the long run will be better,
Cordes said.
Cordes expects overall enrollment at the school to hover around 115 this
year, with about 15 students pursuing doctoral degrees and the remaining
100 split almost evenly between policy and administration.
Newcomer said applications continue to pour in to these nationally ranked
programs. For example, the masters in public policy received more
than 280 applications this year. When it began five years ago, 15 people
applied. However, Newcomer noted a new school does not necessarily equate
to increased enrollment.
We want to be very cautious and not bring in more students than
we can serve effectively, she said. Were just more competitive
and we say no to MPA and MPP students. We do not want to grow the program
unless the University provides more faculty resources.
Hal Wolman, professor of political science and of public policy and public
administration, and director of GWs Institute of Public Policy,
was part of the team over the last three years charged with establishing
the new school. He said reorganizing programs, especially across schools,
is fraught with abundant challenges, but ones that GW overcame.
I think we amazed not only ourselves, but others who have watched
the process at how successful we were in bringing this about, Wolman
said. I attribute that to the good will on the part of everyone
involved.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
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