GSPA

PAD 599, Course Syllabus PAD 599, Field Study in Public Administration

The following is a list of the requirements for PAD 599, Field Study in Public Administration, and field work in PAD 960, Independent Study in Public Administration. The list is not exclusive but gives a good outline of the field experience. Inte rnships are required of all students except those having the equivalent of six months full-time, administrative-level responsibility in one or more of the following areas is a public or nonprofit organization: budgeting, personnel management, policy analy sis, or supervision.

1. The field experience is at a responsible administrative, not solely technical, level in a public or nonprofit organization, depending on the student's career goals.

2. The time commitment is at least 150 hours of field work in addition to the time involved in preparation of papers. The work may be done in one semester or over a longer period.

3. Three short papers of about 5-7 typed, double spaced pages will be prepared, as described below.

a. The first paper should be submitted within three weeks of beginning the field work. It describes the organization's function and structure, outlines the student's duties, and offers preliminary observations about relevant topics of interest dra wn from the student's coursework. Examples include: decision-making processes, leadership styles, budgeting techniques, political milieu, organizational effectiveness, etc.

b. The second paper should be submitted in the middle of the work period. It documents progress of the student's work, updates observations made in the first paper, and presents new issues or questions of interest.

c. The third paper should be submitted at the conclusion of the field work. It brings the earlier discussions to a close, draws conclusions about the organization, and assesses the value of the field experience for the student.

4. It is the student's responsibility to meet the host agency's expectations in a professional and responsible manner and to inform the internship coordinator of any problems or concerns about the field experience.

5. Students with substantial public or nonprofit experience which is not administrative in nature ( a general guide would be three or more years full-time responsible, professional experience) may choose to complete the field experience or may choo se and alternative to fulfill the internship requirement. This alternative also involves enrollment in PAD 599, but instead of field work, the student prepares a major paper (20 - 30 pages in length, in academic style). The paper describes and analyzes important elements of the student's workplace environment in relation to topics such as those listed in 3a above.

Following approval of this alternative by the internship coordinator, the student prepares an outline of the paper for approval by the coordinator. Work may begin on the paper when the outline or a revised version is approved.

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