Bringing the 21st-Century Governance Paradigm to Public Affairs Education: Reimagining How We Teach What We Teach

Effective governance in the 21st-century demands a different set of competencies than prior generations, with greater emphasis on collaborative leadership, global intercultural competence, and the ability to respond nimbly to rapidly changing circumstances. Many public affairs programs have changed curriculum content to place greater emphasis on these topics. Given the extent to which such changes are altering how public issues are defined, how policies are adopted, and how programs and services are delivered as much as what those problems, policies, and programs are, then how we teach is arguably as important as what we teach. This article argues that current and future public administrators will be better prepared to work effectively across international and intercultural differences, respond to uncertainties and change, and transform traditional hierarchical silos of government bureaucracies into collaborative shared-power networks if faculty and programs model those forms of decision making and inclusion

Promoting social equity, diversity, and inclusion through accreditation: comparing national and international standards for public affairs programs in Latin America

Purpose – Given widespread acceptance of the importance of addressing social inequalities in Latin America and the critical role that public policy and public administration can have on advancing these goals, this paper examines the extent to which accreditation of public affairs education programs can be a tool to advance those goals. Design/methodology/approach – International and national accreditation standards are compared using content analysis for their reference to social equity and diversity in their standards regarding faculty, students, curriculum content, and learning outcomes. The research applies content analysis of key documents and thematic coding. Findings – International accrediting agencies focused explicitly on programs in public affairs place a much greater emphasis on social equity and diversity than their national counterparts which accredit a full range of programs and institutions. National accrediting agencies assert the value of diversity, but their standards and reporting requirements suggest otherwise. Research limitations/implications – The research suggests that international accreditation standards have the potential to advance social equity goals more effectively than national standards and that there is great potential to enhance this component of national accreditation standards. Implications for policy makers, accreditation professionals, and scholars are identified. Originality/value – The research is original in its focus on the role of accreditation in promoting social equity and its comparison of national and international standards. Although limited to Latin America and public affairs programs, the research provides a basis for examining similar patterns with respect to other disciplines and professions, and in other regions of the world

Preparing Public Service Professionals for a Diverse and Changing Workforce and Citizenry: Evaluating the Progress of NASPAA Programs in Competency Assessment

This paper examines the self-reported progress of public service degree programs in NASPAA for defining, measuring, and assessing student learning outcomes as they relate to the “ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce.” The analysis is placed in the context of the need for cultural competencies among public administration professionals and the evolution of this accreditation standard. Using data drawn from accreditation records, we first present an exploratory qualitative analysis of how programs are defining this competency over time and how progress on this competency relates to progress on competency assessment generally and to other measures of program diversity. We interpret all findings in the context of two broad goals: to provide an accurate assessment of program progress and to provide useful information to programs seeking to develop their competency definitions and assessment