The Role of Capstone Workshops in Connecting Environmental Policy Masters Students to Employer Communities

Abstract

The Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA ESP) began in 2002 to train sophisticated public managers and policymakers who apply innovative, systems-based thinking to environmental issues. Students in the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program complete a total of 54 credits over the course of an intensive twelve months. The program’s objective is to provide students with the analytic, communication, and work skills required to be problem-solving earth systems professionals. Graduates are prepared for professional careers in the roles of analyst, manager, and translator of scientific knowledge. The program’s curriculum combines in-depth understanding of the issues of environmental sustainability policy with the traditional analytic and conceptual skills of a master of public administration (MPA) program. Two fundamental insights shape this master’s program: the realization that institutional, social, and economic processes interconnect to both sustain and endanger the planet and the need for professionals who can maintain the health of this interconnected system. Only by combining an understanding of earth systems issues with management strategies will it be possible to cope with the threats to planetary sustainability