The Department’s Mission

1. To prepare students for productive, fulfilling careers in public and nonprofit administration - particularly in the dynamics of state and local government.
2. To promote an understanding and appreciation of the functions and value of government in society.
3. To contribute to the improvement of governance and societal institutions.

M.P.A. Program

The Department offers the Master of Public Administration degree, a professional degree designed for persons pursuing or intending to pursue careers in governmental, nonprofit, and other public service organizations. The M.P.A. program is offered on a full- and part-time basis on the Orono campus and on an evening part-time basis in Augusta and includes summer course offerings.

The program has particular strength in the area of state and local governmental administration, which is an outgrowth of its commitment of service to Maine state government and to the approximately 200 communities in Maine employing town and city managers. It is one of the largest M.P.A. programs in northern New England. A member of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), the program is one of only approximately 150 accredited M.P.A. programs in the country.

Admission Requirements

As prerequisites for regular admission to the program, candidates for the M.P.A. must have completed an introductory course or its equivalent in American government, statistics and economics. Students who lack one or more of these prerequisites may be admitted on a provisional basis.

Students are accepted for admission on a rolling admission basis. Students seeking research or teaching assistantships, however, must apply by February. The Department has 3 teaching assistantships and other scholarships and internships are available throughout The University of Maine. Contact the Graduate School for details.

Healthcare Administration Certificate

Students may also obtain a healthcare administration certificate in conjunction with their degree. The certificate includes courses from Business, Social Work, Nursing and Public Administration.

Research and Practice

The public administration faculty maintains continuing working relationships with practitioners in the field, through the Maine Municipal Association, Maine Town and City Management Association, Maine Hospital Association, Maine State government, the Maine Bond Bank, Maine Police Chiefs Association, Maine Sheriffs Association, Department of Public Safety. Faculty members engage in research with these groups as well as undertaking projects with individual communities and state agencies. Students and faculty are also active in the American Society for Public Administration. Practitioners periodically join the resident faculty in offering courses in their areas of expertise. Students in appropriate graduate seminars are encouraged to take part in research projects of concern to public organizations and officials in Maine, the New England Region, and across the United States and Canada.

The public administration program also maintains a cooperative relationship with asso-ciated graduate faculty members in the departments of Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Communication and Journalism, Resource Economics and Policy, the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work, and the Educational Leadership Program.

Additional information is available from the Director of Graduate Programs in Public Administration, 5754 North Stevens Hall, (207) 581-1887. E-mail: UmPubAdm@umit.maine.edu, and on the internet at www.umaine.edu/pubadmin/.

Graduate Faculty

G. Thomas Taylor, Ph.D. (Colorado, 1973), Professor, and Department Chair. Municipal government, local public management, urban public policy, sub-state regionalism, and community planning and development.

Carolyn Ball, Ph.D. (Purdue University, 1990), Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Public Administration. Human resource management, public management, labor relations, public policy, and methodology.

James F. Horan, Ph.D. (Connecticut, 1972), Professor. American political institutions, labor management relations, comparative government and administration, higher education administration, and public affairs.

Edward B. Laverty, Ph.D. (State University of New York, Albany, 1980), Associate Professor. Environmental policy, implementation, policy analysis and evaluation, administrative law and the regulatory process, and bureaucratic politics.

Kenneth L. Nichols, DPA (George Mason University, 1993), Associate Professor. Information technology and public policy, methods of analysis, strategic planning, and futuristics.

Cooperating Faculty

Mark Jackson, M.D. (Boston University, 1979), Director of Cutler Health Center. Healthcare and human service administration, and public administration, total quality management in healthcare, occupational safety and health administration.

Michel Lahti, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 1998), Visiting Instructor, Muskie School of Public Service, Institute for Public Sector Innovation, University of Southern Maine. Research design, program evaluation, research methods, performance measurement in government-nonprofit sectors.

Marie-Christine Therrien, Ph.D. (Ecole des Mines de Paris, 1999), Visiting Assistant Professor of Business and Public Administration. Crisis management, organization learning, decision making and security, organization and management.