MAJOR IN PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION
The Major in Public Service and Administration (PSA) seeks to provide undergraduate students with an interdisciplinary course of study to:
- Reflect on the long tradition of public service both in the United States and abroad.
- Engage critically with the scholarly literature in the field.
- Examine historical and modern-day examples of public service leadership.
- Equip them with the relevant competencies and skills to lead and serve as ethical, intelligent, inclusive and creative leaders in public service organizations, from nonprofit organizations, to local, state and federal government, as well as the private sector.
EXPLORE THE MAJOR
For the PSA major, students take 21 credits of required courses, which cover topics like public administration, public policy, public budgeting and organizational development.
One of these required courses is a research methods course, which introduces students to quantitative and qualitative methods for conducting meaningful inquiry and research on how to solve the complex public problems facing public servants in the United States and abroad.
Vocation of Public Service is the major’s capstone course, which invites students to envision public service as a means of self-expression through which they discover meaning and purpose in their lives by promoting the common good as well as forging and developing the bonds of community among a body of diverse people. The course’s capstone project is the development of a three-year personal strategic plan.
Students may choose from nine credits of elective courses, six credits of which may be electives taken outside the major which have been approved by the Department.
Public Administration Careers
A Public Service and Administration degree can lead to successful careers in federal, state and local government, the nonprofit sector, as well as in the private sector.