What do a social worker, a highway engineer, a nonprofit agency director and a police officer have in common? All have been part of the University of Delaware's Master of Public Administration (MPA) Mid-Career Option.
Designed so that busy professionals can earn the MPA in just three and a half years, this accelerated, part-time program is recruiting mid career students for the fall 1999 semester. Because the program admits students every other year, the next class will not enter until the fall of 2001.
With flexible scheduling and concentrated year-round courses, the Mid-Career Option is structured so that students who enroll for September 1999 will be ready to graduate by the end of 2002, with a nationally accredited master's degree.
The MPA is the standard professional degree is for anyone whose career is in public or nonprofit management -- much as the MBA is for those pursuing careers in business.
Students typically have included government officials, nonprofit managers and private sector employees from MBNA and Conectiv, as well as homemakers preparing to reenter the professional workforce. Their undergraduate majors have ranged from music education to mechanical engineering. Some enter to advance their career opportunities; others to make a midlife career change.
"The Mid-Career Option offers a well-rounded set of courses that allow for considerable flexibility in choosing a specialization, and extensive interaction with other practitioners which has proven very valuable and enlightening," James Peffley, cash and debt manager for the Delaware State Housing Authority, said.
The Mid-Career Option curriculum was developed for those with at least five years of professional experience. Programs can be tailored to meet individual needs. There are seven core courses designed to improve students' skills in strategic planning, decision making, managing people, money and programs. Students may pursue one of seven formal areas of specialization: State and Local Management, Community Development and Nonprofit Leadership, Human Resources Management, Fiscal and Resource Management, Health Policy and Administration, Environment and Energy [Policy] and International Development Policy, or may, with faculty assistance, develop their own specialization where appropriate courses are available.
Alice Winn, a former Virginia state employee who was a homemaker and MPA student, said, "The Mid-Career Option offered me a way to resume my education while continuing to pursue my volunteer and community service activities. With two children in elementary school, I felt it was important to be actively involved in their classrooms and was looking for a program that offered flexibility in scheduling. The Mid-Career Option was perfect! Evening classes have provided an avenue for personal growth and have made juggling the demands of work and family eminently do-able."
According to arts administrator Elaine Brenchley, "The Mid-Career cohort brings a rich variety of professional backgrounds and perspectives which contribute immensely to the classroom experience. The faculty are outstanding, not just for their impressive credentials, but for their extraordinary ability to draw the best possible performance from their students."
Prospective students should apply to the MPA program by July 15. Some scholarship help is available. Interested individuals should call Deborah Auger, program coordinator, or Jeffrey Raffel, director of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, for more information at (302) 831-1687.
The program is offered through the University's School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy in the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy.
-Laura Overturf, AS '99