On NASPAA Accreditation: Fred Was Right…But for the Wrong Reason

Abstract

The debate over accreditation is far from over. Forty years ago, Fred Thayer feared that complying with the standards of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) would rigidify and stultify academic training. Today the opposite threatens. Under mission-based standards, Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs can teach whatever they can justify, even if the content has little or no connection with public administration. The MPA is in jeopardy of becoming little more than a Master of Arts that teaches students about public service–minded values. We argue that standards for MPA programs should be sufficiently content-based that the degree represents a common understanding of career preparation. One way to expedite the return to the MPA’s roots is for NASPAA to link arms with the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to ensure that public administration education remains focused on advancing the enterprise of public administration.

Keywords:

• MPA accreditation
• NASPAA standards

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary E. Guy

Mary E. Guy is a professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, and is past president of the American Society for Public Administration, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, past chair of the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation, and past department head. Her research focuses on the human processes involved in public service delivery as well as on public administration in general.

Richard Stillman

Richard Stillman is professor of public administration at the University of Colorado, Denver, and from 2006 through 2011 served as editor in chief of Public Administration Review. His text Public Administration: Concepts and Cases (9th ed.) is adopted for teaching at over 400 universities and colleges, and his book Preface to Public Administration was recently ranked as the third most influential book in the field published since 1990.