Going beyond study abroad: An introduction to United States and Chinese joint undergraduate degree programs in public affairs education

ABSTRACT

Public administration has continued to see the international increase on the graduate level and is beginning to have an increasing interest at the undergraduate level. This article focuses specifically on the development of US-Chinese joint undergraduate degree programs in public affairs education. Joint degree programs are a step beyond study abroad, because they are generally not limited to a semester or two of work at any particular institution. Joint degree programs involve institutional agreements that allow students and faculty to take and teach classes at partner institution over the entire span of a student’s time in an undergraduate program. This article highlights the different types of joint degrees institutions can implement and items they should consider prior to beginning any joint degree. While this article focuses on China specifically there is information on programs broadly that will apply to any program considering joint undergraduate degrees in public affairs education.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• undergraduate
• international
• collaboration; China; joint degree programs

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Madinah F. Hamidullah

Madinah F. Hamidullah, PhD is an Associate Research Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University, Newark. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance and Political Science and Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. Her research interests include generational differences in the public-sector workforce; undergraduate education, public management; organizational performance; and executive leadership succession. Her research has appeared in Public Organization Review, American Review of Public Administration, Administration & Society, and the International Journal of Public Sector Management and she is author of Managing the Next Generation of Public Workers (Routledge).

Mauricio Astudillo-Rodas

Mauricio Astudillo Rodas is a Graduate Fellow and Ph.D. Student in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University, Newark. His research interests include administrative burden, transparency, and human resource management. Prior to joining the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Mauricio was the Process Development Advisor for the Resilience Office of Cali, Colombia (100 Resilient Cities -Rockefeller Foundation-). He also worked in the Municipal Government of Cali where he was finally appointed as Deputy Director of the Department of City Planning. While studying for his Masters, he worked in Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) on a multiyear research project in which he helped to define a model of strategic human resource management for the Colombian public sector. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy and bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Business Administration.