Seeing Clearly: Measuring Skill Sets That Address the “Blurred Boundaries” of Nonprofit Management Education

Abstract

This article offers advice to programs that seek to emphasize the nonprofit management skill sets necessary for working across the increasingly blurred boundaries of public service delivery. Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Public Policy (MPP) programs embracing the key role of nonprofits may benefit from adding a competency related to nonprofit skills to their core program competencies. We propose a list of key nonprofit skills that could be integrated into MPA/MPP program curricula, and describe an approach for how these skills could be incorporated into program-level learning and assessment plans. This could be accomplished by adding a new nonprofit competency to the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) core competencies, by incorporating the key nonprofit skills into assessments of student learning in nonprofit courses, or by including such skills in the program’s required core courses for assessment of student learning outcomes.

• Learning assessment
• nonprofit skills
• program assessment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tosha Cantrell-Bruce

Tosha Cantrell-Bruce is assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield, where she leads the Nonprofit Project in the Department of Public Administration. She received her Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She also provides evaluation services to nonprofit and state organizations as an independent consultant. Her applied research focuses on capacity assessment issues among nonprofits, and her most recent report is the statewide Illinois Nonprofit Connect, Communicate, and Collaborate Needs Assessment.

Bob Blankenberger

Bob Blankenberger is assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Springfield and was formerly deputy director of academic affairs and student success at the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He received his PhD in Public Policy Analysis and Administration from St. Louis University. He has a variety of publications, research projects, and presentations related to higher education. Recent publications include “Performance Funding in Illinois Higher Education: The Roles of Politics, Budget Environment, and Individual Actors in the Process” in Educational Policy, co-authored with Alan Phillips, and “Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment and Data Driven Policy Implementation” in the Journal of Community College Research and Practice, co-authored with Eric Lichtenberger, Allison Witt, and Doug Franklin.