Public Affairs 7980: MPA-DC Capstone

The course contributes to all Glenn College Master’s Program Goals and the following objectives in the policy and management streams:

Policy stream (advanced level):

• Apply the context of the public policy process to problem solving
• Understand the legal foundations of policy and management in the public sector
• Impact of the policy process to advance the public interest
• Draw connections between public problems, goals, public programs, outputs, and outcomes
• Apply knowledge of the historical foundations of public affairs in appropriate contexts

Management stream (intermediate level):

• Manage and lead public organizations towards policy goals
• Understand public organizations as a unit of analysis
• Identify and manage external/ environmental challenges to organization performance
• Identify and manage internal challenges to organization performance

Upon completion of the course, students will understand how:

• to be thoughtful analysts of the federal policy environment
• federal managers operate in a complex ecosystem
• to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to an applied research project
• to communicate the results of their research effectively in written, oral, and visual formats

Meetings (in person seminars) will be on Mondays in Washington, DC. This course also requires asynchronous work that you will complete at your own pace during the week. This course is divided into weekly modules that are released one week ahead of time. Students are expected to keep pace with weekly deadlines but may schedule their efforts freely within that time frame.

Reading materials may change. 

• Goldstein, I. (2016). The Federal Management Playbook. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781626163720
• Fisher, Roger and Ury, William (1991). Getting to yes: negotiating agreement without giving in. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780140157352
• Strunk, William and White, E.B.  (2000). The Elements of Style, 4th Edition. Allyn & Bacon. ISBM 9798351392813
• Other reading assignments will be provided by the professor via Carmen.

Recommended Materials

• Read the Washington Post, Reuters.com, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, and the New York Times daily.

Reading Notes (Form A1 – A12)

• 1 point each
• 12% of course grade

Negotiation Form J1 and J2

• 2 points each
• 4% of course grade

Weekly Meetings (WM1 – WM13)

• 1 point each
• 13% of course grade

Capstone Form 5

• 5 points
• 5% of course grade

Capstone Form 6

• 12 points
• 12% of course grade

Capstone Form 7

• 12 points
• 12% of course grade

Capstone Form 8

• 4 points
• 4% of course grade

Capstone Form 9

• 4 points
• 4% of course grade

Capstone Form 10

• 24 points
• 24% of course grade

Capstone Form 11

• 12 points
• 12% of course grade

Readings: The topics and number of pages are focused to make best use of students’ time in preparing for the weekly topics.

Forms: Forms are frameworks for capturing the essence of each assignment. Forms clarify the amount of work needed and improve preparation and retention, making meetings more productive and therefore more useful for students. Writing assignments use forms to make the best use of time and clearly define what success looks like.

Written assignments:  Must be your own original work. In formal assignments, APA style is required for citing the ideas and words of your research sources. You are encouraged to ask a trusted person to proofread your assignments before you turn them in but no one else should revise or rewrite your work.

Weekly Meeting: The weekly meeting provides an opportunity for a professional discussion of the readings for the week. Participation includes not only discussion of course concepts but also careful listening and respect for others in the classroom. Active participation in synchronous sessions is based on preparation and includes providing good, solid answers to questions. Good answers indicate that you are actively listening to your colleagues and providing comments relative to ongoing discussion. Relevant comments add to the group’s understanding of the material, challenge, or clarify the ideas expressed by others, integrate material from past classes or other courses, and show evidence of analysis rather than mere expression of personal opinions.

Master’s Capstone: The objective is to provide an environment in which students integrate, synthesize, and apply the knowledge, skills, and perspectives acquired in the MPA core curriculum to a real world public policy or management problem. The capstone course is a professional experience inside the classroom intended to sharpen problem solving, analytic, and communications skills. By applying theory to practice, the capstone experience serves as an important bridge between the classroom and the professional world.

Capstone Objectives: The active use and integration of material from core courses in public policy, public sector economics, public management, and decision support and quantitative methods in the capstone project informs issues faced by public policy analysts and managers. The course also prepares students to critically assess public policy and management analyses and prepares students to produce their own analysis that informs a real world policy or management issue. In preparing the project deliverables, students will be expected to produce high-quality policy or management analysis while operating under tight deadlines.

Capstone Components:

1. Define the Problem, Identify Goals and Objectives, and Assemble Evidence
   1. Clearly define the problem using evidence to assess the nature and extent of the problem
   2. Assess previous efforts to solve problem
   3. Define goals and objectives
   4. Identify and describe relevant stakeholders
   5. Identify and describe analysis strategies
2. Construct and Analyze Alternatives
   1. Identify and describe alternatives
   2. Systematically compare alternatives, specifying choice criteria
   3. Identify and describe relevant spillovers and externalities associated with alternatives
   4. Identify and describe tradeoffs
3. Decide, Conclude, and Recommend
   1. Describe the preferred alternative
   2. State conclusions
   3. Specify political, organizational, and economic conditions that will affect successful implementation of your choice
   4. Summarize the monitoring and evaluation plan

In PUBAFRS 7600: 

• Topic Approval

• Initial Research Plan

• Paper Proposal

• Paper Development Plan

In PUBAFRS 7980:

• Final Research Plan
• Midterm Paper Assessment
• 50% Draft
• Midterm Presentation
• Analytical Framework
• Final Paper
• Final Presentation

Scaffolded project:

1. All steps must be successfully accomplished on time, in the order shown below, to earn credit for this project.
2. If a step is not successfully accomplished, the next step in the process will not be accepted.
3. Late assignments and missed meetings without permission are unacceptable and will result in no credit for the assignment. Makeup assignments will not be offered for missed meetings. The only exception for a late assignment or a missed meeting is an unexpected military deployment, medical emergency, death in the family, or other emergency, along with appropriate documentation.