PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

1.0 TEACHING AND RESEARCH

1.1 Mission and emphases of the department

The Maxwell School of Syracuse University is the first school to provide graduate education in public administration in the United States and consistently rated top in the nation. Graduates of the public administration programs serve at all levels of government in the United States and around the world. Many also hold responsible positions in the private and non-profit sectors. Graduates of the doctoral program are faculty members at other high quality public affairs programs and research institutes in the United States. The curriculum at the masters level is designed to help students understand the political, economic and social context of public administration, achieve substantial competency in organization design and analysis and in management and administrative techniques, and gain experience in applying qualitative and quantitative methods to public policy issues. The program’s mission at the Ph.D. level is to expand society's store of knowledge about public management and public policy analysis and to meet a need for trained scholars who are qualified to instruct the next generation of professionals for the public service.

1.2 Faculty research

A brief description of the faculty’s specific research interests is available at the departmental website, http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/pa/faculty.asp

1.3 Graduate program

The Public Administration Program offers a professional masters degree (M.P.A.) consisting of 40 credits that can be completed within the course of a single calendar year. The Maxwell School’s M.P.A. Program prepares individuals for careers as managers and policy analysts in government agencies and organizations closely associated with the public sector. The Ph.D. Program is interdisciplinary in its focus. The Ph.D. curriculum is designed to assure that all students gain substantial competency in the core subject matter and methodologies that are central to preparation for the Ph.D. degree, obtain a firm understanding of the broad intellectual tradition of public administration and achieve competency at an advanced level in a range of subject matter and methodologies. Finally, the Public Administration program also offers a mid-career, 30 credit master of arts curriculum for government managers. Applications to the M.A. program are invited from individuals with strong academic performance and with eight or more years of responsible professional experience, preferably managerial. With careful advisement, mid-careerist students select course of study options matching their professional needs and interests. The M.A. program may be part-time or full-time.

1.4 Undergraduate program

Not applicable.

2.0 SUBJECT DESCRIPTION AND GUIDELINES back to top

2.1 Subject definition

Public Administration at Syracuse University is exemplified by the application of qualitative and quantitative methods to public policy issues. The aim of the collection in Public Administration is to support current and anticipated needs for instruction and research within the Public Administration department. In this regard, the building of a useful collection of information through the selection of appropriate monographs, serials, periodicals, conference proceedings, statistical datasets, audiovisual media and other published information is designed to meet current needs of students and faculty, as well as anticipate growth and change within the Public Administration field and department.

Several important subject selector "balancing" criteria are crucial to accomplishing such collection development, given the faculty research interests stated above and acquisitions funds available during a given fiscal period. As pertains to selection and preservation of library resources, among the more important of these include the need to strike a balance between:

• Selecting new resources to meet current needs while also insuring that access to previously selected resources endures.
  
  
• Support of research and teaching interests of new faculty - while also continuing to support long-standing research needs and the collection development interests of more senior faculty in the department.
  
  
• The acquisition of resources in traditional print form as well as those offered via newer, electronic, audiovisual and web-based formats.
  
  
• The acquisition of resources that are the result of major academic publishers while also developing a collection that focuses appropriate attention on selection of practitioner oriented resources useful for professionals currently working in the public administration field and/or in training to work in that field.
  
  
• The acquisition of resources appropriate to public administration, strictly defined, as well as careful selection of resources from broadly related disciplines (e.g., economics, management, political science, etc.).
  
  
• The acquisition of resources that embody various methodologies, styles of subject matter treatment and organizational format (for instance, this includes but is not necessarily limited to: selection of primary as well as secondary literature, case studies, single author works as well as collections by multiple authors, government documents resources and statistical compilations, qualitative as well as quantitative methodologies, historical treatment as well as current research, journalistic sources for current domestic and international news reports, theoretical essays as well as more strictly social scientific reports, and appropriate selection of tertiary reference sources such as relevant encyclopedic works, indexes, bibliographies, scholarly literature reviews, web portals (free and fee-based) and online databases).
  
  
  

2.2 Subject scope

Subject Emphasis Includes:
*see also, faculty research interests-1.2

Aging and Social Policy
Bureaucratic Politics
Computer Applications and Strategic Planning
Conflict Resolution and Mediation
Education Policy
Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Administration
Environmental Economics
Global Issues and Diplomacy
Health Care Policy
Housing
Intellectual History of Public Administration
Intergovernmental Relations
International and Development Administration
Law and Public Policy
National Security Studies
Non-Profit Management
Organization Theory
Population Studies
Public Finance and Budgeting
Public Health Policy
Public Personnel Management
Science, Technology and Public Policy
Social Welfare Policy
State and Local Government Financial Management
Technology and Information Policy and Administration
Urban Policy

3.0 SPECIAL INFORMATION NEEDS AND RESOURCES back to top

3.1 Special information needs of those working in this subject area

General:
Include, but not necessarily limited to: Interest in primary sources (e.g., current government publication), interest in web-based delivery of academic journals and statistical datasets, interest in access to appropriate tertiary indexes relevant to the field (e.g., PAIS, ECONLIT, etc.).

Key Electronic Resources: http://library.syr.edu/research/internet/public_administration/er.html

Key Electronic Journals:
http://library.syr.edu/research/internet/public_administration/ejournals.html

Key Electronic Journal Collections:

Berkeley Electronic Press Journals: A University based scholarly publishing initiative offering packages of journal titles that address economic analysis & policy as well as theoretical economics.

Blackwell Synergy: Provides access to 250+ interdisciplinary journals.

JSTOR: (short for Journal Storage) is an archive of scholarly publications in business, economics, mathematics, science, and the social sciences, providing full text articles online.

Oxford University Press: Provides full text access to over 150 interdisciplinary titles.

Project Muse: Offers full text of over 40 print journals in the humanities and social sciences.

3.2 Special collections or noteworthy resources in the field

SU Library's Department of Social Sciences & Area Studies Services offers:

The maps and government information collection, which consists of government publications and maps, largely from the Library's U.S. depository program, begun in 1878. The Library currently selects 70% of all documents available to U.S. Depository Libraries. Information includes legislative indexes, international statistical data, New York State depository materials since 1951, Documents from the Council of Europe, United Nations, Great Britain, Canada and Selected items from Onondaga County and the city of Syracuse. The department also contains an extensive collection of maps and atlases and web-based links to numerous additional New York State, Onondaga County and City of Syracuse resources.

Geographic Information Systems:

As part of the maps and government information collection ("MGI"), A GIS/Map Librarian is available to assist researchers with use of mapping applications relevant to public administration (e.g., property assessment, economic development mapping, geographic distribution for government benefits payments, etc.). In particular, these services include access to the Library's G-SIC-"Geographic and Statistical Information Center," a GIS and numeric data services computer lab, located on the 3rd floor of E.S. Bird Library.
Visit the MGI site at: http://library.syr.edu/information/mgi/index.html

Numeric Data Services:

A Numeric Data Services Librarian is available to assist researchers with locating and analyzing data, with data management and analysis, use of statistical software (e.g., SAS, Stata, SPSS), advice on research methods, study design, and questionnaire construction and related consultation. Services also include a web-based menu of data resources (e.g., The University Library offers on-campus and remote access to statistical datasets from the University of Michigan's Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.).
Visit the Numeric Data Services site at http://library.syr.edu/information/mgi/nds/index.html

3.3 Endowment funds or special funding arrangements

Marian N. Friedman Memorial Fund: For the purchase of library resources relating to the subject of human rights politics and administration of human rights issues.

4.0 TYPES OF MATERIALS back to top

4.1 Priorities for types of materials

Priority determined based on preferences expressed by the public administration department, its faculty and students, as well as the judgement of the library subject specialist working in this area and, as necessary, choices made in conjunction with related subject specialist librarian colleagues, the Associate University Librarian for Collection Development and the Library's Chief Bibliographer.

4.2 Format

Multiple formats considered. Continuing trend toward web-based resources. Much of the maps and government document information is selected via the library’s maps and government documents department, inclusive of that department’s government document depository relationship with the U.S. federal government, New York State government and other governments, as well as international organizations.

4.3 Geographical guidelines

All geographies are considered, with emphasis on the United States, but coverage of relevant topics globally, including, for instance, geographies pertinent to faculty and student interest in development administration and comparative public administration. However, selection of resources in the areas of Latin American Studies, Asian Studies, and Africa/African American Studies is often carried out by library subject specialists with collection development responsibility for these specific regions, and not within the public administration fund code. Special consideration is also given to the fact that the Maxwell School has been designated as a European Union Center and Center for European Studies-meaning that efforts are made to collect resources appropriate to European Union issues and administration.

4.4 Language guidelines

Primarily English. The evaluation of proposals for expanding collection of non-English language categories involves assessment of the capacity of the Library's staff and non-staff resources for cataloging and otherwise making accessible these items.

4.5 Chronological guidelines

Selected resources tend to be published within, and/or cover subject matter regarding, the 20th and 21st centuries, with general tendency toward current resources. However, deeper historical coverage is sometimes considered given departmental interest in intellectual history of public administration.

4.6 Historical Coverage

See 4.5

5.0 PRINCIPAL LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATIONS back to top

JF, JK, JL, JN, JQ, JS

6.0 RELATED COLLECTION POLICIES back to top

Africa/African American Studies
Asian Studies
Economics
Education
International Relations
Latin American Studies
Management
Political Science
Social Work