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TSU’s Master of Public Administration Program Receives Reaccreditation

Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2020

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The Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs Master of Public Administration (MPA) program has received accreditation for the third time from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). The MPA program received notification of reaccreditation on July 31st, 2020 and will retain this status for five years.

NASPAA has over 300 institutional member schools at U.S. and non-U.S. universities that award degrees in public administration, public policy, public affairs, nonprofit, and related fields. It is the recognized global accreditor of master's degree programs in these fields.

“It is an honor for the Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs to have an accredited program and be the only MPA program accredited in the city of Houston,” said Dr. Adams, MPA director and interim chair of the Political Science department.

Adams has led all three successful accreditations of the MPA program. He states the program is competitive with peer programs across the state of Texas citing the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

The accreditation means that the TSU MPA program is:

  1. meeting the global standards and meeting their mission to educate students about public administration’s history, competencies, and quantitative skills needed by public administrators to become skilled and productive public and nonprofit employees,
  2. meeting the objectives of preparing professionals to resolve the increasingly complex problems of managing urban growth,
  3. responding to the increasing importance of planning and management as major instruments in improving and developing solutions to problems of cities and metropolitan regions, and
  4. giving students a balance inventory of conceptual, quantitative and professional skills.

“This makes great news not just for the School of Public Affairs but for TSU as a whole,” said Dr. George Kieh, Jr., dean of the Barbara Jordan – Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

“The reaccreditation itself is a testament to the importance of teamwork because it took the work of Dr. Adams as the program director, the faculty of the program, my office’s involvement, and the involvement of the Provost. It took a broad team effort to get us to this point.”

Dean Kieh also notes how the accreditation, which is often how students measure a program’s quality, can be used as an effective recruitment tool for students who are interested in the program.

“We have top notch scholars in the field of public affairs, scholars and practitioners that are teaching the program,” said Kieh, “Students will be able to get the benefit of both the theoretical knowledge from our faculty as well as practical experiences from some of our practitioners who teach in the program.”

TSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research said, “The reaccreditation of the MPA program is another example of how TSU is staying competitive academically and preparing students with the best academic resources and experiences. With students making decisions on which graduate programs to enroll in, this accreditation makes TSU stand out as one of the top programs in the nation.”

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Last updated: 08/11/2020