Political Science and Public Administration Faculty
Department of Political Science and Public Administration
Location: Building 51, Room 2414
Phone: (904) 620-2997
Web Address: www.unf.edu/coas/pspa
Dr. Natasha Christie, Chair
Mission
The mission of the Department of Political Science and
Public Administration is to serve the State of Florida through excellent
educational opportunities involving outstanding teaching, quality research, and
effective civic engagement. The department focuses its resources to provide
both undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge, skills, and
abilities for understanding, participating in, and managing the institutions,
processes, and behaviors characteristic of national and international politics
and public affairs. With excellent instruction as the highest priority, the
department also supports extensive interaction with external constituencies
through local, regional, state, and national professional service, and applied
and theoretical research. The department is dedicated to maintaining program
effectiveness for both students and community partners through continuous
self-assessment and improvement.
The Program
The Department of Political Science and Public
Administration offers a bachelor’s degree program in political science. The
department also offers minors in political science and public administration. The Department in conjunction with the Department of Communication also offers a minor in Political Communication and Advocacy. The public administration minor is a fast track minor that allows an
undergraduate to gain admission to our Masters of Public Administration upon
successful completion of the minor and graduation. These minors may be taken
with a student’s major program; students should consult with their advisor on
procedures for declaring a minor. The department offers a master degree program
in public administration and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management.
This graduate program is one of the largest in the College of Arts and Sciences with
over 80 active students.
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Political Science, the study of politics, is concerned
with understanding political phenomena and developing citizens who are aware of
their political rights and responsibilities. The political science major at UNF
has three broad objectives. The first is to convey to students knowledge about
the subfields within the discipline, with an emphasis on American government
and politics, comparative politics, international relations and public
administration. The second is to provide students with the skills needed for
active and effective participation in the democratic process.
The final objective is to prepare students for careers
associated with politics. The political science major provides an excellent
background for admission to law school, and is a solid foundation for graduate
work in political science, public administration and urban planning. Majors
also find exciting work in campaign and legislative politics. In addition to
preparing students for graduate work, the conceptual and methodological skills developed
in the major equip students for employment by local, state and national
organizations, corporations and nonprofit groups located in the U.S. and
foreign countries, international organizations such as the United Nations, the
print and electronic media, and secondary education.
UNF offers an undergraduate major in political science
culminating in the Bachelor of Arts degree. Two minors, political science and
public administration are available within the department. The department also
offers a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Majors must have a grade
of “C” or better in each core course, and a minimum GPA of 2.0 in major
elective courses.
Political Science majors choose one of five
concentrations to organize their major elective credits. The concentrations
allow students to focus on one of the subfields of political science (American
Politics, International Relations/Comparative Politics, Public Administration
and Public Policy, and Public Law) or to choose General Political Science. Once
students choose their concentration, they choose four courses from the list of
electives within each concentration. Those students choosing the General
Political Science concentration may choose electives from a comprehensive list
of courses including all those available under the other concentrations. The
remaining free electives may be selected from any concentration or any other
approved political science course except the foreign culture courses.
Fast Track Option in:
Master of Public Administration
A Fast Track leading to the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree is available to UNF Political Science majors. Students who successfully complete the Fast Track requirements, and who meet the admission requirements for the MPA program, will be able to complete the MPA degree with 33 hours of credit rather than the 42 credit hours otherwise required.
Undergraduate Fast Track requirements are that a student: (1) must declare a Public Administration Fast Track minor prior to their senior year; (2) must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work; (3) must make a grade of at least B or higher in PAD 4003 (taken as part of the Fast Track minor core requirements); (4) must have a B average or above for the five courses required in the Fast Track minor. All sections of these conditions must be met in full.
If the undergraduate requirements stated above are met, Fast Track students may continue into the MPA program provided they apply for the program and meet the minimum Graduate Record Exam (GRE) requirements of the program for unconditional admission. Fast Track students who enter the MPA program in conditional status are not eligible for the 33-hour version of the program. MPA students who meet both Fast Track undergraduate and unconditional admission requirements may omit PAD 6106 and two MPA program electives from their graduate program of study. The remaining MPA core courses and electives constitute the 33-hour program. Please see the MPA Director for further information on the Fast Track option.
The Graduate Program
The mission of the UNF M.P.A. program is to provide
students with a broad understanding of the theory and practice of public
administration, and to contribute to the betterment of the public and
not-for-profit service community in the state, particularly in the Northeast
Florida region. These general goals are obtained commensurate with the
University of North Florida’s commitment to excellence, focus, relevance, and
accountability in all of its academic programs.
The M.P.A. program serves to open a path to graduate
education to a wide variety of students, particularly nontraditional students,
who seek an opportunity to enhance their professional qualifications and career
prospects in the public and not-for-profit sectors. The ultimate purpose of the
M.P.A. program is to enhance the capabilities of potential and current
administrative, managerial and political leaders of the region to better serve
their organizations and the public in the competitive environment of the 21st
century.
The M.P.A. curriculum is intended to enrich student understanding of the
complex arrangements that constitute modern governance, and to enable students
to develop the skills and attitudes that contribute to effective program
administration. For the student who already possesses significant government or
not-for-profit experience, the program provides opportunities to gain new
skills and to develop an enlarged perspective on public sector management. The
department has added a concentration and a certificate in Nonprofit Management.
This concentration will help those students who seek a broader understanding of
nongovernmental agencies that engage in important social and cultural
endeavors. The program has a combination of night classes and online/hybrid classes.
Students from any discipline or background or at any stage in their careers,
who are interested in public or not-for-profit employment or advancement, are
encouraged to consider the M.P.A. program.
Accreditation
The M.P.A. program has been accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration since 1999. N The
most recent accreditation rolls through 2020.
The Master of Arts in International Affairs Program
The mission of the MAIA is
to educate students about our world today, our country’s interactions with
other countries, and individual awareness of the many ways we interact with
other countries, cultures, and peoples at home or abroad. More specifically,
the program concentrates on educating our students about: the global context
for US domestic and foreign policy making; contemporary global issues; the US
role in the world and other countries’ reactions to that role; globalization
and the global economy; and the cultures and societies of other countries. Each
of these goals fits with expectations of potential employers. A recent report
by the Association of American Colleges and Universities noted the following
knowledge and skills were desired by employers: the ability to understand the
global context of situations and decisions, knowledge of global issues and
development and their implications for the future, understanding of the role of
the United States in the world, understandings of cultural diversity in America
and other countries, and proficiency in a foreign language.
The Master of Arts in International Affairs (MAIA) is an interdisciplinary
offered jointly by seven departments across two colleges. The Departments
of Political Science and Public Administration; Economics and Geography;
History; and Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work offer the common core
courses; The Departments of Political Science and Public Administration;
Economics and Geography; History; and Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work
offer the common core courses; the Departments of Economics and Geography;
English; History; Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Philosophy and
Religious Studies; Political Science; and Sociology, Anthropology and Social
Work will contribute elective courses.
The MAIA program
consists of a minimum of 36 credit hours, 18 of which are earned through an
interdisciplinary common core of required courses: International Relations
Theory, Foreign and Security Policy, Research Methods, Globalization and
Development, International Economics, and US in World Affairs. Fifteen (15)
credit hours are major electives. The final 3 credit hours are earned through a
thesis or non-thesis option, the latter of which would involve an internship or
study abroad component. Students will have to demonstrate intermediate-level
foreign language proficiency either upon admission or graduation.
The MAIA is meant to prepare
our graduates for a variety of careers that demand knowledge of and engagement
with the wider world. Examples include: the US government (Foreign Service, and
other State Department positions, Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs,
etc.), international governmental organizations such as the UN and
international nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch or
International Crisis Group; international and development consulting;
international business; and education. Locally, employment opportunities exist
with agencies such as the Jacksonville Port Authority, import-export companies,
international moving and logistics companies, and other international
businesses in the Northeast Florida region.
Department of Political
Science & Public Administration Faculty
Natasha V. Christie, Associate Professor & Chair
Michael M. Binder, Associate Professor
Mary O. Borg, Professor
Gaylord G. Candler, Professor and MPA Director
Matthew T. Corrigan, Professor
Georgette E. Dumont, Associate Professor
Josh Gellers, Associate Professor
Adrienne Lerner, Instructor
Ronald T. Libby, Professor
Sucheta Pyakuryal, Assistant Professor
David M. Schwam-Baird, Associate Professor
Nicholas Seabrook, Associate Professor
Nancy E. Soderberg, Faculty Administrator
Pamela A. Zeiser, Associate Professor
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