All students that earn a Master of Public Administration degree from Stephen F. Austin State University must satisfactorily complete a comprehensive written exam or may choose to write, present and verbally defend a research paper completed under PBA 575 and in conjunction, pass an oral exam that assesses comprehension of the Public Administration field.
- Students electing to take the written comprehensive exam will be asked to answer three questions. A mandatory question will require students to demonstrate their overall knowledge of the field of public administration, and the student will choose which remaining two questions to answer. Those questions will cover the following areas: budgeting and financial management, methods, organizations and management, personnel administration, and policy systems and evaluation. Seven hours will be allotted for the student to complete the exam. It will be administered on a Saturday and will be word processed. The core MPA Faculty will independently read each answer and determine if the student has achieved mastery over that area. A majority of the core faculty must pass or marginally pass the student to complete that area of the exam. A student who fails to answer a question on the exam will be required to retake that question.
- Students electing PBA 575 Special Projects in lieu of written comps will fulfill research paper requirements and then present and defend their research paper before the MPA Program faculty. Each faculty member will ask questions about the paper and responses should demonstrate mastery in the field of Public Administration. After defending the paper, the student will sit for an oral examination of the material covered in the course of study. This presentation, defense and examination will serve as the capstone requirement for earning the Master of Public Administration degree at Stephen F. Austin State University.
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