Senate recommends creating graduate school of public affairs in Newark
Archived article from May 8, 2006
By Ashanti M. Alvarez
The University Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution supporting a proposed graduate School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers-Newark.
Board of Governors Professor Marc Holzer, who chairs the graduate department of public administration, headed a committee appointed in 2004 by Newark Provost Steven J. Diner to consider the creation and structure of a School of Public Affairs and Administration.
The new school would raise the national and international profile of Rutgers-Newark while catering to the specific needs of communities and government and nonprofit agencies in northern New Jersey. Proponents say that upgrading the department to a school will pave the way for more research and development funds.
“Our program is known in particular for its research in public performance measurement, the effectiveness and efficiency of government, a subject of enormous importance to New Jersey in these times of fiscal constraint. Elevating this department to a school will give it much greater visibility, and highlight the strengths of Rutgers-Newark in public affairs and administration, which are so central to the urban mission of the campus,” Diner said.
The nine-member committee concluded that public administration at Rutgers-Newark has outgrown the scope and stature of an academic department, and that a new graduate school will provide more streamlined systems for research, teaching and service.
The school would comprise the graduate department of public administration, encompassing doctoral, master’s and certificate programs as well as the department’s National Center for Public Productivity, of which Holzer is founding director. “Virtually all of our students and colleagues now assume we are a school, based on the broad array of degrees we offer, our national and international leadership in the field, and our extensive faculty and journal publications,” Holzer said. “Most important, as a school we will become a more visible partner for New Jersey’s state agencies, municipalities and nonprofit organizations.”
The department of public administration focuses on applied research in performance measurement, government efficiency, productivity and other areas. It has less of a broad public policy focus than the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick, and has much in common with the department of public policy and administration in Camden. “We anticipate a great deal of cooperation with both the Bloustein and Camden programs,” the committee wrote in its 43-page report.
The current department offers joint bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, as well as a joint Master of Public Health with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It also offers a certificate in Urban Educational Leadership with the department of urban education, and certificates in Public Performance Measurement and in Nonprofit Management.
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