Standard 1 Managing the Program Strategically
1.1 Mission Statement[l1]
Provide the Current Program Mission Statement and the date it was adopted. (Limit 500 words)
The mission of the MPA Program of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) is to provide students with public values, knowledge and skills so that they will become effective public leaders and managers at various levels of government. The program seeks to fully avail itself of its university’s distinguishing field in finance and economics, to contribute to the society with its research and education achievements. The mission aims to meet the challenges for the governments in the context of China’s rapid socio-economic development and deepening globalization (Adopted September 2013).
1.1.2 DEVELOP AND REVIEW OF THE MISSION STATEMENT
Describe the processes used to develop and review the mission statement, how the mission statement influences decision-making, and how and to whom the program disseminates its mission. Include information describing how often relevant internal and external stakeholders, including employers, are involved in the mission development and review process, detailing their explicit responsibilities and involvement. (Unlimited)
The Development of the Mission Statement
An earlier version of the Program mission statement was developed in November 2009. It was revised and adopted in September 2013.
The development of the mission statement has passed through open discussions among faculty members and students and has gone through many revisions in the past several years. The earliest version of the mission statement was formulated in December 2009 when the School of Public Economics and Administration (SEPA) hosted the Fourth Forum of the Deans of Public Administration Schools in China. The National MPA Education Steering Committee picked two MPA programs (SUFE and the Renmin University of China) to prepare their mission statements as examples and standards for other MPA programs of the country. With the assistance of Prof. Shui-Yan Tang, the then Director of the MPA Program at the University of Southern California, and Prof. Yuan Ting, the then Director of the MPA Program at California State University, Fullerton, the MPA Program at SUFE completed the first version of its mission statement, program goals and strategic plan. After numerous rounds of group meetings for review and revisions and four rounds of open exchanges at the school level, and in compliance with the NASPAA Accreditation Standards of 2009, the Program’s mission statement was finalized its in September 2013.
The Involvement of the Stakeholders in the Development of Mission Statement
The formation of our mission statement has involved various stakeholders at different stages ass it gradually took shape.
Having realized the importanceof getting inputs from stakeholders in the development of the Program mission statement, we had asked for feedbacks from stakeholders within SUFE and from government agencies.
Our Program mission statement had been revised and improved based on the feedback from both internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders included the MPA Education Steering Committee[l2],Steering Committee for MPA Education and the representative committees or current students, and faculty members at SPEA. The Steering Committee of MPA Education Steering Committee included is composed of MPA core faculty members, affiliated faculty members with rich and extensive practical experience, representatives from current students, and other faculty members teaching for the MPA program. The Committee played a key role in the whole mission statement development process, , including initiating, advising, finalizing and approving of the Program mission statement. For example, the Committee met multiple times to discuss the public values to be stressed in the Program. The Committee drafted the mission statement, distributed the draft to stakeholders, and finalized it after incorporating various comments and suggestions.
Current MPA students provided valuable ideas and suggestions during the early and ending stages of the revision of mission statement. Students’ opinions were collected through phone interviews and through a questionnaire.
The SPEA faculty wereconsulted during during the mission statement development process. Their inputs were obtained during faculty meetings at SPEA. The inputs from the SPEA faculty led to two substantive changes in the mission statement. The SPEA faculty were also the approving body of the final version of the mission statement.
External stakeholders included representatives from alumni, employers, and representatives from SUFE’s graduate school. They were all consulted in the early and ending stages of the revision process of the mission statement. A questionnaire was distributed to all alumni for their opinions on the Program mission and management and 179 responses were received. Additionally, school fellow activities [n3]were held from time to time to allow school fellows to participate in the management process of the MPA Program and to collect feedbacks from them..
Employers’ feedbacks were collected during meetings with them, particularly during meetings regarding our public service values and expected outcomes. Similarly, the University Graduate School was kept informed about our Program management strategies and progresses. They provided timely feedbacks and offered their support.
MISSION STATEMENT AND RELATED DECISION-MAKING
Curriculum Development
From 2006 to 2009, the Program offered only one specialization—general public administration, and only had a limited number of elective courses. Starting 2010, the Program has offered four specializations, and has provided a greater variety of required and elective courses. The elective courses were subject to adjustment in line with social demand and student feedback. To cater to the mission of globalization, we have searched and integrated MPA curricula of the top 25 universities in the US and have made corresponding adjustments to our core and specialty courses. For example, the course “Computer Application” was replaced by a course focusing on e-government. One more example, to balance students’ ability between theory and practical problem-solving, the Program replaced the course “quantitative analysis” with “research methodology of social sciences” that has both quantitative and qualitative research method components.
The MPA Program also cooperated with employers to adjust its curriculum based on social demands. A specific example: it was found that managers of Shanghai’s health organizations were mainly medical professionals, and the health sector was in urgent need of public sector management professionals at the time of the health management reform..In response to this social demand, the MPA Program joined hands with Shanghai Shenkang Health Development Center to establish a new specification in Hospital Management.
Pedagogy
Driven by our mission and related goals, we strive to provide students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Previously, the facultynormally relied on lecturesin classrooms.. Now, they also employ various pedagogies such as case studies, simulations, and field trips to government agencies, to help students gain real world experience.
Recruitment and Admission of Students
The primary goal of our MPA Program is to develop public values and to nurture student strong commitment to public service.This goal has significant impacts on student recruitment and admission. For example, during the second step in the admission process, our faculty conduct face-to-face interviews to see whether the candidates’ truly identify themselves with public service values. Admission will not be granted even when the slightest inconsistency is identified.
Equity and fairness as important public values are reflected in the admission process and are embraced by our faculty and staff members. The merit-based admission principle of our Program ensures each prospective student has the equal opportunity to be admitted to the Program. For example, in 2012, a prospective female student could not participate in the face-to-face interview in the university because it was scheduled on the second day after her child’s birth. According to the national MPA admission rules, if a candidate cannot take the exam, he/she would lose the admission opportunity. In order to ensure equal admission rights, our MPA Program Director and another faculty member went to her home to conduct the interview. To ensure the quality of the examination in comparison with the onsite one, the questions were altered and the whole process was videotaped. She was admitted and became one of our outstanding students.
Recruitment of Faculty
Our mission is to provide the high quality education through global standards in public service. One of our program goals is to maintain our high quality through faculty excellence in teaching, research and professional service. Therefore, it influences our faculty recruitment.
During the past five years, SPEA has, in accordance with the development direction of globalization, vigorously introduced some high-level talents with special funds allocated to support the recruitment. From 2008 to 2015, over 20 people with Ph.D. degrees obtained from overseas were hired as full-time tenured or tenure track faculty members of public administration. All of them graduated from prestigious institutions such as Yale University, University of Southern California, University of California-Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Texas, Florida State University and Georgia Institute of Technology.
DISSEMINATING THE MISSION
We disseminate our program mission to our stakeholders in various ways:
Prospective students are directed to our MPA web site, which specifies our mission and program emphases. In recruiting and admission exams and other communications, we clearly explain our program mission and related goals, program strength and expected learning objectives.
Current students are provided with a hard copy of student handbook and the school brochure, and both contain our mission statement. We discuss the handbook, including our mission, during student orientation. We also included some current students in the development and review of the draft mission and asked for their input and suggestions.
The mission was reviewed by the representatives from our alumni and employers who are members of the MPA Representatives’ Committee[n4]. The Committee is composed of three sub-committees (to include representatives from current students, alumni and employees) and each subcommittee holds its meeting annually. The Committee played an instrumental role in mission development.
1.1.3 Program Mission and Public Service ValuesDISSEMINATING THE MISSION
We disseminate our program mission to our stakeholders in various ways:
Prospective students are directed to our MPA web site, which specifies our mission and program emphases. In recruiting and admission exams and other communications, we clearly explain our program mission and related goals, program strength and expected learning objectives.
Current students are provided with a hard copy of student handbook and the school brochure, and both contain our mission statement. We discuss the handbook, including our mission, during student orientation. We also included some current students in the development and review of the draft mission and asked for their input and suggestions.
The mission was reviewed by our alumni and employers who are members of the MPA Representative Committee[n5]. The Committee is composed of three sub-committees and each subcommittee holds its meeting annually. The Committee played an instrumental role in mission development.
Describe the public service values that are reflected in your Program’s mission. (Limit 250 words)
The MPA nucleus faculty defines public values as accountability and transparency, integrity, and equity.
Both the operation of the MPA Program and the curriculum are designed to incorporate these values. For example, from the time students start the program, our program objectives are clearly emphasized. Within the first two to three weeks, the newly admitted MPA students are required to set their own specific learning goals. Each student must identify a public service area he/she will be devoted to, and be willing and able to contribute.
An outstanding example of how we promote an appreciation for accountability and transparency is illustrated by a project that involves faculty and students for public organizations. A research team comprised of our faculty members and supporting staff focused on increasing transparency and accessibility of the Chinese government’s budget. The team was led by Professor Hong Chiang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, with the goal of promoting financial transparency among government agencies.
Our core courses include legal issues related to public values such as equity. We help students understand and recognize the value of equity. As a result, a few of our students wrote their theses on related topics, such as “The Role of Government in Promoting Private Sector’s Social Responsibility” (2008252008), and “ A Study on Salary Collective Negotiation Institutions in the Process of Promoting Income Distribution Equity (2008252283).
1.2 Performance Expectations
The Program will establish observable program goals, objectives and outcomes, including expectations for student learning, consistent with its mission.
Connections between goals and mission’s purpose and public service values
SUFE MPA program goals correspond to the mission and public service values. We see our mission as a succinct statement that manifests itself through accomplishment of goals and objectives. Following are the MPA goals and objectives related to the mission and public service values.
Goal 1: The primary purpose our curriculum is to provide students with public values, knowledge, skills and global vision so that they can effectively response to the challenges of China’s rapid socio- economic development and deepening globalization.
Objective 1: Out MPA program is to train students to have strong commitment to public service.
Objective 2: Our MPA program is to train students to understand substantive political, economic, financial, and managerial knowledge about how to administer public organizations effectively.
Objective 3: OurMPA program is to train students to be capable of applying managerial skills to day-to-day management and analytical skills to solving problems in public organizations.
Objective 4: Our MPA program is to train students to serve diverse community in anincreasingly globalized world.
Link to Mission and Public Service Values
The program’s mission is to offer professional education for those working in the public sector. Therefore, our first goal is “to provide its students with public values, knowledge and skills to become effective real-world problem solvers devoted to making a difference in public organizations”.
Goal 1 is to ensure that all students understand the public service values, such as accountability and transparency, integrity, and equity. The program expects its students have high ethical and moral standards, attach importance to the value of serving the public, keep accountability and transparency and maintain public trust in their work. The program imbeds public values, mainly accountability and transparency, integrity, and equity in the required core curriculum.
In addition, the program expects its students can use what they learned in the program to resolve real-world problems when they work in the local and regional governments. The program designed and developed the curriculum very carefully to achieve this goal. Through a curriculum that emphasizes the connection between theory and practice, the program offers eight core courses and four required courses for each specialization. The core courses cover values, and knowledge, and skills of contemporary public service. Faulty is guided by these goals when preparing for syllabi. Among these courses, 50 % of them is required to provide real-world case study and analysis. Teachers are also encouraged to use new pedagogy, helping students understand the linkage between theory and practice.
The program also provides a solid foundation for applied research. The multidisciplinary curriculum, combining training in analytical and quantitative methods, focuses especially on social sciences research methods, principles and methodology. The required courses of Public Economics, Public Policy Analysis, Performance Management in Public Sectors, along with many elective courses such as: SPSS Software and Data Analysis, Essentials of Economics, Public Regulation, Program Evaluation, Sampling and Statistical Methods, are all geared towards dynamic learning and implementing the research principles and practices in specific areas.
Our program also captures the globalization trend in public administration. It “reflects the governmental needs in the context of China’s rapid economic and social development and deepening process of globalization”. Goal 3 expects that the program develops students’ competency of serving diversified community with global perspectives.