Submitted to the University of Wisconsin System October 2000
approved by Faculty Senate 10/31/00 - PSF 7

INTRODUCTION
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside requests entitlement from the University of Wisconsin System to plan the Master of Public Administration as part of its graduate program offerings. The MPA program existed from 1979-1991 on the UW-Parkside campus and graduated 100 professional administrators, many of whom now hold significant leadership positions in agencies in southeastern Wisconsin. These individuals represent the entire spectrum of public services, including the Director of the Human Services Department in Racine County, the Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Milwaukee, the Assistant Director of the Kenosha County Division of Aging Services, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing Kenosha, an administrator of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, an Associate Professor from the College of Lake County, a Director of UW Parkside's Minority Pre-College Program, an Executive Director of Kenosha Neighborhood Services and Inspections, and a Field Supervisor of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Other graduates work for the US Department of Labor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Racine Sheriff's Department, and both the Racine and Kenosha Police Departments. Recent needs assessment surveys indicate that there is substantial demand for this degree as UW-Parkside implements its mission of collaboration with agencies in its service area in Southeastern Wisconsin. The major public service employers in our region are in support of this endeavor as they plan to meet the workforce demand in the 21st century.

The MPA Program will be firmly grounded in practice-based course work areas such as budgeting, public personnel management, public information systems, et cetera. At the same time, the MPA Program will be structured so as to meet the needs of a wide variety of prospective students and to respond in a timely manner to changes in its various markets and in national trends in the field.

Since the MPA Program will have a strong interdisciplinary focus, it will involve the faculty from a number of departments (e.g., Political Science, Sociology, Geography, English, History, communication, Economics, Business, and Computer Science). Thus, while the MPA Program would be housed in the Department of Political Science, faculty throughout the campus will be invited to participate. Those departments providing instructional support to the MPA Program will have the opportunity to receive adjunct replacements.

NEED FOR PROGRAM
During the last several years, numerous needs assessment surveys have indicated that UW-Parkside's service area of Southeastern Wisconsin is in need of new Masters degree offerings. For example, the 1998 Stamats report clearly states; "A central theme identified in the research is the specific desire for the University to establish stronger connections with the community and an increased presence in general among the local populace." An overwhelming majority of our graduates remain in Southeast Wisconsin and many seek employment in public service and not-for-profit settings.

We anticipate that there will be between 8-10 graduates of the program each year. We will limit the initial class to 25 students. During the summer months of 2000, UW-Parkside conducted a survey of all county employees in both Racine and Kenosha. Based on the analysis of these findings there are between 80-100 potential students ready to commence this program. The proposed MPA Program will incorporate sufficient flexibility to respond effectively to new markets; moreover, the MPA Program will be structured so as to respond to the needs of a wide variety of potential markets. Attachment 1 summarizes our recent marketing efforts. There will be extensive marketing and public relations efforts conducted to insure that the program maintains a viable enrollment each year such as newspapers, cable, and internet advertising. The Master of Public Administration Advisory Committee will provide invaluable assistance in this regard.

OTHER INDICATORS FOR DEMAND
In addition to the needs assessment survey conducted in preparation for this proposal, other sources of employment data were analyzed. For example, the Wisconsin Retirement Fund was contacted to ascertain the percentage of public employees who will be retiring in the next several years. Mr. David Stella, Administrator for the Wisconsin Retirement Fund, reported that by the year 2003, about 30% of the 71,000 members of the Wisconsin Retirement System will be terminating employment. And within the next 12 years over half of the covered members is expected to consist of new hires. These statistics do not reflect the City and County of Milwaukee, which have their own retirement systems. Therefore, there will be a "huge" demand for workers in the public sector. UW-Parkside must be in a position to meet this demand in our region. Southeastern Wisconsin is one of the fastest growing metroplex areas in the state. For example, the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration estimates that Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties will increase in population by over 35,000 citizens in the next 20 years. Further, since a major emphasis in Wisconsin State government is related to preventing a "brain drain" from our state, the UW-Parkside MPA initiative will be a successful effort aimed at keeping workers in the southeastern region of Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties. The focus at our campus is on "engaged learning" to address public service problems in our region, and this graduate program meshes well with these goals.

RELATION TO INSTUTUTIONAL MISSION
The UW-Parkside Mission has the following tenets that relate directly to the Master Of Public Administration graduate program:

¨ Attract and retain a diverse and multicultural population of students, faculty and staff.
¨ Foster a teaching and learning community that provides opportunities for collaborative faculty, student and staff interaction in support of excellence.
¨ Utilize technology creatively and effectively in courses, programs and services.
¨ Prepare students to be successful in their professional, civic and personal lives.

In recent years, the UW-Parkside has made many successful attempts to clarify its mission to an institution that is "engaged" with the communities surrounding it. As stated above, UW-Parkside stresses collaborative efforts between the university and it's faculty and the communities of Racine and Kenosha. The Master of Public Administration degree fits well with this mission of meeting the needs for public servants in these communities. In fact, the Advisory Committee, which has helped prepare this proposal, is made up of Master of Public Administration graduates who now hold leadership positions in the Racine and Kenosha communities. The goal of developing "local leadership" is one which UW-Parkside places great importance in its current program initiatives.

RELATION TO OTHER MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS IN THE UW SYSTEM
At the present time, there are three other Master of Public Administration programs in the UW system. The closest one is at UW-Milwaukee. The UW-Parkside Master of Public Administration program will be geared to the full time employed student who is less able to make a one-hour commute to Milwaukee. A few local students are currently enrolled in the UW- Milwaukee MPA Program, but the number of such students is small. The second program is at UW-Oshkosh and is not a reasonable commute, as the campus is two hours away. Lastly, the Masters program at UW-Madison is likewise not a reasonable commute for our students and does not have our regional public service needs as its focus.

In Illinois is the very comprehensive Public Administration program at Northern Illinois University. Their programs include an MPA program and a Ph.D. in Political Science. Once again, while they are excellent programs, they would be inconvenient for our targeted student body that are employed fulltime.

PROJECTED SOURCE OF RESOURCES
The resources for the Master of Public Administration program will be secured from reallocation of existing funds. A tentative budget is as follows:

Associate Professor Faculty Member/Coordinator	$55,000.00
Supplies and Expenses	4,000.00
Adjunct Faculty Expense	12,500.00
Marketing/Professional Development Expense	4,000.00
Computer and Printer	2,000.00
TOTAL	$77,500.00

METHOD OF DELIVERY
In addition to traditional classroom instruction, UW-Parkside will make use of "distance learning" technology to deliver courses to public service sites throughout the region. All appropriate satellite courses and lectures will be delivered to MPA classes both on campus and in the community. Classroom sites have been developed in public service locations throughout our region. These sites will be utilized for the delivery of MPA courses as well. Lastly, we will deliver locally developed web-based courses. The MPA curriculum is well suited to this model of educational delivery. Such courses as public budgeting, public personnel administration, and public evaluation methods will be offered through the Internet. The MPA home page will be designed with both campus-based and on-line components which will provide alternative modes of instruction from which the student can chose.

SUMMARY
Based on the following assertions we are confident that the "new MPA Program" will be effective in its efforts to meet the public services workforce needs of this century and that enrollments for this program can be sustained over time.
1) There will be more than sufficient job openings over the next 15 years to provide employment to graduates of our MPA Program.
2) Our extensive marketing efforts will result in a continuous stream of applicants to the program.
3) Our planning efforts will include activities that will include analysis and development of new markets for this program.
4) Our methods of course delivery through the Internet and distance learning will make the program more attractive and accessible.
5) In addition to the traditional MPA curriculum, we will also deliver a "Certificate of Public Administration" which will be attractive to potential students wishing advanced training, but not desiring to complete the full graduate curriculum.

MPA ADVISORY COMMITTEE

William B. Adams, Director Julia A. Stark, Field Supervisor
Racine County Human Services Wisconsin Department of Corrections

Denise Anastasio, Associate Professor
College of Lake County

Kerry M. Connelly, District Court Administrator
Racine County Courthouse

Brenda E. Danculovich, Administrator
Western Racine County Service Center

Mary L. Day, Director
UW-Parkside Minority PreCollege Program

Carolyn Feldt, Assistant Director
Kenosha County Division of Aging Services

Anne M. Gurnack, Ph.D.
Interim Director MPA Program UW-Parkside

James Ivanowski
Racine County Sheriff's Department

James F. Kreuser, State Representative
Wisconsin Assembly

Mark C. McCarthy, Executive Director
Neighborhood Services and Inspections, Kenosha

Dennis G. Michalowski, Assistant Fire Chief
City of Milwaukee Fire Department

Raffaele F. Montemurro, Director
Department of Administration, Kenosha County

Attachment 1
MPA Marketing Survey Results

Total Number of Questionnaire Responses Entered	108
Total Number of Positive Responses	80
Total Number of Negative Responses	28

Responses to Types of MPA Program Desired

Human Services	28	35%
Corrections	10	12%
Protective Services	9	11%
Health Care	6	7%
Court Administration	8	10%
Others	20	25%

With the assistance of the MPA Advisory Committee, a survey of county employees was conducted via e-mail. The attached survey was e-mailed over nearly 2,000 employees in both counties. Only those with bachelors degrees were eligible to respond. We also surveyed the two police departments. The survey revealed that there are new markets to be tapped, such as "court administration", and "fire administration", that were not there 20 years ago. We will continue to explore additional markets.

We have not surveyed hospitals, not for profit agencies, other cities' employees, employees in Walworth County, nor those living in Northern Illinois. Hence we estimate that nearly 100 potential students would be ready to commence this program. In fact this number would have to be phased in over several years. It should be noted that this number of 80-100 is twice the number that existed in 1979 when the program was first initiated. Southeastern Wisconsin continues to experience a sizable population growth.