Mission
The doctoral program in public affairs provides educational programs of the highest caliber to prepare students for leadership in public service and reaching out to the community to help solve public problems.
The program prepares future leaders to deal with complex social, health and governance issues that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. It has a community-based focus with an emphasis on collaborative relationships across the public, private and nonprofit sectors of the community. Graduates possess the theoretical, analytical and ethical foundation to produce new knowledge that impacts policies and programs and enhances institutional and community performance.
Vision
IIU's interdisciplinary doctoral program in public affairs strives to be the premier program in public affairs education in Delaware, United States. A competency-based curriculum develops a new breed of leaders with integrity, credibility and expertise in professional and academic settings.
Values
As a community of faculty and students genuinely committed to doctoral education, we embrace the following values:
- We seek cultivation of character based on professional responsibility, and we strive to be fair, sincere and open in our interactions with others.
- We are committed to an interdisciplinary approach to learning and research.
- We embrace a collegial style of relations. We favor collaborative associations based on mutual trust and respect.
- We support knowledge transmission through teaching and other forms of instruction and communication.
- We value partnerships that link academia and practice in order to improve public and private services.
- We value diversity of perspective and seek out interconnections among disciplines.
- We strive for integration and synthesis of knowledge by looking for information that cuts across academic fields.
- We are devoted to the betterment of the human condition in our community and communities throughout the world.
- We are dedicated to the creation of new knowledge through research and scholarship. We seek to cultivate a questioning spirit that embraces freedom of inquiry and expression and robust exchange of ideas.
Course Structure
Compulsory Courses 6 Courses 18 Credits
Special Selected Courses 3 Courses 9 Credits
Free Elective Course 1 Course 3 Credits
Thesis 39 Credits
Total 69 Credits
Students who had never studied journalism and mass communication must study
Prerequisite Subjects as follows:
Year 1 Fall Semester
| Course code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PAD 801 | Governance and Public Affairs | 3 |
| PAD 811 | Organization Studies in Public Affairs | 3 |
| PAD 876 | Advanced Research Methods for Public Affairs I | 3 |
| PAD 812 | Policy Theory | 3 |
Year 2 Spring Semester
| Course code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PAD 815 | Political Economy of Public Affairs | 3 |
| PAD 853 | Logics of Inquiry in Public Affairs | 3 |
| PAD 854 | Public Affairs Research and Professional Development Seminar | 3 |
| PAD 877 | Advanced Research Methods for Public Affairs II | 3 |
Specialization
Year 2 Fall Semester
| Course code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PAD 897 | Directed Individual Study | 3 |
| PAD 898 | Supervised Research | 3 |
Year 3 Spring Semester
PAD 899: Thesis
Year 3 Fall Semester
Year 4 Semester
COURSE DESCRIPTION
PAD 801: Governance and Public Affairs:-
This seminar will focus on a set of specialized statistical modeling tools for dealing with limited dependent variables and complex data situations, such as time-series cross-sectional data, clustered observations, and multilevel data. The course also provides an introduction to more advanced topics including simultaneous equations models and instrumental variables. Since many of the models rely on maximum-likelihood estimation, the basic ideas and techniques of maximization will be covered.
This seminar examines classical and contemporary theories of governance, the role of the state and other social institutions, and the intersection of policy making and management across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Other topics include administrative reform, the new public management, and the emergence of the multi-sector public service. International comparative dimensions emphasized.
PAD 811: Organization Studies in Public Affairs:-
This course examines the major issues and perspectives in organizational dynamics and leadership in the public and nonprofit sectors. Topics covered will include: history and development of organization studies; contemporary perspectives in organization theory; individual and group behavior; leadership, power, and influence; organization design and structure; organizational culture.
PAD 812: Policy Theory:-
This seminar examines the theories and current research on the policy process, institutions, and delegation of power that influence public policy. Topics covered may include agenda setting, policy design, implementation, legislative decision-making, state political institutions, and federalism.
PAD 815: Political Economy of Public Affairs:-
This seminar focuses on formal theories of public decision-making, collective choice, and strategic interaction of public actors in different institutional environments. Topics may include social choice theories, game theory, median voter theories, logic of collective action, public choice, and principal agent models. The course assumes a basic understanding of microeconomics.
PAD 853: Logics of Inquiry in Public Affairs:-
This course examines the philosophical foundations of social inquiry. Topics include investigation of epistemological and methodological issues in development and use of social research, and exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of multiple paradigms in public affairs (public policy, planning, and organizational studies) and the social and behavioral sciences.
PAD 854: Public Affairs Research and Professional Development Seminar:-
Research and professional development through participation in research seminars, colloquia, academic conferences, lectures, and professional workshops. Students required to register every spring semester while in residence.
PAD 876: Advanced Research Methods for Public Affairs I:-
The course focuses on multiple regression analysis, beginning with ordinary least squares estimation, and then considers the implications and treatment of serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, specification error, and measurement error. Students will gain experience estimating models, and learn to recognize diagnostic information on model performance and to interpret and present findings.
PAD 877: Advanced Research Methods for Public Affairs II:-
PAD 897: Directed Individual Study:-
Supervised readings and research in area of doctoral specialization. Student must submit formal written proposal to doctoral adviser and supervising faculty member prior to registration.
PAD 898: Supervised Research:-
Research experience directed by major professor designed to prepare doctoral students for independent scholarship in the area of specialization.
Dissertation
PA 899: Thesis