Pracademically Speaking

My personal feeling is that every MPA program, in the country, in order to get NASPPAA accreditation should minimally have the following: a full-time Professor of Practice or Executive-in-Residence position and a requisite amount of adjunct hours/adjunct-delivered classes by a working professional in public administration. Not one or the other - but both.

As a long-time pracademic (hence the name), I have experienced the phenomenon of instruction of local government management classes by individuals who have never been a city or county manager. While I get it - I remain perplexed by this - there’s only so much theory without application. Guest speakers are great (I am guest lecturing in a Public Administration class tomorrow, in fact) but the full flavor of experience is not appropriately conveyed and messaged as a full-course instruction is with a professional adjunct.

I realize this might come across as selfish or built on self-aggrandizement but it is not. I do hold this profession up very high and I remain committed to building the next generation in the talent pool pipeline. Practitioners must have greater, enhanced and more nuanced presence in MPA curriculum development, instruction, full-time positions and other teaching and administrative supports for MPA programs to truly have a holistic, overarching and penetrating experience for students interested in the field of local government management. My 1.5 cents!