Public Policy — The Program
With the recent creation of the John W. McCormack School of Policy Studies, the PhD Program in Public Policy joined with the master’s program in Public Affairs and the Certificate Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy to form the new Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs.
The PhD Program in Public Policy is designed to educate students in methods and approaches to public policy analysis in a variety of policy areas. The program provides interdisciplinary study at both the theoretical and applied levels, drawing on a broad variety of academic disciplines. The program’s curriculum offers students a solid grounding in a wide range of political and economic philosophies and theories of public policy and emphasizes a commitment to urban issues and multicultural perspectives, with a focus on state and local policy. In addition, students acquire intensive experience in a range of research methods and in both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.
The program is dedicated to the personal and intellectual growth of a small group of students: Eight to ten are admitted each year. Approximately one-third of program students are African American, Asian American, or Latino; and more than half are women. Program students range in age from 24 to 69, with a median age of 39.
UMass Boston’s Public Policy graduates will play important roles in 21st century public policy-making in the following research areas:
- Children, Youth, and Family
- Community Development
- Disability Rights and Policy
- Dispute Resolution
- Economic Development
- Education Reform
- Environmental Policy
- Health Care Policy
- Homelessness
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Labor Policy
- Law and Public Policy
- Mental Health Policy
- Minority Issues
- Poverty Reduction
- Regional Development
- Science and Technology Policy
- Special Education and Disability Policy
- Welfare Policy
- Women’s Issues
Full-time study is required during the first two years of enrollment. and students are generally expected to complete the degree in five years.
Financial support, including tuition waivers and graduate assistantships, is typically available for full-time students for the first two years of study; partial support may be available in years three and four.
Students are awarded an en-route Master of Science degree in Public Policy upon successful completion of the core courses and a two-part comprehensive exam.
Part-Time Study for Commonwealth of Massachusetts Employees
The program also offers a part-time study option for Commonwealth of Massachusetts managers and policy makers who are eligible for flexible work schedules. These employees will acquire a strong foundation in theory and analytical skills and will be able to use their job responsibilities to contribute to class discussions, assignments, and research papers, obtain faculty input on important policy considerations, and contribute to the field of state policymaking through their dissertation research.
The sequence of the part-time curriculum requires completion of three courses in one and one half days on campus each week during the first semester. After the first semester, the normal part-time load is two courses (typically two half-days on campus) per semester. All classes are held during the day.
The part-time schedule allows students to complete all core courses in three years. Elective courses and dissertation research typically begin in the fourth year.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts employees use their state benefits for tuition coverage and are not eligible for assistantship awards.
The Concentration in Regional Development
The concentration in regional development enriches the program’s core curriculum, bolsters the campus’s urban mission, and promotes both intra- and inter-campus collaboration. In particular, the program is partnered with the master’s program in Public Affairs on the Boston campus and the master’s program in Regional Economic Development on the Lowell campus. (NB: Some courses, including one core requirement, are offered in Lowell—approximately thirty miles north of Boston.)
In addition to other program requirements, students complete three courses (nine credits) to fulfill the concentration. Foundations of Comparative Regional Development (UMass Lowell, 57.513) is required. For the other two, students may choose among recommended courses which address topics including community mapping, the New England economic environment, public budgeting and finance, municipal management, comparative environmental studies, principles of economic development, and organizational dynamics in regional development; Community Mapping (UMass Lowell, 57.514) is strongly recommended as one of these electives.
The Concentration in Leadership in Special Education and Disability Policy
Students enrolled in the Public Policy Program may choose to focus their elective courses in this concentration, which is collaboratively administered by the Public Policy Program and the Leadership in Urban Schools track of the EdD Program.
There is an eight-course sequence embedded into the core requirements for the doctoral program as well as field work and internship opportunities. The curriculum provides students with the opportunities to develop skills in design, implementation, management, and analysis of programs and systems that support children, youth, and adults with disabilities. Internships will require 300 to 500 hours and focus on special education or disability policy issues.
The concentration targets the very serious issues that plague urban school systems as they struggle with education reform, accountability systems, and the worsening shortage of special education leaders.
Graduates can assume top-level positions as policy analysts, state and federal agency personnel, special education and school administrators, university faculty, or researchers.
The Concentration in Dispute Resolution
The “art” of public policy is mediated among interested and key players. Increasingly, state and local governments and non-profit organizations have recognized the role and importance of conflict resolution. This nine-credit concentration in dispute resolution has been developed in conjunction with the UMass Boston program in Dispute Resolution and allows public policy students to focus on the role of conflict and conflict resolution in international relations or the administrative and public policies of state and local governments and non-profit community organizations. Students must complete three courses in Dispute Resolution, including two required courses (Negotiation and Dispute Resolution and Public Policy). Other Dispute Resolution courses available for this concentration include DISRES 601 (Mediation) and DISRES 690 (Internship), which may substitute for PPOL G 898 (Internship).