School of Government, Beijing Normal University

Master of Public Administration Graduate Program

(2019 Edition)

First-level Discipline: Public Management (Code: 1204)

Ⅰ. Cultivating goals

To cultivate high-level, applied and compound public management professionals for government departments and non-government public institutions who are engaged in government management, public affairs and public policy research. The specific requirements are:

1. Possess good professional ethics, actively serve the socialist modernization drive, and contribute to the development of public undertakings.

2. Familiar with the basic theories, professional knowledge and research methods of public management.

3. Have the ability to be competent in the actual work of public management.

Ⅱ. Discipline Directions and Main Research Content

Ⅲ. Study Years

Part-time study is adopted. The length of study is generally not less than 2.5 years, and the maximum is not more than 4 years.

Ⅳ.Curriculum and Credit Requirements (minimum: 37 credits)

Ⅴ. Cultivating Methods and Cultivating Sessions

1.Requirements for practical (empirical, experimental) activities

Social practice is a compulsory part of study for MPA graduate students, and the practice methods to obtain social practice marks are as follows.

(1) Participate in the China Graduate Public Management Case Competition and the on-campus selection competition.

(2) Under the guidance of full-time or part-time teachers, MPA students should conduct research and fieldwork in government departments and public organizations on management and policy issues in a certain public field, and submit a social practice report after the social practice. The form of the report and other activity requirements will be implemented according to the notice from the school.

(3) The MPA Center will organize a series of lectures and seminars, inviting famous scholars from inside and outside the university and tutors from outside the ministries to give professional and cultural lectures, requiring graduate students to participate in at least 6 of these lectures and 4 other related lectures in the university, totaling 10 or more related lectures, and submit summaries or insights according to the number of events.

(4) Other related social practice activities organized by the school.

2.Requirements for Scientific Research Activities

Refer to the third point above.

3.Internationalization Experience Requirements

None.

4.Requirements for Mid-term Examination

The mid-term examination of MPA graduate students is the key session to ensure the quality of MPA cultivation. The mid-term examination is usually completed in the fourth semester, which is mainly reflected in the examination of the start-up report.

MPA graduate students write a literature review by combining the reading of professional literature and pre-research in the field of practice, and on this basis, they report to the examination team on the significance of the selected topic, research content and research plan of the thesis, and only after passing the examination can they enter the stage of thesis writing. The specific arrangements are as follows.

(1) The MPA graduate students, after discussing with their supervisors, determine the research topic and research methods of the thesis, make a detailed and operable research plan, and form the start-up report which is reviewed and approved by their supervisors.

(2) A start-up report defense team consisting of no less than three faculty members or researchers with equivalent qualifications from outside the college is organized by the college. The MPA graduate students are required to submit the start-up report, which has been reviewed and approved by their supervisors, to the members of the examination team before the report defense, and communicate with their supervisors and make further revisions according to the feedback of the examination team.

(3) According to the degree of perfection of MPA graduate students' research work, the start-up report is graded according to three grades: pass, re-examine after revision and fail.

(4) If the MPA graduate student fails in one course in this examination, the examination can only be marked as "temporarily passed", and can only be marked as "passed" after passing the supplementary examination.

Ⅵ. Supervisor's Responsibility

The supervisor of the graduate students is determined through two-way selection after enrollment, and the supervisor of the graduate students takes important responsibilities in the supervision of the thesis. Before the graduate students apply for the thesis defense, the supervisors shall review their thesis completely, carefully and rigorously to ensure that the graduate students have a comprehensive and profound understanding of the important aspects of the thesis, such as research problems, research ethics, data and information, research methods, research conclusions and academic regulations, and on this basis, they shall confirm that the thesis reaches the level of the thesis defense applied for.

Ⅶ. Thesis and Defense

The thesis should be completed under the guidance of the supervisor through the process of starting-up, writing and defending. The total working time of the thesis should be at least one year, among which the thesis starting should be conducted at least half a year before the defense, and the word count of the body of the thesis should be between 20,000 and 50,000 words.

The topic chosen for the thesis must be closely related to specific problems in public management practice, and students are especially encouraged to choose problems related to their own work areas and jobs to start their thesis research. Students are expected to apply their theories, knowledge and methods to conduct research and analysis, and to propose relevant policy recommendations or measures to improve management. The thesis usually takes the form of a research paper, a survey report, a case study, etc. The thesis should fully apply the relevant theories and skills of public management to solve practical public management problems.

Ⅷ. List of courses