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Academics

M.P.A. Program Requirements

While the M.P.A. program provides a basic structure for study, CIPA fellows are the primary designers of their educational and career trajectories. Although fellows are required to take a set number of required courses—fourteen, no single course is required of all students in the M.P.A. program. The M.P.A. degree program includes the following structural elements. Four semesters of residence in CIPA are required.

Foundation Coursework

The Foundation Coursework requirements are intended to give fellows the basic conceptual and analytical capabilities for pursuing specialized studies in the chosen Concentration. CIPA fellows take three foundation courses in each of the following areas:

  • Quantitative Analysis
  • Administration, Politics, and Public Policy
  • Economics and Public Finance

In each of these foundation subject areas, fellows should take at least one of two courses that are offered by CIPA Core Faculty member.

See M.P.A. Course Guide for specifics course options.

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Concentration Coursework

CIPA offers eight general areas of concentration for fellows to choose from:

  • Environmental Policy
  • Finance and Fiscal Policy
  • Government, Politics, and Policy Studies
  • Human Rights and Social Justice
  • International Development Studies
  • Public and Non-Profit Management
  • Science and Technology Policy
  • Social Policy

Five graduate-level courses are required in the area of the student’s chosen concentration. Under each concentration there is a set of courses representing fundamental material in that area of study. fellows must take two of these courses. Fellows will also decide upon a sub-concentration, and will choose three courses from an illustrative set of related topic-specific courses. See M.P.A. Guidebook & Course Handbook for specifics.

Click here for a list of units on campus related to potential areas of concentration.

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Internships

CIPA fellows are expected to engage in the application of public policy principles related to their area of concentration during the summer between the first and second year of study. The objective is to gain pragmatic professional experience to complement formal academic study. CIPA staff are available to assist fellows in finding placements that match their interests, expertise, and professional goals.

Appropriate internships are available in public policy- or public affairs-related organizations such as

  • The United Nations
  • The United States Congress/Senate
  • The World Bank
  • The International Monetary Fund
  • The United States Agency for International Development
  • The Organization of American States
  • State, local, and urban municipal governments
  • Non-Governmental Organizations worldwide
  • Private-sector consulting firms

See Career Development and Alumni link for additional information on internship opportunities.

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Off-Campus Study Options

CIPA fellows now have the opportunity to gain professional experience off-campus, while also taking a semester of courses for credit, through the following three programs.

* Rome Program: Students participate in a United Nations internship while taking Cornell courses in Rome, Italy. (link to Rome web site)

* Cornell-in-Washington: CIPA fellows study and explore public policy-making in the nation’s capital. (link to Cornell-in-Washington site)

* Cornell-Nepal Study Programs: Fellows can study and do internships in this developing Himalayan country. (link to Cornell-Nepal program)

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Research Opportunities

CIPA fellows generally carve out their own research projects, most often working with a faculty member whose research is relevant to their own interests and development.  Select a name below for  descriptions of a few such projects.

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Colloquium

The Colloquium Series serves as both cornerstone and crossroads of the CIPA program. This weekly forum engages participants in discussions of issues facing public affairs and public policy professionals, helping students make critical links between their coursework and the wide array of public administration challenges around the world. Here, students at all stages of their individual programs listen to presentations by leaders in public policy, and share insights with each other, refining their own thinking and career goals in the process. In the past, guest lecturers have included foreign ambassadors, UN officials, representatives from the US State Department and the US Department of Justice, journalists, Cornell Distinguished Faculty (link to Distinguished Faculty page), Tompkins County and New York State representatives, and CIPA alumni.

See Colloquiums under the Calendar for a listing of current speakers.

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Professional Writing Requirement

The CIPA M.P.A. Professional Writing Requirement provides an opportunity to synthesize the different elements of the CIPA educational experience and make an original contribution to the field of public affairs.  In producing the Professional Writing Project, the fellow is expected to integrate concepts, theories, and analytical techniques by applying them to a public policy problem relevant to their concentration.  As a culmination of study in the M.P.A. program, the Professional Writing Project is both critical and creative, reflecting one's ability to identify and analyze important public policy questions and to devise practical solutions.

There are two options for completing the CIPA M.P.A. Professional Writing Requirement: the first option is a Professional Report and the second option is a Master's Thesis.  For specific information, students should consult the M.P.A. Professional Writing Requirement Handbook online or request a hard copy in the CIPA office.

Recent topics fulfilling the M.P.A. Professional Writing Requirement include the following:

  • The Emergence of African NGOs: Functional or Opportunistic Response? An Empirical Test with the United Nations Data
    Yukako Sakabe, 2003

  • The Commodification and Privatization of Water and Wastewater Services in the United States
    Bonnie Berger, 2003

  • Stem Cells Research and Public Policy
    Nitawan Leophairatana, 2003

  • A Review of the Free Trade Area of the Americas’ Potential Impact on the Resources of Latin America
    William E. Bihlman, 2003

  • Consequences of U.S. Border Patrol Policies: Human Rights Along the U.S. – Mexican Border
    Tony J. Carrizales, 2003

  • Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus
    Philip Kranz, 2003

  • Is Inequality Hurting School Children?
    Bjornulf Ostvik-White

  • Attaining Sustainability: A Case Study of Policy Formulation in the Klamath River Basin
    Mahmood Reza Watts, 2003

  • Regulatory, Social, and Market Influences on Media’s Portrayal of News: A Study of the Television News Media in Taiwan and the United States
    Tracy Shih, 2003

  • Developing Countries and the World Trade Organization
    Ananya Tachaplalert, 2003

  • Seeking the Optimal Frequency-Licensing Regime: The Case of Thailand’s Mobile Telephone Market
    Nattapong Puttanapong, 2003

 

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Professional Activities

CIPA fellows find that their learning is enhanced through organizing, managing, or otherwise participating in a variety of professional-development activities. The Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS), a student body organization, presents opportunities to share work experience with other fellows, and to meet practitioners and distinguished faculty members in the field of public policy from around the world.

CPAS is responsible for directing the following three components of the Institute. All fellows are required to participate in one or more of the following activities for two semesters.

Women in Public Policy (WPP) is another student-run organization that offers students professional and leadership opportunities.

Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS)

The Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS) is the student professional organization of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. The Society’s activities are as diverse as the fellows themselves. Fellows elect CPAS officers annually. These officers are responsible for directing the three main student components of the Institute.

  • Colloquium Series: CIPA weekly lecture and discussion forum
  • Point of View: CIPA Public Affairs television program
  • The Current: CIPA journal of student policy research

Attending and participating in national public policy conferences, career development seminars, and alumni outreach events, are also an integral part of student activity. Each element of the Society is administered by the students, affording every fellow the opportunity to initiate debate, as well as personally affect the direction and focus of the organization.

CPAS officers are elected each November, take office in January, and serve for one calendar year.

Executive Board 2003
President: Harvey Scott
Vice-President: Ellen Matthews
Secretary: David Bavoso
Treasurer: Vaishali Kushan
Social Director: Valerie Bouchereau
Colloquium Chair: Tzu yu Tang
The Current Editor: Ellen Matthews
Point of View Director: Fratney Miller


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