Susan Phillips presented an interim report, available as a Powerpoint on the what’s new page of the CAPPA and ACPAP websites. The report discussed eligibility for accreditation, categories of accreditation, information required for accreditation and information about accredited programs that would be posted on the CAPPA/ACPAP websites, accreditation standards, period of accreditation, accreditation mechanism, and costs. The final report will be produced by early October, and discussed at the CSPS/CAPPA symposium on October 27-28.

CAPPA currently as 25 member programs, down slightly from 30 last year. Most of the programs that have not renewed are political science departments. In some cases, this may be an oversight. In others, the department may have decided that public administration is not a major part of its mandate.

CAPPA began the 2004-05 fiscal year with a balance of approximately $ 11,000 and ended it with a balance of approximately $ 16,000. Membership revenue was $ 8400 and CSPS provided a generous contribution of $ 20,000. The latter funded web development, translation, the initial background study on accreditation, and a stipend (teaching relief) for the President. This fiscal year, CAPPA has received $ 6300 in membership revenue and incurred $ 4500 in expenses, primarily web development, translation, and travel.

It was suggested that CAPPA’s membership fee of $ 250 per program be reviewed, in particular to consider establishing a two-tier system, with higher fees for larger and professional graduate programs and lower fees for smaller programs and undergraduate programs, particularly those based in political science departments.

Previously, IPAC has handled CAPPA’s financial management. This arrangement is now proving unsatisfactory to both parties, and the meeting supported a recommendation by the President to establish a bank account for CAPPA, with cheques to be signed by both the President and Secretary-Treasurer.

The CAPPA website has proven to be popular, with approximately 4000 page views per month during the academic year. The most popular areas are programs and careers. The discussion forum initiated last March has had very limited takeup.

The President posts all relevant information he receives, and urged member programs to update relevant pages, in particular news, graduate students, and job postings. Most of the program-specific news is from the 2003-04 academic year and out-of-date.

The meeting thanked John Higginbotham, previously Vice President of CSPS for academic relations, and Maurice Demers, who is retiring. Both have been a pleasure to work with and have provided enormous support for CAPPA.

The report was given by Michael Keenan, the new Vice-President for Leadership, Research, and Academic Relations. CSPS sees strengthening management capacity in the Public Service of Canada as a major priority. It is working on a new business plan, which will emphasize building on previous research programs and supporting learning partnerships. CSPS does not have to provide instruction itself in all areas, but rather would oversee contracts with third parties where appropriate. CSPS is interested in providing ongoing support for CAPPA, and intends to take forward to Treasury Board a proposal for support for a number of key partners, one of which is CAPPA.

Marion Brulot, President of CASP3A, reported that it will be launching a list of research opportunities for members on its website. The student written assignment competition launched in April has been very successful, with seven winners named. Three are attending the IPAC conference and will receive certificates at a celebration later in the day. CASP3A has received approximately $ 4000 in support from the School of Public Administration at UVic and is looking for other sources, including other CAPPA member programs as well as government.

Plans include:

• Making a decision about accreditation and, if there is support for it, implementation.
• Working with CASP3A to establish the written assignment competition on an ongoing basis and to integrate it with the IPAC Endowment Fund’s initiative to support student thought leadership.
• Maintaining the CAPPA/ACPAP websites on an ongoing basis and stimulating interest in the discussion forum.

The dues schedule was approved unanimously.

The 2004-05 executive (Sandford Borins, Ken Rasmussen, Evert Lindquist, Mark Sproule-Jones, Jacques Bourgault, Vic Pakalnis) have agreed to continue for the 2005-06 year, with the addition of Fazley Siddiq of Dalhousie University, Ted Glenn of Humber College, and Michael Keenan, ex-officio representative of CSPS.