The objective of this part of our site is to compile information that would assist professors in teaching or research in public administration. Our first two links are to: IPAC directory of public administration researchers and the IPAC Case Program.

To keep the researchers’ directory up-to-date, you are encouraged to submit revised material to webmaster Sue Rosenthal, who will post it on our Web site.

Dear Colleagues:

Here are two presentations on the federal public service:

• The first presentation gives a general overview of this institution, its importance in the life of Canadians, its evolution and its future perspectives knowing the challenges it is facing today. [PowerPoint presentation]
• The second presentation talks specifically about the renewal of the public service as introduced by Kevin Lynch, Clerk of the Privy Council as well as career opportunities offered for Canadians in a wide range of areas. [PowerPoint presentation]

I invite you to use these presentations in your courses and lectures and to distribute to your students if you find them useful.

I invite you also to submit any other presentations related to management in the public sector that we could distribute to our CAPPA colleagues.

David Zussman
President
CAPPA

CAPPA, together with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, is launching the 2010 national student and thought leadership awards. The national student awards encourage CAPPA member programs to host their own student awards and submit the winners to CAPPA by U. Winners will make poster presentations at the IPAC national conference in Ottawa, Ontario in August, and the three best presentations will be awarded the Thought Leadership Awards [details (PDF)].

This study is one of several funded in part by the Canada School of Public Service investigating the current state and future prospects of programs in public administration. [more]

This report was also commissioned by CAPPA (with the support of the Canada School of Public Service) to update the Gow and Sutherland study with the inclusion of new programs created since 2004. In order to make the two studies as comparable as possible, we have accepted most but not all of Gow and Sutherland’s methodological choices. [more]

In 2007, the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA), with the support of the Canada School of Public Service, commissioned two studies on the state of undergraduate public administration education in Canada – one on programming offered by Canadian colleges and the other on programming offered by Canadian universities at the undergraduate level. Dr. Ted Glenn of Humber College was named Principal Investigator of the colleges project and Dr. Lorna Stefanick of Athabasca University was named Principal Investigator of the universities project. [more]

In 2007, the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA), with the support of the Canada School of Public Service, commissioned two studies on the state of undergraduate public administration education in Canada – one on programming offered by Canadian colleges and the other on programming offered by Canadian universities at the undergraduate level. Dr. Ted Glenn of Humber College was named Principal Investigator of the colleges project and Dr. Lorna Stefanick of Athabasca University was named Principal Investigator of the universities project. [more]

Under the rubric of “public service renewal”, the federal government is focusing considerable energy on the problem of replacing the many public servants who are close to retirement. [more]

KPMG is in the process of commissioning a series of Research Commentaries from academics world wide on the topic of Performance Management. Our objective is to invite approximately 15 commentaries as a means to inform and promote debate about performance management globally, disseminated through a KPMG-funded book. And while the book will not be peer-reviewed in the traditional sense, we will work with the authors to ensure an appropriate level of quality and relevance. [more]

The CAPPA Board of Directors has chosen a five-person accreditation board of four academics and one practitioner. The academics are Iain Gow, Professor emeritus of political science, Université de Montréal; Leslie Pal, Professor of public administration and former director of the School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University; Mark Sproule-Jones, V.K. Copps Professor of political science, McMaster University; and Allan Tupper, Professor of political science and associate vice-president for government relations at the University of British Columbia, and former editor of Canadian Public Administration. The practitioner is Janice Cochrane, former president of the Canada School of Public Service and deputy minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Public Works and Government Services Canada. Professor Pal has agreed to serve as chair of the board. This is a most distinguished group of individuals and CAPPA will benefit from the collective wisdom in launching the accreditation process. The member programs of CAPPA ratified the principles for accreditation implementation in an online vote in March 2006.

Two distinguished professors of public administration, Iain Gow of the Université de Montréal and Sharon Sutherland of Queen's University, have published their report comparing Canadian master's programs in public administration in the fall 2004 (volume 47, number 3) issue of Canadian Public Administration. It compares the programs' missions, entrance and degree requirements, and required courses. It also compares the Canadian programs' curricula with the accreditation standards of the US-based National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Finally, the report characterizes the main orientation of the Canadian programs. The report is essential reading for public administration professors, who want to see what their program is doing in comparison with other programs. The report was commissioned by CAPPA with the financial support of CSPS. [full report (PDF)] • [Sandford Borins’ presentation of Gow-Sutherland research on Canadian MPA/MPP programs (PowerPoint file)]

A recent an article about career management based on a sample of 89 top public administration scholars in the U.S. by Larry Schroeder et al published in Public Administration Review (PAR) (January/February 2004) may be of interest to our readers: The abstract is printed below. To view the full article, visit the PAR Web site. Readers who are members of ASPA can access the article for free and those who aren't can access the article for a fee.

The Successful Scholars Project examined the determinants of successful public administration scholars. We surveyed the top 89 public administration scholars alive today (nominated by leaders of five national organizations) and asked them to rank a set of characteristics and behaviors that may have helped them achieve their success. We then analyzed the curricula vitae of 63 of the scholars. This article reports our study’s findings and the recommendations of our successful scholars. Scholars heralded good methodological training and quality mentoring as significant. For research, choosing important, cutting-edge issues to write about, not following fads, being oneself, and publishing quality works were touted as important. Presenting research at national conferences also was highly recommended (while chairing committees and serving as discussants were not). Most scholars recommended steering away from administrative positions and university politics. We conclude with lessons for budding public administration scholars as well as lessons for designing public administration doctoral programs.

Editor: Stephen P. Osborne, Aston Business School, Aston University, UK Public Management Review seeks to:

• explore the developing field of public management
• embrace research both about the strategic and operational management of public services and about social/public policy development and implementation
• encourage in particular work which either presents new empirical knowledge about public management and/or developed theory
• encourage questioning both of the legitimacy and hegemony of the "new public management " paradigm and its alternatives, and of the developing pluralism in public management which encompasses the governance of inter-sectoral relationships between government, non-profit and for-profit organisations in the provision of public services.

For further information on the journal please visit www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14719037.asp

To request a free online sample copy please visit www.tandf.co.uk/journals/onlinesamples.asp