Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM

Regulations of the M.P.A. Program

I. Admission

The following requirements apply to admission for regular status as a graduate student in the M.P.A. Program.

• Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution.  Official transcripts from all colleges and universities at which undergraduate or graduate study was undertaken, whether or not a degree was awarded, must be submitted.  (Failure to submit all transcripts may be a basis for denial of admission or subsequent termination from the program.)

• A minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 2.75.

• A combined score of at least 800 on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or of 420 on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT).

• Three letters of recommendation on forms supplied by the Office of Graduate Studies.

The student's record will be reviewed with respect to the foregoing list of requirements by the M.P.A. Program admissions committee.

The M.P.A. Program coordinator will have the option, in appropriate but rare cases, to recommend a student for admission with provisional status.  This may occur where the letters of recommendation are inadequate to establish professional potential, or where the applicant's undergraduate GPA or test scores are lower than prescribed.  A provisional student who does not earn a 3.0 grade-point average in his or her first 6 semester credits of work will rarely be continued in the program.  A mark of "I" or "W" in the first 6 semester credits may also be a basis for termination of the student's status in the program.

II. Establishment of Verbal and Quantitative Ability and
Qualifications for Exemption from Internship

An applicant whose verbal score is less than 420 on the GRE or 440 on the GMAT must complete BADM 261, "Business Communication," or ENGL 250, "Introduction to Technical and Professional Writing," and earn at least a "B".  (If the student earns a "C", provisional status may be available as described above.)

An applicant whose quantitative score is less than 420 on the GRE or 440 on the GMAT must complete MATH 101, "College Mathematics with Application," or MATH 119, "Precalculus Mathematics I," and earn at least a "B".  (If the student earns a "C", provisional status may be available as described above.)

In order to be exempted from the internship requirement, an applicant must document two years of professional experience in public service and apply for an exemption.  The application should be submitted at the time of application to the program.  The M.P.A. Program coordinator shall decide whether the applicant qualifies for the exemption, subject to review by the M.P.A. Program admissions committee.  Any student who does not secure an exemption in this manner will be expected to complete an internship.

III. Transfer Credit

Although the acceptance of any transfer credit is contingent upon approval of the M.P.A. admissions committee, no more than 6 semester credits of transfer credit may be transferred in to North Georgia College & State University's M.P.A. Program under any circumstances.  Transfer credit will not be given for any course in which a grade of less than a "B" was earned. Other requirements relating to transfer credit are:  (1) work already applied toward another degree cannot be accepted, (2) work must have been completed within the six-year period allowed for the completion of degree requirements, (3) work must have been applicable toward a graduate degree at the institution where credit was earned, (4) work offered for transfer must have the approval of the dean of the School of Arts and Letters and the M.P.A. Program coordinator, (5) acceptance of the transfer credit does not reduce the residence requirement, and (6) once enrolled in North Georgia College & State University's graduate program, a student desiring to take courses at another institution must apply for transient permission to the Dean of Graduate Studies, after securing the written approval of his or her advisor.  Under no circumstances may credit earned through correspondence work be applied toward satisfaction of degree requirements.

IV. Academic Standards

A grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater for all graduate courses and a 3.0 or greater in courses presented for the degree, successful completion of the internship, and successful completion of the comprehensive examination of the program are required for conferral of the M.P.A. degree.  No degree will be conferred on a student who has an unresolved "I" mark remaining on his or her record.  Every course taken by a student will affect the student's GPA.  However, no course in which a grade below a "C" is earned will fulfill any degree requirements; furthermore, the third and subsequent graduate courses in which a grade of "C" is earned will not serve to fulfill any degree requirements.  If a student repeats a course, all enrollments in the same course will be counted in the computation of the GPA; however, the number of credits earned will not increase (except in the case of a special-topics or independent-study course where the topic varies).

A student is expected to maintain at least a 3.0 average, with no grade below a "B".  A student whose GPA falls below 3.0 will be placed on probation.  The record of any student receiving more than two grades of "C", two "W" marks, or any grade below a "C", or of any student whose GPA, after 21 semester credits of study, is 2.8 or less, will be subject to review by a review committee usually consisting of the head of the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice and the M.P.A. Program's full-time faculty members.  This committee shall have the power to place a student on probation or to terminate the student's program.

No student carrying two "I" marks, either of which has extended over one semester or session, may enroll in additional coursework without the written consent of the M.P.A. Program coordinator.  A student who enrolls in a course or in courses under such circumstances without written consent may be withdrawn from the course or courses, without consultation with the student if necessary.

The maximum course load is 15 quarter hours.  A student pursuing an overload without approval may be withdrawn from one or more courses, without consultation with the student if necessary, in order to resolve the overload.  Overloads may be undertaken only upon written approval of the M.P.A. Program coordinator.

No course, including any course transferred in from another institution, may be presented for credit for the M.P.A. degree if it has been taken more than six calendar years before the date of conferral of the degree.

In order to receive an M.P.A. degree, a student must earn a minimum of 30 semester credits of graduate credit at North Georgia College & State University which are applicable to the core-course and concentration requirements of the M.P.A. degree and which have not been presented for any other degree.

A student must pass the M.P.A. comprehensive examination before the M.P.A. degree will be conferred.  The minimum passing score is 70 percent.  An eligible student may have no more than four opportunities to take the comprehensive examination.  A student who fails the examination on the fourth attempt shall be ineligible thereafter for an M.P.A. degree at North Georgia College & State University and shall be dismissed from the program.  Successful completion of the examination requirement must occur no later than six years from the time that the student's graduate studies commenced.

A student who has been enrolled in the M.P.A. Program for six years and has not completed all degree requirements will be dismissed from the program.

All of the rules, regulations, and standards published in the undergraduate and graduate bulletins of North Georgia College & State University are incorporated by reference in this document.  Students are responsible for obtaining copies of all such documents and for adhering to their contents.

V. Attendance and Participation

The following rules are intended to guide the student's approach to graduate study in public administration in order to ensure that this educational experience will simulate and comport with the professionalism expected of a public administrator in a governmental agency.  Written work submitted to instructors is expected to be of professional quality, such that the student's current or eventual supervisor in an agency would find the work to be of merit.  Attendance and participation requirements are consistent with analogous requirements in the professional setting.  In these and other ways, the student's instructor will have the opportunity to observe the student's capacity for professional behavior and productivity and will have the ability to evaluate the student's qualification for a graduate degree in public administration.

By registering for a course at North Georgia College & State University, the student implicitly declares his or her intention and ability to attend all class sessions.  If a student is aware, before he or she registers for a course, that there are circumstances that will preclude the student's attendance for more than one-tenth of the number of sessions scheduled, then the student must solicit the permission of the instructor before registering for the course.  In most cases, the instructor will withdraw the student with a "W" or "WF" mark if the student is not in compliance with this provision.  In cases where the student must be absent from a substantial number of classes for causes which could not be anticipated, the instructor and student may make arrangements for make-up work if possible or may apply for a "W" mark if necessary.

Each student is expected to attend every class in its entirety, arriving on time and remaining in class until the instructor adjourns it.  Any student having a valid reason for missing all of or part of a class is expected to inform the instructor and arrange for make-up work if it applies.  In any instance in which a student is absent from all or part of a class, the instructor may assign make-up work which will help satisfy the instructor that the student has obtained the information, knowledge, and abilities which would have been obtained during the class session.  A reduced grade, which may involve a failing grade, may result if such make-up work is not completed to the instructor's satisfaction.

In most classes, it is improper for a student to be a passive spectator in class sessions.  M.P.A. students are expected to be active participants in the proceedings of their classes.  Contributions to class discussions are vital to the experience of graduate study in public administration and enhance the value of the program for all students enrolled in it.

VI. Written Assignments

A student is expected to submit written assignments no later than the dates on which they are due.  An instructor may assess a penalty or award a score of zero on a late assignment.  If the student perceives that extraordinary circumstances will preclude timely submittal of an assignment, the student must alert the instructor at the earliest possible date and seek a mutually acceptable arrangement with the instructor.

All written assignments must be presented in a professional form.  Unless the instructor accepts handwritten assignments, assignments should be typed on good-quality paper.

It is mandatory that M.P.A. students use the style of research papers prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA).  The current version of the APA style manual is available from virtually all bookstores and from on-line book vendors.  Each new student in the program is advised to purchase a copy of the APA style manual and to apply the contents in all respects in the composition of every research paper.  Please note that the M.P.A. faculty has prescribed some modifications to the APA style manual; click here to view these modifications.

Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are expressly prohibited.  Any student who commits plagiarism or cheating may receive a reduced grade, which may involve a failing grade, and his or her matriculation in the M.P.A. Program may be terminated, subject to review of appropriate university officials including the university's Academic Integrity Council.

VII. Rescheduled Classes

Students should be aware that holidays, cancellations due to inclement weather, or other events may preclude the holding of a class on a day or evening when the class would otherwise take place.  In such cases, the instructor may reschedule the class to another evening, possibly a Friday evening.

VIII. Advising

Each student is assigned a faculty advisor.  The student should be in contact with the faculty advisor as the student's program develops.  The student and faculty advisor will need to confer on the selection of a concentration and on the selection of any guided elective in the concentration.  Because the faculty advisor's concurrence in the selection of certain elective courses is necessary, the student must ensure that he or she and the faculty advisor are in agreement in the selection of electives.  If this agreement is not secured, one or more courses taken by the student may prove to be inapplicable to the M.P.A. degree.

IX. Prerequisites and Corequisites

Before enrolling in any M.P.A. class, a student must review the course description and ensure that he or she has completed any prerequisite courses listed and that he or she has completed or is enrolling simultaneously in any corequisite courses listed.  If a student is enrolled in a course that has prerequisites and/or corequisites that the student has not completed, the student may be withdrawn from the course, without consultation with the student if circumstances necessitate; if the student is not withdrawn from the course, the student must assume the risk of poor performance in the course because of insufficient background.

X. Miscellaneous

Officials of the university will, from time to time, send announcements to all students via E-mail.  Generally speaking, students will then be responsible for knowing the content of those announcements.  Students who check their NGCSU E-mail accounts with reasonable regularity will thus have access to the information.  Students who do not wish to check their NGCSU E-mail accounts should consider activating a useful feature of the NIMS feature of NGCSU's E-mail system--i.e., auto-forwarding of the messages coming into a student's NGCSU E-mail box to some other E-mail address that he/she prefers.  Questions about NGCSU's E-mail system or its setup may be directed to the Office of Information and Instructional Technology at studenthelp@NGCSU.edu or (706) 864-1922.

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For more information, contact:

Office of Graduate Admissions
North Georgia College & State University
Dahlonega, Georgia   30597-1001
Telephone (706) 864-1543

For specific information about the M.P.A. Program, call or write to the M.P.A. Program Office.

Master of Public Administration Program
Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice
West Main Hall, Room 317
North Georgia College & State University
Dahlonega, Georgia   30597-1001
Telephone (706) 864-1916

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