Announcement: Application for the Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) in Public Affairs Management Program 

Now Accepting Applicants: APPLY ONLINE

Program Title

        Doctor of Public Administration Program in Public Affairs Management

Degree Offered:  

        Doctor of Public Administration in Public Affairs Management (D.P.A. in Public Affairs Management)

Program Objectives

     1. General Objectives

    The 2022 edition of the Doctor of Public Administration Program in Public Affairs Management (International Program) aims to produce scholars with knowledge and understanding of both research and innovation in public affairs management and public policy making which can lead to their helping to solve national and international problems. We groom the students to excel in the following abilities:

          1)      To have a deep knowledge and understanding of both the theory and practice necessary for the administration of public affairs and the formulation of quality public policy. Corresponds to national and international needs and issues, using the concepts of public administration as the base, and using the concepts arising from the integration of both social science and science as a multidisciplinary tool.

          2)      To have research and creativity ability. To gain new and innovative knowledge in public affairs administration and public policy as a frontier of research obtained by integrating theoretical and practical knowledge from different disciplines and ready to be conveyed or can be published to the public, both at the national and international levels.

          3)      To have leadership to create and manage socially acceptable change in a complex and highly dynamic environment, including having morality, ethics, and socially responsibility consciousness, both as a citizen and a representative in a democratic society.

     2. Behavioral Objectives

    The DPA program’s learning outcomes (PLOs) are defined by the world-class standard of Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) as follows:

          1)      PLO1: Competency in theory, research, and application of advanced knowledge in public affairs management in the digital age.

          2)      PLO2: Competency in the advanced analysis and presentation for decision making, problem solving, and public service.

          3)      PLO3: Competency in morality and ethics for public affairs management reflecting a strong leadership of public organizations.

          4)      PLO4: Competency in management and application of digital innovation within and outside the organization.

          5)      PLO5: Competency in verbal skills, writing skills, and digital media in a diverse world.

Student Qualifications

• Earn a Master’s Degree or its equivalent.

• Additional qualifications:

          1)      Must have one of the following English proficiency test result:

a.       TOEFL;

                                                                                                   i.      Paper-based at least 400

                                                                                                 ii.      Computer-based at least 97

                                                                                               iii.      Internet-based at least 32

                                                                                               iv.      Institutional Testing Program at least 400

b.      IELTS (Academic Module) at least 4.0;

c.       TU-GET at least 400;

d.      CU-TEP at least 45; or

e.       KKU-AELT at least level 2 in reading and writing.

          2)      Must have research skills or experience. The applicant must have at least one published paper in academic journals at the national or higher level.

          3)      If the applicant does not meet qualifications (1) and (2), they must be approved by the Curriculum Administration Committee.                  

Program Characteristics

   Under the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) global environment, public organizations have a great challenge in formulating public policy and delivering quality public services to diverse populations in society. The administrative political system is complex and highly dynamic. To be able to adapt and overcome obstacles and limitations that will arise in the future, the College of Local Administration (COLA) at Khon Kaen University has partnered with the University of Hawaii and the University of Portland. These are higher education institutions known for their public affairs administration educational programs in the United States. The cooperative effort of these three higher education institutions creates a representative center of knowledge in cultures throughout the world from, from East to West. This knowledge will be passed on by the faculties of the three universities. The lecturers have extensive teaching and research experience and will have a profound impact on the knowledge and understanding of students in the program. The students will have the opportunity to conduct research on a topic of their expertise and interest. There are also opportunities to test theories on the administration of public affairs, both in and out of the classroom, thus creating a creative learning environment for students from different cultural backgrounds and who have work experience in real-world situations. This is a truly unique feature of this course. A course development approach like this will result in the ability to produce a graduate with a deep knowledge of public affairs management and able to meet the needs of their home countries.

Career Opportunities

    Graduates can pursue careers in higher education institutions, government organizations, research organizations or other organizations involved in the provision of public affairs services. They will be qualified to act as teachers, academicians, researchers, or corporate executives with an expertise in public policy at the local, national, and international levels.

Fees

·         Tuition fee:                          THB 750,000 or USD 25,020

                                                   (THB 125,000 or USD 4,170 per semester)

·         Admission fee:                    THB 3,000

·         International student fee:    THB 90,000 or USD 3,000

                                                   (THB 15,000 or USD 500 per semester)

·         Application fee:                   THB 1,200 (USD 40)

Credits

•     Type 1.1 (Research-Based): 54 credit hours
•     Type 2.1 (Course-Based): 54 credit hours

Program Structure

Courses

10.1 Supplementary Course

CL 201 001

Advanced Reading and Writing in English for Graduate Students

3(3-0-6) (non-credit)

10.2 Required Courses

CL 201 101	Governance and Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 201	Advanced Public Policy Analysis	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 301	Political Economy of Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 401	Advanced Organizational Analysis	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 501	Methods of Inquiry and Research Design in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 991	Seminar in Public Affairs Management I	1(1-0-3)
CL 201 992	Seminar in Public Affairs Management II	1(1-0-3)
CL 201 993	Seminar in Public Affairs Management III	1(1-0-3)

10.3 Elective Courses

CL 202 102	Comparative Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
CL 202 103	Intergovernmental Relations and Cross-Sector Collaboration	3(3-0-6)
CL 202 402	Leadership, Equity, and Diversity in Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
CL 202 403	Conflict Analysis and Management	3(3-0-6)
CL 202 502	Advanced Quantitative Methodology in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 503	Advanced Qualitative Methodology in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 504	Mixed Methods Research Design	3(3-0-6)

10.4 Dissertation

CL 203 996	Dissertation	48  credits
CL 203 998	Dissertation	36 credits

Study Plans

Year 1 Semester 1

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 201 001	Advanced Reading and Writing in English for Graduate Students	3(3-0-6) (non-credit)	3(3-0-6) (non-credit)
CL 201 201	Governance and Public Affairs	-	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 201	Advanced Public Policy Analysis	-	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 501	Methods of Inquiry and Research Design in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 991	Seminar in Public Affairs Management I	1(1-0-3)	1(1-0-3)
CL 203 996	Dissertation	6	-
	Total credits registered	10	10
	Total credits accumulated	10	10

Year 1 Semester 2

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 201 301	Political Economy of Public Affairs	-	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 401	Advanced Organizational Analysis	-	3(3-0-6)
CL 201 992	Seminar in Public Affairs Management II	1(1-0-3)	1(1-0-3)
CL 203 996	Dissertation	9	-
CL 203 998	Dissertation	-	3
	Total credits registered	10	10
	Total credits accumulated	20	20

Year 2 Semester 1

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 201 993	Seminar in Public Affairs Management III	1(1-0-3)	1(1-0-3)
CL 203 996	Dissertation	9	-
CL 203 998	Dissertation	-	9
	Total credits registered	10	10
	Total credits accumulated	30	30

Year 2 Semester 2

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 203 996	Dissertation	9	-
CL 203 998	Dissertation	-	9
	Total credits registered	9	9
	Total credits accumulated	39	39

Year 3 Semester 1

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 203 996	Dissertation	9	-
CL 203 998	Dissertation	-	9
	Total credits registered	9	9
	Total credits accumulated	48	48

Year 3 Semester 2

Courses		Credits
		Type 1.1	Type 2.1
CL 203 996	Dissertation	6	-
CL 203 998	Dissertation	-	6
	Total credits registered	6	6
	Total credits accumulated	54	54

Course Description

CL 200 001	Advanced Reading and Writing in English for Graduate Students	3(3-0-6)
Terminology in public affairs management, common technical terms in other languages, and reading and writing techniques for academic purposes.

 

CL 201 101	Governance and Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
Philosophical foundation; theory and concepts of public administration and public affairs; new public services, collaborative governance, public service logic; roles of the public, private, and voluntary sectors in public affairs; global contexts of political, economic, social and cultural aspects of public affairs management; digital technology and public affairs; good governance principles; public service professionalism; ethics; code of conduct; public service ethos; challenges to effectiveness of leadership; ethical decision-making; governance in and after times of crisis

 

CL 201 201	Advanced Public Policy Analysis	3(3-0-6)
Philosophical foundation and different approaches to policy analysis; advanced methods of public policy analysis; meta-policy analysis; policy legitimacy; social, political, and economic contexts in policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation; types and methods of policy evaluation

 

CL 201 301	Political Economy of Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
Philosophical and theoretical political economy; government’s roles in the economy; institutional and behavioral public finance and budgeting; power play and power relations; politics of collective action; poverty, inequality, and political economy of development; micro- and macro-economic policies; political and market solutions to public policy issues; changing relations between public and private entities; effects of international economic factors on domestic political processes and outcomes; regional and global institutional changes

 

CL 201 401	Advanced Organizational Analysis	3(3-0-6)
Political system, economic system, social system, and cultural system; strengths and limitations of organizations; administrative reform models; strategies for organizational transformation; balance between rules and orders and flexibility in organizations; accountability of public organizations; balance between organizational effectiveness and morale of public employees; organizational psychology and behavior; analyses of organizational performance

 

CL 201 501	Methods of Inquiry and Research Design in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
Epistemological stances; logic of inquiry in social science research; causality; research question formulation and inquiry in public affairs management; quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods and applications; policy research process; model building and simulation; measurement techniques; analysis of cross-sectional and time-series data; psychological, sociological, and anthropological variables; and research ethics

 

CL 201 991	Seminar on Public Affairs Management I	1(1-0-3)
Seminar on current issues and phenomena related to public affairs management at the local, national, regional, and global levels

 

CL 201 992	Seminar on Public Affairs Management II	1(1-0-3)
Analysis of and discussion on philosophical and theoretical backgrounds of important issues and phenomena related to public affairs management for research conceptual framework development

 

CL 201 993	Seminar on Public Affairs Management III	1(1-0-3)
Analysis of and discussion on theoretical and methodological frameworks of research topics in public affairs management for research proposal development

 

CL 202 102	Comparative Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
Philosophy and concepts of comparative study; institutions, institutional design, and institutionalization; varieties in administrative characteristics and management practices around the world; and universal patterns in organizational structures and processes for desirable policy outcomes

 

CL 202 103	Intergovernmental Relations and Cross-Sector Collaboration	3(3-0-6)
Institutionalist theories and concepts; new institutionalism and governance structural arrangements; multi-level governance; intergovernmental relations, central-local relations, inter-local relations; cross-sector collaboration; governance network for public service provision

 

CL 202 402	Leadership, Equity, and Diversity in Public Affairs	3(3-0-6)
Governance from a human resources perspective; leadership and diversity in public affairs; ethical leadership equity discourse, and power and privilege politics; human rights and equity; responsibility of government, society, and public employers to create legal, ethical, and diverse work environments

 

CL 202 403	Conflict Analysis and Management	3(3-0-6)
Concepts and philosophical background of the analysis of the function of conflicts in social development; study of violence, direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence; relationship between violence and conflict; building solidarity and reconciliation; organizational structure reform for constructive conflict reduction; operations of peace building; tolerance culture; pursuing innovations in conflict prevention and resolution

 

CL 202 502	Advanced Quantitative Methodology in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
Advanced quantitative reasoning and analysis; applying more advanced statistical concepts and techniques; econometrics for public affairs; integrating quantitative and qualitative elements into true mixed-methods studies; and report writing.
CL 202 503	Advanced Qualitative Methodology in Public Affairs Management	3(3-0-6)
Philosophy and methods of qualitative research; evolution of qualitative methods; similarities and differences between qualitative and quantitative research design; approaches to qualitative program and policy evaluation, including participative and collaborative approaches, naturalistic inquiry, theory-based evaluations; major approaches to qualitative research; qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, including interviews, focus group, observation and participant observation, ethnography, case studies, content analysis, historical and archival methods, action research, photo and video methods

 

CL 202 504	Mixed Methods Research Design	3(3-0-6)
Philosophical and theoretical foundations for conducting mixed methods research; definition and history of mixed methods research; major designs available for mixed methods research; Procedures for analyzing, mixing, and validating quantitative and qualitative data; presentation of and discussion on mixed methods research findings; quality evaluation of mixed methods studies

 

CL 203 996	Dissertation	48 credits
Field-based research on a topic related to public affairs management. This research will be conducted in collaboration with a selected faculty member with the guidance of the dissertation advisory committee

 

CL 203 998	Dissertation	36 credits
Field-based research on a topic related to public affairs management under supervision and guidance of the dissertation advisory committee

 

Graduation Checklist

·         Has at least a GPA of 3.00

·         Pass the qualifying examination

·         Pass the dissertation proposal defense

·         Attend the ethic workshop, and receive research ethics approval

·         Pass the dissertation defense

·         Pass English Proficiency test or join KKU English course

·         Two papers are accepted for publication

1)      One in an international journal (a SCOPUS/ISI journal is preferred)

2)      One in a journal or presented in a conference

    

Program Approval Certificate by Office of the Higher Education Commission

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