April 09, 2015

Board of Governors approves new graduate degree programs in public administration, applied and computational mathematics

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

The new doctoral degree in public administration was designed for working professionals seeking leadership roles in the public, nonprofit and private sectors and emphasizes practical problem solving. The curriculum will focus on the development of core competencies in the areas of strategic management and governance, public sector economic and financial decision-making, policy advocacy and leadership and performance management.

The flexible design of the proposed 43-credit online program is intended to meet the needs of working professionals in the region while still allowing for technology-aided, face-to-face advising and interaction with faculty.

The Master of Science in applied and computational mathematics degree was designed to equip graduate students with the training necessary to successfully launch careers as industrial mathematicians in government and with financial institutions and private industry, and to pursue doctoral studies. Completion of team-based research projects involving real-world data and problems extracted from industry will equip students with managerial experience, computational know-how and an ability to apply mathematical theory to investigate and analyze complex problems.

The design of the proposed 36-credit degree program is intended to maximize exposure to practical situations by having students work closely with industry professionals. Courses will be offered in the evenings to accommodate the needs of working professionals in the region.

For more information on either of the new programs, please contact the university.

Chancellor Frank T. Brogan today announced a new collaboration between the State System and Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) to help System universities better align their academic offerings with workforce demand at the regional, state and national levels. CEW is a premier independent, nonprofit research and policy institute that studies the link between education, career qualifications and workforce demands.

The collaborative effort will examine industry demands and the ability of the State System universities to help meet those demands with a sufficient number of appropriately educated graduates. By bringing these two perspectives together, this initiative will help ensure alignment between the programs the universities offer and the needs of employers throughout Pennsylvania.

Initially, Georgetown University will develop a toolkit designed specifically for State System universities to include detailed information on academic programs offered and the state’s labor market. The collaborative effort also will include a “gap analysis” to identify specific fields in which Pennsylvania expects to have shortages of educated workers in the future. It also will develop resources that will help students identify their best career path.

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with about 110,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.

The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.