Opportunities at St. Mary's

Internships/Applied Public Service

We believe that experiential learning is one of the most important components of graduate degree in public administration. As such, all students are required to enroll and complete six hours of internship or applied public service.

Students without previous public service employment (Pre-Service) must complete six semester hours of internship credit.

• Pre-Service students have the option of enrolling in PA 8301 over two semesters, or PA 8601 in one semester to meet the six hour requirement. The internship course hours do not necessarily have to be coterminus with the internship itself. (For example, students may complete their internship work hours in a single semester, but spread out the internship course credit hours over two semesters.) Students are expected to complete 300 work hours for 6 internship credit hours or 150 work hours for 3 internship credit hours.
• In-Service (graduate students with one or more years of full-time employment in the public or non-profit sector) are required to undertake an advanced organizational and strategic analysis of a public or non-profit organization. Conducted under the supervision of a faculty member, this applied experience can take form of a program evaluation, policy analysis, or strategic planning exercise. In-service students enroll in PA 8310. This course is repeated for a total of six hours.

Both pre- and in-service students submit a 3-5 page research paper per three hour credit, which describe the internship or applied service activities or project and how public administration courses were utilized as part of the experience.

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships are offered each academic year beginning September 1 and ending on or about May 1. Students awarded a graduate assistantship must enroll in a minimum of nine hours each semester. The number of assistantships is limited. The amount of the stipend is announced annually.

Please see the MPA Handbook for more opportunities.