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State's First Public Policy Studies Program to be Offered Beginning this Fall
03/15/2007
OXFORD, Miss. The University of Mississippi's legacy of producing state and national leaders including governors, lieutenant governors, supreme court justices, senators and representatives has been further ensured with a new undergraduate degree program.
The state's first bachelor of arts in public policy leadership has been approved by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning as an academic program in UM's Lott Leadership Institute.
"This program gives our students the opportunity to delve into policy issues and approach them using both critical thinking and leadership skills," said Provost Carolyn Staton. "It is an unprecedented combination, allowing students to probe the issues intellectually and then placing those issues in a real-world context in which they have to provide solutions."
Limited courses in the new curriculum, offered through the College of Liberal Arts, are expected to begin this fall.
"We hope to have five faculty members on board this fall, so our curriculum will be limited until we can expand the number of faculty," said Bob Haws, professor and chair of the new program. "As our faculty increases, so will our curriculum."
The curriculum is to include analytical and quantitative public policy courses, as well as courses dealing with the philosophy of moral leadership, ethics of public policy and the psychology of decision-making. Plans are also under way to offer a minor in public policy studies in the future.
The new program aims to create an intellectual community of faculty and students to turn ideas into action. The curriculum joins the systematic study of public policy with the study of the leadership qualities necessary for successful policy formation and implementation.
"The University of Mississippi, with its history of producing senators, governors and other public servants, is a natural setting for this degree in public policy," said Glenn Hopkins, liberal arts dean. "Providing opportunities to our students is central to our mission, and this program offers a new, exciting opportunity that will be quickly embraced by many students."
Admission to the program is to be limited to approximately 25 in its inaugural year. Selection is based on a student's grade-point average, standardized test scores, leadership record, an essay and recommendation letters. Also, beginning this fall, all new recipients of the $10,000 Lott Leadership Institute Scholarship are required to major in public policy studies.
"We want students who are driven, ambitious and willing to make a commitment to change the world," Haws said.
Initially developed as university-based research programs to provide outreach services to legislative bodies, public policy study programs were spawned over the last generation to bridge the analytical skills associated with social sciences to the public policy norms found in the humanities. UM plans to compete with institutions that offer similar programs, including Vanderbilt University, Duke University and the University of California-Berkeley.
For more information, call the Lott Leadership Institute at 662-915-3189. To learn more about the institute, visit www.lottinst.olemiss.edu/
by Tobie Baker
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