Option 1: Draft Journal Article

Overview

This portion of the document summarizes a new option for completing the PPA culminating experience requirement: developing a paper that potentially could be submitted to an academic journal. This alternative may be especially appropriate for students interested in positions oriented toward research and policy/administrative analysis, and/or who may be considering eventual pursuit of a doctoral degree.

Guidelines

The default approach for someone pursuing this option would be to revise a major assignment for a previous class (e.g. the final research paper for PPA 207, 220B, 240B, 272, etc.) to be suitable as an academic journal article. To pursue this culminating experience option, the student should secure the approval of the instructor of the course for which the assignment was completed. If the faculty member agrees the previous work has the potential for a journal article, that instructor will serve as the student’s primary thesis advisor and the instructor of PPA 500 will serve as the secondary advisor (unless these are the same person in which case another PPA instructor will serve as secondary advisor).

The student’s work in PPA 500 at the culminating experience stage would involve the following:

1. Editing and tightening. Articles for journal submission need to be very tightly argued and oriented toward advancing knowledge in the field. They also face strict length limitations: while there is some variance across outlets, academic articles generally need to be no more than about 25-35 double spaced pages including tables, figures, references, etc. Additionally, journal articles are designed for an audience that is presumably very familiar with appropriate methods and much of the appropriate literature. By contrast, our major assignments for the PPA program commonly aim to demonstrate general student competence in a variety of areas and are more permissive with respect to length. Accordingly, a major part of pursuing this option would involve careful revisions designed to include only material appropriate for the article venue and zeroing in on things academics care much about, such as intellectual contribution. In consultation with the primary advisor, the student should also pick a particular academic journal to target, in part to gain a better understanding of what venues are appropriate for different types of research.

2. Going beyond prior work. Since this option is to meet a culminating experience requirement, we care about students’ ability to show that they can synthesize ideas and approaches across courses, appropriate to different audiences. Anyone pursuing this option therefore needs to demonstrate the ability to go beyond producing a tightly argued academic type article. The final section of the academic article should contain the policy implications supported by the articles findings.

No matter the culminating project type, all enrolled in PPA 500 are expected to make a 5 to 10 minute PP-slide-based presentation of their work to a MPPA showcase event that occurs in person during the semester's final exam week. Attendance at this event includes faculty, alumni, PPA students, and other PPA 500 completers. Also be prepared for a 5-minute question and answer period after your presentation.

Option 2: Applied Project or Policy Report

The first option is a policy report. The purpose of the policy report is to provide practical, clear, evidence-based analyses that will help a relevant audience(s) make a decision about an issue or problem. The audience is the decisionmaker(s) for the particular issue or problem. The report should be well-attuned to audience and should use an analytical and not advocacy-based frame. The policy report can address policy at any level/in any sector (for example: state, regional, county, city, agency, division, department, public, private, or nonprofit). It can address a policy issue in public policy, administration, or both. In that way, it can cross the historical divides of our discipline, but it does not need to.

With regard to its structure, the policy report is a concise summary of a particular issue (introduction and context), it states why an issue is important (the “so what?” question), it explores options or alternatives to address the issue, it includes evidence and criteria used to make a determination about an optimal path(s) forward, and it ends with either recommendations or analyses of trade-offs and possible next steps. The report does not need to include original data collection and analyses of those data. It must include evidence from reputable sources that are relevant for your topic. Examples of such sources include the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Department of Finance, and the Public Policy Institute of California. Your use of sources does not need to be exhaustive, but it should cover the topic well (with at least 5-10 documents). Newspaper stories are acceptable, but the reference list must be more expansive than that and can include other policy reports and briefs, presentations from relevant entities, journal articles, books, chapters, and other similar sources. You should use the reference/endnote option and not citations in the text. Be sure to cite all evidence that you include and all references to others’ writings.

It is important to be as concise and jargon-free as possible. The report can be no longer than 40 pages of text double spaced, including graphics and the reference list (excluding front/back pages and a table of contents). Your decisionmaker audience will not have time to wade through a long or complex report. Your analyses should be based on sound evidence, and you should focus on making meaning out of what you learned, not on describing the methods researchers used (decisionmakers are usually not interested in the methods). Graphical displays are not required, but should be considered, keeping in mind your topic and audience. It helps to have a catchy and pithy title that represents your content well and grabs your audience’s attention, but catchiness and pithiness are not required. A title is required.

A first draft of the policy report may be completed prior to enrollment in PPA 500 and it can be built off of a prior classroom assignment. During PPA 500, the instructor will support students in a) finalizing the draft and b) writing a short synthesis (fewer than 5 pages double spaced) that views the topic through the lenses stressed in the PPA program as applicable, such as economics, finance, and budgeting; politics; and organizational theory and administration. The instructor for 500 will be one of your readers; you can decide if the instructor is your first or second reader. You will need both.

Finally, you will follow all rules and deadlines the Office of Graduate Studies creates for theses and projects, including using the approved template, bringing it in for review/approval by that office, having your first and second reader sign your paperwork in time, and submitting it in time.

Option 3: Integrated Career-Focused PPA Portfolio

Overview

This document summarizes a new option for completing the PPA culminating experience requirement: developing a career-focused portfolio that documents evolving knowledge and competency related to a specific policy or administrative topic. This alternative may be especially appropriate for students who wish to refine and reflect on professional development goals and demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities to prospective employers.

Guidelines

Creating a PPA portfolio is a significant undertaking that will involve organized tracking of PPA coursework and relevant professional materials. You will need to identify a central public policy or administrative topic you wish to explore during the initial year of the program and begin to concentrate on this topic as you complete assignments in multiple PPA courses. Your academic work will be a major source of portfolio documents and you will need to complete a well-researched and compelling policy analysis on the topic you select. You will also need to develop, draw on, and/or refine key professional documents during your time in the program. These can come from current and prior work, internships, or public service activities. Finally, the PPA portfolio includes an element of reflection—you will be asked to assess your own professional development throughout the course of the program. You will have a chance to compile and refine your portfolio with periodic feedback in PPA 500, but you should pull together key course artifacts and professional documents prior to the start of PPA 500.

Portfolios

A completed PPA Portfolio must include the following components:

1. A title page with a title, your name, and year submitted.
2. A table of contents that identifies the materials included in the portfolio.
3. A professional policy or administrative analysis (8-12 pages) that applies a framework or structured set of lenses to define and explore—but not attempt to solve—a current problem or opportunity from multiple PPA perspectives (i.e., with attention to relevant politics, policy, economics/financial, administrative, and/or ethical considerations). Your finished analysis might look something like an abbreviated and more professionally crafted PPA 200 policy issue paper. The audience includes stakeholders and potential decisionmaker(s) who have limited experience with this particular topic or problem. The analysis should use an analytical and not advocacy-based frame and it might focus on the issue at any relevant level/in any sector (for example: state, regional, county, city, agency, division, department, public, private, or nonprofit). It can address a topic in public policy, administration, or both. It should include a concise summary of a particular issue (introduction and context) with an explanation of why this issue is important (the “so what?” question). It should outline some of the stakeholders and interests associated with this topic and explore some preliminary options and decision-making criteria without assessing or making recommendations. This analysis does NOT need to include original data collection. It must, however, include evidence from reputable sources to support your descriptive analysis.
4. At least three artifacts from multiple PPA courses related to the systematic study of the policy or administrative topic you have elected to study. Examples of artifacts include cost-benefit analyses, stakeholder analyses, systematic literature reviews, relevant client project work (produced individually or with a team), interview or survey findings, CAM analyses, evidence-informed evaluations or plans, etc. If you completed artifacts that are not clearly associated with your policy or administrative topic during the course of the program, you may need to revise or develop additional artifacts leading up to or during PPA 500 to show how you would apply a particular theory or tool to better understand your topic.
5. A 3-4 page reflective essay in which you describe your professional growth during the PPA program with a focus on what you have learned about your primary topic of focus. Your reflective essay must clearly reflect how you apply theory to practice, if/how your perspectives on your topic have evolved throughout the course of the program, and if/how you anticipate continuing to explore this topic in your career or via other forms of service.
6. A professional development plan that includes a current resume, an example cover letter or professional bio statement/profile, and a brief description of professional development goals.