Core Courses
(15 credits - All Required)
- Intellectual History of Public Administration (3)
- Public Budgeting and Finance (3)
- Study of Public Organizations (3)
- Governance and Politics (3)
- Leadership, Equity, and Diversity (3)
After completion of all core courses, students are required to
complete Comprehensive Exam I (Comp I) that covers the content of these
core courses. After completion of Comp I, as well as methodology courses
and electives related to their field of specialization, students are
required to complete Comprehensive Exam II (Comp II) in the form of an
essay representing student's specialization.
Research Methods
(12 credits/3 courses plus 1 methodology elective - All Required)
- Quantitative Methods I (3)
- Quantitative Methods II (3)
- Qualitative Methods I (3)
- Methodology Elective Course (3)
The methodology elective course can be taken in a school or department outside of SPAA with the approval by the Ph.D. director.
Specialization Fields
(21 credits - All Required)
Students are required to identify a research field of specialization
before they take elective courses. Their specialization field must be in
public administration and fit the research interests of SPAA faculty.
Students should consult with their adviser on their specialization field
and receive approval from the Ph.D. director. Students are required to
complete at least 9 credit hours for a specialization field.
SPAA attempts to offer electives each semester to fulfill
specialization requirements. Students are strongly encouraged to take
these courses. Independent studies should be taken with SPAA faculty and
preferably with the student's main adviser. Independent studies cannot be
taken before students complete all five core courses, Quantitative Methods
I, and Qualitative Methods I.
Students may take up to four elective courses (12 credits), including
the transfer credits (up to 9), from outside of SPAA upon approval by
the Ph.D. director. Elective courses taken outside of SPAA can be taken at
the Rutgers Business School, the Bloustein School, the Division of Global
Affairs, the School of Criminal Justice, other units of Rutgers
University, and also the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).
Students are allowed to transfer up to 9 credits from their prior
master's programs in public administration or related fields into the Ph.D.
program upon Ph.D. director's approval. The transferred credits are
counted as elective courses and may fulfill the student's field of
specialization.
Below are some suggested research fields of specialization, although
students may propose other specializations in consultation with their
adviser and the Ph.D. director:
- Public management
- Public budgeting and finance
- Comparative public administration
- Human resource management
- Organizational theory and behavior
- Nonprofit management and philanthropy
- Technology and egovernment
- Health policy and administration
- Urban affairs and administration
- Ethics, transparency, and accountability
- Historical and legal foundations of public administration
Dissertation Research
(24 credits - All Required)
The
dissertation is a work of original scholarship and the most important
and challenging requirement of the Ph.D. degree. Working closely with a
faculty adviser, a core member of the SPAA faculty (who chairs the
dissertation committee), the student identifies a significant question
or problem in public administration to investigate, develops and defends
a dissertation proposal (which includes the relevant theory,
literature, and proposed methodology), implements the study (including
the collection and analysis of qualitative and/or quantitative data),
prepares a comprehensive written research report suitable for
publication, and defends their dissertation orally in front of their
committee.
The dissertation committee must consist of at least four faculty
members; one committee member should be from outside the core faculty of
Rutgers SPAA. The committee must be approved by the graduate program
director.
Please visit the Rutgers SPAA website for more information
at http://spaa.newark.rutgers.edu/phd.
Degree Programs and Courses 
