Graduate School - Catalog of Studies - University of Arkansas

The Graduate School: Departments and Course Descriptions
force in international relations and the impact of social and political environment on growth of
international law and relations among international political systems. Prerequisite: graduate
standing.
PLSC590V Directed Readings in Political Science (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-3)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for 6 hours.
PLSC5913 Research Methods in Political Science (Fa) Methods relevant to
research in the various fields of political science. Required of all graduate students in political
science. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
PLSC592V Internship in Political Science (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-6) Internship in a local,
state, regional, or federal agency. Paper required on a significant aspect of internship experience.
Prerequisite: graduate standing.
PLSC593V Special Topics (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-3) Topics in political science not usually
covered in other courses. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing. May be repeated for 3 hours.
PLSC595V Research Problems in Political Science (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-3)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for 6 hours.
PLSC5963 Modern Political Thought (Fa) European political thinking since the rise
of the nation-state and the relevance of that tradition to contemporary politics. Prerequisite:
graduate standing.
PLSC5973 Contemporary Normative Political Theory (Sp) Analysis of current
normative problems of political theory such as obligation, dissent, justification, sovereignty and
tolerance, and major schools of thought including Marxism, liberalism and western conservatism.
Prerequisite: graduate standing.
PLSC600V Master’s Thesis (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-6)
PLSC690V Directed Research (Sp, Su, Fa) (1-6) Doctoral level directed readings
and research. May be repeated for 6 hours.
Public Administration (PADM)
The Master of Public Administration program is administered by
the Department of Political Science. The major objectives of the program
are as follows:
1. to provide a broad flexible program to prepare students for
careers in public service and nonprofit management;
2. to afford opportunities to practicing administrators for improving
their careers and services through advanced education and
training; and
3. to prepare scholars for further graduate study in the field of
public administration.
Prerequisites for Admission to the M.P.A. Degree Program:
1. Admission to the Graduate School
2. Minimum total score of 1,000 on the verbal and quantitative
portions of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE).
(GRE scores may be waived under certain circumstances at
the discretion of the PLSC Admissions Committee. Examples
of possible exceptions include the successful completion of a
master’s degree or the submission of GMAT or LSAT scores in
lieu of GRE scores).
3. 3.20 minimum grade-point average in the last 60 hours of
undergraduate course work.
4. Students deficient in (2) or (3) above may be admitted if they
score a minimum number of points according to the following
formula: a total of at least 1600 points from (200 x GPA)
+ GRE score on verbal and quantitative sections; GPA based
upon the last 60 hours of undergraduate work.
5. A written essay, submitted in accordance with standards set by
the PLSC Admissions Committee.
6. Three letters of recommendation from persons competent to
judge the applicant’s academic/work experience.
7. Academic prerequisites: the PLSC Admissions Committee may
require appropriate course work related to an understanding of
governmental processes and activities to cover deficiencies in
past education.
8. All requirements listed above must be completed and reported
before the beginning of the student’s second semester or the
student will not be admitted to courses that semester.
Requirements for the Master of Public Administration Degree:
The M.P.A. requires a total of 42 semester hours of which 27 hours
are to be 5000-level courses or above.
Required Courses (9 semester hours)
PLSC 5193 Seminar in Public Admin.
PADM 5803 Quantitative Methods Analysis
PADM 5813 Methods in Public Management Information
Select five from the following 10 courses:
PLSC 5103 Human Behavior in Complex Organizations
PLSC 5113 Seminar: Human Resource Management
PLSC 5123 Public Budgeting and Finance
PLSC 5133 Management of Service Sector Organization
PLSC 5143 Administrative Law
PLSC 5163 Public Policy Formation and Analysis
PLSC 5183 Comparative Public Administration
PLSC 5243 Seminar in State and Local Politics
PADM 584V Special Topics in Public Administration
PLSC 4283 Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations
Special Interest Concentrations: Twelve to 18 graduate semester
hours, depending on exercise of the internship, may be chosen in PLSC/
PADM and other disciplines with approval of the M.P.A. Program
Director. The M.P.A Program Director, in consultation with the student,
will develop a set of relevant graduate courses that will help the student
in meeting career objectives. Concentrations may be developed for
students interested in fields such as local and state government management,
nonprofit management, community development, information
and technology management, health services administration, human
resource management, environmental policy management, and cultural
resource management. Other concentrations may be exercised with the
consent, advice, and approval of the M.P.A. Program Director.
Internship: (1-6 semester hours). The internship is recommended
but not required. It will be offered on a credit/non-credit basis only.
The number of semester hour credits depends on the length and full/
part-time nature of the internship.
All students will be required to take a written comprehensive
examination covering their M.P.A. program. This exam will be
graded by at least a three person faculty committee selected by the
M.P.A. Program Director. In addition to the successful completion of
all course requirements and a passing grade on the written comprehensive
examination, each student must present a minimum cumulative
grade-point average of 3.00.
J.D/M.A. Program
The Department of Political Science, the Graduate School, and
the School of Law cooperate in offering a dual degree program that
allows a student to pursue the M.A. and the J.D. degrees concurrently.
The program described below requires: a) the student only select
courses from comparative politics or international relations seminars
in political science or equivalent courses in other departments
approved by the graduate adviser in political science (total of 18
hours: 3 hours methods and 15 hours from a combination of international
relations and comparative politics seminars), 6 additional
hours of approved classes; b) the student adhere to the requirements
described by the University of Arkansas School of Law.
Students must be admitted to the M.A. program and the School of
Law. If a student seeks to enter the dual degree program after enrolling
in either the law school or the M.A. program, he or she must
obtain admission to the other degree program during the first year of
study.
The School of Law accepts nine semester hours of M.A. courses
to satisfy requirements for the J.D. degree (The student may select
from the following: PLSC 5503 Comparative Political Analysis;
PLSC 5803 Seminar in International Politics; PLSC 5833 Seminar
in Contemporary Problems; PLSC 4583 Political Economy of the
Middle East; and ECON 4633 International Trade). Twelve hours of
approved law school courses may be counted toward the M.A degree.
To qualify for J.D. credit, the M.A. courses must come from a set of
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville • Graduate Catalog 155