Ottawa SPS

Institutional Structure: The School of Political Studies (SPS), created by the University of Ottawa in 2003, is an academic unit in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The website describes the School as "a hub of knowledge bringing together the study of political science and public administration. Using both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, the School makes it possible for students to acquire in-depth knowledge on a range of political phenomena, such as power and authority, opposition and resistance, as well as management and public policy, in all their different forms at home and around the world. Located in Canada’s capital, the School offers the perfect setting for studying governments and politics. With 48 full-time professors and more than 59 part-time and associate professors, the School of Political Studies is one of the largest political science and government studies departments nationally and internationally."

Curriculum Design: The MA in Public Administration offered by the Ottawa SPS differs from most other North American MPP/MPA programs reviewed to date in that it a) required only 8 semester-course equivalents for graduation and b) has a thesis option worth fully half the graduating requirements. It is also one of the few programs reviewed (along with the Concordia MPPPA and the Ryerson MAPPA) that is offered by an academic unit where the majority of the course offerings are at the undergraduate level. The Ottawa MAPA offers the MAPA - Research Report Option and the MAPA - Thesis Option. Our PEACO calculations below suggest that typical students in the Research Report Option take about 46% of their course work in policy-oriented subjects and 54% in management-oriented subjects and that that typical students in the Thesis Option take about 48% of their course work in policy-oriented subjects and 52% in management-oriented subjects. This places both options for the Ottawa MAPA in the "low course requirement, management-oriented, lower math-economics content" curricular type, along with such programs as the York MPPAL and the Canberra MPA (see MPP/MPA Curricular Types). The competency gap analysis below suggests that a Ottawa MAPA student taking the required courses and a random selection of listed electives would, on average, graduate with approximately 70 course-weeks of shortfall in the core-competency subject matter identified in MPP/MPA Core Competencies, including shortfalls of 12 course-weeks in both Economic Analysis and Quantitative Methods. 

Professional Program Features: The program website does not reference career services specific to the MAPA but provides links to the University-wide Career Development Centre (http://sass.uottawa.ca/en/careers) which is part of the Student Academic Success Service at http://sass.uottawa.ca/en. The Research page for the School is found at http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/pol/research.    

Program Summary

Website: http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/pol

University: University of Ottawa

Location: Ottawa, Canada

Degree: Master of Arts Public Administration (MAPA)

Marketing Approach: "The main objective of the master program is to provide students with leading-edge theoretical and conceptual knowledge to enable them to understand and analyze public administration, as well as equipping them with the know-how and skills necessary for success in a constantly changing organizational environment. Emphasis is placed on the development of research skills. The MA program aims to familiarize students with critical methods of knowledge production and to develop their capacity for conducting basic and applied research. Furthermore, they will develop the ability to extract from research the learning necessary for undertaking their responsibilities as public managers and policy analysts." (At http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=86, accessed 3 April 2015.)  

Degrees Awarded per Year: TBD [Information will be requested from the School]

Academic Unit within University: The School of Political Studies is an academic unit in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Related Academic Units and Degrees: The SPS offers undergraduate degrees with majors in both political science and public administration, and, a the graduate level, offers an MA in Public Administration, a Master's in Political Science, a PhD in Public Administration and a PhD in Political Science. There are two other Schools within the Faculty of Social Sciences that offer Master's degrees in public affairs and international affairs: The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/api/about-school) offering the Master of Arts in Public and International Affairs (http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=18) and the School of International Development and Global Studies (http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/dvm/about-school) offering the Master of Arts in Globalization and International Development (http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=39). Our analysis of the former is found at Ottawa GSPIA.  

Posted Tuition: For full-time students entering in Fall 2014, tuition plus incidental fees are $3,263.33 per semester for domestic students and $6,941.90 per semester for international students (at http://www.registrar.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=4717#SocialSciences, accessed 3 April 2015).

Concentration/Curriculum Overview: 

MA Degree Requirements

Summary: There are two options. The Master's Degree with Thesis option requires 4 courses (12 credits) plus a 12-credit thesis; the Master's Degree with Research Paper option requires 6 courses (18 credits) plus a 6-credit research paper. (See http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=86e.)

Duration: 1 year.

Academic Prerequisite: To be considered for admission, applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree with specialization or a major in public administration or in a related discipline with a minimum average of 70% (B).

Number of One-Semester-Equivalent Courses Required for Completion: 8

Number of Required Courses: 7 (including thesis) for Thesis option and 5 (including research paper) for Research Paper option.

Number of Electives Typically Taken (difference between above two entries): 1 for Thesis option and 3 for Research Paper option.

Number of Electives Offered within Program: 12-14

Comprehensive Examination: No

Thesis Required: Yes (thesis or research paper) 

Internship Required: No

International Study Required: No

Co-curricular Activities Supportive to Degree

Professional Development and Career Support: Not referenced on program website.

Student-run Journal: Not referenced on program website.

Applied Projects: Not referenced on program website.

Pro Bono Consulting: Not referenced on program website.

Courses Offered: The full list of courses is found at http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=86, accessed 3 April 2015.

Course Material Online: One-paragraph course descriptions at the above site but public access to online syllabi. 

Instructional Distribution (PEACO Profile): The table below indicates the distribution of instruction offered, based on the course assignments to subjects in the Course Map below, weighted by estimated enrolment determined by the PEACO Algorithm. MAPA-RP is the Research Paper Option and MAPA-T is the Thesis Option.    

		Ottawa	Ottawa
		MAPA-RP	MAPA-T
Curricular Type Parameters
	Number of Courses Required for Graduation	8.0	8.0
	Math-Economics Subjects (EA, QM, Macro, Fin Markets)	0.0%	0.0%
	Policy-Oriented Subjects	45.8%	48.1%
	Management-Oriented Subjects	54.2%	51.9%
Enrolment-Adjusted Course Distribution
	Analysis and Skill Subjects	55.6%	61.5%
	- Policy and Management Analysis	36.1%	34.6%
	- Economic Analysis	0.0%	0.0%
	- Quantitative  and Analytic Methods	19.4%	26.9%
	- Leadership and Communication Skills	0.0%	0.0%
	Institutions and Context Subjects	44.4%	38.5%
	- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process	27.8%	30.8%
	- Ethics, Rights and Accountability	8.3%	3.8%
	- Socioeconomic, Political, and Global Contexts	8.3%	3.8%
	Management Function Subjects	0.0%	0.0%
	- Public Financial Management	0.0%	0.0%
	- Evaluation and Performance Measurement	0.0%	0.0%
	- Other Management Functions	0.0%	0.0%
	Policy Sector Subjects	0.0%	0.0%
	- Macroeconomic Policy	0.0%	0.0%
	- International Development	0.0%	0.0%
	- Health	0.0%	0.0%
	- Other Policy Sectors	0.0%	0.0%
	Total	100%	100%
Competency Gap Analysis (in Course-Weeks of Instruction)
	Course-Weeks in Core Subjects taken by Typical Student	96	96
	Surplus or Shortfall Relative to Core Competency Requirement
	- Policy and Management Analysis (CCR = 18 course-weeks)	17	15
	- Economic Analysis (CCR = 12)	-12	-12
	- Quantitative Methods (CCR = 12)	-12	-12
	- Analytic Methods (CCR = 6)	13	20
	- Leadership Skills (CCR = 9)	-9	-9
	- Communication Skills (CCR = 3 courses)	-3	-3
	- Democratic Institutions and Policy Process (CCR = 18)	9	12
	- Ethics, Rights and Accountability (CCR = 6 courses)	2	-2
	- Socioeconomic and Political Context (CCR = 6)	-6	-6
	- Global Context (CCR = 3)	5	1
	- Public Financial Management (CCR = 6)	-6	-6
	- Evaluation and Performance Measurement (CCR = 6)	-6	-6
	- Human Resource Management (CCR = 3)	-3	-3
	- Information and Technology Management (CCR = 3)	-3	-3
	- Macroeconomic Policy (CCR = 6)	-6	-6
	- Environment and Sustainability (CCR = 3)	-3	-3
	Subject-Matter Shortfall for Typical Student (Sum of Shortfalls)	-69	-71
Additional Parameters
	Total Courses Listed	12	14
	Courses Designated as Required (inc. Specialization Reqs)	5.0	7.0
	Archetypal Public Affairs Subjects (P&MA, EA, QM, DI&PP)	63.9%	65.4%
	Archetypal International Affairs Subjects (I&GC, ID, DS&FR)	8.3%	3.8%

Source: At http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/pol and http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1727&page=SubjectDetails&Kind=M&SubjectId=86 and related sites (accessed 3 April 2015).

Page Created By: Ian Clark on 3 April 2015 and last updated on 11 May 2015.