About Us
The College of Public Affairs & Administration (CPAA) is dedicated to the belief that effective public affairs education, significant public affairs scholarship and active service to the community will improve government and public policy in Illinois, the nation and our wider global community. We have a long history of interdisciplinary public affairs education, scholarship and public service. Departments in the College meet the needs of a wide range of students from their first semester of undergraduate education through their doctorate. We offer opportunities to faculty and students that simply cannot be found elsewhere in Illinois.
Our faculty members are engaged with their practitioner colleagues in government and support agencies. Our proximity to the State Capital, the headquarters of state agencies and associations and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library offers our students, staff and faculty educational and co-curricular opportunities designed to encourage life-long civic engagement and a dedication to public service. A significant number of political and public policy leaders in Illinois have been our students, teach as adjunct faculty, work with our faculty and seek our expertise on public affairs issues.
The College of Public Affairs & Administration is at the forefront of the UIS mission to provide an intellectually rich, collaborative and intimate learning environment for students, faculty and staff, while serving local, regional, state, national and international communities. Our College faculty and staff hope to provide an integrated package of curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular initiatives that will guide our students to develop a strong sense of civic engagement, a commitment to social responsibility and an understanding of democratic values.
The Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) program was initiated in the fall of 1998. The program was created to remedy the absence of a doctoral program in public affairs in the state of Illinois.
While numerous political science and public policy programs were already in existence at this time, few emphasized public administration or public affairs. Hence, the DPA Program was specifically designed as a practitioner-oriented program to meet the educational needs of professionals in administrative and governmental positions at the state and local levels. To date, this has existed as the only doctoral program to be offered at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Mission: Bridging the worlds of scholarship and practice, we equip the experienced practitioner with the advanced analytical skills and knowledge of public management and public policy necessary to lead impactful organizations and solve complex public problems.
Community Partners: The CPAA and its DPA program worked with the following partners to plan and organize this program evaluation summit
