The master of public administration degree program offered by the University of New Mexico School of Public Administration was fully accredited for six years by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) recently.
“This is the first accreditation review since being separated from the Anderson Schools of Management and as a reestablished and independent school reporting directly to the office of the Provost,” said F. Lee Brown, interim director of the School of Public Administration. “The site view team complemented the program on how much it was doing with limited resources.”
UNM’s School of Public Administration program is a strong supporter of professional education for public service, through the integration of interdisciplinary research, teaching and service in order to address the management challenges of an increasingly complex and diverse global environment.
“The MPA is an important program which is one of the ways we serve state, local and Tribal governments in the state,” said UNM Provost Reed Dasenbrock. “We are thrilled to have the program given a full unconditional accreditation.”
UNM and New Mexico State are the only two institutions of higher education in the state of New Mexico with accredited programs in Public Administration.
As one of the initial 17 Public Administration programs accredited nationally by NASPAA, UNM played a significant role in helping to establish the original accreditation process. Now, approximately 155 schools out of more than 250 NASPAA member programs are accredited.
NASPAA is an institutional membership organization, which exists to promote excellence in public service education. The membership includes U.S. university programs in public affairs, public policy, public administration and nonprofit management. NASPAA’s Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation is the specialized accreditor of these master degree programs.