North Carolina State University has announced a combined effort with Campbell University to offer a dual degree in Master’s of Public Administration and a Juries Doctor.
This will be the state’s first Master’s of Public Administration and law degree program in which a public and private institute will offer the joint degree. The joint degree program will knock off a year of school and tuition, taking only four years instead of the five years it would take to receive the degrees separately.
Dr. Jerrell D. Coggburn, Chair of the Department of Public Administration, said he was involved in bringing the programs together on the University’s side.
The initial conversation of the joint program began in the summer of 2008 after Campbell Law School announced its move to downtown Raleigh.
Coggburn said there are several benefits the program will bring to the University and its students.
“Practical benefits will be less time and money for the students. The more broad benefits will be public service,” Coggburn said. “This joint degree will be a powerful role for the state and will help develop the next generation of public service leaders.”
The Master’s of Public Administration is within the University’s School of Public and International Affairs Department, which provides students with the skills and knowledge to work in the field of public service.
Campbell University’s School of Law Director of Development, Britt J. Davis, said the partnership will offer interesting opportunities for students.
“With Campbell Law School and N.C. State University campuses located less than a mile apart on Hillsborough Street, proximity between the institutions provides for natural partnership opportunities,” Davis said. “N.C. State does not have a law school and Campbell University does not offer certain graduate programs, such as the Master of Public Administration. Additionally, with at least 20 percent of Campbell Law students being graduates of N.C. State in any given year, there has been a historic relationship between the institutions.”
Davis said the University’s MPA program was chosen for its relevance.
“The leadership of Campbell Law School and N.C. State’s MPA program believe the geographic proximity of the programs along with the shared focus of developing leaders with a passion for serving people and solving real problems provides a wonderful fit,” Davis said.
Campbell Law School student Alex Sewell said he is in the process of applying for the program.
“Public Policy, Public Administration, and law belong together,” Sewell said. “Public Administration and Law are connected at the hip and to separate the two is just unnatural.”
Robert Gilmore, another student of Campbell Law, said he believes involvement in the program will benefit him throughout his career.
“It would broaden my horizons, allowing me to understand policy on a deeper level,” Gilmore stated. “This would allow me to use policy and the law together effectively to generate positive results for the public at large.”
Coggburn said the program will begin this upcoming Fall 2010 semester, with about half a dozen students enrolling in the program.
