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Workshop #1

09/18/2024

Contact information

Pre-enrolment process: MPA 698

Welcome to the 698s Pre-enrolment workshops!

MPA 698 S

The Graduate project course

The culminating experience of your MPA program requires students to demonstrate:

1- mastery of your specialization (Public Sector Management and Leadership, Nonprofit management)

2- Originality and independent thinking

3- The thesis may subsequently be submitted as a professional conference paper, journal article, or represent your academic writing sample.

Why pre-enrolment workshops?

1. To learn about the Graduate project class' deadlines and clarify roles and expectations.

2. topic eligibility must be verified by a member of the academic team.

3. You will not necessarilly finish in the Fall. So, start early!! It is highly advised to read and analyze 12-15 articles in the semester leading up to your 698s enrollment. ***Sometimes it takes students longer than one semester to complete the graduate project.

4. The Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Portal has 3 phases, for which you are responsible.

MPA 698

"Non-cohorted" students will need a permission number from Elliott or Louis to enroll.

The Instructor of record is your Committee chair.

Two additional co-instructors are assigned to each section or cohort.

MPA policies

Per the Master of Public Administration program academic unit's policy:

- You can only take 698 during your final semester in the MPA.

- You (normally) need to have completed 30 credits (10 classes)

- You must have passed all your classes (C or higher): otherwise those classes must be re-taken

- You need a 3.0 GPA

- MPA 620 (Research Methods for public administration) is a prerequisite.

N.B. all courses prepare you for 698s, but 620 gives you the methodological component, crucial in the thesis' development.

Degree progress reports will have been audited for all those added to the Workshops canvas site.

A note on Plagiarism or "Self-plagiarism" and AI

  • The similarity score for your final version of the project needs to be under 15%.
  • 85% of the content of the thesis must be ORIGINAL WORK

  • You can build on prior course work on similar topic(s) but ONLY AS THE BASIS on which to expand.

  • Usage of Artificial Intelligence: “any text- generating software (such as ChatGPT, iA Writer, Marmot or Botowski) is not permitted, and it will be treated as plagiarism”

Tempted to use AI ....

Consider this:

* Work created by AI tools may not be considered original work and instead, considered automated plagiarism. It is derived from previously created texts from other sources that the models were trained on, yet doesn't cite sources.

* AI models have built-in biases (ie, they are trained on limited underlying sources; they reproduce, rather than challenge, errors in the sources)

* AI tools have limitations (ie, they lack critical thinking to evaluate and reflect on criteria; they lack abductive reasoning to make judgments with incomplete information at hand)

What would be a proper use of Chat GPT?

The only appropriate use of AI programs e.g. ChatGPT in this class would be to help generate ideas and brainstorm. However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic.

Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity.

Remember: you may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own, especially when it is aimed at gaining academic credit.

Refer to your instructor of record, syllabus and other relevant institutional policies on usage of AI and AI plagiarism.

Graduate studies policies applicable in case of non-completed theses

REPORT IN PROGRESS (RP)

- A "Report in progress" is given to students who do not complete their projects in time.

- RP is the equivalent to "Incomplete". Significant portions of the project should be completed.

AR-601 (Graduate project completion class:

- You cannot enroll in AR-601 (graduate project extension) more than twice.

You can ask for an exception to that rule, but a formal approval must be granted by program director to allow you to complete the project.

Seven year rule:

- Any classes older than 7 years old becomes overaged and cannot count towards graduation -

You thus must complete the graduate project (and the program) within 7 years of your semester of admission in the MPA.

Workflow (698 S)

You have received an email from Graduate studies regarding "filing for graduation".. For the Deadlines, this info is posted on the link:

https://www.csun.edu/current-students/online-graduation-application

MPA 698 S

Please submit your 1-p topic proposal by 10/10/2024

N.B. - Students will have to monitor the Canvas feedback studio to see whether their proposal has been approved.

- Students whose proposal will have been rejected will have 1 week to resubmit.

- Students will have to have an approved proposal by 11/01/2024 if they wish to be enrolled in MPA 698s in the semester ofSpring 2025

Instructor -guided==>

Pre-enrollment----->

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Flow chart:

Get Enrolled in MPA 698S.

File for graduation

Once approved, upload the final version of your project on (ETD Phase 3)

Submit 1-p

topic proposal

Deadline is

October 10

Form your committee of 3 (members are assigned

so await instructor's directives before completing

(ETD phase 1)

Instructor and committee members review your working draft and make comments.

(Committee will approve of your project only if comments are addressed)

Produce a full draft and submit it on ETD by deadline

Review guidelines carefully

(ETD Phase 2)

The preliminary project proposal

To be eligible to take the class, you must select a topic and get it approved.

Topic proposal: detailed requirements

Produce a 1 page "introduction" (double spaced)

A- Define your chosen topic in 2-3 paragraphs (approx. 300 words) Outline its relevance. Illustrate in what way is this topic relevant to the field public administration.

B- Include a "tentative"research question

C- Attach to your one page topic introduction a list of 3 to 5 concepts related to your topic. You will build on this list, when you conduct a literature review.

D- Attach a list of 15 recent (10 years or less) peer-reviewed articles relevant to your thesis' theme/topic.

- you can include books and book chapters but they do not count in the list of 15 articles.

- a majority of them has to come from public administration journals

What are the top journals in the field? (See literature review resources module on canvas and "step-by-step guide" to identify relevant + recent peer-reviewed articles)

Submit your proposal on Canvas using the proper link and monitor the Speedgrader (gradebook) for feedback

Preliminary topic proposal

1- PICK A TOPIC ( **IN THE FIELD OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION** )

2- FIND RELEVANT AND CURRENT LITERATURE ABOUT YOUR TOPIC

3 -DESCRIBE THE TOPIC (PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL) AND SUBMIT IT FOR APPROVAL

4- Submit a short "preliminary project proposal", to be

approved by Dr. Minassians and Dr. Valiquette L'Heureux

through Canvas

Short of ideas?

Go Read David Mc Nabb's (2013) Chapter entitled "Selecting a research topic" in the Resources Module, on Canvas.

Look up the CSUN Repository: Scholar Works and filter by subject (Public Administration) and year of publication (2020-2024)https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/catalog?f%5Bcampus_sim%5D%5B%5D=Northridge&f%5Bdegree_level_sim%5D%5B%5D=Masters&f%5Bdepartment_sim%5D%5B%5D=Public+Administration&f%5Bhas_model_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Thesis&range%5Bdate_issued_year_sim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=2018&range%5Bdate_issued_year_sim%5D%5Bend%5D=2024&search_field=all_fields&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Eligible topics (examples)

housing and homelessness

- access to housing,

- coordinating services to the homeless population,

- homelessness policies

- social problems associated with homelessness

human resources / organizational performance

- Leadership and motivation

- Retention and promotion

- Public service effectiveness

- Performance management and monitoring

- Program evaluations

Managing risks, crisis and emergencies

- Risk management policies

- Critical infrastructure protection

- Analyzing policy failures or oversight of risks

- Homeland security issues

- Emergency management

- DOD/FEMA/DHS/

- Gun violence.

Some examples

Social services

- socio-economic disparities, social benefits,

- eligibility and access to public services

- socio-economic issues

- disadvantaged communities

-health care and mental illness

Immigration policies

- Immigration policies (including services to refugees)

- DACA

- Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)

- Security / immigration regulations enforcement

- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

technology and change

- Managing changes in public agencies

- Technological advances and innovations

- Electronic /digital public service delivery

- Public sector reforms,

- the adoption of new technology

- developments in management styles / public management

- Digital revolution

- New social trends and public sector adaptation

Education

- Access to higher education

- K-12 performance and quality of services

- Policy frameworks for charter schools

- Specialized services /disabilities and inclusiveness in the education system.

Wish to have a one-on-one zoom or phone meeting?

Contact us !

Anaïs

Office phone: 818-677-4793

Office location: Sierra Tower (ST) 225

avl@csun.edu

Henrik

Office phone: 818-677-5115

Office location: Sierra Hall (SH) 214B

henrik.minassians@csun.edu

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