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NASPAA Standards 2009: 
Defining Quality in Public Affairs Education

Mission
The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) is committed to thoroughly evaluating and revising the public affairs curriculum and the NASPAA Accreditation Standards to ensure that our public service degrees give graduates the competitive skills they need to lead the public sector.

Goals
The goal of the revision process is to deliver a set of NASPAA Accreditation Standards that will ensure the graduate public service degrees in the next decade serve the needs of the profession. This assessment process will be comprehensive in nature and is currently scheduled to result in a new draft set of NASPAA Standards to be voted on by accredited members at the 2009 NASPAA Fall Conference. 

Relevancy
The NASPAA Standards are the benchmark used by public affairs graduate programs around the world. Programs participating in the accreditation process will necessarily be interested in new Standards. However, many non-accredited programs in the U.S. and abroad shadow these Standards. Any major changes to curriculum expectations or the measurement of competencies will cast a wide impact on public affairs education. Active participation from all accredited members as well as external constituencies will be important to ensure that changes are relevant to today’s public sector. 

Rationale
NASPAA is committed to quality in our accredited degrees and in the process of public affairs accreditation. As the needs of the public sector change, NASPAA must undertake an earnest discussion of how best to educate and develop public affairs leaders, ensuring that graduates of accredited programs obtain the relevant and competitive skills and competencies they need to excel in public service professions. What is working and what needs improvement at the program level and with the accreditation process? 

Other external motivations for revisions originate from developments in accreditation best practices, including trends like a growing emphasis on greater public accountability and measurable outcomes of student learning. Like the programs it accredits, NASPAA has an obligation to examine its practices with respect to standards of excellence in accreditation.

Authorization
The Standards Revision process was authorized by the NASPAA Executive Council in October 2005. This endeavor is directed by the ad hoc Standards Revision Steering Committee and supported by the NASPAA Standards Committee.