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Home > For Principal Reps and Faculty > International Corner
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
Posted
March 2004 * * * * * * * * * * * *
GSPIA Graduate Center Is First Foreign University
Accredited in Republic of Macedonia
After more than a decade of joint planning with university, government,
and business leaders from the United States and Macedonia, the
University
of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
established the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Management (GCPPM)
in Skopje, Macedonia. “It is the first graduate school of public policy
and management in Central and Eastern Europe,” said William Dunn, Director
of the Center. “Its primary mission is to create a critical mass of
well-trained public servants to lead the process of administrative reform
in the Republic of Macedonia.”
The GCPPM welcomed its first 17 students for the fall 2003 semester. In
the spring 2004 semester, GCPPM admitted 21 students. Most of the 38
students are employed in government positions with significant
responsibilities for policy making and management in the areas of finance,
education, governmental reform, security, environmental protection, and
European integration.
“The Center provides an opportunity to prepare current and future leaders
for positions of public service,” said David Miller, GSPIA Associate Dean
and also Co-Director of the GCPPM. “At a critical time when countries in
the Balkans are transforming their economies and reforming public
administrations to better serve their citizens, experienced, knowledgeable
leaders are essential to ensure that these changes are based on sound
policy,” said Miller.
“More often than not, universities go in ‘thinly’ to a new location,” said
Miller, “and we wanted to avoid that. When GSPIA was considering a
location that would be most appropriate for its mission of contributing to
the process of administrative reform in Eastern Europe, it chose Macedonia
and the Balkans, a country and region where professional relationships are
deep and longstanding.” “A long history of collaboration between the
cities of Skopje and Pittsburgh, who have a sister-city agreement, helped
forge new educational partnerships, as did some 10 years of prior planning
between GSPIA, the U.S. Mission in Skopje, and the Macedonian business and
government communities,” said Dunn.
Students may earn either the Master in Public Policy and Management degree
or a Certificate in Public Policy and Management. Courses are offered in
English by a team of GSPIA faculty and adjunct faculty from Macedonian
universities, who use traditional and web-based, distance education to
deliver lectures. Leaders from business, government, and nongovernmental
organizations frequently visit GCPPM for special lectures, engaging
students in a variety of timely topics ranging from local government
reform to accession to the European Union.
A hallmark of the program is the integration of existing and cutting-edge
distance learning technologies. A partnership between UNET, an Internet
Service Provider located in Skopje, and the University of Pittsburgh’s
Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education created an
innovative distance learning approach that provides live interactive
education from Pittsburgh to Macedonia. The full multimedia experience of
GCPPM’s distance education lectures can be experienced by visiting its
website at www.mk.pitt.edu and following the link for “Distance Learning.”
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National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration 1029 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 202.628.8965 Fax: 202.626.4978 Email NASPAA www.naspaa.org |
