New One-Year master's program in leadership and public service to launch this fall
UCM |
The College of Leadership & Public Service will launch a new Master of Arts in leadership and public service this fall.
The program is designed for individuals at any stage of their leadership journey, including recent graduates and emerging and mid-career leaders in government, nonprofits, business government and community relations or corporate social responsibility. It is also designed for professionals who may seek to transition from the business sector to government or nonprofit organizations.
“We created a program that focuses on equipping people to meet the real needs of a real world,” said Kristine LaLonde, associate dean of the College of Leadership & Public Service. “We chose to design a leadership and public service degree because our research showed that many public policy programs were answering questions no one was asking. They had very little connection with the real life leadership challenge to solve complex problems.”
LaLonde, who leads the new program, is drawing upon her past experience as a Nashville metro council person and co-head of the Mayor’s Office of Innovation, to help shape this new leadership degree program designed for those who serve-or aspire to serve- the public good from business, government and nonprofit roles.
“We’ve spent more than a year researching, listening and designing a program that delivers knowledge and skills that are needed at this moment for the very difficult challenges and really cool opportunities facing policy makers and the leaders in every sector who work with them to improve their cities and states,” said Steve Joiner, dean of the College of Leadership & Public Service. “Dr. LaLonde has the passion and experience of an elected official and government innovator as well as the knowledge of a leadership professor that will offer our students an education that comes from someone who has been on the front lines.”
Classes are held on Fridays and Saturdays twice a month in Nashville, which will serve as a laboratory for learning, with three-day or five-day immersion courses in September, November and March in Washington, D.C.; Detroit and Atlanta. The program may be completed in one year.
“Students will have the advantage of studying in Nashville, a city of tremendous growth, heralded for its success. We will look at that growth, with the challenges and opportunities that brings at the local level and against the backdrop of state and regional policy issues,” said LaLonde. “The one- year cohort model will create a strong community of scholar practitioners, learning from each other and teaching each other. We will be helping each other answer the question: How can I lead and serve the public good no matter where I sit?”
In addition to a course in leading and serving for the public good, courses will focus on the knowledge and skills to lead change in organizations, communities and states. Topics will include negotiation strategies, group facilitation, leading and serving for the public good, and communication in addition to foundational courses in leadership, innovation, policy, American political institutions, public finance and administration. Nine courses and a final capstone project give students the ability to lead change and apply best practices in innovation, solution design and cross-sector collaboration for society’s complex problems, LaLonde said.
Two of the courses will build on Lipscomb University’s reputation as a center of excellence in conflict management with internationally known experts in the field. Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry will teach negotiation and Joiner will teach group facilitation in Atlanta at the Carter Center, a site devoted to the peaceful resolution of society’s complex issues.
In Detroit, students will study with the experts and leaders bringing the city out of bankruptcy with a focus on public finance and administration. Brady Baybeck, associate professor of political science and director of the Graduate Program in Public Administration at Wayne State University, a key player in these issues, will lead the class.
“Detroit is a city where the most exciting civic and public policy changes are happening.” LaLonde says. “ We will meet with the people who are turning the city around and serving the public in a new way.”
In Washington, D.C., Provost W. Craig Bledsoe, a political scientist who has studied the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and the intersection of religious belief and political affiliations, will join former Deputy Secretary of Commerce David Sampson to delve into American political institutions.
Other scholars and practitioners working with students throughout the program are William Turner, distinguished professor of public service and community studies, and Linda Peek Schacht, leader-in-residence and founding director of the Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership.
Applications are being accepted for the inaugural class and are due June 15. Those who apply by June 1 receive a 27 percent inaugural class discount. A limited number of Lead and Serve tuition awards are also available.
For more information contact Kristine LaLonde at Kristine.lalonde [at] lipscomb.edu or Amy Goode at amy.goode [at] lipscomb.edu or visit publicpolicy.lipscomb.edu.