THE AU ADVANTAGE • SPA faculty members are leaders in their fields—as authors of major publications, cutting-edge researchers, and experts in public policy and administration, nonprofit management, government finance, and social policy. With their range of experience in both scholarship and practice, faculty members bring important issues into the classroom and encourage student collaboration through research on public administration problems, policy dilemmas, and ethical issues. • Washington, D.C., is the center of today’s public service—the intersection of public and private collaboration. SPA faculty and alumni are involved at every level of government, in private organizations, and as consultants. Interaction with them offers students exceptional learning opportunities. Students regularly engage in analysis of government performance and policy implementation, conduct interviews with organization leaders, and track legislation and its impact. • The unique network of AU faculty and alumni provides SPA graduate students with distinct professional advantages—and the most challenging opportunities in the capital and across the country.
SPA distinguished professor James Thurber, left, with Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Obama was the keynote speaker at a 2006 lobbying reform summit cosponsored by SPA’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 6
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