Community and Economic Development, Master of Arts
The Master of Arts in Community and Economic Development program incorporates two distinct, yet related bodies of theory and practice. One addresses economic development and the other addresses the larger area of community development. This program stresses the importance of linking these two concepts in a model that integrates the development of social capital and community capacity with the economic development of the community. After a broad examination of the public policy process, students will examine theoretical development concepts, as well as approaches that real communities have used in an effort to produce positive economic outcomes, as well as improvement in the quality of life of their members. Building on this foundation, students explore issues of relevance to community and development by selecting, in consultation with the program coordinator, elective courses that satisfy their particular interests and career needs. This master’s degree program culminates with a final project that provides the opportunity to examine a community development problem or issue in an in-depth manner.
Students for Whom this Program is Appropriate
This program is designed for students who wish to build agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations which simultaneously pursue economic and socially responsible objectives – the integrated bottom line – to create more attractive, inclusive and sustainable communities. Graduates of the M.A. in Community and Economic Development program will transform existing organizations to be socially responsible, start their own organizations that embrace social issues and pioneer new ways of management that meet human needs and treat stakeholders with justice and respect. Students may come from business or nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies such as economic development agencies or they may be “private” individuals who want to assume positions of leadership in changing their communities.
Program Delivery
This master’s program is delivered through online courses.
Admission to the M.A. in Community and Economic Development is selective. Typically, students begin in the fall and spring terms but may begin in the summer with an elective course, determined in consultation with the program coordinator. In addition to completing the graduate application, candidates must have completed the following academic prerequisites or their equivalent to be considered for admission:
- 3 credits of statistics
- 3 credits of macroeconomics
A candidate who has not completed these prerequisites may be accepted into the program but acceptance will be contingent upon completing them before the student enrolls for research methods.
Application
Please see the Graduate Admission section of this catalog for a complete listing of materials required to complete a graduate application.
Curriculum and Enrollment Sequence
The program curriculum and typical enrollment sequences are below for fall or spring term starts2. Possible electives have been suggested in this sequencing and are noted. Students should seek academic guidance from their advisor to determine elective choices. The sequencing is based on a part-time schedule.
Fall Term Start Course Sequence
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| FALL | ||
| CAED 6005 | Community & Economic Development Policy Process | 3 |
| PPOL 6030 | Public Policy Analysis | 3 |
| SPRING | ||
| PPOL 6020 | Research Methods | 3 |
| CAED 6010 | Principles of Community & Economic Development | 3 |
| SUMMER | ||
| CAED 6040 | Stakeholder-Sensitive Business Models | 3 |
| CAED 6070 | Workforce Development Policy (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| Second Year | ||
| FALL | ||
| MGMT 6160 | Strategic Planning for Public & Nonprofit Organizations (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| CAED 6060 | Macroeconomics for Public Policy (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| SPRING | ||
| PPOL 6025 | Ethical Issues in Social Policy | 3 |
| CAED 7005 | Final Project Design: Community and Economic Development | 3 |
| SUMMER | ||
| CAED 6065 | Population Land Use & Municipal Finance (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| CAED 7010 | Final Project - Professional Project: Community & Economic Development | 3 |
Spring Term Start Course Sequence
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| SPRING | ||
| CAED 6005 | Community & Economic Development Policy Process | 3 |
| PPOL 6030 | Public Policy Analysis | 3 |
| SUMMER | ||
| CAED 6040 | Stakeholder-Sensitive Business Models | 3 |
| CAED 6070 | Workforce Development Policy (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| FALL | ||
| PPOL 6020 | Research Methods | 3 |
| CAED 6010 | Principles of Community & Economic Development | 3 |
| Second Year | ||
| SPRING | ||
| PPOL 6025 | Ethical Issues in Social Policy | 3 |
| CAED 7005 | Final Project Design: Community and Economic Development | 3 |
| SUMMER | ||
| CAED 6060 | Macroeconomics for Public Policy (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| CAED 6065 | Population Land Use & Municipal Finance (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| FALL | ||
| MGMT 6160 | Strategic Planning for Public & Nonprofit Organizations (Possible Elective) 1 | 3 |
| CAED 7010 | Final Project - Professional Project: Community & Economic Development | 3 |
| 1 | To be determined in consultation with program coordinator |
| 2 | Changes in the sequence of courses should be made in consultation with the program coordinator to insure course availability and to maintain the basic structure of the program. |
Transfer Credit
A request for transfer credit may be submitted to the School for Graduate Studies. Typically, 9 credits are acceptable for transfer subject to the Transfer Credit Policy (located elsewhere in this catalog). In addition to approval by your academic advisor, the coordinator of your program also must approve these credits.
Degree Program
To begin planning your degree program, think about your long- and short-range goals, the area you want to investigate or learn more about, policy areas that interest you, or any gaps that you have noticed in your education. Your academic advisor can assist you in thinking through these areas of interest and the ways in which they can be made into appropriate electives. If you are considering doctoral study, you also should investigate the requirements of programs that interest you so that you can incorporate their requirements into your Master of Arts degree. Degree program planning should begin in your second term.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
- Understand the policy process from formation to implementation;
- Create paradigm for analyzing public policy;
- Intensive engagement of specific policy issues;
- Engage in sustained, disciplined research effort; and
- Undertake professional challenges for the degree’s final project, applicable to the student’s degree plan.
The final project represents the capstone experience in the program. This shall take the form of a Policy Memorandum, which is designed to support students’ professional and personal goals. This is a challenging task which draws on and brings together the skills and concepts learned through the master’s program. It requires identification of a public policy issue, examination and interpretation of various sources of information relating to the issue including scholarly sources, analysis of possible approaches to the issue and the student’s recommendations regarding the issue.
Learning Activities and Course Goals
As the capstone project for the master’s program, the policy memo builds on prior coursework and provides the opportunity for the student to engage in a sustained examination of a major policy issue; it integrates and puts into action the learning acquired throughout the program in courses such as policy process, public policy analysis, policy implementation, ethics and program-specific courses.
The purpose of this option is to reinforce the knowledge and skills required to analyze policy issues, develop defensible positions on policy issues and clearly communicate a position in the form of a policy memo which is standard fare in the work of legislators, elected officials, agency heads and other organizational leaders involved in the formation of policy.
The policy memo includes the exploration of a critical issue, the development of alternative approaches to the issue and a reasoned, evidence-based, defensible argument about how the issue should be addressed. It is important to keep in mind the distinction between a policy memo and other academic papers. Whereas academic papers build arguments by gradually introducing the least important ideas first, a policy memo uses an “inverted pyramid” of ideas, delivered as efficiently as possible, beginning with the most important. In a policy memo getting at the truth through the exploration and the interpretation of what is known about an issue is more important than developing new knowledge. As such, no thesis statement or theoretical framework underpins a policy memo.
Course goals:
- the ability to clearly identify a critical policy issue related to the student’s program;
- the ability to identify and access relevant information related to the problem;
- demonstration of a nuanced comprehension, evaluation and interpretation of the body of knowledge surrounding the issue;
- exhibition of a disciplined application of knowledge in the formulation of alternative, feasible approaches to the issue; and
- presentation, in good tightly-constructed prose, of a well-reasoned defensible approach to the issue that draws on relevant concepts from previously completed coursework.
To complete the project, the student will engage in general readings and use other resources related to the preparation of a policy memo as specified in the online course including videos and links to various web sites.
Next, guided by the approved Final Project Proposal, the student will engage in the relevant readings for this project and prepare drafts of the policy memo. As opposed to preparing the entire memo all at once, the student will develop the memo in sections as follows: Executive Summary (while this appears first in a policy memo, its exact contents will change as the student progresses through this course); Argument, Counter Arguments, Analysis, Recommendations.
Following instructions in the online course, drafts will be submitted to the instructor for review and comments; the student will revise project drafts and return. This process will be repeated until the draft is accepted by the instructor. While there is no set number of pages for a policy memo which can range from a page to a hundred pages, for the purposes of this program, 20-30 pages is the target. The specific task should dictate the length of a policy memo. The writer should use a direct, efficient style of writing that results in a “tight” memo that does not ramble or engage in needless repetition.
The student may be required at strategic points during the semester to provide drafts to other students for their feedback and, in turn, the student may be expected to provide feedback to help other students improve their projects.
At the end of the term, the student will be expected to make an oral presentation, following instructions in the online course. The presentation will be made to other students in the study, to the instructor-of-record and one additional faculty member. The student will be expected to respond to any questions that might be posed during the presentation.
Finally, the faculty members involved will render an evaluation of the project and privately share their evaluation with the student. Even if the student receives a passing evaluation, he/she may be expected to make revisions to the project.