|
Building a Community of Excellence: Although there is no real empiri-
cal evidence as regards what does or does not produce true excellence in public
administration education and training, it is possible through experience and sys-
tematic observation to get at least a reasonable sense of what may be the most
important characteristics of truly excellent programs in public administration
education. In that regard, if there is one single factor that seems to characterize
the best programs, it is the existence of a vibrant and a challenging intellectual
community – one where there is a true, free clash of ideas and a commitment to
their fullest examination.
Such a community is one that is constantly debating the critical issues of the
public sector and the relevant processes of administration and policy formation
and evaluation, as well as the efficacy of the various approaches to problem solv-
ing implicit in public administration education and training. Such communities
represent the most progressive of academic environments. Unfortunately, the
reality is that such communities are much fewer than one would hope and might
normally assume. If that is so, it, of course, raises the question of what is required
to build such a community.
In fact, there are at least six qualities that one can identify as being a prerequisite
of such communities. The first such condition involves an absolute commitment
to the conduct of the highest quality research and scholarship on the part of all
members of the community. It is not uncommon to hear reference to the truly
dedicated and highly effective teacher whose total preoccupation is his or her stu-
dents, but who doesn’t actively engage in research. The reality is that such people
are few and far between and in truth only exist as very, very rare exceptions. In
almost every case, the good teacher is first and foremost a good researcher who
is totally committed to advancing the intellectual environment and knowledge of
his or her discipline. Such individuals are an absolute prerequisite for a community
of excellence in any area of higher education.
The second critical element of a vibrant and challenging intellectual community
is the full empowerment of all its members. Whether one is a beginning faculty
21
Excellence in Public Administration Education: Preparing the Next Generation …
member or a well established senior scholar, ones ideas and status as a full and
equal participant is an absolute necessity since one never can predict from who
or where path breaking ideas will come. Consequently, such empowerment is
absolutely essential to the maintenance of an environment in which the free and
open clash of ideas can both occur and be sustained.
A third key element of the community environment that will produce excel-
lence in public administration education is a commitment to diversity – both of
ideas and of the participants in the community. Inclusiveness is much more im-
portant than exclusiveness. Indeed, as past practice has shown, uniformity and/or
a monolithic approach to the educational enterprise is almost certain to ensure an
over reliance upon tradition and a lack of openness to new and important intel-
lectual developments.
A fourth characteristic of a vibrant and challenging community of excellence
involves a commitment to the values of human progress and individual advance-
ment. Public administration, in and of itself, represents a key means by which
society attempts to both sustain and improve the quality of the human condition.
A commitment to such an effort, indeed in its simplest form, the making of the
world a better place, is central to any real efforts to achieve excellence in public
administration education. This is especially so in a world that must confront issues
of poverty, inequality and the building of responsive and participatory democratic
institutions.
A fifth necessary but not sufficient characteristic of a community of excellence
is the availability of adequate resources. The development of excellence in public
administration education, or any other academic field, requires a considerable
commitment of time and energy on the part of those who are members of the
intellectual community responsible for a program’s growth. Without question,
the ability to commit that time is very heavily influenced by the ability of those
involved to earn a level of income that will sustain them and the members of their
immediate family in an acceptable middle-class lifestyle. In addition, other resources
are required to facilitate research and intellectual exchange.
Finally, any real community of excellence is in certain ways a highly competi-
tive community. Individuals within such a community, while they may cooperate
on many things – including research, teaching and training activities – do compete
with one another in terms of the prevalence of both key ideas and new approaches
to intellectual exploration. In the end, one approach, or set of ideas, may not nec-
essarily be better or more relevant than another set. However, the reality is that
the commitment to advocate on behalf of ones approach is absolutely essential to
the achievement of excellence.
Likewise, competition between communities of excellence is an essential stimu-
lant to the continuation of their commitment to excellence. The U.S. experience
in higher education is highly illustrative in this regard. While there are many areas
of public services in which the country falls remarkably short of meeting the high-
22
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
