Crossing the Divide: Building Bridges between Public Administration Practitioners and Scholars

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 21, pp. 99-112, 2011

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Research Paper No: PP10-03

Posted: 16 Jan 2011

See all articles by Brenda Bushouse

Brenda Bushouse

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Department of Political Science

Willow Jacobson

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill

Kristina T. Lambright

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Jared J. Llorens

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Rick Morse

UNC School of Government

Ora-orn Poocharoen

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Date Written: December 1, 2010

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges of better connecting public administration (PA) scholarship to practice and recommends solutions to address those challenges in three areas – engaged scholarship, engaged teaching, and engaged faculty. To strengthen the connection between research and practice, strategies are proposed such as publishing summaries of research, creating open access online journals, establishing learning communities, and developing a new journal for cutting-edge PA research that is written in a practitioner accessible format. Strategies for linking our teaching to practice include emphasizing problem-based learning techniques, utilizing executive education programs to test the relevancy of our scholarship and incorporating additional pedagogical training into our doctoral programs. As a strategy for promoting more engaged faculty, we encourage greater participation in academic-practitioner exchange programs. In order for PA faculty to be more engaged, changes to tenure and promotion expectations are also needed, as well as an expansion of institutional incentives for engaged scholarship.

Keywords: public administration, public administration scholarship, learning, teaching, engaged faculty

Suggested Citation

Bushouse, Brenda and Jacobson, Willow and Lambright, Kristina T. and Llorens, Jared J. and Morse, Rick and Poocharoen, Ora-orn, Crossing the Divide: Building Bridges between Public Administration Practitioners and Scholars (December 1, 2010). Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 21, pp. 99-112, 2011 , Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Research Paper No: PP10-03, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1738105

Brenda Bushouse

University of Massachusetts Amherst - Department of Political Science ( email )

Thompson Hall
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

Willow Jacobson

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

Kristina T. Lambright

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Jared J. Llorens

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Rick Morse

UNC School of Government ( email )

NC
United States

Ora-orn Poocharoen (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy ( email )

Singapore 117591
Singapore
(65) 6516 2541 (Phone)
(65) 6778 1020 (Fax)

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