Annex 17:

1TA: MPA Quality Strengthening Project, Ukraine: The Provision of Technical Assistance for Evaluating and Strengthening the Quality of the MPA Programme at the Ukrainian Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine

1. Project description

2.  Project purposes and goals

The project proposal states that the Ukrainian Academy of PA is facing new challenges. The employer and graduates are no longer satisfied with general approaches to providing knowledge in the public administration field. There is a need to re-prioritize the programme and introduce specialties within the MPA programme and qualification. This will require changes to the balance between elements in the existing programme and the quality might be at stake. Thus, at this critical time the academy needs outside international evaluation of its efforts, especially by such outstanding and well-recognized institutions as NASPAA and NISPAcee.

The joint NASPAA–NISPAcee mission had to focus on the following objectives:

1.       Evaluation of the quality of the new MPA curriculum, goals, objectives and outcomes at the UAPA and quality assurance procedures.

2.       Evaluation of the extent to which the MPA incorporates recent, cutting-edge developments in PA from throughout the world.

3.       Identification of needs for faculty and staff development to acquire new skills, especially in building curricula, writing aims and setting objectives of courses and using assessment instruments; assist in designing an effective faculty and staff development plan with the objective of increasing the capacity of staff to meet European accreditation standards.

4.       Provision of consultancy for developing collaborative research and enhancement of the nature and quality of research at the UAPA.

3. Project realization

The project objectives were reached through the following activities of the TA mission:

·          Review of MPA documentation;

·          Meeting with the senior management of the UAPA;

·          Meeting and discussions with the Rector, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Vice-Rector for Study Programmes;

·          Meetings with department heads and faculty members:

            1. Clarifying understanding of future development of subjects; 

            2. Debriefing on mission findings.

·          Meeting at the main department for the Civil Service of Ukraine to seek clarification of how the MPA programme meets the need of the employer;

·          Meetings with both current students and alumni from all levels of government;

·          Final meeting with the Academy senior management;

·          Recommendations by the TA experts.

No problems occurred during the project realization; the project timeline was kept almost on target; and team members cooperated in the project, fulfilling their roles and responsibilities with quality work.

4. Project outputs, outcomes and impacts

The findings of the mission were discussed at the meeting of the Academic Board and necessary amendments to the programme design and architecture will be introduced to ensure mechanisms and procedures leading to better quality of the programme and its relevance to new worldwide developments in teaching public servants.

Long-term dissemination of the TA findings will be ensured through the involvement of UAPA’s network institutions; that is, the branches in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odessa, as well as 27 in-service training centers in all regional capitals. The findings of the TA mission were made public also through the scholarly journal Visnyk (Herald) and the Alumni Association journal Komandor.

The main outcome of the implementation of TA is a clearer understanding by the academy’s senior management, faculty members, students and staff members of the academy’s need to integrate into the European and world public administration space, comprehension of strengths and weaknesses of the MPA and its environment as well as the perception of the new international demands of quality in training public servants. The TA recommendations are the cornerstone of the academy’s efforts in applying for accreditation by the European Association of Public Administration Accreditation. The approaches to preparing the self-evaluation report during the 2002-2003 academic year were based upon TA recommendations, specifically on the “Strategic Planning for MPA Accreditation Recommendations” section. The process of EAPAA accreditation started in 2003 and continued in March 2004 with the visit of EAPAA team.

The final outcome of an improved MPA program will be a higher quality of academy graduates. UAPA’s graduates trained in top-notch world standards will work for the government, disseminate expertise, and participate in policy development and implementation throughout the country.

Moreover, in accordance with an October 1996 decision of the State Attestation Commission, UAPA was delegated the responsibility of accrediting all institutions of higher learning involved in the education and training in the field of public administration. Thus, the TA mission will have an impact on the quality of the entire network of institutions delivering programs in public administration field throughout Ukraine, and ultimately in the quality of public administration systems throughout the country.