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UKRAINE |
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UKRAINE |
RELATION WITH THE PROFESSION
From 1993 to date, approximately two thousand individuals have completed the academy, including its branches. Although the master’s of public administration degree was a new one in Ukraine six years ago, it is now widely recognised by employers. Of three hundred and twenty-three thousand public servants, only a small portion is trained in public administration. The more senior a position in public service, the broader training and skills are necessary. Therefore, both national and sub-national administration consider graduates of the academy as an important pool of highly qualified professionals who can effectively develop and implement policies in different spheres of public administration. Graduates are seen as “generalists” rather than specialists in a narrow field. They are highly transferable across ministerial boundaries and are utilised by the government as a cadre of flexible, strategic public managers. Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, when establishing recruitment policies for civil service, declared that graduates of the academy should be accepted to civil service jobs without competition.
The concept of competition for positions in civil service is the foundation of the Law on Civil Service. The law states that category III-VII positions may only be filled through competition. Category I is the highest, and category VII is the lowest in Ukrainian civil service. The law excludes positions in categories I and II from the competition procedure. These categories include positions such as heads of state agencies, first deputy ministers, heads of the presidential administration, the secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), their deputies, the first deputies of heads of regional administrations, etc. These individuals are politically selected but are appointed by the president, the Cabinet of Ministers or the Verkhovna Rada.
The Cabinet of Ministers’ decision to provide graduates of the academy with jobs without going through the competition procedure is evidence of the appreciation of the high level of their education and the need for such specialists in the civil service.
Graduates’ access to central and local administration is specifically governed by government regulations. First and foremost, graduates who studied at the academy on a state contract (i.e., the government paid for their training) must work in the government for no less than five years after graduation. Graduates must be employed by those central or local government organisations where they worked prior to entering the academy. Central or local government organisations are required to provide graduates with positions in categories I-IV (the highest levels) or a category equal to or higher than the one a graduate occupied prior to enrolling in the academy.
According to the academy’s data, seventy percent of graduates work in public service, the remainder occupy managerial positions in state enterprises and organisations, in health care management in particular, work in non-governmental organisations or continue their education.
There is no concrete data available on the employment of the academy’s graduates separately in the central and sub-national administration. There is indirect evidence based on the graduates’ place of residence. Approximately one-third are residents of Kiev or the Kiev region. Most graduates live in big, industrial regions such as Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv. The academy’s graduates tend to move to Kiev from outlying regions. From 1992 to 1998, nearly one hundred graduates sought jobs in central government and moved to the capital.
Positions in categories I-III (the highest, mostly in central government) employ ninety-five (12.8%) graduates. Comparative studies of the positions students occupied before enrolling in the program and after graduation show that nine percent more were promoted to categories III-IV (middle level, both central and regional tiers) and that nearly eighteen percent more were promoted to categories VI-VII (regional and local level).
Despite government support of the academy and its graduates, there are others factors that complicate the process of graduates’ obtaining employment. First, as an institution attached to the presidential administration, the academy’s activities are governed by presidential decrees and government regulations. As mentioned above, there are specific regulations governing employment of the academy’s graduates, i.e., most are obliged to go back to the government although they are expected to demonstrate better skills and make a career in public service.
Second, the mission of the Academy of Public Administration is to provide the government with a cadre trained in the best European standards. In doing this, the academy supplies the state with public servants who see themselves as generators of new ideas and change. Thus, when returning to their jobs, they sometimes encounter hostile treatment because the older generation of civil servants does not welcome change. This is more frequent in local and regional government, so graduates tend to seek jobs in central government where reforms are generally initiated (e.g. forty members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine hold degrees in public administration).
Third, remuneration in public service still does not correspond to the Civil Service Law’s provision “to provide for sufficient life conditions” for civil servants. In most cases, this is not presently a decisive factor, but with the development of the private sector in Ukraine, it will have serious implications in the future.
Two advanced degree programs were launched at the academy, leading to candidate of science and doctor of science degrees. Some graduates of the MPA program entered these programs to write their dissertations, and they are expected to teach public administration afterwards.
1. Research for Government
A number of research projects stem from assignments by the presidential administration, the Cabinet of Ministers or the Main Department for the Civil Service, especially with regards to analytical and methodological provisions for administrative reform in Ukraine. All twenty-two primary research priorities at the academy are in accordance with the government’s orders and funding. The Main Department for the Civil Service, for example, purchased methodological recommendations concerning the introduction of distance learning in training civil servants. The Ministry of Emergency Services purchased findings concerning the legal basis for economic activities in the zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. The Ministry of Science and Technology purchased research concerning the terms of reference on compiling information and methodological resources for training civil servants. The Executive Committee of Synelnikov City Council bought a draft statute of the committee from the Dnipropretrovsk branch of the Academy. The regional administration of Odessa ordered research on the social and political status of ethic minorities from the Odessa branch. In addition, the same branch started working on a project on the structure of the city administration for the Odessa City Council.
According to the instructions of the presidential administration, theoretical concepts and a questionnaire were developed to monitor the social and economic situation in Ukraine. Experts of the academy and its branches conducted joint social research based on sampling social and economic problems in regions. The academy’s research is also used by government working groups in formulating strategies for administrative and legal reform and administrative legislation.
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