Department of Public Administration and Health Management
Interim Dean: Linda Wallace
Graduate Program Director: Karl Besel
Professor: Robert Dibie
Associate Professor: Karl Besel
Visiting Lecturer: Jerry Horn
Mission
The Department of Public Administration and Health Management (PAHM) is a multidisciplinary unit of Indiana University Kokomo and it is organized as a professional division. It is the mission of PAHM to prepare tomorrow’s leaders through innovative education, to solve complex problems through interdisciplinary research, and to enrich society through professional service. The Department of Public Administration and Health Management at Indiana University Kokomo defines the mission of both undergraduate and graduate programs in terms of its responsibility to the profession of public administration and health management; to the public, non-profit, and community organizations which the field supports; to the university and its diverse students; and to the national and international communities they all serve.
PAHM’s teaching mission is defined in terms of the role the department plays in enabling current and future public servants to develop skills necessary to address challenges posed in public management, health management, and administration in nonprofit organizations, governance, policy-making, implementation, and organizational effectiveness. PAHM strives to orient its students to the public interest, humanistic acumen, personal contribution and to the client/citizens, not merely to technical outcomes. In its service mission role, PAHM strives to fulfill the ideal of public service as an example to the profession and to its students as a means to continued personal development as faculty, to provide leadership, technical support, and mentoring in a manner that recognizes social interdependence, democratic ideals, and the needs of social justice. Through its research mission, PAHM strives to meaningfully address the body of social knowledge and experience through interpretation, re-interpretation, and creative insight. We accept the responsibility for helping to create standards of excellence and conduct for the profession of public administration both nationally and internationally. We are especially concerned with knowledge that promotes a functional and responsible praxis of thought and action in the classroom, in the work environment, and in the society within which they co-exist. Overall, PAHM strives to develop student sensibilities to a wide variety of human, social and organizational realties, which assist public and nonprofit organizations in formulating and achieving responsible social change.
Goals
As an integral part of the university, IU Kokomo PAHM is committed to providing an academic and social environment for its majors that will develop in each student:
- A basic understanding of the institutions, processes, and actors in the public administration and health management arenas, with special appreciation of the problems and responsibilities of dispensing public governance, public policy, and health management in a democratic social order.
- A basic understanding of world public administration and health management so as to provide an appreciation of global diversity and to provide a contrast and comparison to the American system.
- Strong writing, verbal, and analytical skills that will facilitate successful employment inside and/or outside the public management and criminal justice systems and general life-long learning.
- A sense of professionalism that will assist the student in being a success in his/her post-graduation endeavors. In the context of these goals, IU Kokomo PAHM department offers course work leading to:
- Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (B.S.P.A.)
- Graduate Certificate in Public Management
- Graduate Certificate in Health Management
- Master of Public Management (MPM) with track in Public Management and Policy
- Master of Public Management (MPM) with track in Health Management
Majors/Minors
Undergraduate Degrees
- Bachelor of Science in Public Administration:
Master Degrees
Certificate Program
Courses