Fels govt. center will undergo major curriculum revisions

Responding to the changing needs of its students, the Fels Center of Government will begin to restructure the focus of its course of study in upcoming semesters. The center -- which operated out of the Graduate School of Fine Arts until it was moved to the Office of the Provost for organizational purposes --was under review for the past academic year to determine whether it should be continued and in what form. Last December, an external review committee recommended that the center not be abolished. Fels currently offers a master's degree in government administration through a three-semester program that focuses on technical management and political training. Members of a program committee, including Fels Director John Mulhern, Deputy Provost Michael Wachter, School of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Walter Licht, GSFA Dean Gary Hack and Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden, are in the process of finalizing curriculum and faculty changes that will train students to run government agencies. "The winds of change are very strong," Wachter said. "We are trying to respond to students' needs, which have changed with increased privatization." The center will continue to train managers, but it will also add other components to its course selections to expand its focus beyond public service. "The center is responding to what is happening in the political world around it," Wachter emphasized. "It will change in a way that many other schools are not able to do. It will change to fit the times." He added that Fels will not only standardize its curriculum to appeal to students pursuing management positions in social service agencies, but it will also hire adjunct faculty who will utilize their "real world experience" to better students' education. An increased number of standing faculty will help strengthen the center, while continued participation from professors affiliated with other graduate schools will enable Fels to remain a program respected across the University, Wachter said. Another goal of the center's changes is to attract students from the University's other graduate programs. "We found in discussion with the deans of the graduate schools that many students need more management training," Wachter said. "Redefinition of the center would attract students even in the schools of Social Work and Education." Committee members hope the changes will benefit the center, which has been plagued by under-enrollment and poor class variety. "Its an exciting time for Fels," Licht said. "It's future changes will revitalize the center as a whole." Also in the next few years, administrators will focus on increasing Fels enrollment, which is currently lower than that of past years. Wachter said he does not expect an increase in students enrolled in the center until "two to three years down the road." He added that Fels "has a small but very important demand that may not appeal to the mass market."