Introducing: Public Administration Clinicals

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Marvin N. Pichla
August 2, 2024

Sometimes some of the greatest innovations are built using creative designs which are historically successful in another service area. For example, some may use the fast-food “Meal Deal” ordering system to re-introduce a series of public sector workforce development opportunities. Or perhaps use the college orientation process to create a customized FFA-Day (Future Farmers of America) for a group of high school chapters and effectively spread the word on agri-business career options. Or even adopt a scaled down version of the TED-TALKS phenomenon and build a comparable learning event that serves a unique group of citizens!

Well this quarter my ASPA article is again focused on the usage of public sector innovation. Specifically this Introducing: Public Administration Clinicals writing will offer a timely recommendation for the use of “clinicals” as a learning tool for public administration employment. Similar to the nursing field which requires and applies college credit attainment to assigned work experiences in the health care profession…so too could this opportunity be structured for public sector employment preparation. Although it could be argued that internships are already available to students at different stages of their education, the unique value of blending public service knowledge within the collegiate learning process makes Introducing: Public Administration Clinicals a logical option.

First think about creating Public Administration Clinicals with qualified universities in certain career areas like: Fiscal Management, City Planning, Corrections Programming and Workforce Development Policy. Consider the variety of REAL WORK experiences that could be appropriately blended into a public administration course! Effectively every semester could be organized to contain a three (3) credit Clinicals course. Understandably college credit would only be awarded if the clinical time was credentialed with a passing grade. Unlike traditional internship models, the Public Administration Clinicals learning time would be measured based on advancement of  public service comprehension.

Next, let’s consider the implementation factors that would be necessary to establish Public Administration Clinicals. Initially a non-traditional Curriculum Committee would be formed. The personnel make-up of this Committee would naturally include public administration faculty from participating universities. Additionally, leaders from multiple public sector organizations interested in obtaining great public service employees would also be recruited for the Committee. The major goal of the Public Administration Clinicals Curriculum Committee would be to draft the minimum “Scope-of-Practice” (learning exposure areas) that would be followed by students during a specific semester.

Another critical area of development assigned to the Clinicals Committee would be to formalize the credentials required and grading processes retained by the personnel in charge. Given that every Public Administration Clinical engagement would be based at an established public sector organization, the Clinical learning experience would always be a “working-for-my-grade” situation. Clinicals course work could be divided into “units-of-learning” such as staff evaluation, budget preparation, service marketing, program eligibility determination, etc. Interestingly, if a “units-of-learning” model were used, it may make sense that a team of Clinical Supervisors be recruited to oversee and participate in the student grading process.

Public sector innovation could also play a tremendous role in the formation and implementation of every Public Administration Clinicals situation. For example, building Clinicals supervisor credential requirements. Would they (supervisors) need an advanced degree or could long-term job experiences allow someone to qualify as the best supervisor? Degrees aren’t required to run for public office… so should they be required to serve in a Public Administration Clinicals oversite role?

Use of mid-term and final exams would be another important consideration by the Clinicals Curriculum Committee. Would traditional academic components be used to measure learning attained during the Clinicals experiment? Or would public sector innovation approaches facilitate creativity… and “real-time” work experiences force public program influences? Would the exams be totally essay-driven or would multiple-choice/true-false questions be appropriate?

Additionally, should it be acceptable for students to organize their own Public Administration Clinicals site? Perhaps this innovation opportunity would foster greater student ownership in potential learning elements and thereby enhance the engagement of the public organization they select? As with any partnership arrangement, there could always be the incidence of mis-use of the Clinicals reporting/grading situation. Possibly the supervisor may be less-than-appropriate in their oversite role when assigning grades based on friendships past. Human bias could thereby be a factor in maintaining a quality Public Administration Clinicals system. However, assuming that every Clinicals site would receive no-cost benefit from the student “real-work” contributions made during the semester assignment…mutually beneficial results of the special learning situation would hopefully limit any inappropriate professionalism.

A final innovation consideration would be the use of some form of electronic simulation tools that could be effectively blended into a Public Administration Clinical. Think about the aviation sector and the simulation programs that pilot trainees have to experience as part of their overall instruction and testing! As we referenced early in this article, the nursing profession regularly uses patient simulators to give students real-life situational examples involving injury/disease circumstances. The solid learnings are impactful for every student… and wouldn’t it be the same utilizing Public Administration Clinicals?

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Author: Marvin N. Pichla, Ph.D., is the owner and creative adviser of Inspiring Innovations, Inc. Sharing his unique entrepreneurship and innovation in public service experience, Marv consults with public and private business, education and community organizations to develop new and different problem-solving methods through real-life, example-based learning.

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