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For people drawn to a career that offers the ability to see the direct results of their work while making improvements to their communities and rarely experiencing a dull moment, local government management is an attractive option.
Making the field even more appealing is the future prospect of numerous job openings and the potential for rapid promotions.
“More than 50 percent of the professionals in city and county management are in the last half or quarter of their careers, which means tremendous opportunity for hiring and fairly rapid advancement,” said Eric Budds, manager of the City of Newberry.
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| Eric Budds, manager, City of Newberry |
Budds, considered one of South Carolina’s preeminent municipal administrators, is in a position to accurately gauge the job market. He has worked with five city and town govern-ments in a 20-year career that has taken him from Dade County, Florida, one of the largest urban areas on the east coast, to municipalities of varying size throughout South Carolina.
And he received his academic preparation for the work through a unique joint master of public administration program offered by USC and the College of Charleston.
“For me, it was an outstanding educational opportunity,” said Budds, a 1983 MPA graduate of the two schools who now supervises 145 employees and a $23 million annual budget in Newberry. “It provided an excellent foundation to pursue my career and it allowed me to hit the floor running.”
The joint program began about 25 years ago when the College of Charleston decided it wanted to offer an MPA for its Lowcountry students. But Fred Sheheen, who was then the state’s commissioner of higher education, expressed concern that a second program in addition to one already at USC would be a duplication of effort and cost.
As a result, the College of Charleston joined with the program at USC, from which selected USC professors travel to Charleston to teach MPA courses the school doesn’t offer. The program became so successful that when Clemson wanted to provide an MPA for residents in the Upstate about seven years ago, it also joined the collaborative effort with USC.
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| Charlie Tyer, political science |
“This is unique,” said Charlie Tyer, an associate professor of political science at USC who serves as the joint MPA director. “I don’t know that there are any other joint degree programs like this between higher education institutions in the state or even the country.”
Both Clemson’s and the College of Charleston’s programs work in unison with USC's the same way.
A joint admissions committee comprised of faculty from USC and the College of Charleston or Clemson reviews applications of candidates. USC professors then drive to Greenville for the Clemson program or to Charleston to teach two and three courses a year, respectively.
The remainder of the needed courses are taught by the faculty of Clemson and the College of Charleston on their own campuses, meaning the majority of the courses are taught by faculty of their own schools. Nonetheless, students and taxpayers are both the beneficiaries because the joint program expands accessibility of a needed degree while reducing duplicative costs.
USC faculty also play a role in evaluating students for graduation from Clemson and Charleston and help grade Clemson students’ comprehensive exams. USC and Charleston students undertake what is known as a capstone experience in lieu of written comprehensive exams wherein they integrate content from six core courses into a research effort.
The USC MPA program also partners with the USC Law School in Columbia for a joint MPA-JD degree, and with the USC College of Social Work for a joint MPA-MSW.
Last March, USC, Clemson, and the College of Charleston co-sponsored a one-day joint colloquium of all three schools’ MPA faculty and students to provide the opportunity for them to network and gain exposure to one another.
Faculty from the three schools spoke on such topics as revenue forecasting, political parties, and election trends. During luncheon presentations by alumnus Budds of Newberry and other graduates, students were encouraged to consider local government as a career option.
“We let them know that in the future there will be some wonderful opportunities in local government for graduates, which was particularly well received because of the cutbacks in government at the state level,” said Tyer. He added that most joint MPA graduates lean toward state or local government jobs, though a few others work at the federal level and others opt for jobs with non-profit agencies.
“Our graduates make a lot of difference in the quality of life in South Carolina, in city and county government, regional organizations, non-profits, and in the nation,” he said. “We wouldn’t have that if these students didn’t get further training and education and weren’t stimulated to learn more.”
5/04
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