by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
UNM's School of Public Administration is tied for third in the nation for the percentage of its graduates who enter state government with a master's in public administration.
Seventy-five percent of graduates from the program take jobs in state government, according to the survey by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, the accrediting body for such programs.
Mario Rivera, a professor in the school, said the degree makes it easy for people to get jobs in government.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"It's a very competitive degree - very well-suited for state government and other levels of government," he said. "Someone with a strong graduate degree is very attractive for state government."
The University of the Virgin Islands-St. Thomas came in first, with 90 percent of its graduates getting jobs in state
government.
The graduates of UNM's program include Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and James Jimenez, Gov. Bill Richardson's chief of staff.
Such high-placed graduates could help the program become more successful, Rivera said.
"As we bring more people into the ranks of state government in Santa Fe, as well as into other levels of government, we can really build up a network," he said. "Our graduates who have jobs can help out the people who will be graduating."
Ferrel Heady, former University president, founded the school in 1969.
"We have a very large reservoir of good will and respect from other programs because of Ferrel Heady, who is really a respected figure," he said. "Since we are one of the earlier programs like this to be founded, I think we really have a reputation."
UNM was one of two schools in the Top 10 that is not in the state capital.
"It's not a forbidding commute, really," Rivera said. "Not being in Santa Fe makes it more significant that we have a large number of people going into state government, but it's really not a problem that we're not there."
Adam Hathaway, a student in the program and president of the Public Administration Graduate Student Association, said he likes the practicality of the degree.
"Everything about the classes is a how-to of how to run or build a government," he said. "Everything you learn is a skill that will have some real application. Not every graduate degree can say that."
Hathaway is a unit administrator for Safety and Risk Services at UNM. He plans to continue working for the University after he graduates, he said.
"The program is really useful, because if you work for UNM like I do, the things you learn apply directly to your job," he said. "I've learned more and more about how my department and UNM interact with the state."
Students at most of UNM's branch campuses, including Santa Fe, can take public administration classes on the Internet or with televised classes.
"We've leapfrogged into the modern age," Rivera said. "It makes it feasible for someone in Santa Fe, who may already be working in government, to say, 'I'm going to get an M.P.A.'"
Most students in the program work while they are in school, and many of them have jobs in state government before they graduate, Rivera said.
"We have students who come in with considerable skills and experience already," he said. "That sort of channels where they go after that, because they were already working in government jobs before they graduate, so it's obviously something they want to do."
