Question Exam

PA6620 Mid-Term Examination

Mid-Term Examination covers the material in Chapters 1-7, 11 and 14.

Answer 4 of the 9 questions below. Clearly identify which questions you are answering. 

Answer the questions by either using (1) a previous (2) or current public employment position or (3) as an online student of the MPA Program at Troy University. Use the same position in answering all four questions.

Chapter 1: Why do you think your/public institutions of higher education are prone to criticism? Which criticisms are warranted? Are they more prone to criticism than private organizations/institutions of higher education? Why or why not?

Chapter 3: How does the economic environment affect the services of your organization/Troy University? Affect your utilization of its services? What job competencies should be required of the employees/administrators, faculty and staff?

Chapter 4: What are competence and responsiveness values, and what are their implications for your organization/Troy and its mission? Describe the ways societal values and institutions influence its operation.

Chapter 6: Review the public website for your organization/Troy University to identify the institutions goals and comment on the following: Are the stated goals clear or ambiguous? Do any of the stated goals conflict? Can the goals be ranked in terms of institutional priorities? Which goals are more important? In what ways do the stated goals overlap?

Chapter 7b: As an employee your goal is career advancement and fulfillment. Your ability to achieve these goals are based on your own effort, but also based on factors that you may not have power over. Using the ideas presented in the chapter analyze the power and influence relative to your situation.

1. List the persons that you depend upon for career advancement and fulfillment. What is the basis for each of these dependencies? How strong are these dependencies?

2. Do you view these dependencies as positive, negative, dysfunctional?

3. Do you have any influence over each person you depend upon? How can you maintain a base of influence?

4. What resources do you need to gain further influence?

Chapter 14a: What considerations are necessary to a well-informed decision on whether or not to contract out to adjuncts (that is, not full-time faculty) teaching responsibilities?

OR

Chapter 14b: What considerations are necessary to a well-informed decision on whether or not to contract out your organization’s services? Are the considerations similar in the private and public sector? In what ways is the decision more complex in public organizations?