For 20 years, Stefan Toepler has been a professor of nonprofit studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government. This year, he takes on an additional role, that of director of the Master’s in Public Administration program.
“We’ll be taking a deep look at the structure of things and updating the program to better suit the needs of the changing market,” he said.
Not surprisingly given his expertise, one of Toepler’s goals for the MPA program is to strengthen its nonprofit studies focus, emphasizing how the roles of nonprofit institutions have merged with those of government public administration agencies.
“Twenty years ago, public administration had nothing to do with nonprofits, and now nearly every program has some kind of nonprofit track,” Toepler said. “Nonprofits are such a big part of the public service workforce today. In most cities, the big employers are nonprofits or government agencies. And they increasingly cooperate. Public administration cannot ignore nonprofits any longer.”
This development is one “about public service,” he said. “Serving the public in different ways. And nonprofits are more diverse and more flexible in the way they can approach their clients and populations. It’s challenging in many ways, but the nonprofit-government partnership is a vital partnership.
“I’ve seen the evolution of the field, and I find it exciting,” he added.
Nonprofit Management and Public and Nonprofit Finance are two of the 11 concentrations available to Master’s in Public Administration students. Other popular MPA program concentrations include Emergency Management and Homeland Security—which contributes to the Schar School’s U.S. News and World Report ranking as the No. 2 best school in the U.S. for security studies programs—Human Resource Management, Public Management, Public and State and Local Government. Additionally, MPA students have the opportunity to design their own concentration, with approval from their advisor.
Toepler is assuming the leadership of the No. 40 ranked MPA program in the world, and No. 13 among U.S. universities, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the ShanghaiRanking. Thanks to the quality and rigor of the degree, the Schar School’s MPA program is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).
This summer Toepler is headed to Muenster University to discuss possible cooperative programs with the Schar School before pursuing research projects at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Later, he will deliver a policy paper at the European Research Network on Philanthropy conference in Basel, Switzerland.