Villanova Public Administration: New MPA Director, New Major, New Modality Options

MPA Program Director Adam Kuczynski, PhD, '16 MPA

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Over the past several months, the Villanova University Department of Public Administration worked to lay the groundwork for several initiatives and changes that launched this fall, including the hiring of a new director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, the beginning of a new undergraduate major in Public Service and Administration (PSA), and the reorganization of its graduate course offerings to allow for greater flexibility and convenience for its students. 

"These exciting developments allow our department to grow and to better serve its mission, which is to 'offer graduates the knowledge of values, roles, skills and practices that will help them become competent professionals capable of ethical, intelligent, inclusive and creative leadership in public service,'" said Catherine Wilson, PhD, Public Administration Department Chair. "We remain committed to fulfilling that mission."
 

Meet MPA Program Director Adam Kuczynski, PhD, '16 MPA

Given these changes, the department has tapped program faculty member and alumnus Adam Kuczynski, PhD '16 MPA to serve as director of the MPA program, while Dr. Wilson continues to serve as department chair. Previously, Dr. Wilson managed both roles.

“Thank you to all who have made me feel so welcome in this new role as MPA Director. I am looking forward to working with the wonderful community that makes up this great program," Dr. Kuczynski said.

Dr. Kuczynski earned his PhD in public administration from the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University where he taught a variety of courses related to public administration, such as budgeting, ethics and community engagement/public service. Dr. Kuczynski also has experience as a locally elected official, a journalist, a managing editor of a news desk, a nonprofit director of communications, and as a communications associate within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He holds a bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in political science from the Pennsylvania State University, a master’s in communication from Monmouth University, and a master’s in public administration from Villanova University. His research interests currently include nonprofits, transparency, discrimination in decision-making, and government administration/law. Learn more about Dr. Kuczynski.
 

New Undergraduate Major in Public Service and Administration

The new undergraduate major in Public Service and Administration (PSA) will expose undergraduate students to the field of public service and administration and provide them with opportunities to develop skills and competencies to serve and lead in a broad range of careers. Prior to fall 2022, Villanova offered an undergraduate minor in Public Service and Administration. Learn more about undergraduate Public Administration programs.

Flexible Options: Multimodal Graduate Programs

Beginning this fall, the Villanova graduate programs in Public Administration, which includes the MPA and certificates in Public Administration, Nonprofit Management and City Management, have become multi-modal programs, meaning that students will no longer be restricted to taking campus-only or online-only courses. Students will be able to register for any course, regardless of modality, in each academic term. Villanova's graduate programs in Human Resource Development have also become multimodal.

Learn more about Villanova's graduate programs in Public Administration.