Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Professional MPA (PMPA) students enrolled at Queen's University may be permitted to take up to two elective courses at another institution, as a visiting student or on exchange study, with permission of the MPA Program Director and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), in accordance with the general procedures set out below and Graduate School General Regulation 10.3 Off-Campus Study.
Elective courses must meet four criteria. They:
- must be offered by an accredited institution;
- must be of comparable credit weight to graduate courses offered at Queen's University;
- must be related to public policy and administration; and
- cannot duplicate work already completed by the student.
Exchange Opportunities Within Canada
Through a number of existing exchange agreements at the department and faculty level, MPA/PMPA students may pursue off-campus study at another Canadian institution. Specific application and registration procedures are governed by the terms of the formal agreements. A list of such agreements appears below. For more information, please contact the MPA Program Administrator.
Approval Process for Off-Campus Study
Students seeking to enrol in one or two courses off-campus must submit a formal request, in writing, to the MPA Program Administrator. A copy of the calendar description of the course and the course outline, if available, should accompany the request. The student may want to consult the MPA Program Administrator prior to submitting a formal request.
If the MPA Program Coordinator supports the request, the School will submit the request, on behalf of the student, to the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) for formal approval to take the off-campus course(s) for degree credit. The SGS will normally confirm formal approval in a letter to the student.
All students completing courses off-campus must:
- arrange to have two copies of their original transcript, showing final grades in courses completed at another institution, sent to the School of Policy Studies.
- obtain a minimum “B” grade to receive MPA degree credit for courses completed off-campus.
Students seeking to enrol in courses at another accredited institution must normally apply for formal admission as a special student to the host institution. On admission, students normally register at the host institution and are subject to the academic norms, including tuition rates, at the host institution. (Students may apply to be exempted from paying tuition fees to Queen's during that period.)
The Ontario Visiting Graduate Student Program (OVGS)
The OVGS program permits graduate students at an Ontario University to enrol in courses at another Ontario university, with the approval of the home and host institutions. Students pay fees to their home institution but are enrolled at the host institution. The application form is available from the MPA Program Administrator.
L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration Publique (ENAP)
The School of Policy Studies has a cooperative agreement with L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration Publique, with campuses in Gatineau, Montréal and Quebec City, for students to take courses for degree credit at the other institution. Application forms are available from the School of Policy Studies. Courses may not be audited. Fees are paid to the home university.
The Royal Military College of Canada
Queen's University has an exchange agreement with the Royal Military College of Canada. The Royal Military College/Queen's Visiting Graduate Student Agreement permits enrolled students from either institution to take courses at the graduate level at the host university for degree credit at their home university. Courses may not be audited. Fees are paid to the home university.
The School of Policy Studies has pre-approved a number of courses offered as part of the M.A. (Defence Management and Policy) program that may be of interest to MPA/PMPA students as optional courses. These are listed below.
There may be other relevant graduate-level courses offered at RMC. MPA/PMPA students seeking to take a course that has not been pre-approved should submit the course description (and course outline if available) to the MPA Program Coordinator for academic approval.
For pre-approved courses or when you have academic approval to take another RMC course, you will need to complete the two forms below which you can receive from the MPA Program Administrator:
- A Queen’s-RMC Visiting Graduate Student Form.
- An Academic Change Form from Queen's.
Further information is available from:
MPA Program Administrator
Tel: 613-533-6200
Email: mpa.coordinator@queensu.ca
RMC MPA Program Representative
Tel: 613-541-6000 ext. 6586
Email: mpa@rmc.ca
View RMCC's Division of Continuing Studies
MPA 523 - Defence Decision Making
This course examines the concepts that have been advanced from time to time to provide the structure for formulating and managing defence policy and commanding the Canadian Armed Forces. The main vehicles for this investigation are the studies and reports concerning the higher direction of national defence prepared between 1936 and 1992.
MPA 527 - Professional Ethics and Defence Management
This course is an examination of the military and ethical responsibilities of officers. Alternative ethical systems and norms of special are evaluated. Moral conclusions as to the right, proper, and just decisions, and required military actions facing managerial morality problems are also drawn. The defence ethics programme and the conflict of interest philosophy are also two important subjects of the course, in keeping with the goals and ethical culture of the Canadian Forces. The approach will be multidisciplinary but the focus will be on the complexities of military operations from a legal perspective. Military professionalism, philosophical theories, and psychological perspectives are topics in the course. The aim is to assist the student in understanding the practical applications to military life of moral principles and ethical theories. The curriculum introduces opposing views on current controversial issues in order to incorporate debate as a useful instructional methodology for applying the military ethical doctrine to current practice within the Canadian Forces while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.
MPA 529 - Canadian Defence and Foreign Policy
This course examines the development of Canadian defence policy and the factors that have helped mould and determine it from the Great War to the present. Such themes as threat perception, geopolitical considerations, alliance associations, governmental structures for decision making, personalities, force development, defence economics, the socio-military interface, and foreign and domestic policy concerns are part of the study. The course will be run using the specialized readings seminar paper method.
MPA 537 - Financial Decision-making
This course introduces students to principles of financial decision-making within a corporation and government department. Topics included are: costing theory and analysis (including regression analysis), construction of income statements for a manufacturing concern, cost-volume-profit analysis including breakeven analysis, the budget cycle for a manufacturing concern, standard costs and variance analysis, fixed cost allocation including Activity Based Costing, Business Planning, discounted cash flow analysis, security valuation, the cost of capital, Life Cycle Costing, risk analysis in financial planning, special DND budgeting issues, and derivative securities and their use in risk management.
MPA 539 - Economics of Defence
This course is concerned with the application of economic methods of reasoning to defence policy issues and to questions of defence resource allocation. Elementary ideas of micro-and macroeconomic analysis are reviewed and employed to address issues such as the appropriate level of defence expenditures and the appropriate distribution of defence budgets between manpower and equipment. Specific topics include the economics of alliances, arms races, arms control, budget distributions, weapons procurement, manpower planning, economic warfare, disarmament and conversion. Elementary economic concepts are employed to develop approaches to structuring complex problems of defence resource allocation involving risk and uncertainty. The course also examines the effect of defence activities on economic performance at the national, regional and industrial levels.
MPA 549 - Economics of National Security
This course is concerned with the application of economics reasoning to national security policy issues and to questions of resource allocation toward national security and within government agencies for national security. Complex problems of national security resource allocation are addressed using game theoretic concepts of strategic analysis. The course reviews the fundamental concepts of economic analysis and then proceeds to apply them to demand side issues such as domestic security and democracy, regional and global security, and to supply side issues such as intelligence, enforcement, and legislation. Specific topics include street, food and health security, immigration, information and cyberspace, peacekeeping, intelligence, deterrence and preemption, domestic and international legislation.
MPA 555 - Management Information Systems for Defence Management
This course examines the development of Canadian defence policy and the factors that have helped mould and determine it from the Great War to the present. Such themes as threat perception, geopolitical considerations, alliance associations, governmental structures for decision making, personalities, force development, defence economics, the socio-military interface, and foreign and domestic policy concerns are part of the study. The course will be run using the specialized readings seminar paper method.
MPA 559 - Project Management
Addressing project management from a “management” perspective, this course examines the discipline from a defence perspective. Topics covered include requirement definition, project selection, organization, planning, scheduling, budgeting, control and termination. The course discusses the role of the project manager and his/her interaction with the defence management system. Specific project management methods and techniques, including computer software, negotiation approaches, risk and quality management and procurement procedures are investigated. Completed and ongoing projects are studied.
MPA 565 - Conflict Analysis and Management
This course introduces the student to the area of Conflict Analysis and Management. The course will study conflict at three levels of resolution: Intrafirm, Interfirm and International Conflict. Conflict Analysis and Management concepts will be studied in more depth from the point of view of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis will include the systems theory and risk analysis and management perspectives. This will be followed by an examination of the different types and models prevalent in the area. Finally, various case studies will be used to highlight the important concepts which have been covered.
MPA 567 - Managing and Resolving Violent Conflicts
This course examines the causes and correlates of violent conflict, and applies this to the study of conflict resolution before, during and after armed and organized violence within and between states. The evolution of conflict resolution as a discipline from the 1950s to the present, and hanging patterns of violence in the 20th century highlight third party roles and coercive and collaborative strategies. These themes are then explored through three phases in the conflict cycle: pre-violence, violence, and post-violence. Comparative case studies of prevention, management, and post-conflict reconstruction are drawn from post Cold War conflicts. The course assumes knowledge of basic conflict analysis tools and vocabulary, and requires wide reading about contemporary conflicts. It is strongly recommended that DM565 Conflict Analysis and Management be taken before this course.
MPA 571 - Defence Technology: Strategy and Policies
This course discusses defence technology as a goods/service/ideology process by examining its relationships with international affairs, national policies and security, and with military and paramilitary doctrine, capability and performance in peace and war. Topics include: history of defence technology; civilian-military relations; the military-industrial complex; cycles of development; contemporary use of defence technology; tools and trends of technology foresight, national defence and trade policies; defence planning, programming and budgeting; and resource strategies for war and peace in alliance, coalition, and conflict settings now and in the future. Topical technology security issues to be addressed include: smart weapons, standardization and interoperability, dual-use goods and services, and impacts of globalization.
MPA 573 - Leading and Working in a Diverse Environment
This course will examine leading and working in a diverse and multicultural environment within three contexts: (1) domestic organizations, (2) global or multinational organizations, and (3) military organizations. Diversity and multiculturalism add to the complexity of organizational environments by increasing the number of perspectives, interaction patterns, and approaches to leadership and management. This course explores such questions as: Why is it important to learn to manage workplace diversity? Do people’s experiences and treatment in the workplace vary due to cultural or demographic differences? Do cultural or demographic differences affect the way people behave in organizations? Do leaders and managers in domestic or global organizations recognize the impact of cultural differences? What are the best strategies for managing workplace diversity and multiculturalism? What is the Canadian policy framework for multiculturalism, fairness, and Employment Equity and how does it compare to other countries, such as the USA? What do officers need to know to lead people in a diverse environment and to be effective diversity managers in the Department of National Defence?
MPA 575 - Human Security: Theory and Practice ** subject to availability for Queens students
This course addresses the evolving global security environment in terms of existing and possible strategies, policies and actions for the demands and opportunities of a Human Security regime. Theories and practices from the fields of history, psychology, international relations, politics, economics, project management and field engineering will be used in the study of the ways and means that determine how much freedom and dignity individuals enjoy as they live, move and work. A course focus will be real world cases of interest and importance to Canada.
WILL NOT BE APPROVED:
MPA 521 - Canadian Government and Public Policy
MPA 531 - Economics
MPA 557 - Strategic Management for Defence
MPA 569 - Organizational Theory
MPA 581 - Decisions and Policy Analysis
International Interchange Opportunities
The School may have exchange or interchange study agreements with some universities that permit MPA/PMPA students to complete their spring course credits abroad. An Information Session will be held in the fall term, when study opportunities for the subsequent spring have been confirmed with the exchange coordinators at these institutions.