XUB announces establishment of new school; launches master in public policy

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar-based Xavier University on Friday announced the launch of Master in Public Policy course.

Application for admission in the course has been opened on its website.

Announcing this, Father Paul Fernandes, the Vice Chancellor of the University, said that this coveted course has been created to build capacity for leadership, action and empathy in the public service arena for leaders of tomorrow.

“We expect to draw inspired students as well as seasoned professionals to this course which has been designed with inputs from international experts in public policy and business,” he said.

The two-year four-semester course which commences in July 2019 will be administered by the newly-created School of Government and Public Affairs in the University, which is the eleventh school on XUB Campus.

“The Master in Public Policy (MPP) is the most important offering of the School and is a defining program for the University”, he added.

 Students will have to do Core Courses and Electives, Capstone projects, dissertation and case studies. They will also have the choice of doing advanced courses at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse University in the USA.

“We will support young leaders, those who want to build their leadership competencies and be the leaders of tomorrow that the country and the global society are looking for, through this new Master program. There will be many opportunities to enhance learning and leading experiences by interaction with experts and practitioners. We expect a mix of students from governments, public and private sector, and non-governmental organizations learning together in the MPP,” the Vice Chancellor added.

The seats for the Course will be limited as the emphasis is to carefully nurture leadership competencies in participants through individual attention and coaching.

On the new School of Government and Public Affairs, the Vice Chancellor said that the School will create capacity-built future-ready leaders of tomorrow in the public domain for the country and for the world.

“We have ambitious plans for the School with eleven specialized research centers and a number of short-term courses also planned for grassroots, tribal and rural leadership. Odisha’s students and professionals feature prominently in our scheme of things. We intend the School to attract many academics and practitioners in the public policy area including elected representatives from Odisha and elsewhere, bureaucrats, administrators, managers and NGO leaders,” he said.

“We are aiming for this school to have an international status,” he added.

The specialized research Centers in the School cover a wide range of subjects in the public policy domain including Human Rights, Governance, Business and Public Policy, Women Empowerment and Gender Equality and Development of Grassroots Institutions, among others.

The School has also planned to have several short-duration Executive Development programs for professionals in industry and NGOs, bureaucrats, academics and journalists which will deal with public policy processes, evolution of policy in certain thematic areas and governance with an emphasis on the 3Ts of Odisha government: Transparency, Teamwork and Technology.