Quick Facts

Top 25% - Ranking among doctoral programs in "Public Policy, Public Affairs and Public Administration" according to the National Research Council

96 - Number of students enrolled in the program as of fall 2011

93 - Number of program graduates as of August 2011

Health Services Management and Research Track

Welcome to the Doctoral Program in Public Affairs

The Doctoral Program in Public Affairs prepares future leaders to deal with complex social, health and governance issues that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

The program has a community-based focus with an emphasis on collaborative relationships across the public, private and nonprofit sectors of the community.

The curriculum comprises an interdisciplinary core with advanced studies in one of five tracks: Criminal Justice, Governance and Policy Research, Health Services Management and Research, Public Administration or Social Work.

Graduates possess the theoretical, analytical and ethical foundation to produce new knowledge that impacts policies and programs and enhances institutional and community performance.

Public Affairs Doctoral Program Reaches Milestone

5/14/12
In a follow-up article, the Central Florida Future reports further on the doctoral program's 100th graduate, Rebekah Hazlett-Knudsen. Read the article

A Public Affairs Milestone Touched by Serendipity

5/2/12

The Doctoral Program in Public Affairs will reach a milestone tomorrow when the 100th student to complete the program graduates during commencement ceremonies for the College of Health and Public Affairs. Rebekah Hazlett-Knudsen earned this notable position when she successfully defended her dissertation earlier in the academic year. Read more

Zhang Highlighted as International Gerontology Visiting Scholar

3/30/12
Ning "Jackie" Zhang, associate professor of public affairs, describes his experience as the first visiting scholar sponsored by the The Gerontological Society of America in the March 2012 issue of the society's newsletter, Gerontology News. As a GSA visiting scholar, Zhang worked in China last fall to advance the society's China Initiative. The front-page article on Zhang's experiences is titled "Nascent Visiting Scholar Program Seeks New Recruits." Read the article

Wan, Meemon ('11) Editors of Special Issue on Informatics Research

3/5/12
Thomas T. H. Wan, associate dean for research and professor of public affairs, and Natthani Meemon, a 2011 graduate of the Doctoral Program in Public Affairs, are the editors of a new special issue of the International Journal of Public Policy titled, "Public Affairs and Health Informatics Research." The issue includes articles co-written by Wan and Meemon and by three other UCF-affiliated authors: Lynn Unruh, professor of health services administration; Ning Jackie Zhang, associate professor of public affairs; and Bernardo Ramirez, assistant professor of health services administration. Learn more: Title Page. Table of Contents.

$1.6 Million Grant Funds Rural health Care Study

10/27/11

The National Institutes of Health has awarded UCF a $1.6 million grant to assess health care provided by Rural Health Clinics — federally recognized clinics located in rural, medically underserved areas of the United States. The co-principal investigators for the grant are Thomas T. H. Wan, associate dean for research and professor of public affairs, and Judith Ortiz, a research associate and 2002 graduate of the Doctoral Program in Public Affairs. Learn more. Click photo (Wan [left] and Ortiz [right]) to enlarge .

Program Welcomes Fall 2011 Cohort

8/19/11
The Doctoral Program in Public Affairs welcomed its fall 2011 cohort of students, pictured below, at an orientation held yesterday in HPA I.

New doctoral students, August 2011
(Seated, left to right) Shabu Varghese, Brian Pugh, Cristina Popescu, Lauren O'Byrne, Yara Asi, John Gill (standing, left to right) Rebecca Nathanson, Natalia Leal, Matt Bagwell, Jennifer Wixted, Michael Lykhinin, Sarah Stoeckel [Dean Michael Frumkin], Carl Hawkins, Marie Pryor, Ibrahim Zeini, Pamela Medina, Frank Fan. Not pictured is Meldin Garcia.

"The Doctoral Program in Public Affairs is celebrating its 13^th year of providing exceptional interdisciplinary doctoral education to students," said Ronnie Korosec, interim director of the program and associate dean of academic affairs and technology for the college.

"We have 19 outstanding students entering the program this fall. These students represent a diverse base of practitioners and academicians — including individuals from China, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Ukraine, Venezuela and the United States. They complement our existing student cohort in both depth and breadth of experience and background in the five track areas — criminal justice, governance and policy, health, public administration, and social work. The program has graduated 93 students to date and currently hosts approximately 100 students."

Book focuses on Hospital-Based Rural Health Clinics

8/15/11

Abiy Agiro (Ph.D., public affairs, '11), research analyst at WellPoint, Inc.; Thomas T. H. Wan, professor of public affairs and associate dean for research; and Ning "Jackie" Zhang, associate professor of public affairs and program coordinator, are the authors of "Productivity in U.S. Hospital-Based Rural Clinics: A Growth Curve Analysis," published this month by VDM Verlag Dr. Müller. The authors investigated the impact of organizational factors on productivity growth in hospital-based rural health clinics in the United States. The book will benefit policy makers, practitioners and researchers engaged in rural health services.

Public Affairs' Quick Takes

Martin on Mongolia

Professor Larry Martin, a member of the public affairs' faculty, discusses societal issues in Mongolia on UCFTV's Public Affairs Today show.

PAF Students

Vener Garayev

Vener Garayev (M.P.A.,’08), is a full-time student in the Public Administration Track and a teaching assistant/research analyst in the Department of Public Administration. His dissertation will focus on network sustainability in emergency management. “My hometown is a small province/town in Azerbaijan called Ismayilli, which is very famous for apples,” Garayev said. “My hobby is learning/studying different languages, even if I don’t need them immediately in my daily life.”
Natalie Bryan

Natalie Bryan, M.H.R, SPHR is both a doctoral student in the Public Administration Track and director of human resources for Intervention Services, Inc. She plans to study the process of implementing a behavioral-health managing entity in Florida, how collaborative public administration will affects its success, and integration of the model into the state’s current substance-abuse and mental-health system of care. Natalie is originally from New York but has lived in Orlando for more than 20 years. When she has a spare moment, she loves to play video games with one of her nieces or nephews.
Lloyd Duran

Lloyd Duran is a full-time student in the Social Work Track and graduate teaching associate who is studying reintegration services for veterans returning from deployment. "I am a Marine Corps veteran of the invasion of Iraq, so I enjoy working with that population because I am a part of it," Duran said. His hometown is Hialeah, Fla.
Erlan Bakiev

Erlan Bakiev is a full-time student in the Public Administration Track and a Kyrgyz National Police captain in his native country, Kyrgyzstan. His research interests include interpersonal trust, organizational performance, social capital, citizenship behavior, and Theories Y and Z. His hometown is Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan.
Hidayet Tasdoven

Hidayet Tasdoven is a Ph.D. candidate in the Public Administration Track. He is a ranked officer with the Turkish National Police in his home country and plans to go back his department after completing his doctoral degree. His research interests include police administration, police behavior, public service motivation and police performance management. His dissertation focuses on the impact of motivational and attitudinal factors on police discretion.