Institutional and programmatic determinants for graduate public affairs’ online education: Assessing the influence of faculty workload

Abstract

The research explores why some public affairs graduate programs choose to develop fully online degree offerings while others do not. The study attempts to address questions surrounding how different institutions and programs are pursuing degree offerings and the potential influence of faculty workload. The research utilizes a quantitative, cross-sectional design analyzing results from a survey on institutional and programmatic practices in workload, hiring, and degree offerings administered to primary points of contact within public affairs academic units from all institutions found in the US News World Report Graduate Programs in Public Affairs Rankings from 2019. Survey data is paired with program information from the accrediting body institutional member database. Findings indicate differences from both institutional and programmatic groupings do demonstrate workload measures have unique characteristics depending upon the type of institution and rank of the program. Further analysis discusses the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on future public affairs programming.