Development Management and Policy Program
Program of Study
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University (GU), in association with the School of Politics and Government of the Universidad Nacional de General San Martín (UNSAM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina offers a two-year Graduate Program leading to the joint degree of Master of Arts in Development Management and Policy (DMPP). This program is offered in its entirety in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The program combines a focus on global management issues with training in social science methods and social policy analysis. Pursuit of academic excellence and instilling a sense of social responsibility are the twin pillars for this program. Substantively, these pillars seek to provide young professionals and aspiring academicians with the instruments necessary for sound policy analysis, while also encouraging them to understand the normative and moral dimensions, which should shape policy choices. Institutionally, these pillars build on the traditional strengths of Georgetown University -- whose strongest programs stand precisely at the nexus of academic disciplines, policy studies and values.
Our students will receive rigorous training in quantitative reasoning and policy analysis, along with a solid foundation in social theory, ethics, and research techniques. The program is designed to attract college and university graduates planning careers either in the public or private sector or in international organizations.
Candidates for the M.A. in Development Management and Policy will have diverse educational and professional backgrounds. They may enter the program directly from colleges or universities, or from positions in the public sector, the business community, or non-governmental organizations. All courses will be taught at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín in Buenos Aires. Course instruction, however, will be contingent on the faculty: GU faculty will, predominantly, teach in English; UNSAM faculty, in Spanish.
Program Accreditation
The DMPP was commended for its work by the Middle Status Commission on Higher Education. In his evaluation report, "Assessment Visitors' Report to Georgetown University of its Joint Master of Arts Degree in Development Management and Policy Offered with Universidad Nacional de San Martín," Dr. José Rivera, President of the University of the Sacred Heart, affirms:
"The M.A. degree program is congruent with the mission of both institutions and their academic units; it has clearly defined and Published objectives; is based on a recognized field of study; is of sufficient content and length; and is conducted at the appropriate levels of quality and rigor." "A definitive source of strength of this program is its faculty. Their resumes describe terminal degrees from distinguished institutions and an impressive list of research initiatives and publications. … When students were asked to identify the most valuable assets of the Program the response that was repeated once and again referred to the quality of the faculty and their unique mix (GU+UNSAM) of perspectives."
"I want to make a special statement as to the dedication and quality of the students interviewed. They evidence a very high level of commitment to their program and support of its goals and objectives. They are also complimentary of the mentoring services provided to them by the UNSAM faculty and the support of the staff."
Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) The Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM), is a public research university which began with a strong commitment to the development of science and technology and now has a mandate to develop programs of excellence in the social sciences. Its emphasis in both arenas is intended to contribute to sustainable national development through strengthening the nexus between scientific research and public policy. In the natural sciences, one of the principal instruments for achieving this has been the creation of the Polo Tecnológico, a joint venture involving UNSAM, several large state sector enterprises, and a number of private business firms. In the social sciences, this effort has led to the creation of the Institute of Advanced Social Studies (IDAES) which offers four M.A. programs (Sociology of Culture, Sociology of Economic Institutions, Public Opinion, and Political Science).
The M.A. in Development Management and Policy will be coordinated jointly by the Georgetown's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and UNSAM's School of Politics and Government. Under the leadership of its Dean, Marcelo Cavarozzi (who holds a parallel appointment as Faculty Associate in our Department of Government at Georgetown), the Department of Politics and Government has hired an impressive group of young scholars whose Ph.D.s are from such major universities as the University of California, Cornell, Pittsburgh, MIT, the Universidad Complutense (Madrid), FLACSO (Mexico), and the University of Buenos Aires.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the School of Politics and Government program at UNSAM is the effort to combine theoretical perspectives from political science, political economy, and the administrative sciences with empirical analysis of Argentine and Latin American public policies. This blend provides students with the analytical tools they will need for exploring alternative political and administrative arrangements.
Georgetown University and UNSAM
The joint M.A. in Development Management and Policy between Georgetown University and UNSAM is very timely. It seeks to train the policy analysts of tomorrow so they can contribute meaningfully to the reconstitution of the Argentine state and the improvement of its administrative and social systems. The past decade has been revolutionary for Argentina (as for much of Latin America). Democracy has been effectively consolidated. The military have returned to the barracks and civilian control over the armed forces is now a fact. The bloated interventionist state of the past half century is no more. Privatization, liberalization of trade, and restructuring have dramatically transformed the political economy of the region.
Though positive in many ways, the collapse of the state-centered matrix has also had profoundly adverse consequences. It has decisively weakened the state both as a regulatory entity and as an arbiter of relations between markets and societies. The neo-liberal reforms have given new impetus to markets throughout the region, but they have also destroyed many social networks and dramatically shrunk state capacity. Much new wealth has been created and old, inefficient structures have collapsed, sometimes of their own weight, but the reforms have also had sharply detrimental consequences, increasing social inequality and marginality as well as fostering a great deal of corruption. Though few groups favor a return to discredited policies of the past (policies which produced huge external debts and high inflation), there is a growing consensus that a new public ethic and a strong, lean, and efficient state are crucial. Such a state should not seek to control markets or the economy, but it should provide a framework of strong and transparent legal and regulatory instruments. The presence of such instruments will not only rationalize domestic markets and thus reassure foreign investors; they will also create the conditions for more equitable and sustainable development.
Curriculum and Instruction The M.A. program in Development Management and Policy will enrol 30 students per year and will have a duration of 18 months course work (24 months for part-time students). It is anticipated that no more than 10 of the 25 students will be part-time. Overall, students will take 11 courses (33 credits) in the program: five of which will be taught by Georgetown faculty; the remaining six will be offered by UNSAM faculty. Students must enrol in and complete at least five courses taught by Georgetown faculty.
Courses taught by Georgetown Faculty While resident professors usually teach ten classes of three hours every week during a given trimester, the courses offered by GU faculty and some visiting professors have a different design.
Georgetown University faculty who participate in the DM&P Program typically teach their courses in an intensive two week-long seminar. The seminar is divided in 10 sessions of three hours each. Prior to the beginning of the first segment, Georgetown professors send the required reading material to UNSAM to be distributed to the students. This structure of intensive teaching and course taking, as stated in the DM&P Program foundational document, are common in many pre-professional programs in the United States and internationally, and consistent with the realities of student learning.
The Program’s proposed course structure satisfies pedagogical requirements and, it may, in fact, provide a more effective vehicle for integrated learning than some of the generally accepted and successful alternatives. By the beginning of classes, students have already had the opportunity to review and read much of the assigned material. The three- hour per day class meetings (akin to a seminar format) facilitate intensive and focused discussion. The sequence of courses reinforces and encourages integration of differentiated but related material. Once the Georgetown faculty classes are over, the students have the additional opportunity to apply what they have learned in the final elaboration of their research papers. Both GU faculty and students are satisfied with this system and no major shortcomings in its mechanics or quality have occurred. Additionally, the UNSAM’s faculty Tutoring and Mentoring system which is described next, has further contributed to identify any possible problem and to follow up of students learning process.
