Curriculum Recommendations for Public Management Education in Computing: An Update.

In 1983 the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) formed an ad hoc committee to make recommendations regarding the need and level of computer instruction necessary for a sound education in public management in the 1980s. The committee recommended that computers and information systems should be recognized as a sixth skill/knowledge area within NASPAA's Curriculum Guidelines with implications for new courses and for the teaching of existing courses in the concentrations. Since the fall of 1988 all graduate programs in public management are explicitly expected by NASPAA to include management training in "information systems, including computer literacy and applications." During the next few years, NASPAA's Peer Review Committee, the site visit teams, and programs wishing to be accredited will grapple with the meaning of "computer literacy" and "computer applications." Using data from a 1988 study of computer utilization by managers and staff in U.S. cities, this article discusses the level of training in computers and information systems that needs to be offered in public management programs and the implications for coursework and faculty.