Core Course Waivers
Waiver Petition Procedure
All students--including those notified of presumptive waiver status--should observe the following process for obtaining official permission to waive out of a core course.
Waiving out of a core course does not reduce the number of credit hours required for the MPAff degree. Waived courses must be replaced as indicated for the particular course.
It is the student's responsibility to initiate the official petition process. All waiver requests must be initiated before the first class day of your beginning year.
To initiate the waiver process, follow the instructions, follow the instructions found on the Core Course Waiver Instructions page. The form is also available as hard copy in the Forms Box across from the OSAP office.
Be sure to attach copies of supporting evidence (e.g., syllabus, transcripts) when you turn in the form.
Waiver Criteria and Faculty Coordinators
The following five core requirements may be waived for students with substantial prior background. All waiver eligibility expires at the end of the first semester of enrollment.
No core course waiver requests will be considered after the last class day of your first semester in the MPAff program!
Advanced Management (AM)
Faculty coordinator: Richard Schott (SRH 3.238)
Waiver requests are considered on a discretionary basis for students with substantial undergraduate work in public administration and organization theory, either as part of a major in public administration or a concentration in American Government.
Any MPAff elective seminar may be used to replace the waived AM course.
Applied Microeconomics for Policy Economics (MPA)
Faculty coordinator: Robert Auerbach (SRH 3.223)
Waivers are automatic for students with an economics major or a minor with intermediate microeconomics theory in the coursework. Waivers are also given upon request for students with three economics courses including intermediate microeconomics theory. Waiver requests are considered on a discretionary basis for students not in the above groups but who have taken basic microeconomics theory and at least two courses with microeconomics applications.
An Applied Policy Economics (APE) course must be taken as replacement.
Introduction to Quantitative Analysis (IQA)
Faculty coordinator: Pat Wong (See Lucy Neighbors in SRH 3.206)
Waiver requests are considered on a discretionary basis for students with substantial training in both mathematics and statistics. Mastery of the following topics are required: optimization methods (both calculus based and LP-based), sensitivity analysis, probability theory, decision analysis, basic forecasting, sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and multiple linear regression.
Any elective seminar used to count towards the MPAff degree may be used to replace the waived IQA course.
Politics & Process (P&P)
Faculty coordinator: Jacqueline Angel (SRH 3.217)
Waiver requests are considered only in exceptional cases. Waiver decision is made jointly by all PD faculty members on the basis of the student's description of how his or her past experiences fulfill the learning objectives of the course. These learning objectives will be presented in detail at Orientation. Substantial coursework in institutions of governance and the policy process is required.
Any MPAff elective seminar may be used to replace the waived P&P course.
Public Financial Management
Faculty coordinator: Shama Gamkhar (SRH 3.210)
Waiver requests are considered on a discretionary basis for students with substantial undergraduate work in Business Finance, Accounting, Public Finance and a concentration in American Government or graduate work in Public Financial Management.
Any MPAff elective seminar may be used to replace the waived PFM course.
