NIU Core Competencies

Jonathan Durbin

• 1 min read

The Northern Illinois University Department of Public Administration's Master Program has thirteen core competencies that all students are to obtain prior to graduation.

Listed below are the thirteen core competencies:

  1. (Stakeholder Collaboration) Effectively work with a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders
  2. (Stakeholder Coproduction) Motivate and engage peers and stakeholders to enhance organizational capacity
  3. (Technical Management) Integrate current and preferred management practices of budgeting, human resources, information technology and statistical analysis to improve organizations
  4. (Performance Management) Use performance management to facilitate goal identification and execution
  5. (Decision-Making) Apply decision-making theories to frame and solve public service problems
  6. (Policy Process) Effectively participate in the public policy process in a role appropriate to a professional public manager
  7. (Policy Windows) Conduct environmental scans and identify the windows of opportunity to influence decisions
  8. (Service Evaluation) Evaluate public service issues in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, equity and economy
  9. (Ethics) Incorporate professional codes of ethics in public service decision-making to enhance integrity of public services
  10. (Communications) Communicate effectively with diverse audiences both orally (public speaking) and in writing (analytical and persuasive) for a public service organization and in the public policy process
  11. (Pluralism) Meaningfully engage with people holding diverse perspectives to address public service issues
  12. (Democracy) Identify strategies for improving democratic accountability in governance, including improved transparency and civic participation
  13. (Responsiveness) Develop or adapt policies, programs, goods or services to accommodate changing social demographics for the population they serve

To me, these thirteen competencies fall into three broad categories: Management; Policy; Norms.

This post will serve as a reference for individual projects I have completed at NIU and the Village of Lake Villa.