Masters of Public Administration

• Masters of Public Administration
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• Online and campus based study
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MPA Students

• Gill Murphy Olaaka, Country Director, Oasis Uganda (Online MPA)

Videos (Online MPA)

• Student views on choosing an Online Masters at York.
• Student views about studying online.

Gill Murphy Olaaka (Online MPA)

Why did you decide to return to study?

I graduated from University in 2000 and had been working for the same organisation from 2001 to the time I started the course, which was September 2006. I was preparing to take on the role of Country Director in July 2007, and felt it was an appropriate time to develop my skills and test my brain to see if it still had the capacity to learn!

Why choose the online Masters of Public Administration?

• It was all online - I live in Uganda so couldn't attend lectures or seminars that were compulsory.
• The fees were reasonable and could be paid in instalments over the 3 years.
• The course covered subjects I believed were useful in organisational management.
• I had heard good things about the University of York.
• I liked the option of being able to stop at certificate / diploma level, if things came up to prevent me from completing the whole course.

Why choose the University of York?

I had some good email interaction with a couple of people in York before I enrolled - and their direction and support made me feel confident that the virtual learning system would work.

What do you think of the programme?

It's been excellent - a lot of good reading material, thought provoking discussions, not too much work (for me who has a full time very demanding job too) but also enough to keep me engaged and involved. The discussions are key to this - having to log on every few days and interact with other people has really been beneficial in the learning process. I much prefer essay writing as a form of assessment and found the course structure of 3 modules and assignments per year very manageable.

The flexibility of e-learning

I think you must know your own strengths and weaknesses to succeed in this kind of course. I am a 'speed reader' (from my days of studying and English Lit degree) and so have a skill of being able to read a document rapidly and absorb the key information. This has helped me manage when time has been tight. I have also had to set strict 'study days' when I ensure I log on. The discussions have helped to ensure that the discipline is there to check the module every couple of days.

Support for students

The support is excellent - absolutely brilliant. All questions are answered swiftly, professionally and helpfully. I have received emails of encouragement from people after assessments which I didn't expect to receive - people genuinely seem to take an interest in my progression through the course.

Online study

The online study has suited me very well.

Interacting with other students

This is great - sometimes completely new perspectives have arisen from reading other people's posts.

Funding

I am self-funding my studies.

Finding time to study

It's been hard at times - I have had to take a few days annual leave from work at the time of every assessment, to manage the research process sufficiently. All in all I've managed ok - my ability to speed read has helped!

The future

I have been able to apply a lot of practical tools from the course to my work and the increase in my own knowledge I think has made me a more confident person in my role.

Advice to someone considering applying ...

You do need to be disciplined to do this kind of study - be able to set aside time and concentrate for a set period of time; be able to use initiative and make an effort to interact with other students in the discussions - it doesn't work if you get busy/lazy and don't log on every couple of days.

Overall the time commitment is manageable if you are working full-time, though assessments times can be difficult. The support from York is superb. Overall this has been a perfect way for me to study to the level of a Masters.

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