By Yoo Jong-seon
NEW YORK — The Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University signed a memorandum of understanding here Thursday, calling for increasing institutional cooperation in research for public administration.
The institutional agreement was signed by KIPA President Dr. Park Eung-kyuk and Dr. Michael J. Wasylenko, dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, in a ceremony at the Maxwell School hall. KIPA is the first Korean public administration research institution in Korea that has joined hands on public policies with the Maxwell School, one of the world’s top educational organizations related to public affairs. The Maxwell School has been ranked as the top graduate school in this area by the U.S. News & World Report since 1995.
KIPA and the Maxwell School, two highly-respected institutions committed to quality and excellence in research, reached a general agreement to positively participate in joint activities that are mutually beneficial and consistent with their demanding institutional goals. These broadly defined cooperative activities are to share information in government administration and public sector management practice and encourage joint research on comparative topics in conflict resolution, public administration and governance.
The accord also invites representatives from each other’s research community, when appropriate, to participate in scholarly conferences and colloquia, and work together to acquire financial resources from foundations, governments, corporations and individuals to support collaborative research initiatives.
KIPA, founded in 1991, is a government-funded research organization under the Prime Minister’s Office, with a broad mission to study the administrative and management functions of the Korean government and to make recommendations about how these functions can be improved and be made more efficient. Over the past 20 years, KIPA has gained international recognition for the quality of its research, enhancing its reputation as an important public administration think tank not only for Korea but for its partners around the world. The Maxwell School, founded in 1923, is considered to be one of the leading schools for public affairs in the United States. Home to the social sciences at Syracuse University and to professional programs in public administration and international affairs, Maxwell has over 160 faculty members who are aligned by department and affiliated with interdisciplinary research institutes.
KIPA and Maxwell will identify a liaison to facilitate communication between the two institutions and to address any issues or concern that may arise during mutual collaboration.
During the signing ceremony, KIPA President Park said the conclusion of MOU will provide a fresh stimulus to further promote bilateral cooperation between the two academic institutions in the sector of public administration. He valued Maxwell’s schooling policy focused on teaching good citizenship based on Athenian spirit summarized by the phrase that “We will never bring disgrace on this our city by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.”
Officially chartered in 1870 as a private, coeducational institution offering programs in the physical sciences and modern languages whose main campus is located in central New York, Syracuse has a total enrollment of 20,407, representing all 50 U.S. states and 124 countries.
During his visit to the East-West Center in Hawaii on his week-long observation tour of American public administration institutions, the KIPA head discussed a wide range of issues on public administration’s role with the faculty there. They shared the view that public administration has contributed a lot to building the nation in developing countries, especially Korea. He said that public administration has played a central role in laying economic machineries and legal frameworks for Korean development from an economic backwater to today’s global powerhouse.
Yoo Jong-seon, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Public Administration, is a contributing writer of The Korea Times.