Making an Impact

Oakland University Master of Public Administrator (MPA) Program Director and Professor Douglas Carr was recently awarded with the NASPAA 2025 Leslie A. Whittington Excellence in Teaching Award.

“This recognition carries particular weight because it represents validation from peers across the field of public service education,” Carr said. “It reinforces that the classroom work I find most meaningful — helping students connect theoretical frameworks to the practical challenges they encounter in their organizations — resonates beyond Oakland University.”

The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) acts as the global accrediting standard in public service education. This annual award recognizes excellence in teaching public policy, public affairs or public administration. 

Carr is honored to win the NASPAA award, but said the most rewarding part of his time at OU has been seeing his students grow as they progress through the MPA program and then later their careers.

“Our alumni work as city managers, nonprofit directors, policy analysts, and health care administrators across the region, and I regularly hear from them about how they've applied specific frameworks or methods we covered in class to challenges they're addressing in their organizations,” Carr said. “That direct line from classroom learning to professional impact is what makes teaching in a professional graduate program particularly satisfying.”

Carr believes students in the MPA program are making a strong investment in their careers and students should consider the program if they're seeking career advancement in public or nonprofit organizations.

“Our 2019 alumni data show that 88% pursued the MPA for career advancement, increased marketability, or increased earnings potential, and the degree delivered measurable results: 65% reported increased marketability, 45% reported a new job title, 43% achieved a higher salary, 35% gained career mobility and 28% improved job security,” Carr said. “We accommodate working professionals, and students have the option to take the program fully online or include an evening in-person component to their courses.”

Douglas Carr was recently awarded with the NASPAA 2025 Leslie A. Whittington Excellence in Teaching Award.

Since he joined Oakland University in 2007, Carr has worked to advance excellence, and encourage the development of strong skills and values in the next generation of aspiring public and nonprofit executives. 

“Doug filled a critical leadership void when he agreed to come on as MPA Director, and in that position he has shown a fierce dedication to program excellence and an entrepreneurial spirit which has expanded the program’s reach and opportunities for students,” Professor and Chair of Political Science Peter Trumbore said.

As a part of his initiatives to expand the MPA program, Carr has reinvigorated the Public Affairs Research Laboratory (PARL) at OU. This resource allows students to engage in applied research projects and gain a deeper understanding of professional practices. Through this laboratory, OU students had the opportunity to work with the City of Auburn Hills to help develop and implement community engagement surveys that shaped city policy choices.

“The laboratory model reinforces the principle that public service education should serve the public – our research contributes to strengthening the capacity of the organizations and communities around us,” Carr said.

Carr has also developed the Election Administrator Certification program at OU. Equipped with an advisory board of qualified local, state and national officials and experts, the program is structured to specifically address the needs of Michigan, while simultaneously providing value to professionals nationwide. 

“The impetus to create the program came from recognizing a significant gap in professional development infrastructure for Michigan's local election officials,” Carr said. “Local clerks and election staff carry enormous responsibility for administering elections that determine democratic legitimacy, yet most enter these roles without formal training in election law, security protocols, communications strategies, or the high-stakes operational planning that elections require. While the Michigan Bureau of Elections provides training, I saw an opportunity to create an academically grounded certification program that would complement existing offerings and provide election officials with the specialized knowledge that strengthens their professional capacity.”

Carr said OU is committed to the success of the MPA program, which has contributed to his professional development and allowed him to expand the program.

“Oakland University has provided the institutional support to build programs that extend beyond traditional classroom teaching,” Carr said. “That direct line from classroom learning to professional impact is what makes teaching in a professional graduate program particularly satisfying.”

“Three elements distinguish our program from other MPA programs in the region,” Carr said. “First, we maintain genuinely small class sizes — this isn't marketing language but a structural feature that allows faculty to engage directly with students' workplace challenges and provide individualized feedback on their analytical work. Our alumni surveys consistently highlight small class sizes as a program strength, with 51% citing this as a top factor.” 

“Second, we've built five distinct Graduate Certificates as part of the MPA program – Court Administration, Criminal Justice Leadership, Healthcare Administration, Local Government Management, and Nonprofit Organization and Management — that allow students to develop specialized expertise alongside the core public administration competencies,” Carr added. “Students who complete one of these concentrations report that it proved useful to their careers at rates of 96%. Third, our faculty actively conduct research on the topics they teach, which means students engage with current scholarship rather than dated textbook knowledge. We're NASPAA-accredited, which signals that we meet the field's quality standards, and 92% of our alumni report that they would recommend the program to others.”

To learn more about the Oakland University Master of Public Administration program, check out the university’s website for more information. 

To learn more about the NASPAA Leslie A. Whittington Excellence in Teaching Award, check out the NASPAA website for more information.