Public Service and Nonprofit Leadership

The bachelor of science degree in public service and nonprofit leadership provides an interdisciplinary, applied approach to the study of public and not-for-profit institutions and actors. Students explore the ways that leaders and citizens work in and around governments to address the complex problems confronted by New Hampshire and the United States today.  

All students choose a path that enables them to complete an accelerated Masters in Public Policy or Masters in Public Administration, where they take their most advanced courses in the Major alongside graduate students in the UNH Carsey School of Public Policy. Those courses count as 12 credits toward their BS degree and as 9 credits toward a UNH-Carsey MPP or MPA, should a student choose to continue on to a Masters. Most students entering as first-year students will be able to complete a combined BS/MPA or BS/MPP within five years. 

Public Service majors develop essential, transferable skills in critical thinking, practical problem solving, communication, teamwork, leadership, civic and community engagement, research, and data analysis. Coursework emphasizes experiential learning, such as interning at the N.H. State House or with local lobbying firms, engaged research in the real world, and hands-on service learning at a range of not-for-profit organizations in health, human services, advocacy, and the arts. All students must undertake at least one semester-long internship and at least one independent research project to be presented at the UNH Undergraduate Research Conference. 

Public service and nonprofit leadership graduates can pursue careers in state and local government, political campaigns, advocacy, non-profit organizations, journalism, education, and more, and are prepared to pursue graduate studies in law, public policy, public administration, community development, and public health. 

By the end of their degree program, Public Service & Nonprofit Leadership majors should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and core values so that they are positioned to be leaders in public and nonprofit organizations and effective analysts of and advocates for effective public policies.

Knowledge

• Describe key theories of policymaking, and explain which of them they think is most useful to make sense of particular issues in particular historical periods.
• Describe the relations between the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors as they effect politics, power, and policy making and explain how those relationships have changed over time.
• Describe the legislative process in the US and their state, offering specific examples of why some Bills become law and others do not.
• Develop and articulate a Theory of Change that encapsulates their own understanding of how political change has happened in the US in the past and of the ways in which political and policy changes that they care about might be enacted in the present and future.

Skills

• Design and execute an original multi-methods research project, including being able to: craft a well-formulated, researchable research question; develop credible hypotheses; produce a literature review that lays out the context in which their research will take place; design an appropriate means by which their hypotheses might be tested; conduct such original research; analyze those results using quantitative and/or qualitative methods, as appropriate; evaluate the meaning of their findings; produce visual representations (charts, graphs, tables) of their findings.
• Produce a polished, professional-quality Policy Brief.
• Design and execute a legislative advocacy strategy
• Identify sources for relevant, reliable, ethically gathered data and research and retrieve such data, evaluating its validity and reliability.
• Synthesize complex data and information and present it in written or oral form concisely and coherently.
• Effectively present research findings to a public audience, in-person and online.
• Communicate, in writing and verbally, clearly and professionally.
• Work effectively in groups and teams.
• Assume leadership roles if and when appropriate.
• Apply theories of leadership and management to their actually existing workplaces.
• Demonstrate capacity for graduate-level work in Public Policy, Public Administration, and related disciplines in the social sciences and human services.

Values

• Embody and act upon knowledge of cultural differences and an appreciation for the diversity of human experience and perspectives.
• Articulate the value of open democracy and engaged citizenship in building healthy communities at the local, national and global levels.
• Describe their own professional mission and their ethic of service.

Secondary and/or university transcript(s) of any coursework taken prior to applying to UNH, with English translations, are required. International documents received by UNH Admissions are verified, scanned, and confidentially destroyed. Official documents submitted will not be returned to the student.

Ideally, the letter should be from a student's school counselor or teacher. UNH does not require more than one recommendation and our preference is to receive no more than two. Excess recommendations may delay the admissions review process.