Quick Links
The Bloch School’s NASPAA accredited MPA program is designed to prepare current and aspiring public service leaders to be effective and successful in an increasingly complex and dynamic world. Graduates of the MPA program have the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively and ethically lead dynamic public service and nonprofit organizations.
The Bloch MPA enables you to make a difference through public service. In our program, aspiring and working professionals develop skills that put them on a path to pursue a career filled with excitement, challenge, and significance. This degree will give you the opportunity to shape the landscape in healthcare, nonprofit and urban sectors, to be a leader in a dynamic world, and to creatively address challenges facing our society.
As an urban university, UMKC offers students the opportunity to engage in solving some of the world’s most wicked policy challenges. MPA students learn from leading community engaged faculty and practitioners while also experiencing the world-class laboratory of Kansas City! The Bloch School at UMKC has long standing and substantial connections to the greater Kansas City area and are able to bring those connections to the students in the MPA program.
The MPA is a professional degree that provides the knowledge, training, and skills necessary to effectively serve the public in public service leadership roles.
Students can elect to complete a graduate certificate as part of their MPA program or as a standalone program to gain important public service skills and knowledge. The MPA program currently offers three certificate programs.
The MPA faculty at UMKC have extensive experience in the classroom and in the public sector. All are enthusiastic about supporting students in their professional and academic goals.
Arif Ahmed, Ph.D. is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Health Administration at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also has a courtesy faculty appointment at the UMKC School of Dentistry. Dr. Ahmed's primary research interest is in cost, quality, and outcome implications of health care delivery system and contextual characteristics. His current research agenda focuses on neighborhood characteristics and health, and leadership development in healthcare. He has also led three acclaimed executive education programs at the Bloch School- the Cerner Certificate in Healthcare Leadership, the Physician Leadership Program, and the St. Luke's Health System Physician Leadership Development Program.
Christopher Garmon, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Health Administration. Prior to joining UMKC in 2017, he served as a staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he led the economic analysis of many hospital, physician, and pharmaceutical antitrust investigations. He continues to consult on active health care antitrust cases. His research focuses on health care provider competition and surprise out-of-network medical bills.
Brent Never, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Nonprofit Leadership at the Bloch School, having been in the Public Affairs Department for thirteen years. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University (2005) in Public Policy; his work in development economics at the time took him to West Africa, where we conducted research at the Central Bank of West African States as well as at a think tank on political economy. Brent made a hard pivot after graduate school to focus on nonprofit organizations and how they can fundamentally change people’s lives. He was a Fulbright Professor in Northern Ireland focused on how NGOs can bridge divides in societies emerging from civil war. Currently, his research is on how geography matters for human services and means to induce nonprofits to locate in communities of need.
Susan Opp, Ph.D. is the Schutte Chair of Urban Affairs and Department Chair of the Public Affairs Department. Her research studies the intersection of sustainability and economic development policy. She is particularly interested in research that can make real world impacts through improved policy and public administration. Opp has worked extensively with the public sector including as a Pracademic Fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency, as an analyst for the Department of Health and Human Services, and as a Fulbright Scholar in Mauritius
Earnest Rouse, MPA is an Assistant Professor at the Henry Bloch School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has served as an Assistant City Manager and Director of General Services for the City of Kansas City, Missouri. During a 30+ year career in Kansas City government, he held various positions including budget analyst, financial manager, assistant to the director, assistant to the city manager and Director of Convention and Entertainment Centers Department. He also served as the city’s 311 Action Center Director, all culminating in his last appointment serving as Acting Kansas City, Missouri, Manager. He is a member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA), the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), where he has held various local offices, including chapter president. Additionally, he serves or has served on numerous local boards including the Economic Development Corporation Kansas City, Kansas City Zoo, VisitKC, the Mid America Assistance Coalition (MAAC), Renaissance West, the Kansas City Credit Union and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
