Executive Masters in Public Administration (EMPA)

The Gulf Arab States - and in particular the United Arab Emirates - are in the process of transforming their public administration systems. Most of the governments in the region have traditionally promoted developmental activities, provided citizens with many social services, maintained an income tax free environment, and provided employment in the public sector to citizens. The reform process tries to deal with some of the difficult aspects of this ambitious agenda through promoting a leaner public sector and effective policy implementation.

The Executive Masters in Public Administration (EMPA) program aims to educate public sector administrators in the best practices of public administration, making them able to assimilate and process information from their community, their region and the world, and to develop and implement policy that will efficiently serve the United Arab Emirate's ambitious development plans. New public managers must be skilled in modern management and public administration methods, and should be aware of how these work in other countries. Furthermore, they should be leaders who can bring other administrators up to their high standards of achievement.

Another unique feature of the EMPA program is that it offers an option in Police Studies for students wishing to specialize in the area of police administration. Students taking this option will enrol in three specialized Police Studies courses that are substituted for three other EMPA courses. (See Curriculum for details.)

The EMPA program is delivered over a period of 24 months at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and/or Dubai.