Postgraduate Certificate in Public Management

Summary

Enhance your performance as a manager with advanced knowledge of the theory and strategies behind best practice public management.

With a Master of Public Management you’ll become a more effective public manager and build your ability to influence the strategic and operational direction of public sector organisations. Learn about governance and public sector reform, and how to manage budgets, finances, and organisational capital.

Gain the knowledge and skills to design and implement innovative and effective programmes and services, including planning, service delivery, and monitoring and evaluation.

Our engagement with government agencies will offer you a window into the management processes that influence the strategic and operational direction of public sector organisations.

How you'll learn

Core courses are delivered both on-campus and online in a modular format. Typically, you'll attend classes three times a trimester for each course, making it feasible to live outside Wellington and commute for study.

Elective courses are delivered in a variety of modes. Courses also vary in their teaching and learning styles, including in-class lectures, discussions, cases, student presentations, guest presentations, and pre-recorded videos. Assessment varies, including take-home tests, short written exercises (such as blog posts), problem sets, applications, and essays.

Workload

If you are studying full time, you can expect a workload of 40 to45 hours a week for much of the year. Part-time students doing two courses per trimester will need to do around 20 to 25 hours of work a week. Make sure you take this into account if you are working full-time.

You can estimate your workload by adding up the number of points you’ll be doing. One point is roughly equal to 10 to 12 hours of work.

Careers

If you're already working in the government and non-government sectors or a seeking a career shift, a Public Management qualification is a good choice.

You could find management work in central, local, or regional government, in business, in not-for-profits, in consultancies, or for iwi. You might work as a researcher, advocate, campaign coordinator, lobbyist, strategist, or planner.