For more than 35 years, the NIU Master of Public Administration program has served as a virtual pipeline of professional municipal managers for the state, claiming as its alumni one-third of all city and county managers in Illinois. A 1973 graduate of the program, Franz saw his son, Mark, follow in his footsteps in 1997. What sets the M.P.A. program apart from its peers, most agree, is the 20-month paid internship that students are required to complete. Jim Banovetz and those who built up the M.P.A. program recognized that need and had the vision to create one of the best programs in the nation to meet it-and I think the people of this region are better served by their local governments because of it. While the NIU Division of Public Administration can lay claim to graduates across the country, and even overseas, its influence is especially strong across the northern third of the state, where more than 30 municipalities currently employ a graduate of the program as their top administrator.
Many towns have multiple graduates of the program working in various departments.