Abstract:
The objectives of this study were to 1) study the development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity, 2) study the factors influencing the development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity, and 3) propose the guidelines for improving the development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity. The approach of this study used mixed methods research composed of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative research was conducted by collecting data from 400 respondents who were graduate school officials, instructors of the curriculum, Masters Degree students, and Doctorate students of the Public Administration program in 8 universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity. A total of 50 respondents were selected from each university using stratified random sampling. The sample size was obtained by calculations done with Cochrans formula. The data were collected using a 5-level rating scale questionnaire with a reliability of 0.89 and were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation and the hypotheses were tested by Stepwise Regression Analysis. The qualitative research was conducted by studying relevant documents and related theories and doing in-depth interviews with 24 key informants who were selected from the 8 universities, 3 from each university. The group of informants consisted of curriculum executives/permanent instructors, Masters Degree students, and Doctorate students enrolled in the Public Administration program. The data were analyzed by analytic induction and interpretation.
The results of the study revealed that:
1) The development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity was, overall, at a moderate level ( = 3.12, S.D. = 0.81). Considering each aspect individually, it was found that the aspect of determination in national development was at the highest level ( = 3.23, S.D = 0.86) followed by the aspects of virtue for the public and society ( = 3.21, S.D = 0.78), and qualified graduates ( = 2.92, S.D. = 0.80), respectively. The determination in national development was at the highest level because the institutes had regularly invited highly qualified visiting professors who had experience in country developing and so greatly contributed to the students knowledge. The qualified graduates aspect was at the lowest level because some instructors and curriculums of higher education institutes were not qualified in accordance with the criterion set in the 11th National Education Development Plan.
2) There were 3 factors affecting the development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity: (1) policy implementation, which comprised 5 variables: objectives of policy, organization performance, cooperation and leadership, attitude of relevant stakeholders, and resource support (2) the factor of development which also comprised 5 variables: intellectual ability enhancement, competitive strategy building, learning behavior creation, fostering the development of learning new things, and administration for excellence (3) the factor of management included 6 variables: personnel, management, buildings and places, safety, image and service procedures. These 3 factors explained 75.50 percent (Adjusted R2 = 0.755) of the variation of the development management of Public Administration program students development at the statistical significance level of 0.05. The results of the qualitative research revealed that the educational institutions have developed and built the students up by developing procedures related to human capital as the key strategy in establishing administration and providing knowledge and abilities essential potential for mission accomplishment. Furthermore, the educational institutions have developed by focusing on methods of knowledge development at every level in the educational institutions which appropriately emphasized theory application to suit the economy, society and political situation in Thailand based on good governance and sustainable development.
3) The guidelines for improving the development management of Public Administration program students enrolled at universities in the Bangkok Metropolis and its vicinity consisted of 8-key practices (1) the instructors should improve and be more qualified in accordance with the criterion set in the 11th National Education Development Plan, (2) the institutions should improve the academic quality by increasing the budget for activities related to student field trips and by inviting highly qualified guest speakers specialized in Public Administration, (3) the institutes should create an index framework according to the country development requirements by turning the educational system based on the intention of the National Education Act, (4) the institutes should promote more development of student innovations, (5) the institutes should closely follow the performance following the systems, regulations, plans/projects, finance, education quality assurance, internal control, studying and teaching systems, student development and internal personnel development, (6) the institutes should adjust the curriculum of each subject in accordance with the requirements of the Public Administration program students, (7) the institutes should develop proficiency levels in accordance with international standards of managing, teaching, research, academic services, language usage and information technology, and (8) the institutes should apply the knowledge of Public Administration to increase the development skills of the Public Administration program students.