The Department of Political Science & International Affairs has experienced significant growth in the number of students choosing to take online courses. The department currently has two fully online degree program options. SR Education Group, an education publisher founded in 2004, ranked our online degree programs #2 in political science degrees among the 25 most affordable online schools offering political science degrees. SR Education Group said, “This set of rankings represents schools across the nation that are making an effort to provide economical options for students.” The university overall was ranked #13 by SR Education Group for most affordable social science degrees.

The Department of Political Science & International Affairs was an early adopter of online programs. The department began offering a fully online Master of Arts in International Affairs (M.A.I.A.) degree in the fall 2009 semester. All courses in the M.A.I.A. program were developed and are taught by full-time faculty members who hold terminal degrees and have active research agendas in international affairs. Since its inception 43 students have graduated from the program. Currently 45 students are enrolled in the program.

In 2011 Georgia Governor Nathan Deal unveiled his ambitious “Complete College Georgia” plan focusing on college affordability and access. In response to this initiative, UNG challenged academic departments across campus to develop lower-division online courses which would give students the opportunity to complete A.A. degrees online in conjunction with the University System of Georgia’s eCore program. This fall the department began offering a fully online Associate in Arts, Core Curriculum –  Political Science pathways. In conjunction with UNG Online and eCore, the pathway offers students the opportunity to complete all required courses in Area F (which are offered by the department on a two-year rotation). The university also offers online Associate in Arts, Core Curriculum –  social work and sociology pathways.

Our third online degree program, the Master of Public Administration Program (M.P.A.), is currently being developed under the direction of Dr. Luisa M. Diaz-Kope. As the M.P.A. Program coordinator Dr. Diaz-Kope will work with Drs. Barry Friedman and Beth Rauhaus to develop a comprehensive and competitive program designed to meet the needs of today’s graduate students.

Faculty members who would like to teach online must complete the Facilitating Learning Online Course (FLOC) through Distance Education & Technology Integration (DETI) before they can be scheduled for an online course. Please contact Andrew Eade, department office manager, if you are interested in offering online courses.