An applied master's degree curriculum for health services administrators in the 1990's

Central Michigan University offers a Master of Science in Administration (MSA) degree with a concentration in Health Services Administration (HSA) to on-campus students and a large number of non-traditional students at about fifty off-campus locations throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. The degree and concentration emphasize a practical, applied course of study. The University recently undertook a curriculum review of the MSA degree and the HSA concentration with the goal of building on existing strengths and altering the curriculum to accommodate changing educational needs of future health services administrators. The review sought broadly-based input from alumni, employers, faculty/advisors, and a consultant. This ensured both that academicians' and practitioners' perspectives would guide discussions and that decisions would preserve the program's academic quality and applied nature. Generally the review did not create the sort of radical curricular change which some advisors and staff had first thought might happen. Instead it developed a consensus on curriculum content which reemphasized basic managerial skills; provided students additional preparation in cognitive skills of data gathering, analysis, synthesis, and communication; and strengthened strategic planning competencies.