This component of the LeADERS Program enables students to connect academic curriculum with meaningful public work to strengthen our communities for a sustainable future. In order to gain credit for completion of the Service Learning component of the LeADERS Program, I enrolled in PAS 301 – Governance, Accountability and Ethics. 

This course provided an overview of the key concepts of ethics, governance and accountability in public service, with particular emphasis on the linkages between these three concepts. The focus was on the ethical context and implications of public management, governance structures, and public sector accountability, particularly in relation to critical social, political, and economic issues. While some emphasis were placed on the theoretical dimension of these concepts, most of the focus was on the practical level. Main discussion in this course revolved around the concepts of governance, accountability, and ethics in the context of current events.

PAS 301 Accountability Assignment

One of the modules in this course required me to complete the Accountability Assignment. My task was to choose a policy area of public or nonprofit service, and I chose to address higher education. Based off of the lectures, course readings, and independent research, I was instructed to answer the following questions in regards to my selected area of interest: 1) “What type of accountability arrangement do you think is most important in your policy are?” and 2) “What is a challenge when addressing accountability in public and/or nonprofit service in your policy area (higher education)?” My assignment submission can be found below:

PAS-301-Accountability

Although this isn’t a product of my best work in regards to writing structure, composition, and grammar; completing this assignment would be one of the first steps I took toward conducting intentional research related to my aspired career path. Due to this research and other assignments completed in this course, I was able to develop skills that would prepare me to pursue a career in Higher Education Administration, specifically in Student Affairs advocating for best practices related to student success. Some of these skills included having an understanding of the ethical responsibilities of public administrators and ethical standards and values associated with public service, enhancing my competence in regards to the role of accountability and transparency from both the perspective of both public administrator’s and a citizen’s perspective, developing ethical reasoning skills to address ethical issues in public service, learning the functions of government and how it’s integrated in decisions that are made in an higher education leadership’s team, and gaining the ability to think critically about how ethical values are reflected in various cultural, social, economic, legal, and political practices and institutions.