In the fully-online Graduate Certificate in Collaborative Governance, students will apply collaborative governance theory and practice to real-world, community-based problems in 16 credit hours in just 5 terms. This unique certificate program will culminate with a practicum experience where students are mentored by faculty experts in the field.
Students taking courses in the Graduate Certificate for Collaborative Governance are a mix of matriculating graduate students (government service, education, and social work) and current working professionals who are tasked with working collaboratively in their jobs. The Hatfield School of Government's National Policy Consensus Center is the home of some of the nation's foremost experts in this emerging field and offers many current real-world opportunities to see collaborative governance in action.
The collaborative skills learned through the certificate, including negotiation, conflict resolution, group leadership, and building of collaborative relationships, are critical skills for advancement in multiple career paths:
- Government and public administration
- Project Management
- Public Policy
- Education
- Social Work
Our Graduate Certificate is a Great Value
The Collaborative Governance Graduate Certificate builds your skills, experience, and credibility in less time and at less cost than a traditional master’s degree. And, according to the Washington Post, a graduate certificate can increase earning potential by up to 25 percent. Our online format allows you to complete the certificate in just over a year, even while you work full-time. Non-certificate students may also opt to take one or more courses individually.
Benefits you will get:
- Practical, high-level training from collaborative governance experts
- Online lectures, discussions, and coordinated group exercises using video conferencing, live chat, and other technologies that foster interaction
- Opportunities to work on real-world collaborative governance projects or a problem in your own workplace or community
Access to a network of collaborative governance practitioners
You will learn to:
- Build multi-organization and cross-sector partnerships to shape public policy and solve problems
- Design and manage collaborative processes that maximize participation and seek agreement
- Conduct negotiations and manage conflict in two-party, and multi-party settings
- Identify power differences and address issues of equity
- Employ computer and web-based decision and communications tools
- Integrate relevant technical information into collaborative processes
- Secure broad-based financial and in-kind resources
- Participate in policy-making that addresses community needs, industry needs, economic health, the environment, and more