Set 1: Fiscal Policy Question Set (For students in the MPA Program only: MPA-IG students must answer one question from Set 1A.)

1. The federal budget process is currently operating under several statutes that were crafted to reduce budget deficits. The President's budget proposals for FY 2001 assume that many of the constraints in place as a result of the budget acts of 1985, 1990 and 1993 will be overhauled by Congress. Discuss how the budget acts of 1985, 1990 and 1993 attempted to reduce budget deficits. Discuss each act individually, as well as their overall impact. Also discuss what types of changes would have to be made in existing rules and practices to deal with the budgeting of surpluses.

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2. The price of gasoline has close to doubled since last summer as a result of decisions made by petroleum producing countries to limit supply. The US government, in an effort to bring the gasoline price down, is considering removing (or reducing) the excise tax currently imposed on gasoline purchased at the pump. Define each of the following tax evaluation criteria and examine the impact of this proposed change from the perspective of each criterion: equity, political impact, revenue adequacy, economic impact (efficiency), administrative ease.

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3. Poor financial management currently places Long Island's Nassau County on the brink of bankruptcy. Wall Street recently downgraded the county's bond rating. The courts have just intervened to insure fairness in the county's tax assessments, which may diminish revenues, at least in the short-term. Projections of need and pressures from interest groups put upward pressure on spending. Compare Nassau County's budget tribulations with the Federal Government's deficit crises of the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. Discuss the similarities and differences of the Nassau County problem and the federal government's deficit problem in light of the following.

1. During the course of an audit made in accordance with GAAP, an auditor may decide to perform tests of controls. The auditor, in carrying out these tests, may become aware of matters relating to the client’s internal control that may be of interest to the client’s audit committee, or to individuals with an equivalent level of authority and responsibility, such as the board of directors, the board of trustees, or the owner in an owner-managed enterprise. (Question continues à )

1. Describe the purpose of tests of controls. When are tests of controls performed?

2. What are dual-purpose tests and how do they relate to tests of control?

3. What are the auditor’s responsibilities in identifying and reporting "reportable conditions" and "material weaknesses" ? Your discussion should also include examples of these matters.

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1. Most federal Inspectors General emphasize compliance monitoring (catching the fraudulent, uncovering the scandal) over waste detection and prevention. This emphasis continues despite recommendations several years ago by Vice-President Al Gore that responsibility for compliance monitoring be reassigned from the IG Offices to other offices more closely tied to agency management, e.g., internal auditing. The Vice-President wanted the IG's to take on more of an operations improvement and waste prevention role.

Set 2: Research Methods Question Set (For students in all programs--all campuses)

1. Remediation has become a major issue at City University. The current policy allows poorly-prepared students to take remedial classes over several semesters while taking regular courses at the same time. Relying on several reports over the past two years, the Board of Trustees has associated the current policy with low graduation rates, regular classes that demand little because "unremediated" students are enrolled, and the persistence of low skills right through senior year.

The research the Board relied on compared graduation rates, course rigor, and skills levels from before the current policy was initiated twenty years ago with those same factors today. This research attributed today's poorer results to the current remediation policies. Because of the Board's analysis, the current policy is being ended. The replacement policy does not allow a student to begin regular courses until all remediation has been completed successfully, as measured by a standard examination. Right now in the university, however, both approaches exist. Some colleges are allowed to run under the old system for two more years. Other colleges will begin operating under the new system immediately.

First, identify any research design flaws in the Board's analysis of the effectiveness of the current remediation policies. Then, create a research design in which you assess the current and replacement remediation programs. What kind of "experiment" will your design constitute? What will your dependent and independent variables be? What will your control variables be? How will you operationalize your variables? In what manner will you select subjects and/or locales for your experiment? What mathematical or statistical measures will you use to determine if differing outcomes are achieved by the two remediation policies.

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2. The decline in crime rates in most US cities over the past few years has been attributed to a number of factors including the introduction of community policing, a drop in the proportion of the population in the prime crime-committing ages (males, ages 18-24), and a growing economy. Assume that you have been asked to conduct a study that will assess the impact of community policing on the crime rate

1. State your hypothesis
2. Identify your unit of analysis.
3. Delineate your dependent and independent variables and two control variables.
4. Conceptualize and operationalize your dependent, independent, and control variables.
5. Discuss your sampling method and how you would select your sample size.
6. Discuss your research method, i.e., whether you are going to use experimentation, survey research, field research or existing data, or a combination of any of these approaches. Tell why you have selected this method.
7. Discuss your data analysis techniques.
8. Identify ethical, political, or other problems you envision in implementing your suggested research design.

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1. You have received a hand-out detailing CUNY'S Distance Learning Program. Your boss has told you that this program needs to be evaluated to determine if it is achieving its objectives. Prepare a report for your boss that covers the following.

Set 3: Policy Analysis Question Set (For students in all programs)

1. Among the problems confronting elected and appointed officials in NYC are:

Dealing with AIDS

Providing an "appropriate" education at CUNY

Moving people from welfare to work

Preventing child abuse

Reducing or eliminating "police brutality"

Preventing or reducing violence in the workplace

Select ONE of the problems above and write an essay in which you:

Carefully delineate what the problem is, identifying and evaluating the aspects that must be considered.

Select any TWO analytic models (such as the rational actor or incremental models) and show how each model, separately, would be used to solve the problem. As you apply each model to the problem you have selected, describe how each works, the key questions each model forces you to ask, and the strengths and weaknesses of each model.

Evaluate the solutions that each model leads you to propose. Describe the criteria to be used in measuring the effectiveness of your proposed solutions and likelihood of acceptance of each. Identify which model you find most useful, explaining your reasoning.

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2. The rational model of decision-making has been criticized on both theoretical and practical grounds. Carefully analyze at least two theoretical objections to the rational model. Make sure to identify the individuals associated with those objections, and the ways in which those criticisms paved the way for alternative models, which you should also describe. Identify also two practical cases or situations that exemplify the difficulty of applying the rational model to real-world decision-making. Explain how these cases underscored the relevance of alternative models of decision-making, particularly in crisis situations.

Before beginning to prepare for this examination, read the application instructions and download/print-out and then complete and submit your application form.