Public Administration Training as Technical Assistance: Some Further Observations Based on Experience in Beirut

• Date: 01 March 1956
• Author: Paul Beckett
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900113
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Subject Matter: Articles

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TRAINING AS TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE: SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS BASED
ON EXPERIENCE IN BEIRUT
PAUL BECKETT
State College of Washington
ARLY
IN 1935, Professor Fredrick Bent and I presented in another
journal &dquo;some preliminary, tentative, and purely personal observa-
tions&dquo; on the problems involved in creating and operating a new
public administration training program in a foreign setting - viz., a Point-
Four-sponsored department of public administration at the American Uni-
versity of Beirut, in Lebanon.’ Since returning from Beirut, I have fre-
quently heard the hope expressed that a case literature on technical assist-
ance will gradually be built up through reporting by participants.
It is with this in mind that the following retrospective commentary on
the Beirut experience has been somewhat tardily put together. It is de-
signed, first, to round out the account begun in 1953 of the formative stages
of one technical assistance program in the field of public administration;
and, second, to provide a vehicle for a few conclusions by one participant
concerning the problems involved in such an enterprise. These conclusions
are both personal and tentative -
personal in that they represent only one
man’s opinions, tentative because that man is keenly aware of the limits
of the knowledge on which these opinions are based. Such a report may,
nevertheless, have some value as a contribution toward the development
of the case literature mentioned. Given enough such reports, we may &dquo;ulti-
mately be in a position to generalize beyond the level of country illustra-
tion.&dquo; 2
By the end of the Beirut program’s second year of operation, the main
outlines of its subsequent development had been fairly well stabilized. It
seems desirable first to present a summary report on this year’s work, after
which it will be possible to turn to some conclusions drawn from the ex-
perience in its totality.
SUMMARY COMMENT ON THE SECOND YEAR OF OPERATION
The trials and tribulations of getting the Beirut project under way were
amply treated in the &dquo;Letters&dquo; of 1953. How did the enterprise fare during
its second year?
1
Paul Beckett and Fredrick Bent, "Letters from Beirut," Public Administration Review,
XIII (1953), 1-11, hereinafter referred to as "Letters."
2
John W. Lederle and Ferrel Heady, "Institute of Public Administration, University of
the Philippines," Public Administration Review, XV (1955), 8-16.
151

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152
Student Interest and Enrollment
There was no lack of students during the first year, thanks in consider.
able measure to a system of Technical Co-operation Administration scholar,
ships provided by the contract between TCA and the University.3 During
the second year, we were embarrassed by our riches in this regard. We
began the year with thirty-five &dquo;majors&dquo; for whom we bore primary respon~
sibility, certainly a sufficient number for what was at the time in essence
a two,man
department.
Twelve of the thirty-five were &dquo;volunteers,&dquo; enjoying no TCA or other
subsidy. Of the remaining twenty-three, eighteen held TCA scholarships
under our regular quota, four were TCA scholars sent by special arrange-
ment from Iran,4 and one was an Afghan holding a United Nations scholar-
ship. Ten of the thirty-five were classified as special students;5 the others
were in regular status.6 Countries represented included, besides Iran and
Afghanistan, Lebanon (twelve students), Syria (three), Jordan (two),
Palestine (seven), Eritrea (three), Ethiopia (two), and Libya (one).
Enrollments in the department’s courses during the second year totaled
232, an increase of 43.3 per cent over 1951-52. And more than half of
these (52.2 per cent) represented &dquo;volunteer&dquo; student interest - that is,
were not subsidized.
Curricular Developments
Curricular developments during the second year can briefly be sum,
marized :
1. We
were able to teach, with what seemed to be reasonable success,
the courses in public fiscal management and comparative local government
and administration which, for a variety of reasons, had been listed in the
catalog but not offered during 1951-52.7
3
See the "Letters," pp. 2, 4, and 7.
4
During the summer of 1952, the University had entered into a supplemental contract
with TCA in Iran, under which it would accept a specified maximum number of
Iranian students on TCA scholarships for work in the various fields covered by the
original TCA-AUB contract of April, 1951 (see the "Letters," p. 2). The public
administration quota under this arrangement was seven students. However, we had
declined to accept three nominees whose command of English, as demonstrated in
various papers forwarded from Iran, seemed obviously very deficient; and the four we
had accepted had been admitted only as special students, pending an opportunity to
determine on the basis of performance what their qualifications really were.
5
These included, besides the four Iranians, the young man from Afghanistan, one Libyan
student, and four recent AUB graduates in political science seeking to qualify for
work toward the M.A. in public administration.
6
This group consisted of one graduate student (one of our own first-year products), eight
seniors, fourteen juniors, and two sophomores (carry-over TCA scholars from Ethi-
opia).
7
See the "Letters," p. 7.

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153
2. On the basis of the first year’s experience, we decided at the begin-
ning of the second year to make a full year of seminar (rather than one
semester) a requirement for seniors. We had discovered in even our best
students a deficient grasp of the fundamentals of critical analysis and re-
search, the ethics of scholarship, and the techniques of report writing.
3. Plans were laid for the development, in 1953-54 if practicable, of two
new courses to be titled Public Administration in the Near East and Plan-
ning and Public Policy Formation.
4. Finally, a number of courses were added which would be offered
as needed for graduate students only.8 Such a step was taken at this time
largely to keep the department in line with new policies under development
by the University’s Committee on Graduate Study. However, we could
foresee a probable need for at least one such course each semester during
1953-54, for students already in residence and working toward graduate
status.
Qualitative Improvement in Work Being Done; Trainee Selection and
W ork Standards
More important than any quantitative growth in enrollment and course
offerings during the second year was the qualitative improvement in the
work being done. This can hardly be stated in percentage terms; but it was
substantial. Some improvement was certainly to be expected. As was made
evident in the &dquo;Letters,&dquo; we had had in the beginning no direction to go
but up. The gains actually registered were greater than they might have
been had we not resolved upon and followed certain policies with respect
to student selection and the enforcement of work standards; and on these
I would like to comment briefly here.
Selection of second-year students. We had not participated in the choice
of most of our first-year trainees, because of the circumstances under which
it had been necessary to bring the program into being. And, it is only fair
to add, we could not have offered any very intelligent guidance in making
selections had we arrived before scholarship awards were made.
Some of the results of the first-year selection were reported in the
&dquo;Letters.&dquo; 9 Sufhce it to note here that we had seven scholarship students
unqualified for immediate participation in the planned curriculum, and
five others who had been admitted as graduate students, with the under-
standing that they could probably complete work for an M.A. in a single
8
The titles of these courses were: Administrative Theory; Problems of Local Adminis-
tration ; Problems of Public Personnel Administration; Problems of Public Fiscal Man-
agement ; Organization and Methods Analysis; Policy and Administration; the En-
forcement of Administrative Accountability; and Administration in the Near East.
9
See especially pp. 4-6, 8-9.

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154
year. To all, including the graduate students, public administration was
a completely new subject. Obviously, had all other conditions been favor.
able (which they certainly were not), we should have found it difficult
to achieve any very high level of performance during 1951-52 with this
medley of raw recruits.
We had better clay for molding in 1952-53; and no other factor, per-
haps, contributed more importantly to a qualitative improvement in the
work being done. How was this better result obtained, in the selection of
students for the second year? In some degree, no doubt, it was a matter
of luck or accident. But I think it can be ascribed mainly to pursuance of
three policies.
First, along with other University units participating in the TCA pro-
gram, we decided to seek renewal of scholarship support for those good
first,year TCA scholars who had not completed work for a degree.1-0 This
would assure us a cadre of students of proved competence, possessing some
familiarity with the department’s aims and methods (and in most cases
some experience in administration courses). It seemed also the only equit~
able course to pursue with respect to those students who had been com-
pelled to spend 1951-52 preparing to specialize. The one disadvantage of
such a policy was that it went counter to TCA’s professed desire to limit
scholarship support for...