Speciality: Public Administration and Management

Awarded qualification: Manager in Public Administration

Level of qualification: Bachelor

Length of programme:
For full-time study: 8 semesters / 4 years
For part-time training: 9 semesters / 4.5 years
For distance learning: 8 semesters / 4 years

Number of credits: 240

Field(s) of study (ISCED-F): 0413

Specific admission requirements: Diploma of Secondary Education or Diploma of Higher Education, successfully passed entrance examination. State matriculation examinations and international certificate examinations in language and computer skills are recognized as entrance examinations. For state administration employees the examination can take the form of motivational interview.

Specific arrangements for recognition of prior learning:
The ECTS coordinator of the Department of Administration, Management and Political Science, Assist. Prof. Daniela Mihaleva, PhD, (e-mail:daniela.mihaleva@vfu.bg, mihaleva_didi@hotmail.com), provides initial information and guidelines for the existing possibilities for recognition and awarding of credits from prior learning. 
Procedures: 
- Recognition of knowledge and skills on the basis of presented documents: Academic transcript or diploma from prior learning; International diplomas and certificates in a foreign language (English - Cambridge FCE, TOEFEL; German - Zertifikat Deutsch, Sprahdiplom, Zweite Stufe; Russian – ТРКИ; French - DELF; Spanish - DELE);
- International diplomas and certificates in computer skills corresponding to ECDL (The European Computer Driving Licence).
- Certification of knowledge and skills by taking examinations at VFU ‘Chernorizets Hrabar’ in:

• a foreign language at the Department of Foreign Language Teaching;
• computer skills at the Department of Computer Studies and Economics;
• specialized knowledge and skills in the relevant professional area at the Department of Administration, Management and Political Science: for part-time students (state administration employees) – training work placement and pre-graduation internship, as well as courses whose educational content directly corresponds to their work.
• Awarding of credits: The Department awards ECTS credits in compliance with the major’s curriculum, on the basis of achieved certification results.

Qualification requirements and regulations, including graduation equirements*:  In order to be awarded this qualification, students need to obtain 240 credits, 176 credits are awarded for doing compulsory courses, 36 credits are awarded for doing elective courses, 15 credits are awarded for doing optional courses, 3 credits are awarded for training work placement and pre-graduation internship and 10 credits are awarded for State Examination (Thesis Defence).

Profile of the programme: The programme in Public Administration and Management is based on the following fundamental scientific areas: Law, Management, Economics, Political Sciences. It aims at training highly qualified state officials, specialists and experts in Public Administration and Management who are competent, loyal and can hold responsible positions in administration under the conditions of a changing social, political and economic environment, within the European Union and worldwide. 
When designing the curriculum and the syllabuses emphasis is placed on training competent managerial staff in the sphere of public management, taking into account the experience and good practices of leading European and American universities, institutes and schools in this area, through exchange of ideas, teaching staff and students.

Programe learning outcomes: 
As a result of the complete course of study, students are expected to acquire and demonstrate specific theoretical knowledge and understanding of:

• Bulgarian and European institutional, administrative and legislative systems;
• the role and significance of administration in the public sector, as well as of its interaction with the civil society and business; the principles, challenges and forms for successful achievement of goals set in the field of state governance and local self-governance;
• the interpretation and implementation of European and Bulgarian legislative documents related to the governance, policies and practices of the public sector;
• the strategic and tactical management in the public sphere, as well as the more widely adopted approaches, methods and techniques for its practical implementation in the different sectors of state governance, local self-governance and civil society;
• the mechanisms for staff selection, staff appraisal, staff development and motivation in the modern, highly professional, apolitical and mobile administration; the modern requirements and standards for creating and using correct layout of managerial and administrative documentation; the main state, legislative and political structures of the European Union, the European principles and good practices in administrative work; the challenges and responsibilities facing Bulgarian administration in compliance with the European requirements and criteria, and the Bulgarian public’s expectations of competent and economical administration.

Students acquire practical skills to:

• identify the problems related to the policies and practices in the field of state governance, local self-governance and the public sector, and to rate them hierarchically according to their importance on the ‘objectives-priorities-activities-tasks’ chain;
• use competently the mechanisms for public competition and public selection, as well as those for quality improvement of public services for physical and legal persons;
• analyse and diagnose the degree of compliance between the powers of state bodies and the work of administration;
• form professional views and choose the right instruments for creating and implementing public strategies on various managerial levels;
• evaluate competently modern processes and trends in the globalizing world with respect to their predictability;
• conduct functional and structural objectives-related analyses in order to optimize the structure of administration and improve the quality of public decision-making;
• use modern technologies to develop and implement public projects and programmes, and objectives-related complex events dedicated to topical public problems; obtain adequate computer and linguistic competences and skills to communicate in the European administrative space; obtain skill to work in the Internet medium; use information technologies in administration (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.).

As a result of the course of study in a module “Administrative management” students acquire the following specific competences: mastering the instruments of modern administrative management and project management; obtaining creative skills to conduct expert analysis and assessment of complex administrative problems and to work out variants of managerial decisions; the possibilities for improving public service provision for citizens, the mechanisms and factors for their efficient management; developing the documentation necessary for the provision of public services and efficient organisation of document turnover and document filing work in administration; evaluating the influence of organizational and administrative culture, creating suitable communication climate in and outside organisations, team work, conflict resolution etc.

As a result of the course of study in a specializing module “Judicial Administration” students acquire the following specific competences relating to: interaction between the three independent authorities, judicial authorities and judicial administration, organization of work in a judicial administration, contemporary information technologies in judicial administration, legal procedural norms, document turnover and legal correspondence, the place of judicial administration in a public sector and its cooperation with civil society and business.
The overall practical skills of the students are oriented for their direct use in a work of judicial authorities, so as in a planning and budgeting of this work.

Programme structure diagram with credits *:

* In Varna Free University, a credit equals 30 lessons, of which 10 contact hours (lectures and seminars) and 20 hours independent work.

Mode of study: full-time, part-time, distance learning

Examination regulations and grading scale: Examination regulations, grading methods and criteria, as well as the ways of informing students of the grounds for awarding a specific grade, including continuous assessment grades, are specific to each course, and are detailed in each course description. Predominantly, the regulations and criteria include the following:

• The semester grade comprises the continuous assessment grade and the final examination grade, awarded in compliance with pre-set criteria;
• The continuous assessment grade takes into account the level of achievement of students’ team and individual work on assigned theoretical and practical tasks (course assignments, research papers, essays, mid-term tests, project assignments, business games, case studies etc.) and students’ active participation in discussions;
• The final examination is written: students present a written expose on a topic from the synopsis and/or on a pre-assigned self-study task, and/or do a test with open and closed questions;
• Students are informed of their grades, as well as of the lecturer’s grounds for them during the lectures and seminars, the consulting hours, immediately after the examination, via e-mail, on the phone. Phone numbers and email addresses are available on the university site.

Successfully passed State Examination or Thesis Defence. Students are eligible to take the state examination or present the thesis defence only provided they have passed all semester examinations planned in the curriculum and have been awarded 230 ECTS credits (176 credits from compulsory courses, 36 credits from elective courses, 15 credits from optional courses, 3 credits from training work placement and pre-graduation internship). Only students who have a Grade Point Average of all semester examinations no lower than 5.00 are admitted to a Thesis Defence.

Occupational profiles of graduates: 
Successful graduates can pursue a career as:

• state officials at the central, deconcentrated or decentralized administrations;
• employees under an employment contract in the central, deconcentrated or decentralized administrations;
• employees at budget-funded organisations providing public services – education, health care, welfare, public order and security;
• employees at non-governmental public organisations (NGO) – associations, foundations and other organisations serving public purposes;
• employees at administrations of state-owned or municipally-owned business entities with;
• employees at international organisations.

Access to further studies: The successful graduates are offered preferential terms to continue their studies in one of the Master’s degree programmes "European Administration", "Management of EU-funded Projects", as well as under the Life Long Learning postgraduate programmes. 
Graduates can choose other Master’s degree programmes available at Varna Free University. 
The major is accredited in four research areas to offer unsupervised, individual-plan doctoral programmes.

Head of Department: 
Assoc. Prof. Mariya Velikova, PhD 
Visiting day: Monday (16:00 – 17:00h.), Office A 403; 
tel.: +359 52 359 595 
е-mail: mariya.velikova@vfu.bg, velikova.mariya@gmail.com