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Option 1. Professional Paper on a real-world planning problem, approved by one MURP faculty member (serving as Chair), a second person who is a member of the U of M Graduate Faculty (e.g., a Humphrey faculty member, a Humphrey Institute Fellow or someone from another program/department; for a list, see http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty_rosters/index.html), and a third member, preferably a practitioner. Your paper may incorporate work done in an internship or you may further advance a paper completed in a seminar, capstone workshop, course, or independently. The professional paper will demonstrate your accomplishments in your area of specialization and serve as a major element in your portfolio for your job search and future career.

Definition of the MURP Professional Paper

The MURP Professional Paper is an individual piece of writing that poses a planning problem, cites relevant literature, documents the methodology used in arriving at the recommendation, presents one or more solutions, policies or plans to meet the problem, and supports the conclusion with relevant arguments and empirical material. The problem tackled will be of interest to both the student and to a real world or conceptual client, and if possible, an appropriate representative of the client (a public sector agency or non-profit organization, for instance) will serve as a third reader on the paper (i.e., the “practitioner” listed above).

The Professional Paper should be conceptualized on paper at the end of the student's first year in the MURP program, at which time the student should identify and approach potential committee members. Students are encouraged to work on a topic that fits with their internship or research assistantship and to even choose internships on this basis. Alternatively, students may choose to rework, advance or refine a paper written in a class, workshop, or in an independent study as their Professional Paper. In the beginning of the second year, students will forward their committee members a progress report and ask for meetings and whatever guidance they need (see timetable below). For students in dual degree programs, the Paper should be conceptualized in the second year and completed in the third year. Please speak with your advisor in such circumstances. For example, the typical approach used by MURP/MLA dual degree students is to use their capstone book as their Professional Paper.

The chair of your Professional Paper committee does not necessarily need to be your academic advisor. However, the chair does need to be a member of the MURP planning faculty and you should approach the faculty member whose interests most closely match the topic of your Paper. The following faculty members are eligible to serve as chairs: Adams, Assaad, Bolan, Bryson, Dubrow, Forsyth, Goetz, Hollister, Krizek, Levinson, Lukermann, Markusen, Martin, Noponen, Pitt, and Schively. In cases of disagreement among the Committee members, the Chair shall make the final decision.

Students should submit a complete first draft of their Professional Paper by the middle of their last term (e.g., spring semester) and expect to substantially revise their Paper in response to feedback from their committee chair and respective committee members (see below timeline). The Paper will be written in good professional English accessible to non-academics. The final Paper typically does not exceed 30 pages exclusive of references and tables/figures/maps and is encouraged to be shorter than this. A bound copy is due to the Graduate Programs Office at the Humphrey Institute before graduation for our collection.

In an effort to more clearly communicate the range of issues, the myriad styles, and the high quality expected of a Professional Paper, please consult the exemplary papers available on the MURP program’s website.

Option 2. Plan A Master’s thesis. A total of ten credits (the graduate school minimum), which would come out of the student’s specialization and elective courses, is required for completion of this option. Please consult the exemplary papers available on the MURP program’s website.

Timeline

This timeline helps students navigate through the process of completing the Professional Paper in a timely manner. While the timetable can be adapted, we outline pertinent dates for a matriculating full-time student who starts the program in the fall of year 1 and graduates in May of year 2. Please be advised that procedures and deadlines highlighted in bold are mandatory. Students in dual degree programs should complete the Year 1 requirements during their second year and the Year 2 requirements during their third year.