Established in 1972, the Department of Public Administration is one of the leading Departments in the University with remarkable academic research and administrative excellence. The dynamic leadership of its founding chairman Professor Nur Mohammad Miah and the efforts of other faculty members enormously helped the department to attain the present stage. Since its establishment, the department has been conducting undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs and offering BSS (Honours), MSS, MPhil, and Ph.D. degrees.
The four years BSS and one year MSS programs of the department have a strong theoretical and quantitative orientation. All students are required to take the core courses like Introduction to Public Administration, Public Management, Personnel, and Human Resources Management, Financial Administration, Comparative Public Administration, Sociology of Administration, Organizational Behaviour, Development Administration, etc. Beyond these, there are several applied courses such as Statistics and Research in Administration, Computer Application, Project Management, Administrative Systems Analysis, and Public Policy Analysis. Since the 2006-2007 session, the department has been following the semester system in conducting the courses and taking the examinations.
The Department of Public Administration along with quality teaching and research at the University level also plays an important role both in policy making and running government administrative system at the national level. A large number of former students of the department are now holding higher positions in Bangladesh civil service and other national and multinational organizations.
The department conducts collaborative research and training programs with other international universities and agencies. During 1994-1997 it conducted extensive research on decentralization and local level democracy with the Bergen University, Norway. Recently, the Department and the UNICEF Regional Office in Kathmandu, Nepal signed a collaborative agreement to launch an Executive Level Short Course on Project Monitoring and Evaluation. The department has a strong professional linkage with the government and administration.