Graduate School of Public Policy

A new guest of ‘Galym-Galam’ rubric is Dr. Colin Knox, Professor and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of NU Graduate School of Public Policy. Prior to joining Nazarbayev University, Dr. Knox worked at Ulster University (UK) where he taught modules on the Masters in Public Administration Programme. He also led a team that designed the Professional Doctorate Programme (D.Gov) aimed at senior officials working in the public sector. Dr. Knox also spent 8 years as a practitioner working in local government in the UK prior to joining academia.

Could you please tell us about your educational and professional background?

I began my professional life as a public servant working in UK local government across several departments: health, education, social welfare, and housing. On completing my PhD in Public Policy at Queen’s University, Belfast, one of the Russell Group universities in the UK, I moved to work as an academic in Ulster University where I was promoted to full professor in 1995. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). 

I joined Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Public Policy (GSPP) in 2016. Currently, I am Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and, with colleagues, developed the PhD program in Public Policy and successfully obtained accreditation for our master’s programs through the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). We are now working to achieve global accreditation status with the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). 

Can you please tell us about your current research project?

I am involved in several research projects largely in the area of public sector reform in the international arena, what lessons there are for Kazakhstan, and more widely Central Asia. These include public services improvements, professional development of civil servants, and good governance. At present, I am co-editing a volume (with Professor Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh) on relations between politicians and public officials in the Asian Pacific entitled Political Patronage of Asian Bureaucracies in Cambridge University Press, due out in summer 2022.

What are your key research findings?

The key findings of this research are that the traditional split between the role of elected politicians who make public policies and appointed public officials who implement them should be exercised formally. Clearly delineating roles in this way makes for better public services, greater public accountability, and a citizen-centric state. These lessons have direct applicability in Kazakhstan which aims to join the OECD and become one of the top 30 developed countries by 2050. My research has also been informed by our Masters in Public Administration (MPA) students, some of whom hold senior positions across ministries in Kazakhstan and who share their practical experience of working in government. In addition, GSPP and the Academy of Public Administration (APA) under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has been actively involved in delivering professional development courses to senior officials and politicians through a funded program entitled Leaders of the New Formation. This program offers opportunities for GSPP Faculty to disseminate their research and learn first-hand from senior leaders.

Why did you choose to join NU?

I chose to join NU after working for several years in Kazakhstan on research projects through my former University. These projects were funded by the World Bank, UK Department for International Development (DFID), the European Union, and UNDP, and piqued my interest in public sector reform in Central Asia. As part of this work, I delivered professional development training to civil servants in Astana with a former colleague in GSPP (Dr. Saltanat Janenova). When positions opened up in GSPP, this seemed like a natural progression, and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. We are a small graduate school with a high-profile strategic partner, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY), with internationally recognised Faculty. Public policy as a discipline, and GSPP in particular, comprises specialists in economics, political science, public policy, law, and public administration. I am therefore privileged to work with a range of scholars under the strong leadership of Dean Weng Tat Hui, himself a former senior academic at LKY.

What are your plans?

Our plans at GSPP are to gain global accreditation status for our programs, building on strong European accreditation credentials, to further strengthen our research profile in niche areas, thus contributing to Nazarbayev University’s growing international reputation, and to become the School of choice for public sector scholars in Central Asia and beyond. We have a small but growing cohort of international students and intend to build on this. Online teaching has opened up possibilities for increasing our market beyond Nur-Sultan and reaching out to public officials in disparate areas of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Source: Nazarbayev University