FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the Sam M. Walton College of Business today announced a new dual degree program in which students can receive both a Master of Public Service and a Master of Business Administration.

The new dual degree program, which is in the final stages of faculty approval, will be taught on both the Little Rock and Fayetteville campuses and provides students going into public service with needed business skills. The first class will begin in the fall of 2008.

“Many students interested in public service find that they need business skills such as accounting and marketing to help the communities where they are working,” said Dean Skip Rutherford of the Clinton School. “We are very excited to be partnering with the Walton College on this joint degree. Combining the practical work involved in these degrees is another way of providing academics for the real world.”

Dean Dan Worrell of Walton College agreed.

“Social responsibility is an important topic in business today,” Worrell said. “This partnership with the Clinton School provides an opportunity for our business students to network with and learn from students who are going into the field of public service.”

Joe Ziegler, chair of the Walton College economics department and director of international programs, along with Rutherford, conceived the idea of the joint degree program.

“The Walton College has many partnerships with universities around the world,” Ziegler said. “We see this collaboration as a win for all of the students.”

Students pursuing a Master of Public Service will spend their first semester at the Clinton School in Little Rock and then move to Fayetteville for two semesters of business courses before returning to the Little Rock campus for their final semester. In between, they will complete group and international projects with practical elements of both business and public service.

The Clinton School of Public Service is the first institution in the country to offer a Master of Public Service degree, teaching students to gain knowledge and experience to further their careers in the areas of nonprofit, governmental, volunteer or private sector service work. The school is an independent entity of the University of Arkansas System, working in collaboration with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

In addition to the M.P.S./M.B.A., the Clinton School offers concurrent degree options include an M.P.S./Juris Doctor in collaboration with the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, as well as two variations of the M.P.S./Master of Public Health in conjunction with the College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

The Walton College Graduate School of Business, which recently moved to the new Willard J. Walker Hall, offers a full-time M.B.A. program as well as a managerial/part-time M.B.A. program. The graduate school recently launched an Executive MBA taught in Shanghai, China. In addition, the school offers master’s degrees in accounting, economics and information systems as well as doctorate degrees in accounting, finance, economics, information systems, marketing, and management.