About this study program

A one-year part time certificate pre-master program in Governance and Leadership for public and private sector professionals with a bachelor’s in social sciences.

Subject

In the Dutch Caribbean, as in every society, there is increasing pressure on organizations with a public task and responsibility to perform effectively and efficiently and be responsive and accountable to citizens. Today’s grand challenges, like achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the fight against pandemics, underpin the need for knowledgeable, skilled, innovative government administrators, policymakers, and managers. They must deal with new and uncertain situations, challenges, and crises without routines. This calls for new cooperation between government organizations, the government and the private sector, civil society organizations, and citizens. Competent, good governance and leadership are core to maintaining and enhancing the quality of an inclusive and sustainable society.

In Aruba and the other islands of the Dutch Caribbean, there is a broadly articulated and urgent need for capacity building on an advanced university level in the domains and intersections of governance, leadership, organization, management, and business administration, all in the context of a small island developing state. To cater to this need, since 2023, the Faculty of Arts and Science has offered the two-year part-time master’s program Governance and Leadership (MGL).

This part-time Pre-Master Program in Governance and Leadership (PMGL) opens the way for future enrollment in the master program Governance and Leadership to public and private sector professionals with a bachelor degree in social sciences and experience in organization, governance and management who do not meet the entry requirements to the master’s program in Governance & Leadership (MGL).
The next cohort for the master’s program Governance and Leadership will start in August 2026, after the completion of the pre master program.

The pre-master certification program Governance and Leadership (PMGL) is offered by the Department of Organization, Governance and Management at the Faculty of Arts and Science of the University and embedded in the bachelor program Organization, Governance and Management. The program is overseen by a Pre-master coordinator, who is also the academic advisor of the PMGL students.

The pre-master program is extensive, with an academic year of 25 to a maximum of 40 ECT, and consists of core modules from the bachelor’s degree in Organization, Governance, & Management (OGM) and, if required, additional language and/or research courses.

As a pre-master’s student, you will take several courses from different years of the Bachelor’s program in OGM. These modules will teach students the fundamental theoretical approaches and scientific research skills in public administration and organizational sciences.

1. Participant & Entry Requirements

This pre-master’s program is developed both for graduates of relevant bachelor programs and for professionals who already work in governance and management positions with leadership responsibilities, who want to continue their university education at a master’s level, but don’t meet all the entry requirements to the Master’s program in Governance & Leadership.

To be eligible to participate in the pre-master’s program, students must have completed and obtained:

• Bachelor’s degree program in any social scientific field
• An English Language proficiency test, TOEFL, with a minimum score of 80 

2. Pre-master track description

The pre master program is designed to meet the needs of the individual participants.
The pre-master’s program consists of modules that help students develop 1) a specific background in public administration, organization, and management studies, 2) an academic level of English, and 3) an academic level of social scientific research skills.

A. OGM domain (25 ECT)

Students who don’t have an academic background in the OGM domain are to follow:

• Perspectives on Organizations (BA 1, Semester 1, 7.5 ECT)
• Governance, Policy & Organization (BA 1, Semester 1, 7.5 ECT)
• Constitutional & Administrative Law (BA 2, Semester 2, 5 ECT)
• Public Management (BA 3, Semester 2, 5 ECT)

B. Domain English Language / Academic Reading & Writing (5 ECT)

Students who did not previously follow an English bachelor’s / master’s program or need to acquire additional academic reading & writing skills are to follow:

• Academic Reading & Writing (BA 1, Semester 1, 5 ECT)

C. Domain Research Theory and Skills (10 ECT)

Students who do not have the social scientific research acumen and skills are to follow:

• Research Methods in Governance Studies (Semester 1 and 2, 10 ECT)

Depending on the CV, bachelor grade transcripts, students will be assigned to complete one of the following tracks:

Track 1	Full pre-master program Perspectives on Organizations, Governance, Policy & Organization, Constitutional & Administrative Law, Public Management, Academic Reading & Writing, and Research Perspectives in Governance Studies I and II	40 ECT
Track 2	Core curriculum pre-masters program Perspectives on Organizations, Governance, Policy & Organization, Constitutional & Administrative Law, Public Management	25 ECT
Track 3	Core curriculum pre-masters program + Language Perspectives on Organizations, Governance, Policy & Organization, Constitutional & Administrative Law, Public Management, Academic Reading & Writing	30 ECT
Track 4	Core curriculum pre-masters program + Research Perspectives on Organizations, Governance, Policy & Organization, Constitutional & Administrative Law, Public Management, Research Perspectives in Governance Studies I and II	35 ECT
Track 5	Research pre-masters program Research Perspectives in Governance Studies	10 ECT

After finishing the pre-master’s program, students will receive a certificate of completion and a grade overview.

3. Course descriptions

3.1 Semester 1

Perspectives on Organizations (OGM BA 1)

In this module, the four-frame model of Bolman, L.G., and Deal, T.E. (2008) plays a central role. The model examines organizations as factories (‘the structural frame’), families (‘the human resource frame’), jungles (‘the political frame’), and temples (‘the symbolic frame’). Each frame has its unique features, understanding that you can view an organization from different perspectives, leads to the conclusion that an organization is a multiple reality. Multi-frame thinking (instead of a single-frame approach) creates a better position to make sense of complex situations. After all, complex situations do not present bounded, well-defined problems. An approach from different angles, following the concept of ‘reframing’, results in a more comprehensive picture of what is going on in organizations and how to act.

Governance, Policy & Organization (OGM BA 1)

The module is both an introduction into the core object of the study, Organization, Governance, and Management (‘OGM’), namely governance, management, and organization, and an introduction into its core focus, the disciplines of public administration and organizational sciences. In Units 2 and 3, we will briefly discuss the important concepts of organization and management. In other units, the concepts of governance, policy, politics, state, public versus private domain are central. The module aims at the ‘how’ question of governance in the public and non-profit sectors. Can we understand how governance works, how public policy is made, and how stakeholders and administration interact?

Academic Reading and Writing (OGM BA 1)

This module is aimed at providing students with the skills and tools needed to be better able to write academic papers and comprehend academic literature. During this course, students will become aware of the theory and conventions of academic literacy, from structure to style, with an increasing focus on academic essays. Features of academic writing that will be introduced and practiced during the course are: the structure of paragraphs and cohesion; appropriate grammar and vocabulary; the structure of texts such as essays and research reports; and academic conventions of citing sources and creating footnotes and reference lists. Students will be taught how to write academic papers according to that which is stipulated by the American Psychological Association (APA). Additionally, they will be introduced to search engines such as EBSCOhost to carry out meaningful literature research. Classroom activities include a mixture of individual, pair, and small group work, based on a variety of material and exercises from the course book.

3.2 Semester 2

Constitutional & Administrative Law (OGM BA 2)

An OGM student needs to know how the government makes decisions and how one can influence those decisions. In line with this, it is helpful to learn about the powers of government and the rules for implementing policy. Constitutional law (in Dutch: ‘constitutioneel recht’ or ‘staatsrecht’) and administrative law (in Dutch: ‘administratief recht’ or ‘bestuursrecht’) are important frameworks for administrative and policy actions and regulate the relationship between the government and citizens.

Public Management (OGM BA 3)

Perspectives and opinions are developed in both science and the professional field on how to organize and manage in the public domain. Public managers who seek appropriate management, should be aware of the settings in which they operate. They should understand different basic approaches of public management, including the matching instruments. Depending on the situation, they should be capable to use each or a combination thereof. Public management implies “the use of organizational resources in and by public and non-profit organizations to coordinate special efforts, so that different objectives can be accomplished and public needs are satisfied.” (Noordegraaf, 2015, p. 20). No matter the basic approach to public management, the crucial question of this module is always what is appropriate management in concrete cases and what professional public managers do, or should do.

Research Perspectives in Governance Studies (PGML Course)

This module focuses on the theoretical backgrounds and the practical use of qualitative and quantitative research in social sciences and evidence-based policy making. Students will get acquainted with the most significant concepts within research methods in (applied) social science and acquire practical skills in qualitative and quantitative research for policy design and implementation.

4. Organization, Cost & Language

Location 

University of Aruba

Hours 

The Modules will be offered on working days during the afternoon hours, either from 14.00-16.00 and/or 16.30-18:30. The module Research perspectives can be scheduled on Saturdays.

Tuition Fee

The Tuition Fee depends on the number of modules (excl. admin fee) the student is instructed to follow. Students who participate in tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4, the tuition fee is AWG 2.000, excluding AWG 500 administration costs (total AWG 3000).

Students who participate in track 5 only – the Research premaster’s program – pay a tuition fee of AWG 500 and additionally the administration costs of AWG 500 (total AWG 1000).

Language

We generally live in a multilingual society in Aruba and the Dutch Caribbean. In this pre-master’s program, we both respect and appreciate that. English is the most prominent language for international cooperation and in the domain of governance and leadership. Therefore, it is an English-taught program with ample space for the official languages, Papiamento and Dutch. Part of the assignments, written work, group work, discussions, and tutoring can be in English, Dutch, and/or Papiamento. The decisive criterion here is that all students and lecturers involved have to be able to participate.

The language requirement for the Pre-master’s program in Governance and Leadership includes a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) transcript in English with a minimum score of 80 for the iBT or an equivalent exam.

Language test exemption for the Pre-master’s program
Exempted from the TOEFL for the MGL are applicants who obtained a Bachelor’s degree and/or Master’s, whereby the language of instruction was English.

Language test and exemption for the Master’s program
The language requirement for the Master’s program in Governance and Leadership includes a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) transcript in English with a minimum score of 90 for the iBT or an equivalent exam.

Exempted from the TOEFL for the MGL are applicants who obtained a Bachelor’s degree and/or Master’s, whereby the language of instruction was English.

5. Application Procedure

The application period for the pre-master’s program will be between May 15, 2025, and June 13, 2025. During the application procedure, students are required to submit the following documents:

1. Diploma
2. Updated curriculum vitae (CV) 
3. Motivation Letter
4. TOEFL English proficiency test with a minimum core score of 79 (this score is only required for the pre-master’s program)

After the application period is concluded, all eligible candidates will be invited for an interview between June 23 and 26, 2025. This interview is meant to introduce the prospective students to the program. In this conversation, the admissions committee will discuss the motivation of the student, the previous professional experience, and overall ambitions within the program. After all interviews are completed, all candidates will be notified if they are accepted into the pre-master’s program.

6. Contact Information

For more information, don’t hesitate to contact the Office of Student Affairs at osa@ua.aw or the
OGM Department, Master of Governance and Leadership at mastergl@ua.aw.