Public Administration (PUAD)

Intensive examination of the dynamics of the federal system including the political, administrative and fiscal relationships among the various American governments. Grant writing will be addressed.

This course is an advanced examination of the constitutional framework of American public administration at the graduate level. The course examines legal constraints imposed on public administrators and public agencies by laws governing the liability of government agencies for constitutional and non-constitutional injuries by public organizations and their employees. The course also covers judicial oversight of the administrative process. Students may not earn credit for both PPA 415 and PUAD 515.

A study of policies and practices in stability and recovery operations. Conflict and post-conflict zones motivate international and domestic efforts to promote security, humanitarian assistance, economic stabilization and development, the rule of law, and participatory governance. This course develops management and policy design skills relevant to the pursuit of this complex agenda via case studies at the international, national and organizational levels.

A study of the problems and management of urbanization and inter-jurisdictional externalities from a regional perspective. Regionalism will be examined as an approach to solve these problems.

A study of the development and implementation of education policy in the United States at the national, state and local levels. Students will be introduced to major issues in contemporary education policy and the evaluation of alternative policies advanced by subgroups of the population. Educational equity and its links to social and economic goals will be examined.

A study of the interaction of social welfare policy and local governance in theory and in practice. Students examine state and local government and community-based responses to urban problems from a policy and management perspective. Particular attention is paid to interagency and community collaboration as a way to enhance social service delivery.

An examination of the role of philanthropy and volunteerism in the nonprofit sector in the United States and globally. Topics discussed include: strategic giving; components of fundraising management and planning; volunteerism as a resource for organizations; board and staff responsibilities in resource acquisition; and monitoring and performance assessment.

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of governance, accountability, trusteeship and executive leadership in nonprofit sector organizations. The course will examine critically the principal models, processes and practices used in managing nonprofit organizations and the relationships between the governing boards and executive leaders of such organizations.

This course provides a foundation in financial management, enabling students to understand and apply financial information as competent entry-level financial analysts in the public or nonprofit sector. This course will provide students with a strong financial vocabulary in budgeting and finance to be able to communicate and interpret financial language. Students will work with several cases that allow them to use the tools learned in the course.

The purpose of this course is to provide a broad overview of the theory behind and practical application of contract management. As agencies across government (federal, state and local) expand the use of contracting billions of taxpayer dollars are transferred into the private sector to conduct public business. This trend is not going away; therefore it is essential that public administrators be effective at managing and overseeing contracts.

Study of the theory and practice of economic development and community planning. Topics include human capital development, infrastructure development, regionalism, public-private partnerships.

An examination of the practical skills needed for writing successful grant proposals as well as for carrying out grant-funded projects. Proposal development features include needs assessments, work plans, and evaluation programs. The foundations of project management examined include staffing, workflow and expense monitoring, stakeholder relationships and demonstrating results.

This course examines the ethical dimensions of public service as experienced in governmental and nonprofit organizations. Course content explores governmental, organizational and individual-level efforts to promote ethical behavior and to deter corruption. Students engage with professional case studies in ethics management and conduct a major research project examining past efforts to combat corruption and evaluating alternative approaches to combating corruption in a country of their choosing.

The course will examine a special topic in public policy. The course may be repeated for credit with a change in the subject matter offered.

The course will examine a special topic in public and/or nonprofit management. The course may be repeated for credit with a change in the subject matter offered.

This course studies public policy approaches for addressing environmental problems in the United States and the politics surrounding environmental policy creation, implementation and evaluation with special attention to the roles of public agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Through a public administration lens, this course examines the ways by which U.S. local governments both lead and support development of socially-, economically- and environmentally-sustainable communities through public policy and public administration practices. Both challenges and opportunities experienced by local governments engaging in this work will be explored. Topics covered include systems thinking, stakeholder analysis, community engagement and program evaluation.

This course applies social science methodology to program and policy evaluation. Research design and data collection, as well as planning techniques, are covered.

Application of systematic analysis to program and policy evaluation. Students will complete a computer-assisted research project.

This course is designed to help students cultivate the tools and techniques of public policy analysis. Students will examine approaches to policy analysis and assess the strengths and limitations of various methods for understanding contemporary social problems and policy challenges. The course is designed to strengthen problem-solving, analytic and research skills in defining and crafting solutions to such problems.

This course offers a study of public administration including the political process. It includes a theoretical introduction to the study of public administration and patterns of management and decision making. This course serves as foundation course to the Master of Public Administration program.

This course studies contemporary issues and problems facing the public manager. Contemporary management systems, techniques and devices will be discussed, and case studies will be extensively used.

This course offers training and practice in facilitation skills needed to guide advocacy groups, organizations, governmental agencies and communities as they grapple with complex challenges, make informed choices for action and work together to establish and achieve collective goals. In addition, this course will consider how these processes are best integrated with and play a role in community, organizational and institutional structures and influence policy change.

This course offers an inquiry into systems of employment found in United States governments and nonprofit organizations, the issues these systems raise for democracy, and the Constitutional and legal framework within which they operate.

This course covers public budgeting practices and skills with an emphasis on the federal budget process. Topics include politics of the budget process, budget types and analytic techniques for budgeting.

Under faculty supervision, independent study of a specialized area of public administration.

This capstone course, required of all graduate public administration students in their final spring semester, emphasizes professional and ethical application of core public management competencies. Course work includes a structured, individualized practicum project demonstrating technical knowledge and understanding of organizational, political and social contexts.

This course provides supervised professional administrative experience with a relevant public service employer with learning reflections facilitated by a faculty member. The number of work hours required commensurate with number of credit hours. Students required to enroll in PUAD 696 must complete a minimum of 3.0 total credit hours of the course.

All MPA students must remain enrolled in a minimum of 1 credit hour every fall and spring semester in order to remain enrolled in the program. Course may be repeated as needed.