Public Administration (PA)
PA 6003. Public Administration & Public Policy. This course is designed to develop an understanding of the field of public administration. This involves the exploration of a variety of topics in some depth, integrating them with the objective of forming an overall perspective of the conduct of the public’s interest. Topics will include: decision theory, ethics, major figures and theories of public administration, bureaucratic theory, and overview of contemporary issues. This course will concentrate on approaching theories of public administration from a practitioner’s point of view. The material will also focus on issues of rural public administration. An underlying theme of the course is the application of concepts of “learning communities” and sustainability.
PA 6013. Statistics for Public Administrators. Introduces techniques useful in the analysis of data for developing strategies and measuring success in the implementation of public policy choices.
PA 6023. Ethics. Relates ethical issues likely to arise in the management of public and non-profit organizations; emphasizes values paramount in furthering the public interest, including, but not only, commitment to the rule of law, standards of conduct, fundamental fairness, and other administrative responsibility (both collective and personal) for the discharge of the public trust.
PA 6033. Rural Politics. Considers the impact of social, political, and economic trends on communities in ex-metropolitan America from the perspectives important to the leaders of public and non-profit entities and other stakeholders in those places. Includes the study of designs for community development based on recognizing and coping with the likely effects on public and non-profit services of global issues such as free trade, national issues such as fiscal restraint, and local issues such as embedded cultural dynamics.
PA 6043. Legal Issues in Public Administration. Provides descriptions, analyses, and critiques of the constitutional and administrative law framework for public and non-profit administration. Surveys federal and state legal constraints applicable to policy choices and program implementation, including, but not only, the requirements of due process of law and equal protection of the laws.
PA 6053. Public and Non-Profit Budgeting. Reviews theories of budgeting in the public and non-profit sectors (including the impact of macroeconomic fiscal policies). Examines budget tools (including a variety of automated budgeting systems) used to apply the theories to policy choices and to construct operating and capital budgets, to manage risk, and to assure accountability.
PA 6063. Policy Analysis & Program Evaluation. In the postmodern era, the practice of policy analysis has gained a more prominent and complex position in the field of public administration. The practitioner in the field must be familiar with the techniques and consequences of policy analysis in order to develop proposals/programs that will be successful. Thus, this course will emphasize the practices of policy analysis and program evaluation. While the student may not become expert in the techniques, they will become conversant in the principles and appreciate the importance of methods and the appropriate and ethical application of their consequences.
PA 6073. Research Methods. Emphasizes the application of social science and marketing methodologies to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of public and non-profit sector programs and policies. Covers topics such as the development of evaluation plans, the design and implementation of evaluation techniques like process, impact, cost-benefit, and cost-effectiveness measurements, and the management of evaluation projects.
PA 6083. Organizational Leadership. Surveys theories and types of leadership; provides analyses of techniques for creating motivation and cohesion in complex organizations, and describes design/administration of structures for successful decision-making.
PA 6093. Community Development. This course explores the methods and theories surrounding community development. Emphasis is placed on concepts of sustainable development in rural communities in the 21st century. It goes well beyond planning that involves zoning. Instead, the course stresses the need for collaboration, discovering internal resources, and the “learning community.” Rural communities need to learn how to rely on their own assets in order to develop a successful future.
PA 6103. Systems Management. Teaches theories applicable to implementing public law and policy in the American federal system, including understanding structural and behavioral issues related to successful integrated and collaborative decision-making.
PA 6113. Professional Project. The professional project is intended to be a capstone for the MPA degree. It should demonstrate a level of competence on the part of the student that is expected of one with a professional degree. This will involve providing a product for a public or nonprofit agency. It must be approved by the MPA program director to ensure that it is at the appropriate level.
PA 6123. Non-Profit Leadership/Marketing. Analyzes how to undertake strategic planning to maintain an atmosphere in non-profit organizations conducive to serving constituents and raising money to fund programs. Identifies the legal, ethical, and managerial issues confronting non-profit enterprise. Discusses marketing as a distinct managerial function essential for the success of the enterprise. Explores techniques of leadership, relationship-building, and media interaction. Includes a review of program evaluation measures and tools.
PA 6133. Non-Profit Fundraising. Focuses on ways to find funding for the operational, programmatic, and capital needs of the organization’s constituents, including techniques for identifying public and private donors, understanding economic and tax incentives for philanthropy, preparing grants and donation requests, and assuring that the expectations of donors are met.
PA 6143. Public Personnel Administration. This course introduces students to the field of human resource management. It focuses on the knowledge and skills required by both personnel officers and those who manage personnel on a daily basis. Topics will include recruiting, evaluation, and termination of people in a public or nonprofit organization. There will also be extensive discussion of issues related to affirmative action, the American with Disabilities Act, sexual harassment, and safety in the workplace.
