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Course Descriptions
PADM 6000— History, Scope and Practice of Public Administration
(3 credit hours)
This course is designed to introduce the MPA student to the intellectual tradition of the field of public administration. It focuses on theories, concepts and methods which have become associated with the discipline of public administration.
PADM 6010 — Communication Skills for Public and Non-profit managers (1 credit hour)
A skill-building course designed to prepare students to communication, orally and in writing, professionally, concisely, and in format typical of public and nonprofit workplaces.
PADM 6020 — GIS for Public Management (2 credit hours)
Introduces students to the use and application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in public organizations. The principal focus is on the use of GIS for planning and problem solving at the local government level.
PADM 6030 — Grant Writing (1 credit hour)
Grants are an increasingly important source of funding for public and nonprofit organizations. This course is a skill-building course designed to prepare students to write grants.
PADM 6050— Seminar in Constitutional & Administrative Law (3 credit hours )
This course aligns the public administrator's role with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982) which stated that "a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his (or her) conduct" and must understand those constitutional rights for which a public official can be held legally liable for violating. The course explores the nature of administrative law as it relates to substantive, procedural, and equal protection rights.
PADM 6100 — Public Organization Theory and Behavior (3 credit hours )
This course is a systematic analysis of theories of organizations. The focus is on the formal and the informal approaches to organizational structure. Organizational membership, communications, reward systems and leadership styles are stressed. Public sector application will be emphasized.
PADM 6200 — Human Resource Management (3 credit hours )
This course is designed to instill a basic understanding of the personnel process in the public sector. The student will become familiar with legal, political and socio-demographic issues affecting the management of human resources. The functions of human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement/training and compensation are addressed.
PADM 6240— Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations (3 credit hours)
Identification, analysis, and application of techniques and tools of institutional planning appropriate for nonprofit organizations. This includes program, personnel, facility, and institutional planning.
PADM 6250 — Planning Resources and Administration (3 credit hours )
This course is designed to identify the resources used in urban and regional planning and to understand the political and legal nature of land use decisions. Students undertake one or more planning projects in the local community during the course of the term. Previous projects have included updating a neighborhood zoning map; conducting citizens' advisory surveys, a comparative demographic study using U.S. Census materials and a housing stock condition survey.
PADM 6300 — Public Budgeting (3 credit hours )
This course examines the institutions and techniques of modern financial administration in federal, state, and local government. The course introduces the terminology and process of budgeting as well as enables the student to gain competence in analyzing budgetary problems and proposing solutions. The role of the budget as a tool in expressing priorities in policy choices is emphasized.
PADM 6301 — Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations (3 credit hours )
An overview of the financial issues, challenges and opportunities facing nonprofit managers. The course includes instruction in budgeting and financial management strategies appropriate for the nonprofit sector.
PADM 6350 — Emergency Management (3 credit hours )
Introduces students to the discipline and profession of applying science, technology, planning and management to deal with disasters. Special emphasis on how local governments and agencies can mitigate, plan, respond and recover from disaster situations.
PADM 6351— Introduction to Homeland Security (3 credit hours )
Introduces students to the essential ideas in the emerging discipline of homeland security. Includes basic instruction on the strategy-making process, fear management, crisis communication, conventional and unconventional threats, civil liberties and security, the role of technology, and intelligence and information collection.
PADM 6352 — The Unconventional Threat (3 credit hours )
Provides an introduction to the operational and organizational dynamics of unconventional threats, particularly terrorism. Course addresses motivation, strategies and finance, the role of the media, and counter terrorism policies and strategies.
PADM 6400 — Ethics (3 credit hours )
This course focuses on the professional responsibility of the public administrator. Included are such topics as whistle-blowing, revolving door appointments and conflict of interest, kick-backs, campaign financing, illegal patronage, Hatch Act requirements, acceptance of gifts, and cover-ups. The class discovers the extent to which ethics is institutionalized in government through law reform and various codes of conduct.
PADM 6500 — Research Methods in Public Administration (3 credit hours )
This course is an introduction to research design, measurement, sampling, statistical analysis and the use of computer program packages. Attention is directed toward various methods of data collection with an emphasis on survey research and the use of statistical computer programs for data analysis. The course emphasizes methods and analysis rather than the calculation of statistics. Prerequisites: an undergraduate course in research methods and statistics; computer literacy.
PADM 6550— Human Services Administration (3 credit hours )
This course is an in-depth consideration of human service agencies and organizations: staff, clients, structure, service delivery, and administration. A strong emphasis is given to developing knowledge and practice skills for interfacing with local and regional agencies and resources.
PADM 6600— Quantitative Methods (3 credit hours )
This course is an introduction to the methods of data analysis used in public administration. Topics include: descriptive statistics, standard scores, variability, correlation analysis, chi-squared tests, analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression, and an introduction to other multivariate and non-parametric statistics. Prerequisite: PADM 6500.
PADM 6650 — Public Policy Analysis (3 credit hours )
This course is a study of how public policy is developed, implemented, and evaluated in the United States. Analysis may be as simple as a listing of the likely advantages and disadvantages of various alternatives. Or, it may be as complex as a cost-benefit analysis or an environmental impact study. The course describes the structured approach which analysts use in defining problems and evaluating solutions.
PADM 6700 — Urban Government Administration and Policy Analysis (3 credit hours )
This course focuses on providing a comprehensive understanding of the origin, development, and growth of urban government. Emphasis is on alternative forms of urban governments, policy-making and implementation, budgeting and delivery of services. Case studies are incorporated. Can be a required course; the other choice is State Government.
PADM 6750— Program Evaluation (3 credit hours )
This course focuses on the design and implementation of program evaluation research and on performance monitoring systems. Attention is devoted to the conceptualization and design of an evaluation as well as to methods of measuring performance. Prerequisite: PADM 6500 and PADM 6600.
PADM 6800 — State Government Administration and Policy Analysis (3 credit hours )
This course is designed to familiarize the student with the operation of state governments throughout the United States . There is an emphasis on the forms of organization, the functions, and the political environment of state government. Can be a required course; the other choice is Urban Government.
PADM 6850 — Intergovernmental Relations (3 credit hours)
Public programs are increasingly delivered by a combination of local, state and federal agencies. This course familiarizes students with how these various levels of government conflict, compete, and work together in the delivery of public programs.
PADM 6900 — Graduate Internship (3 credit hours )
PADM 6950 — Selected Topics in Public Administration (variable credit hours )
This course title will be utilized as needed to create seminars around specialized topics as these issues become prominent on the current public policy agenda.
PADM 7000 — Directed Reading (variable credit hours )
This course is a problematically structured, individualized research project to be mutually designed by the instructor and student.
PADM 7050 — Capstone Project (2 credit hours )
This is a capstone paper in which the student demonstrates knowledge of public administration principles as applied in practice. Required course.
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