Public Administration (PAD)

An introduction to public administration at the state and local levels of government.

This course provides an understanding of grant writing, as well as an understanding of how to administer and evaluate grants and contracts in public and non-profit organizations.

This course examines development efforts on the community level in the United States, including public-sector, private-sector, and community self-help strategies.

This course examines major approaches to strategic analysis and planning in the public and non-profit sectors, doing so with respect to problems in both national and international political environments. In addition, it develops students' abilities to conduct strategic analyses and to communicate their results to stakeholders.

An introduction to the special dynamic nature of Earth's coasts. Pressure, state and response metrics in coastal management. Defining the coastal zone and spatial and temporal changes that make coasts dynamic. An introduction to relative sea-level rise is included as a laboratory exercise with a concentration or focus on Florida.

An examination of environmental governance and policy, with an emphasis on the reciprocal influence of politics and science, the role of interests and interest groups, environmental governance institutions, and policy development and implementation.

This course provides an overview of the legal environment of public administration. In addition, it examines how the regulatory infrastructure of government is developed, implemented, and adjudicated.

Required integrative seminar for senior Public Services Management majors. Summarizes and integrates the theories and practices of public services management, examines the contemporary public services environment and cutting-edge management practices.

Individual study for Public Service Management students under the direction of a faculty member. Topics vary and are usually selected on an individual basis.

Courses centering around topics of current interest or of special interest to students or instructors. Topics or focus may vary from semester to semester.

Examination of ethical problems in public administration, individuals. Topics include public integrity, administrative discretion, secrecy and lying, organizational pressures and the limits of dissent, and ethics codes.

Identification and evaluation of approaches to managing non-profit organizations to make them effective, legal, efficient, just and conscientious organizations working for the public good as defined by their missions, executive leadership, and boards.

This course examines issues of social equity and justice, as well as the roles of public administration and policy-making in addressing these issues.

The course will examine the community and economic development efforts on the community level in the United States. The focus will be both on theory and practice and an examination of the process from the public and private sector as well as community self-help efforts.

Essentials of program planning and proposal writing, grantsmanship, the process of program evaluation, and general administrative practices as they apply to public organizations.

Overview of the theory and practice of public administration with special attention to the development of analytical and problem solving skills. Topics include the historical development of public administration, the structure of public organizations, leadership, decision-making, and accountability roles of public managers.

Dynamics of complex organizations, the role of bureaucracy and theories of organizations applied to the public sector.

Examines controversies over the separation of management and politics, the role of politics in the management of public policy, and successful decision making in public management.

Focus on efficiency, markets, the economic basis for government, political equilibrium and external influences on government finance. (PAD 6207 Public Budgeting, or equivalent, helpful but not necessary.)

Survey of the history of budget reform in the United States, budget formats, taxation models, and capital budgeting and expenditures. The historical development of budgeting is used as a framework for constructing and interpreting budgets.

Familiarizes students with the principles and methods of program planning and evaluation. Also prepares students for professional roles as administrators, planners, and change agents in public and non-profit organizations.

Strategic planning is an extremely important process for both public and non-profit agencies, especially with the trend of public sector functions being performed either by non-profits or in cooperation with non-profit organizations. This course will examine the strategic planning process outlined above and the relationship between budgeting and planning processes.

This course examines environmental policy making and governance, focusing on the interrelationship between politics and science, policy development and implementation, and environmental governance.

This course examines issues and principles integral to an understanding of community resilience. Specific topics include community resilience assessment, environmental resilience, socio-economic resilience, infrastructure resilience, and resilience policy and practice.

Overview of the theory and practice of public policy. Topics include problem definition and policy formulation, economic approaches to policy analysis, collective action problems, ethics and public policy, and policy entrepreneurship.

This course examines administrative, policy, and intergovernmental issues associated with emergency management and disaster planning.

Overview of public personnel systems at both the national and subnational levels of government, evolution and adaptation to changing conditions. Topics include position descriptions, classification, and pay systems; performance management; merit and patronage systems; training and professional development; women's issues in management; workforce diversity; and personnel law.

Manager's Leadership roles within organizations and with policy holders.

Overview of the legal environment of public administration. Detailed examination of the development, implementation, and adjudication of the regulatory infrastructure at the national and sub-national levels of government, application of the Administrative Procedures Act, discretionary, authority, and structure and operation of various regulatory agencies.

Application of relevant research methods and analysis to problems in public administration. Emphasis on the principles of research design and basic statistical analysis.

This non-technical course examines the management of public information and communication, including strategic technology planning, data privacy, security, and information networks.

Examination of the issues, policies, and controversies involved in state and local governance. The relationship between institutions, actors, and politics at sub national levels of government is emphasized.

Theory and practice of intergovernmental administration among Federal, state and local government(s). Topics include policy devolution, the political and fiscal environment of intergovernmental administration and techniques of intergovernmental control, cooperation and competition.

Individual study of a current concept, selected problem or issue pertaining to public administration and/or the student's area of concentration, under the direction of a faculty member in the Division of Public Administration. Departmental permission required. No more than 3 credit hours toward the MPA degree.

Contemporary public administration topics and public policy issues that are not addressed in other course offerings in the MPA program.

Internships will be established with public and nonprofit agencies to provide those students with little or no public sector work experience, offering an opportunity to apply concepts learned in graduate seminars in a real world environment. (Departmental permission required)

An applied research experience that integrates the principles, theories, and concepts of the core courses in the MPA program and the student's career concentration. Completion of all other degree requirements. Instructor approval required for registration.