Public Administration

In this course students will focus on the key theories, practices, and trends in public administration. Topics include the historical development of public administration in the United States, politics of political institutions, management, leading in public administration, key roles and functions of public administration, organizational structure of government organizations, analysis of key public administration theories, understanding bureaucracy and its role, public administration reforms, and future trends.

In this course, students will explore the complexities of bureaucratic structures in public administration. They will delve into the origins, evolution, functions, and challenges of bureaucracy, emphasizing strategies for effective management, policy implementation, and change within these systems. Students will also examine the impact of bureaucracy on public service delivery, stakeholder engagement, and policy outcomes.

In this course, students will focus on the methodology for analyzing, developing, and implementing public policy. Topics include types of public policies, understanding the policy-making process, analyzing public policies, impact analysis of public policies, understanding the role of stakeholders in public policy, economic, social, and political factors influencing policy, and case studies in public policy analysis.

Students will examine public budgeting processes, financial management principles, and fiscal decision-making specific to the public sector. Topics include: the public budgeting process: formulation, execution, and auditing; revenue generation and sources of public funds; expenditure management and cost control; financial planning and forecasting; accountability and transparency; and the evaluation of case studies in public budgeting and financial management.

In this course, students will explore economic decision-making in the public sector, focusing on how public policy decisions impact public welfare. Students will investigate the application of economic tools, such as cost-benefit analysis, in government decision-making processes, income redistribution policies, and fiscal federalism.

In this course, students will focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of leading non-profit organizations and be engaged in strategic planning, governance, resource management, ethical leadership, stakeholder engagement, policy advocacy, and performance evaluation in the non-profit sector. Students will also explore the role of nonprofits in public service and community development, emphasizing effective leadership strategies that align with public service values.

Students use a framework to explore the dynamics of human interaction within and between organizations. Throughout the course, they will use a perspective that a key function of management is to negotiate for resources and use that perspective to develop collaborative relationships with employees, vendors, suppliers, and interested communities.

Students explore the development and execution of an innovative and imaginative business strategy for the future. They consider answers to questions such as, How do you identify an opportunity for a new business that meets an otherwise unmet need? What happens when an organization fails to change when faced with a challenge to their traditional model? How can you mitigate risk? What are the processes that organizations use to keep themselves focused on changing stakeholder requirements and needs?

The world of public administration is vast, and public administrators will likely find themselves in various public environments, each of which has their own unique challenges. In this course, students will compare urban and rural public administration economics, policies, community engagement strategies, and case studies, focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities in each setting, and have a unique opportunity to engage, first-hand, with urban and rural community stakeholders.

In this course, students will explore and participate in strategic planning in community settings while emphasizing participatory approaches, inclusivity, and localized decision-making, equipping students with the skills necessary to create inclusive, community-owned strategic plans.

This course is built around a project that is designed to apply, in a comprehensive manner, the core areas of knowledge around which the MBA has been built. The project may be performed for a current employer, a sponsoring workplace or as an internship as either a service-learning project for a qualifying nonprofit organization or another organization of the student's choosing.