Become a change agent with an online master's in public administration

This foundational course provides an introduction to the social, economic, political, and ethical context of public administration in the United States. Students examine how public sector values differentiate government from the private sector and develop skills for critically evaluating issues faced by public administrators.

This course explores ethical decision-making, public sector values, codes of ethics, and legal responsibilities that shape moral reasoning and judgment in public service. Students apply ethical frameworks and normative theories to analyze real-world ethical dilemmas faced by public administrators.

This course examines various statistical techniques and research design methods applied to crime, criminal justice, and agency administration issues. This course will prepare students to be intelligent consumers of reported research, to interpret statistical analysis, to report criminal justice agency performance results, and to identify and use various criminal justice statistical data sources in print and electronic form.

This course explores the processes through which public demands are communicated, converted into public policy, and implemented in the American democratic system. Emphasis is on policy analysis and policy formulation through both theoretical and applied lenses. Students will develop skills to critically assess policy issues and policy alternatives in order to craft informed policy recommendations.

Students learn to use fundamental budgeting and financial management concepts and tools necessary for leading and managing government organizations. Students learn to use analytical techniques for making administrative and policy decisions with significant financial implications. Students also examine the competing values and politics that underlie and impact financial decisions in government. Finally, students develop skills for effectively communicating financial analysis methods and conclusions with colleagues, elected officials, the media, and the public.

In this culminating course, students demonstrate mastery of discipline-specific theories and practice by applying the knowledge and skills gained throughout their graduate program to an individualized policy analysis project.

Students learn fundamental concepts and tools for managing the two most important organizational resources: people and information. The course emphasizes application of human resources concepts and tools for attracting, retaining, and developing employees and improving organizational performance in government and nonprofit organizations. Information technology concepts and tools for managing government and nonprofit organizations are also examined. Fundamental legal, ethical, and political obligations for managing human resources and information systems and technology are also evaluated.

Students learn to think and act as ethical leaders within a public service context. The course focuses on putting administrative decisions and organizational plans into action. Students learn to use leadership concepts and tools and interpersonal skills for working with individuals and groups to effectively execute administrative plans and make decisions. Students also develop knowledge and skills for communicating and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders; particularly elected officials, the media, interest groups, and the public.

Students learn to think strategically about leading organizations operating in a public environment where collaboration is required to achieve organizational goals. The course focuses on using strategic and network management concepts and tools to improve organizational performance and advance the public interest. The importance of strategically managing organizational communication is also examined. Finally, students develop skills for effectively communicating strategic planning methods, approaches, and decisions with colleagues, elected officials, the media, and the public.

Within the scope of the foundations of justice and administration and social, financial, legal and political opportunities and challenges, students will apply strategic decision making strategies to analyze the communicative structures, practices, and performance of organizations in the administration of justice. Specific goals, challenges, and leadership theories will be holistically summarized and synthesized to develop solutions within the courts, law enforcement, and corrections, in both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Applied perspectives in ethical leadership functions that respond to organizational problems and objectives through best-practices will also be addressed. As future leaders, students will, moreover, demonstrate fluency in employee rights and issues and apply budgeting strategies to maximize agency goals. Additional outcomes will address program planning, implementation, and evaluation, as well as appraisal of new technological advancements utilizing articulated and relevant criteria.

As a student in this course, you will analyze complex and multi-systemic adult and juvenile systems of justice and social control mechanisms on both a micro and macro level. Attention will be given to innovative initiatives and best-practices from across the nation with a view toward positive social change. Technology for effective cross-system collaboration will also be addressed, as will the role of constitutional protections and constraints on arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration.

Students will evaluate contemporary criminology theories and apply them to formulate prevention, treatment, and crime control models, within a framework of cultural diversity. Crime data relationships and patterns will also be integrated with biological, psychological, and sociological theories of criminal behavior in a critical evaluation of contemporary criminological theories. Policy formation and implementation will also be addressed.

The course provides an extensive overview of leadership in the U.S. health services system. The focus of the course will be on the role health services leadership plays in the delivery of healthcare services, to include managing with professionals, financial management, services utilization, and other aspects of the U.S. healthcare system. The student will explore the key theoretical and practical elements of leadership as well as current issues clarifying how the U.S. health services system is organized, managed, and financed.

In this course students will develop a strong foundation in health law, enabling them to deal with the common legal, practical, moral, and ethical issues that healthcare organizations face on a daily basis. Topics will include statutory law, rules and regulations, tort law, criminal law, contract law, civil procedures, and trial procedure.

This course will explore the essential conceptual and analytical understanding of health policymaking and politics, including their impact on health administration and leadership. Selected policy issues will be explored through the application of political concepts and behavioral models, including a system model of policymaking. The emphasis will be on understanding the health leader?s approach to the policymaking system, become involved in it, and work through it to attain their objectives and those of their organization.

Students learn to think and act as ethical leaders within a public service context. The course focuses on putting administrative decisions and organizational plans into action. Students learn to use leadership concepts and tools and interpersonal skills for working with individuals and groups to effectively execute administrative plans and make decisions. Students also develop knowledge and skills for communicating and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders; particularly elected officials, the media, interest groups, and the public.

This course provides an overview of the historical and current leadership concepts, theories and constructs. Application and assessment of the individual leadership style will enable the student to develop their leadership voice. This course will provide a construct that will enable the student to identify transferrable skills that align with the organization that they are serving in. This course will challenge students to assess their own leadership strengths and weaknesses and produce an in-depth plan of action to develop and refine leadership competencies. Students will conduct substantive scholarly research to address and capture relevant and cutting-edge leadership theoretical work for application in course assignments.

This course will explore the psychological influences on the development and behavior of managers and organizational leaders. Topics include: follower influences, nature vs. nurture in the development of leaders, relationship of personality to leadership style, behavioral decision- making biases, tactical, operational, and strategic decision-making , group think, and scenario planning.

Organizations are composed of groups of people who work together to achieve defined outcomes. Experience has proven time and again that the key factor which differentiates successful companies from those who struggle to survive is people who make up the employee base. While the human resources function is given the specific task of planning for and resolving many employee-related issues and needs, individual managers have direct responsibility and accountability for motivating and leading employees to achieve sustained organizational success. The purpose of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with human resources to enhance the contributions of all employees to organizational effectiveness. Students will learn about the elements which drive business success, theories of motivation, and methods for creating a plan for maximizing the human capital of an organization.

This course addresses the need for planned change focused on an organization's ability to compete strategically. The framework of consultation as helping organizations reach a level of optimum performance will be applied. Topics addressed include individual, team, and organization-wide interventions that can raise productivity/quality, improve competitiveness, increase skills, morale, and commitment.

The course will introduce students to the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM). Current topics in SHRM that have resulted from environmental and organizational challenges, e.g., technology, globalization, legislation, restructuring, work/life balance, changing labor markets, are discussed Emphasis will be placed on problem solving issues, policies, and practices affecting HR specialists, practitioners, and managers.