Department of Political Science and Public Affairs

Political, social, legal and ethical realities affecting managers in public and nonprofit organizations such as government agencies, churches, schools, museums and community service organizations. Theoretical as well as operational perspectives, particularly as they distinguish public administration from business administration. The power of the public service professional and values of public service systems. Political processes, legal factors and other mechanisms of accountability are emphasized.

Introduces both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Topics include descriptive and inferential statistics, issues in sampling and hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, regression and time series analysis, as well as survey design. Computer software is used for statistical analysis.

The administration of public policy depends on knowledge of the policy process. This course focuses on those stages of the policy process of most interest to public administrators, specifically policy formation, implementation and evaluation. Among the questions to be addressed: How are programs designed? What happens after a policy is made? What methods are used to measure and assess public policy outcomes? What are the methodological, theoretical, political, administrative and ethical problems encountered in policy analysis? The course draws on a variety of substantive policy areas for illustration purposes. Students are encouraged to relate the general material of the course to their specific policy interests.

Economic system as the setting within which nonprofit, healthcare, arts and public service organizations function. Introduction to microeconomic principles, with some coverage of fiscal, monetary and regulatory policies, as well as public goods and problems of market failure. Economic concepts and tools as they relate to the management of public service organizations.

An introduction to basic financial, budgetary and accounting concepts, processes and techniques relevant to healthcare managers; how and why financial decisions are made; how they affect healthcare operations; use of financial documents and analysis.

Introductory course in applied decision and game theory. Introduces students to decision trees, Nash equilibria, winning strategies, tit-for-tat, auction theory and end-games. Competitive scenarios are an intrinsic part of the course, as are problem sets and simulations.

Examines the strategies used to manage human resources effectively in public service organizations. The best human resource practices of public and other service organizations are discussed, including workforce legal issues, teams, performance assessment and leadership. Additional topics covered include management strategies for encouraging positive, interpersonal relationships, managing conflict and creative thinking approaches to human resource issues.

This course examines techniques of effective leadership, including defining purpose, mobilizing external support and leading stakeholders that have been successfully developed for use by servant leaders in our communities. Particular emphasis is placed on mobilizing communities for social change. Students will investigate the applicability of course concepts to their own experiences and community settings. This course will foster the skills necessary for effective collaborative leadership within a civil society.

Explores the theoretical and practical tools available for strategically managing collaborative governance and planning. An emphasis will be placed on planning efforts across sectors (public, private and nonprofit) and among citizens and organizations alike. The historic origins of collaborative governance are explored.

Successful managers must be able to forge relationships among partners while effectively managing complex financial and budgetary issues. This course introduces students to the fiscal pressures and budgetary constraints facing leaders in our society and provides them with the tools and knowledge necessary to manage these issues in an era of increasingly scarce resources. An overview of the budget process and the policy implications of this process is included as well.

Promotes a thorough understanding of the nature of nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector as a whole. Explores size, scope and dimensions of the sector as well as its history, the various perspectives of philanthropy and the changing role of the nonprofit sector in contemporary society.

Explores various areas of responsibility in leading and managing nonprofit organizations with particular emphasis on the relationship and interaction between the chief executive and the board of directors. Course is intended as a follow-up to and extension of PSMA 7311.

Examines principles, techniques and issues surrounding resource development in nonprofit organizations. Focuses on raising funds from private sources, including individuals, corporations and foundations. Annual funds, capital campaigns and endowment support are among topics covered. The board's role in resource development, ethical issues and government regulations is discussed.

Addresses particular financial, budgetary and accounting issues in tax-exempt organizations. Assumes some knowledge of finance and budgeting. Prerequisite: PSMA 6005 or permission of instructor.

An examination of the development, use, and impact of marketing and public relations tools and strategies for visual and performing arts organizations in order to increase subscribers, members, donors and audiences.

Provides students with a comprehensive overview of grants and contracts from the perspective of furthering the mission of the nonprofit or governmental agency. Trends in grantmaking, grantwriting, funding source identification, and relationship development with funders are among the topics covered.

Probes the ethical realities faced by professionals in government, healthcare, religious, educational and other nonprofit organizations. It is designed to develop and broaden awareness and appreciation of the power wielded by the public service professional, of the values public service professionals are expected to maintain, and of the ethical dimensions of public service management. The course is geared to developing operational skills for ethical analysis and action.

Across the public, private and nonprofit sectors we are seeing an enormous increase in the use of “Big Data” or more generally the use of complex data analytics in the managerial decision making process. Many view this as a positive trend by making claims that finally “data” and therefore “empirical facts” will form the basis of the decision making process. While it “might” be possible to make this case in for-profit enterprises the use of big data, data analytics and data mining pose some significant ethical questions in the public and nonprofit sectors. This courses examine these ethical challenges and explores for ways to overcome them.

Designed for pre-service students or for those with fewer than two years of management experience, this course affords students an opportunity to learn management skills through on-site experience. The students must complete a minimum of 300 hours of managerial or administrative work under the tutelage of a public service, nonprofit, arts or healthcare administrator and complete all assignments given by the professor of the seminar associated with the internship.

Consists of a 3-credit, group-consulting project related to an area of public service, nonprofit, arts or healthcare administration or management. The practicum typically requires the writing of a management report and the delivery of an oral presentation for the subject organization. All work is completed under faculty supervision.

Designed for students currently working full time on a supervisory or management level in the healthcare, nonprofit, or public sector, as well as in the arts, this course gives each individual the opportunity to design and conduct a research project that focuses on a management or policy problem at his/her place of employment or in the public arena. The student presents methodology, results and recommendations both as a written capstone project and as an oral presentation.

This course will explore the impact of race and identity on the development and implementation of public policies within public and nonprofit organizations. We will examine a wide range of scholarships in this area that explores the concept of race ad why an understanding of these issues is critically important for future leaders of these organizations. Though we will explore the intersectionality of race with other markers of differences, including gender and class, our primary focus will be on race and racial identities, as race is often a large predictor of wealth, education, access to health care, and other quality of life indicators. The course will begin with a broad overview of race within the public administration environment. In the second half of the course, we will focus on programmatic areas of public and nonprofit organizations to further understand the role of race in the delivery of public services.

In addition to their role in service delivery to the community, nonprofits serve an important function as advocacy organizations, providing information to policy makers on their particular areas of expertise, lobbying government for change, and providing information on particular policy positions. This course provides students with an overview to the nonprofit functions of advocacy and lobbying, examining ways that nonprofits may and may not become involved in the public policy process. The role of advocacy in advancing issues of democracy and social justice are explored, as well as strategies to build social capital within communities. International case studies of innovative and successful advocacy campaigns will be introduced as examples of advocacy strategies that worked and why. The interdisciplinary curriculum draws on theories from sociology, political science, organization theory and social work.

This course helps current and future managers of nonprofit organizations understand the legal issues facing them as leaders in the nonprofit sector. Thorough understanding of the legal issues requires not only a firm grasp of the letter and application of the law but also recognition of the context in which the law arose and in which it currently is implemented. This course promotes a deep understanding of nonprofit organizations and their activities and the environments in which they exist, all as illustrated by the ever more complex legal issues that provide the framework within which all nonprofits must operate.