This program seeks to provide the management core needed by professionals from many academic backgrounds who have risen to positions of authority in the public and not-for-profit sector without benefit of formal management training. Take four of the following courses.

Courses

POLS 531 Seminar: Public Administration (3 credits) – An extensive overview of Public Administration stressing the basic conceptions and trends in the discipline as well as the classic scholars.

POLS 533 Administrative Ethics in the Public Sector (3 credits) – This course examines the challenges faced by public administrators in establishing personal standards of conduct in the administrative environment. Issues such as moral versus political accountability, social justice and whistle blowing are among the topics that will be explored in the course.

POLS 536 Public Personnel Administration (3 credits) – This course is designed to help managers in all positions of an organization to understand the fundamental nature of public personnel administration, also known as human resource management. Topics to be covered include basic functions such as position classification, wage and salary administration, and performance appraisal. It will also examine merit systems and contemporary reforms and techniques including TQM and conflict resolution. Attention will be given to contemporary issues such as sexual harassment, affirmative action, privacy, and unionization.

POLS 538 Public Budgeting and Financial Administration (3 credits) – This course will encompass the normative and descriptive budgetary questions in public administration. Orthodox, prevailing, and alternative budget theories are presented in generalized and applied settings.

POLS 539 Administrative Law (3 credits) – Study of the legal dimension of public administration. Study of requirements for rule-making and adjudication, of judicial review of administrative decisions, and introduction to personnel law.