Public Administration

Public Administration, PADM = 0455

4130. American Intergovernmental Relations. 3 hours. Federal system;
constitutional and theoretical bases of federalism;
national/state/local government conflict and cooperation; regional
arrangements; political centralization; impact upon American
traditions; future prospects. (Same as PSCI 4130.)

4450. Public Policy Analysis. 3 hours. Policy making, impact of public
policy and factors that place specific problems on the public agenda.
(Same as PSCI 4450.)

5010. Context of Public Administration. 3 hours. An examination of the
political, institutional, ethical, social, legal and economic contexts
in which administrators operate.

5020. Governmental Management. 3 hours. Practice, problems and politics
of administration, including executive leadership, planning and
decision making, and organizational behavior and structure.

5060. Seminar in Intergovernmental Relations. 3 hours. Analysis of
political, administrative and fiscal relationships among governments in
the American political system. May be repeated for credit as topics
vary.

5100. Local Government Management. 3 hours. Organization and management
of American local government, including executive leadership,
governance structures and service implementation with emphasis on
council-manager government.

5140. Municipal Law. 3 hours. Survey of legal problems common to most
local governments. Development of competency in researching municipal
law and in writing administrative reports based on the law.

5200. Public Personnel Management. 3 hours. Managing human resources in
national, state and local governments.

5300. Introduction to Planning. 3 hours. Examination of state, regional
and local government planning. Course explores planning theory, the
planning process, managing planning, implementing plans, and citizen
participation.

5400. Governmental Budgeting. 3 hours. Principles of the budgetary
process and innovations in budget preparation, including performance
budgeting, program budgeting and zero-base budgeting. Emphasis is given
to the role of the budget process as a tool for financial control,
improving program performance and policy making.

5410. Capital Budgeting and Planning. 3 hours. Examination of capital
budgeting and planning in government. Course explores the financial
aspects of water and waste water utilities, roads and highways,
airports, parks, stormwater drainage and other infrastructure. Key
dimensions of budgeting, planning and managing public works facilities
are detailed through lectures, case studies and papers.

5420. Revenue Policy and Administration. 3 hours. Examination of the
economic, political and administrative issues that governments
encounter when making revenue decisions, including how to achieve
equity, economic efficiency and administrative feasibility. Topics
include the three principal revenue sources of government -- income,
sales and property taxes -- plus such nontax sources as user charges,
grants-in-aid and lotteries. This course is restricted to those
majoring in public administration or political science.

5430. Financial Accountability in Government. 3 hours. An introduction
to financial control in government, including fund accounting,
financial reporting, internal controls and auditing. Particular
emphasis is given to the public manager's use of accounting information
in such contexts as budget decision making, pricing government
services, cash planning and municipal bond ratings.

5500. Administrative Research Methods. 3 hours. Methods and techniques
of applied research; research project design and reporting.

5510. Quantitative Analysis for Public Administration. 3 hours.
Development of skills in gathering, processing and interpreting data
for administrative decision making. Specific skills in survey research,
computer processing of data and application of statistical tests to
data.

5530. Advanced Microcomputer Applications in Government. 3 hours. This
course, designed for MPA students, stresses the application of various
software packages to decision making in a public management context.
Familiarity with word processing and the use of spreadsheets is
assumed. Students lacking such competency should enroll in CSCI 5010 or
BCIS 5090.

5540. Public Decision Making Techniques. 3 hours. Examination of
fundamental techniques used to assist public administrators in making
decisions. Rationalism, incrementalism, probability models,
cost-benefit analysis, forecasting and other methods are explored. The
theory and practice of each approach is presented, along with case
studies that use each technique.

5550. Seminar in Program Evaluation. 3 hours. Evaluation, performance
measurement and monitoring in the management of government programs
using the methods of social science to evaluate the effectiveness of
government services. Prerequisite(s): PADM 5510 or equivalent.

5700. Seminar in Public Administration. 3 hours. Concepts, problems and
processes of public administration. May be repeated for credit as
topics vary.

5800-5810. Public Management Internship. 3 hours each. Acquisition of
practical public management experience through an arranged internship
in a governmental or non-profit agency for at least one semester.
Periodic seminars, supervision and a final administrative report are
required. Prerequisite(s): consent of department chair. Pass/no pass
only.

5900-5910. Special Problems. 1-3 hours each. Conference courses open to
advanced students capable of doing independent research under the
direction of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): consent of department
chair.

5950. Master's Thesis. 3 or 6 hours. To be scheduled only with consent
of department. 6 hours credit required. No credit assigned until thesis
has been completed and filed with the graduate dean. Continuous
enrollment required once work on thesis has begun. May be repeated for
credit.