Graduate Certificate in Public Management
Overview | Course Listings | Faculty
The following courses have been approved for the Certificate in Public Management.
Please note, not all classes are available each semester. Please check with advisors for the most up-to-date list of courses.
Required Courses
PSAA 623: Budgeting in Public Service
Designed to introduce selected topics in public administration and political science literature on the politics of public finance and budgeting; introduce the practice of budgeting by learning language and issues common to budgeting in government.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 634: Public Management
Addresses three critical aspects of public management; the role of management in the public sector, validity of the argument that government should be run like a business and the tools public managers need to be effective. Application of organizational theory concepts applied to case studies.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Elective Courses
PSAA 602: Tools of Leadership in Public Organizations
In-depth study of public service leadership and management skills; centered primarily in the context of organizations and people engaged in governance and public service, primarily public and nonprofit sectors.
PSAA 604: Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Provides an overview of emergency management and its connection with homeland security; topics include emergency management cycles, activities that fall into mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery phases of emergency management; other topics may include emergency management of terrorism, disaster communication, media relations, and performance assessment for emergency management organizations.
PSAA 606: Environmental Policy and Management
Covers environmental policy areas, including air and water pollution, toxic waste disposal, public land use, sustainable development, and resource conservation. Explores actions of governmental institutions and actors at all levels in their efforts to implement and manage environmental policy.
Prerequisite(s): Graduate classification.
PSAA 608: Cybersecurity Policy, Issues and Operations – A Manager’s Guide
Overview related to U.S. homeland defense and homeland security; includes cyber threats; cyberwar; securing cyberspace in public and private sector; protecting data, systems and networks that are connected to the Internet and the Internet of Things.
PSAA 610: Comparative Public Administration and Management
Addresses challenges in policy implementation, public administration and public management; draws on experiences of a wide range of developed and developing countries; explores factors behind variations in institutional and social contexts; utilizes case discussion to help students confront challenges and constraints faced in public organizations and public managers worldwide.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 616: Managing Workplace Diversity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations
Examination of how public policy issues are contested and shaped by the major cleavages in American society, such as race and ethnicity, economic and social class, and gender; strategies for building consensus across these divisions.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.
PSAA 617 U.S. State and Local Government: Institutions and Policy
A practical, working knowledge of the institutions and processes through which state and local policy is made and implemented; application of theoretical and empirical tools used to evaluate policy at the state and local levels.
PSAA 619: Urban Policy and Management
Overview of U.S. urban policy, management and institutions; theory and research on governmental functions and policies; exposure to actual policymakers and jurisdictions; for careers in regional or local levels of U.S. government.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification; PSAA 601, PSAA 611 or approval of instructor or department head.
PSAA 625: Urban Sustainability Policies and Management
Relationship between local political processes and the pursuit of sustainable development; theoretical underpinnings of sustainability and sustainable development as applied in the local city context of the United States and the way these concepts actually got defined through local political and policymaking processes.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 626 Contract Management
Fundamentals of the contracting and procurement processes; exploration of the authority of government agents to contract; examination of remedies in government contracting, including the Government Accountability Office’s protest system and actions in federal courts; focuses on the federal level but applicable to state and local levels.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 630: Program Evaluation in Public and Nonprofit Organizations
Organizations today are responding to increasing demands for accountability. These demands come from an increasingly sophisticated public and clientele, and from funding sources including government, foundations, and corporations. This course is designed to introduce theories, research, and practice for program evaluation and systems that support the organization’s information needs.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 636: Grant and Contract Management for the Public and Nonprofit Sector
Examination of the use and provision of grants in the public and nonprofit sectors; exploration of the conceptual background of government and private grants; the management of grants and projects; application of skills and methods related to proposal writing needs statements, program budgets and evaluations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 637: Decision Making in Government and Public Service
Introduction to the study and practice of judgment and decision making processes in government and administrative settings; content is firmly grounded in empirically-based theory and research with a practical slant designed to help develop and improve decision making skills.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 641: Organization Theory for the Public Sector
Theories of bureaucracy and control, management, human relations, decision making and organizations and their environments; effects of organizations on individuals, the government and the policy formation process.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification and approval of MPSA or MPIA director.
PSAA 642: Ethics in Public Policy
Theory and practice for analyzing and responding to the ethical responsibilities and dilemmas for professional conduct; ethical dimensions of analysis and decision making for policy makers and public administrators.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 644: Management and Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations
Introduction and overview of nonprofit organizations and the environment they operate in; examination of the distinctiveness of these organizations and the special skills required for effective management of them; empirical and normative issues surrounding nonprofit management and leadership.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 648: Performance Management in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
Drawing on readings, practical exercises, and guest lectures, students will examine public sector performance management and measurement as tools for improving strategic planning, resource allocation, organizational learning, internal operational processes, and internal and external accountability. Students will apply their learning to the development of a particular organization’s performance measurement system.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
PSAA 661: Human Resources Management in Government and Public Service
Organization and operation of civil service personnel systems in American governments.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.
