Political Science
- Master of Public Administration
- Accelerated BA+MPA Program
- Certificate, Nonprofit and Community Leadership
Nancy Miller, Department Chairperson
Joshua Ambrosius, Master of Public Administration Program Director
The Department of Political Science offers one graduate degree, the Master of Public Administration (MPA). The MPA program prepares public-servant leaders for careers dedicated to the common good in the public or nonprofit sectors. Specifically, this professional degree equips graduates to:
- articulate, apply, and advance a public service perspective;
- lead and manage in the public interest;
- participate in and contribute to the public policy process;
- analyze, synthesize, and think critically to solve problems and make evidence-informed decisions in a complex and dynamic environment; and
- communicate and interact productively and in culturally appropriate ways with a diverse and changing workforce and society.
The Department also offers a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit and Community Leadership (NPCL), which may be completed as a standalone credential or in combination with the MPA or other degrees. The NPCL certificate prepares students for leadership careers in nonprofit organizations or within other sectors that interact with nonprofit organizations.
Master of Public Administration (PAD)
To receive the Master of Public Administration degree, the student must satisfactorily complete 39 semester hours of coursework with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
The 39 hours of coursework must include:
| MPA 500 | Public Administration | 3 |
| MPA 504 | State & Local Government | 3 |
| or MPA 551 | Introduction to Public Policy | |
| MPA 510 | Quantitative Methods in Public Administration | 3 |
| MPA 511 | Applied Research Techniques | 3 |
| MPA 520 | Organization Theory | 3 |
| MPA 526 | Leadership in Building Communities | 3 |
| or MPA 524 | Ethics in Public Administration | |
| MPA 530 | Public Budgeting | 3 |
| MPA 540 | Public Sector Human Resource Management | 3 |
| MPA 599 | Public Administration Capstone | 3 |
The remaining 12 hours will consist of elective MPA courses or, with the approval of the MPA Program Director, relevant courses offered by other graduate programs. Students may choose to apply the elective hours to the completion of a Graduate Certificate, such as Nonprofit and Community Leadership or a Certificate offered by another Department. Pre-service students are encouraged, but not required, to complete an internship for 3 or 6 hours of elective credit. Students must seek approval to enroll in the MPA 595 Internship course. Additionally, students may seek approval for tailored course options using the MPA 593 Independent Study or MPA 597 Public Service Project courses – both are also limited to no more than 6 hours. Students should generally wait to enroll in MPA 593, MPA 595, or MPA 597 only after completing 18 hours of regular courses.
Students may seek to transfer up to 9 hours of relevant coursework completed at another university. All core courses are eligible, with approval, to be fulfilled by the transfer of the equivalent outside course – with the exceptions of MPA 500 and MPA 599, which must be completed within the MPA program.
Accelerated BA+MPA Program
UD undergraduate students with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better at the time of application are eligible to participate in the accelerated BA+MPA program. Eligible undergraduate students are required to apply for admission to the Bachelor's-Plus-Master's (BPM) Program. Through careful coordination, the BPM program allows up to 9 hours to double-count for both the student’s undergraduate degree and the MPA degree. Interested students should consult the MPA Program Director for details on how to apply and which courses should make up the 9 hours. Generally, an undergraduate student in the MPA program’s BPM pathway will enroll in MPA 500, MPA 510, and MPA 511 during their junior and/or senior years, although alternative courses may be selected in consultation with the Program Director. At the completion of the undergraduate requirements, accelerated program students should apply for admission into the MPA program with regular status, after submission of all required admission materials and review by the MPA Director and admissions committee. Students who completed 9 hours as an undergraduate will then complete the remaining 30 hours once matriculated into the MPA program.
Certificate in Nonprofit and Community Leadership (NPF)
| MPA 561 | Nonprofit & Community Leadership | 3 |
| Electives | 9 | |
| Program Evaluation | ||
| Leadership in Building Communities | ||
| Strategic Planning for Nonprofit & Community Organizations | ||
| NGO Management & Development | ||
| Grantwriting | ||
| Nonprofit Community Relations | ||
| Nonprofit Financial Management | ||
| Total hours | 12 | |
Courses
MPA 500. Public Administration. 3 Hours
Study of administrative organization, systems, processes and methods as applied to government programs and operations, with a comparison of structural and behavioral approaches.
MPA 504. State & Local Government. 3 Hours
An in-depth examination of particular state-local institutional relationships with emphasis upon current issues.
MPA 508. Contemporary Issues. 3 Hours
An in-depth examination of a current management issue supported by recent literature in public administration and relevant to surrounding local governments. Analysis of root causes of the problem issue. Exploration of management approaches available to local governments. May be repeated once when course focus changes.
MPA 510. Quantitative Methods in Public Administration. 3 Hours
Introduction to research techniques involving quantitative methods and analysis applicable to the formation and implementation of public programs. Emphasis on basic statistics and research methodology. Aimed at understanding appropriate application and interpretation of quantitative methods rather than competence in practical or scholarly use.
MPA 511. Applied Research Techniques. 3 Hours
Introduction to statistical computing techniques, review of research design and inferential statistics, Ordinary Least Square techniques, violations of assumptions, multi-level modeling, and other topics.
Prerequisite(s): MPA 510.
MPA 513. Geographic Information Systems for Public Administration. 3 Hours
Concepts and implementation of project design and analysis in geographic information systems (GIS). Students will learn the practice of GIS as a tool for spatial analysis, and as it applies in public administration. The course will stress database design and present skills for data input, query analysis, and data output using GIS.
MPA 514. Government Planning. 3 Hours
Consideration of the planning function in the administrative process and the role of planning agencies in decision-making and problem solving. Evaluation of trends and changing planning characteristics in the United States.
MPA 515. Emergency Management. 3 Hours
Explores policy approaches and administrative response strategies related to various phases of disasters and security crises in the U.S. and international settings with attention to human rights issues.
MPA 516. Program Evaluation. 3 Hours
Program evaluation is the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a program. It involves comparing the outcomes of a program to its goals and objectives. Program evaluation is an important tool for organizations to ensure that their programs are meeting their intended results.
MPA 520. Organization Theory. 3 Hours
Survey of current literature and research on the theory of complex organizations. Rationality in decision making; problems of authority; behavioral, political, and technical influences on organization.
MPA 524. Ethics in Public Administration. 3 Hours
This course stimulates an awareness of the moral dimension of public sector problems and decision making contexts. It provides students the tools and techniques they can use to meet demands for ethical judgments and decisive action in their public management careers.
MPA 526. Leadership in Building Communities. 3 Hours
Seminar class where teams are formed to learn about the processes of building a neighborhood and recommending supportive public policy and other strategic interventions. Participants will be encouraged to refine their notions of community and leadership and to recommend strategies which capitalize on neighborhood assets, improve outcomes, and build community.
MPA 530. Public Budgeting. 3 Hours
Study of governmental expenditures and revenues, budgetary and financial reporting, fiscal policy, and other areas of fiscal management, with emphasis on current practices and problems.
MPA 540. Public Sector Human Resource Management. 3 Hours
Broad-based study of people management ranging from the development and integration of organizational policy, through the many personnel administrative processes, and the human and regulatory aspects affecting the contemporary public sector workforce.
MPA 551. Introduction to Public Policy. 3 Hours
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of public policy and public policymaking. The central concerns of the course involve competing models of the policy process, the policymaking process in the United States, the interplay between the political and economic systems in policymaking, and the processes of policy analysis and evaluation.
MPA 555. Selected Topics in Public Policy. 3 Hours
Policy process, policy outcomes, and policy impact in an area or areas of public policy varying among such topics as transportation, education, welfare, national defense, science, civil rights, and urban and community development. May be repeated when topic changes.
MPA 556. Environmental Policy. 3 Hours
Examines environmental policymaking and implementation in the U.S. and analyzes government responses to particular environmental issues.
MPA 557. Health Policy. 3 Hours
Health policies are public policies or authoritative decisions that pertain to health or influence the pursuit of health, and affect or influence groups or classes of individuals or organizations. This course introduces the major policy issues impacting healthcare value today at the federal, state and local levels and the influential role of advocates in the process. The course focuses on understanding the basics of health policy, health value, Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and examines selected public health issues in greater depth along with the current policy and policy opportunities impacting those issues at the federal, the state and local levels.
MPA 561. Nonprofit & Community Leadership. 3 Hours
This course surveys the generalized body of knowledge common to all nonprofit and community organizations, distinguishing them from governmental and for-profit entities. Emphasis placed upon an overall understanding of the nonprofit and community sector and its emerging role in society.
MPA 562. Strategic Planning for Nonprofit & Community Organizations. 3 Hours
For nonprofit and community organizations to stay relevant and competitive in an increasingly complex environment, such organizations must continually vision, plan, develop, and implement long-range strategic plans. This course explores and analyzes, step-by-step, the various requirements, components, and challenges in developing a strategic plan for nonprofit and community organizations. Prerequisite(s): MPA 561.
MPA 563. NGO Management & Development. 3 Hours
This course examines the management and function of non-governmental organizations with human-rights advocacy, humanitarian, and/or development missions.
MPA 565. Grantwriting. 3 Hours
Explores the entire continuum of grant writing including the core components of a grant proposal, writing persuasive grant proposals, and proper formatting and submission of grant proposals.
MPA 566. Nonprofit Community Relations. 3 Hours
This course examines how nonprofit organizations build and maintain relationships with a wide network of stakeholders including governments, other nonprofits, private sector, citizens and clients. Prerequisite(s): MPA 561.
MPA 569. Nonprofit Financial Management. 3 Hours
An introduction to accounting and financial accounting as essential parts of an information system that supports economic and program decision making in nonprofit organizations.
MPA 571. Administrative Law. 3 Hours
Study of the judicial function and activities of federal agencies; formal and informal processes in administrative hearings; basic principles of administrative law; judicial interpretation; the question of increased judicialization of the administrative process.
MPA 591. Seminar in Public Administration. 3 Hours
No description available.
MPA 593. Independent Study in Public Administration. 1-6 Hours
Intensive independent research under the direction of a faculty member. Research paper. May be repeated when topic changes. Prior approval of formal project proposal required.
MPA 595. Government Internship. 1-6 Hours
Assignment to appropriate government agencies or units for the purpose of gaining wide experience with the administrative system through a program of work experiences. Internship includes a related academic requirement.
MPA 597. Public Service Project. 3-6 Hours
For students seeking experience with public or nonprofit organizations. Completion of an applied written project for an organization that relates theories and information from the field of public administration. Prior approval of formal project proposal required.
MPA 599. Public Administration Capstone. 3 Hours
Seminar course integrating professional development, critical analysis of current topics and trends, finalization of student portfolio, reflective essay, and integrative presentation to faculty panel.
Prerequisite(s): All MPA core courses.
Corequisite(s): may be taken with MPA 511.