Public Administration (PUAD)
Public and International Affairs
502 Administration in Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3:3:0) Graduate introduction to field of public administration. Focuses on structure, functions, and processes of executive branch agencies of national, state, and local governments. Emphasizes nonprofit organizations as co-actors with government in policy-making/policy implementation nexus.
504 Managing in the International Arena: Theory and Practice (3:3:0) Theoretical and empirical examination of international system that both affects and is affected by decisions, behaviors, and subsystems of state and nonstate (organizational) actors.
505 Introduction to Management of Nonprofits (1-3:3:0) Examines nonprofit organizations and their role in contemporary society. Explores unique aspects of nonprofits including voluntary governance, tax-exempt status, nonprofit corporation law, accounting practices, fund raising, finance, and management of volunteers. Emphasizes board/executive relationship, and value of establishing and maintaining nonprofit organization's reputation.
509 Justice Organizations and Processes (3:3:0) Examines structures, practices, and performance of organizations involved in administration of justice (law enforcement, courts and legal agencies, corrections, regulatory and related agencies, private organizations) Explores applicability of various theoretical perspectives on organizational processes, and considers extent to which processes operate as a system. Focuses on comparing formal goals and system expectations to actual practice.
510 Policing in a Democratic Society (3:3:0) Topics include police mission; impact of police subculture; defining, recognizing, and measuring good police work; moral hazards of policing such as corruption, brutality, and deception; promotion of integrity, discretion, and control; impact of police practices on crime and disorder; securing public support; and legitimacy of police, community policing, and other reforms.
611 Problem Solving and Data Analysis I (3:3:0) Prerequisite: passing grade on screening exam. Techniques, skills for public managers to solve policy-related problems or analyze policy-related data. Focuses on problem definition, research design, and problem solving under conditions of uncertainty in public sector.
612 Problem Solving and Data Analysis II (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 611. Techniques and skills for public managers to solve policy-related problems or analyze policy-related data. Focuses on data gathering and analysis, use of computers, systems theory and analysis, and operations research.
613 Economic Analysis in Public Administration (3:3:0) Covers major economic issues about role of markets and government in global world. Applies fundamental economic concepts such as cost benefit analysis to public sector.
615 Administrative Law (3:3:0) Covers law as guiding and controlling force in public-sector operations. Includes application of legal processes to administrative practices and situations, and administrative determination of private rights and obligations.
620 Organization Theory and Management Behavior (3:3:0) Considers behavior in context of public organization, and consequent changes required in management. Focuses on such issues as perception, attitude formation, motivation, leadership, systems theory, communication and information flow, conflict theory, and decision theory.
621 Principles and Practices in Government Organization and Management (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 620. Major management theories applicable to American federal system. Emphasizes organization, structure, and operations. Explores relationship of theories to management practices in contemporary American administration.
622 Program Planning and Implementation (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 620. Practical exploration of implementing public law in American federal system. Studies construction of organizational apparatus, development of operational plans, and systems of control and evaluation necessary to implement government programs. Emphasizes coordinating tasks and resources required for effective program implementation.
623 Managing Government Contracting (3:3:0) Explores unique management and administrative challenges of providing public goods and services through contracts. Examines debates over privatization, and explores tools managers need to address unique accountability challenges associated with this governance tool.
625 Higher Education Law (3:3:0) Analysizes legal issues confronting higher education: governance, faculty matters, and student issues. Examples include due process, freedom of speech, and privacy. Reviews key constituents in higher education-students, faculty, administrators, board of trustees, and parents-and how their roles are changing.
630 Emergency Planning and Preparedness (3:3:0) Provides an understanding of the issues associated in developing plans and policies to prepare for disasters, both natural and man made. Overview of nature of challenges posed by different kinds of disasters; discussion of regulatory requirements, sample plans, equipment requirements, collateral and mutual aid support agreements, and methods for testing and updating plans.
631 Disaster Response Operations and Recovery (3:3:0) Explores the principles and practices that promote effective disaster response operations and management. Examines nature of disasters, models for response operations in the United States and roles and responsibilities of various emergency management-related organizations.
632 Homeland Security: Terrorism, Threat, and Vulnerability Analysis (3:3:0) Examines how terrorism has spurred sharp changes in U.S. strategy, policy and governmental design, and how those changes should continue over the near and long terms. Discusses elements of threat and vulnerability assessments, as well as procedures for assessment.
634 Management of International Security (3:3:0) Examines theory and practice of managing international security. Emphasizes interplay of organizational structure and bureaucratic dynamics in international context. Presents theory and practice of crisis management, and coordination and comparison of security methods and techniques.
635 Emergency Preparedness: Interagency Communication and Coordination (3:3:0) Considers complex relationships within governments and across sectors and levels of government for effective emergency management in planning, response, recovery, and mitigation phases. Explores intergovernmental management and network management theories and research to understand the nature of interorganizational problems and potential models for collaboration.
636 The NGO: Policy and Management (1-3:3:0) Explores unique aspects of nonprofit organizations operating in international environments, particularly in relief and development work. Examines relationship between NGO and U.S. and foreign governments. Covers international philanthropy; cross-cultural understanding; and key managerial concerns such as communications, planning, human resource management, control, group process, and project evaluation.
640 Public Policy Process (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502. Processes of making public policy, including detection of public issues, consideration of alternatives, and adoption and implementation of solutions. Highlights major actors in policy process, and environment within which they work.
642 Environmental Policy (3:3:0) In-depth examination of environmental policymaking. Examines U.S. efforts from 1970 to present to mitigate pollution of nation's air, land, and water; and addresses issues of global concern including biodiversity loss, ozone depletion, and climate change.
643 Public Policy Research (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 640. Examines major concepts, designs, and methods used in applied policy research. Explores underlying logic of policy inquiry, and use of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Includes case applications of major styles of inquiry; and steps in planning, administering, and reporting policy research.
644 Public Policy Models (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 640. Approaches to modeling policy problems. Includes analysis and comparison of dominant paradigms in policy sciences. Reviews assumptions and implications of different models and their utility for analysis, implementation, and evaluation.
651 Virginia Politics, Policy, and Administration (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502. Cultural, demographic, constitutional, and socioeconomic environment of public administration in Virginia. Covers governmental agencies, legislative functions, executive leadership, staff agencies, state-local relationships, intrastate regionalism, administrative customs peculiar to Virginia.
652 Nonprofit Leadership and Change (3:3:0) Examines the principles of leadership and the process of change within the context of the nonprofit sector and its role in the community. Looks at current changes and challenges within the nonprofit sector and their effect on the sector and society as a whole.
654 The Community, Marketing, and Public Relations (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502 or 505. Focuses on marketing concepts and communications issues of nonprofit organization as they apply to identifying market, ability to formulate public image and reputation, and capability to raise money and retain membership or volunteers.
655 Philanthropy and Fund Raising (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502 or 505. Examines history of philanthropy and relationship to nonprofit, government, and commercial sectors in United States. Studies principles of financial development including governance, development of organizational capacity, and identification of funding sources and donor motivations. Provides understanding of fundraising techniques that generate financial support for nonprofits, and context in which these methods may be used.
657 Association Management (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502 or 505. Practical application of management theory in context of professional and trade associations. Covers legal structures, tax-exempt status, and general organizational structure. Topics include volunteer management, budgeting and accounting practices in associations, fundraising, media relations, media and event planning, and human resource management.
659 Nonprofit Law, Governance, and Ethics (3:3:0) Prerequisite: graduate standing. Overview of nonprofit governance as well as basic contract, labor, and tax law issues within nonprofit corporation law. Covers relationship between board and executive, and ethics topics typical to nonprofit organizations such as self-dealing, fiduciary responsibility, and human resource issues.
660 Public and Nonprofit Accounting and Finance (3:3:0) Prerequisite: course open only to admitted MPA or association/nonprofit management certificate students. Studies fundamental normative debates in public and nonprofit financial management arena with focus on resulting implementation principles and techniques in governmental accounting, financial reporting, budget and revenue decisions, debt management, cash and investment management, pensions and employee benefits, and risk management.
661 Public Budgeting Systems (3:3:0) Survey focusing on policy and theoretical framework of revenue and expenditure choices at all levels of government. Topics include development, theories, structure of budgeting; political, economic, and managerial aspects of public budgeting; public policy implications; and budgetary reform movements and successes and failures.
662 National Budgeting (3:3:0) Examines formulation of overall national fiscal policy and budgetary priorities through presidential and congressional budget processes, including decisions over spending and revenues.
663 State and Local Budgeting (3:3:0) Introduces state and local government budgeting including principal actors and institutions inside and outside state and local governments that play role in budget development, appropriation, implementation, and auditing.
664 Nonprofit Financial Management (1-3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 660, or permission of instructor. Covers nonprofit financial management with attention to conflicts between social mission and financial entrepreneurship. Topics include mission, budgeting, fund raising, commercial programs, investments, accounting and information systems, financial reporting, auditing, and internal control.
670 Human Resources Management in the Public Sector (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 502. Overview of range and complexity of functions, responsibilities, and expectations of human resource staff and line managers in public sector. Focuses on human resources management in context of political, legal, and managerial systems. Human resource functions, such as hiring, performance, and development, are also presented.
671 Public Employee Labor Relations (3:3:0) Public employee labor relations, including unionization, representational elections, bilateral policy negotiations, administration of agreements, management rights, union and membership security, strike issue and grievance procedures, impact on public administration, and assessment of future developments.
680 Managing Information Resources (3:3:0) Prerequisite: admission to MPA program, or permission of instructor. Examines how managerial and analytical functions in public organizations can be performed via end-user computer applications. Provides in-depth coverage of selected database and decision support packages, and gives attention to logic and integration of application software.
691 Justice Program Planning and Implementation (3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502 and 509. Covers development and construction of organizational systems to implement government policies and programs. Emphasizes dealing with real-world challenges, constraints, and opportunities to create feasible plans, performance-monitoring systems, and secure multiple agency coordination. Applications of planning and implementation principles to actual projects in justice agencies.
700 Ethics and Public Administration (3:3:0) Prerequisite: admission to MPA program, and 18 credits. Topics of ethical dimensions including constitutionalism, democratic values and traditions, standards of conduct and ethics, and conflicting values of public officials and social equity of public programs.
701 Cross-Cultural and Ethical Dimensions of International Management (3:3:0) To be taken in final two semesters of MPA program. Examines normative issues in management of programs in international context. Emphasizes interplay of cultural, sociopolitical, legal, and ethical factors, and management and policy problems arising from conflicting goals, values, and inequities among nations and regions.
703 Third-Party Governance (3:3:0) Examines design and management of government programs relying on other levels of government and private sector for delivery, with focus on such governmental tools as contracts, grants, loans, regulation, and tax credits.
720 Performance Measurement (3:3:0) Methods used by managers to systematically assess performance. Includes practical tools such as focus groups, survey research, cost/benefit analysis, benchmarking, and comparison methods for revealing outcomes and impacts. Prepares managers to use information more effectively in developing programs and services and formulating policy, and covers reporting techniques to communicate performance results.
727 Seminar in Risk Assessment and Decision Making (3:3:0) Prerequisite: 12 graduate credits. Examines decision making under risk and uncertainty. Readings introduce major intellectual perspectives on topic and are drawn from variety of disciplines, including biology, economics, law, and psychology. Emphasizes making actual decisions under uncertainty.
729 Issues in Public Management (1-3:1-3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Current issues in management of public organizations in contemporary American government. Includes practical applications of theories and analysis to managerial problems. Emphasizes competence in improving management in selected government settings. May be repeated with different topic.
730 Professional Development Workshop (1-3:1-3:0) Explores external and internal factors reshaping public and nonprofit organizations. Investigates processes and techniques that managers and staff can use to respond to rapid environmental change. Emphasizes case studies, and application of techniques and processes.
731 Homeland Security: Transportation Security Administration (3:3:0) Examines the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the vulnerabilities in the aviation security system, and reasons why elected leaders and officials did not act more decisively to improve security. Includes the development of radical Islam and the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. (Previously PUAD 729.)
738 Issues in International Security (1-3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 504, and 9 graduate credits. Examines issues of topical interest in general area of international security. Possible topics include nuclear strategy, disarmament, American defense policy, and international terrorism. May be repeated with different topic.
739 Issues in International Management (1-3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Examines significant current issues in public international management. Emphasizes practical applications of theories and analysis of problems in public international management arena, and competence in improving management practices in international management settings.
741 Policy Analysis (3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, 611, 612, and 640. Introduces concepts and techniques for formal policy analysis, development of skills in applying policy analysis techniques through case studies, and exploring legitimacy and utility of policy analysis.
742 Program Evaluation (3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502 and 611. Practical exploration of assessment techniques used in studying results of public programs and policies, including evaluation of implementation strategies and impacts. Draws on multiple approaches such as cost analysis, field research, experiments, productivity analysis, surveys and questionnaires, and qualitative studies.
749 Issues in Public Policy (1-3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Examines significant issues in public policy in contemporary American government. Emphasizes practical applications of theories and analysis to policy problems, and competence in improving policy analysis in selected government settings.
750 Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations (3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Examines broad trends in governance, including theory and practice of various governance choices. Choices include privatization, decentralization of governmental activity, grants-in-aid and growth of mandates, changing role of state and local governments, proposals for reforming federalism, and regulatory reform.
758 Environmental Politics (3:3:0) Evolution and current state of environmental policymaking. Includes history, strengths, and weaknesses of key U.S. environmental laws and central international environmental agreements. Introduces analytical approaches, including cost-benefit and risk analysis. Discusses economic incentives and normative considerations.
759 Issues in Local Government Administration (1-3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Management and policy formulation in American local governments. Addresses environments, institutions, and actors involved. Examines contemporary problems such as education, criminal justice, transportation, land use, economic development, and environmental impact. May be repeated with different topic.
769 Issues in Public Financial Management (1-3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502, and 9 graduate credits. Current issues in budgeting and financial management in contemporary American government. Exmphasizes practical applications of administration and management issues and policy choices at all levels of government.
781 Information Management: Technology and Policy (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 680, or permission of instructor. Examines challenges that organizations encounter as they move to a more technologically sophisticated information and communication environment. Studies organizational policy issues evolving from new technologies, including privacy, security, authentication, content control, intellectual property, and taxation, focusing on effectiveness of previous policy solutions and analyzing proposed solutions.
790 Justice Organization and Administration (3:3:0) Examines organization and administration of justice and security organizations. Covers organization theory and behavior as applied to justice and security organizations.
791 Justice Program Evaluation (3:3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 611 and 612. Practical exploration of assessment techniques used to study need for and consequences of justice programs and policies. Covers needs assessments, process, and impact evaluations. Includes design and measurement issues for assessing performance of justice programs, and interpreting and presenting results. Emphasizes designing program evaluation for justice agency.
793 Conduct of Justice Organizations at the Street Level (3:3:0) Prerequisite: JLCP 740/GOVT 790, or permission of instructor. Explores how justice organizations behave at lowest levels, where service is delivered and discretion is greatest. Includes suspects, victims, witnesses, police officers, prison guards, parole officers, attorneys, and others who interact with the justice system.
794 Internship (1-6:0:0) Prerequisite: 12 PUAD credits or permission of instructor. Open only to MPA students. Contact internship coordinator one semester before enrollment. Credit determined by the department.
795 Leadership in Justice and Security Organizations (3:3:0) Prerequisite JLCP 740/PUAD 790, or permission of instructor. Examines leadership theories, and explores fundamental questions about leadership in justice and security organizations today.
796 Directed Readings and Research (1-3:0:0) Prerequisites: 18 PUAD credits and permission of instructor. Reading and research on specific topic under direction of faculty member. Written report is required; oral exam covering research and report may be required. May be repeated once.
797 Changing Justice and Security Organizations (3:3:0) Prerequisite: JLCP 740/PUAD790 or permission of instructor. Examines challenges of changing justice organizations, how changes have been successfully and unsuccessfully implemented in the past, and what change strategies appear to be most effective.
799 Issues in Justice Administration (1-3:1-3:0) Prerequisites: PUAD 502 and 9 graduate credits. Explores current issues in justice administration. Considers diverse perspectives on current and emerging issues concerning administration of justice. Emphasizes using theory and evidence to evaluate different viewpoints on issues. Course topics vary, typically focusing on law enforcement, corrections, legal issues and public law, crime control, conflict resolution, victimization experience, technological innovation, public participation in justice process, or cross-national comparison of justice systems.
821 Doctoral Seminar in Theories of Organization and Bureaucracy (3:3:0) Prerequisite: PUAD 620 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Examines key issues in organization theory and behavior. Issues include organization design; interorganizational coordination, intelligence and decision-making systems; leadership and motivation theories; and theories or organizations as agents of political and social change. Uses case studies.
840/PUBP 840 Research Seminar in Policy Governance I (2:2:0) to (4:3:1) (variable credit) Prerequisite: admission to doctoral program or permission of instructor. Surveys major institutions that formulate and implement public policy in United States. Examines translation of public preferences into public policy, and decisions about which societal and economic functions are most appropriately carried out by governments, and which are best accomplished by private institutions and individuals.
841/PUBP 841 Research Seminar in Policy Governance II (2-4:2-3:0-1) Prerequisite: admission to doctoral program. Second of two-semester sequence (PUAD 840, 841) in governance and public management policy concentration. Focuses on division of responsibilities among several levels of government, and between public and private sectors. Explores impact of these divisions on development of public policy in several policy areas, such as urban governance, environmental policy, and health care.
998 Doctoral Proposal Research (1-6:0:0) Prerequisite: permission of advisor. Work on a research proposal that forms basis for doctoral dissertation.
999 Doctoral Dissertation (1-24:0:0) Prerequisite: permission of participant's dissertation committee. Registration for total credits may be spread over a multisemester contiguous period. PhD candidates must register for at least 3 credits each semester until dissertation completed.