Certificate in Public & Non-Profit Management

The Certificate Program in Public and Non-Profit Management provides graduate students and working professionals with a new option to enhance their professional skills. Public management is a subfield within the areas of public administration and public policy. The program will focus on the similarities and juxtaposition of management issues in the public and non-profit sector. In addition, the certificate program is designed to enhance survey research skills and foster increased sensitivity to ethical and moral issues in public management.

Requirements for Enrollment

  1. A cumulative grade point average of 2.75 (based on all hours attempted) OR
    a 3.0 grade point average for the last two years of undergraduate work.
  2. Students should have a substantial number of political science courses at the undergraduate level. Students who fail to meet this requirement must successfully complete undergraduate deficiency courses with a grade of ÒBÓ or better.
  3. Those students who do not meet regular admission requirements may be considered for probationary admission upon submission of official GRE scores. Additional consideration will be given to applicants who have practical experience in the public and private sector.
  4. Submission of a writing sample in English of at least two pages in length such as a short essay, a research paper, or a statement outlining academic goals.
  5. At least three letters of recommendation.

Core Courses

POLS 494G Public Budgeting Systems3 s.h.
POLS 546 Public Administration3 s.h.
POLS 592 Public Personnel Politics and Administration 3 s.h.
9 s.h.

 

Two Courses chosen from the following list, in consultation with Certificate Program Advisor

POLS 493G Seminar in Organizational Theory & Behavior 3 s.h.
POLS 549 Public Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation 3 s.h.
SOC/ANTH 432G Survey Methodology 3 s.h.
ECON 508 Economics for Decision Makers 3 s.h.
POLS 567 Ethics in the Public Sector 3 s.h.
POLS 550 Nonprofit Management 3 s.h.
6 s.h.

TOTAL15 s.h.


Course Descriptions

POLS 494G Public Budgeting Systems. (3) Financial and budgetary processes and problems of public agencies at various governmental levels. Includes types and functions of budgets. Systematic program evaluation and budgetary allocation questions are emphasized.

POLS 546 Public Administration. (3) This course is an examination and discussion of selected problems, concepts and issues of public administration.

POLS 592 Public Personnel Politics and Administration. (3) Historical overview of public sector hiring systems. Coverage of legal and management issues in personnel administration. Examination of political context of government recruitment.

POLS 493G Seminar in Organizational Theory and Behavior. (3) Review of classical and modern theories of administration. Goals and expectations of high echelon administrators. Treatment of authority relationships in formal organizations.

POLS 549 Public Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation. (3) Analysis of the processes of policy formation, policy contents, and outcomes of a number of domestic policy areas and niches.

SOC/ANTH 432G Survey Methodology. (3) This course is designed to review each stage of the survey research process including sampling techniques, questionnaire development, and data collection techniques using surveys. We will also review literature on traditional modes of administration (face-to-face interviewing, telephone surveys, and self-administered questionnaires) in light of modern data collection techniques such as CATI, CAPI, and the Internet. Literature on question wording and questionnaire formatting also will be reviewed. Students will be asked to work with the Western Survey Research Center to provide professional development outside the classroom.

ECON 508 Economics for Decision Makers. (3) This course develops the macro- and microeconomic concepts most useful to decision makers. Topics covered include measuring aggregate economic activity, unemployment, inflation, business cycles, monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, derivation and determinants of market demand, theory of production, theory of cost, derivation and determinants of supply, and comparative performance of firms in alternate market structures. (This course cannot be taken by students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Economics program and does not satisfy entrance requirements for this program. It is designed for graduate students in areas other than economics.)

POLS 567 Ethics in the Public Sector. (3) This course will examine the ethical dimensions of the public sector through an administrative responsibility lens. Administrative responsibility will be explored through examination of the principles of responsiveness, fairness, flexibility, honesty, accountability, and competence. The primary focus will be on decision making by administrative actors given the legal parameters of the public sector and the equity principles often promoted in public sector decision making.

POLS 550 Nonprofit Management. (3) This course will first focus on defining and categorizing the third sector and then exploring its relationship to the public sector as value guardians. Considerable attention will be paid to the role nonprofits play in the formulation and execution of public policy. The course will then explore specific policy areas where nonprofits play a leading role in service delivery (welfare, environmental, local public services, health care, higher education, NGOÕs). The course will also focus on the legal environment in which nonprofits function and how that influences their opportunities.