Introduces students to organizational theories and practices useful to public service managers. Teaches how to use structural, human resource, political and symbolic perspectives to rethink public service organizations. Provides an introduction to managerial issues including workforce diversity, decision making and leadership; stresses critical thinking and writing skills.

Covers the examination of the size, scope, capacity, and limitations of the nonprofit, government, and business sectors, in the domestic and international context. Students will be introduced to research and become familiar with print and electronic resources and databases. They will learn to develop meaningful research questions, write literature reviews, and analyze the interrelationships between the three sectors.

The concepts of efficiency and equity in taxation are applied to identify the advantages and disadvantages of specific taxes such as income, sales and property. Specific skill sets include present value techniques, interpreting the basic financial reports generated by governments, and evaluating financial performance of a government based upon its financial reports.

This course explores human resource issues facing employees with supervisory responsibilities in public service organizations, including those working in the volunteer, non-profit, religious, government, and education sectors. The course considers human resource planning, employee recruiting and selection, and the motivation and evaluation of staff personnel and managers both individually and in teams. Topics include recruiting and selecting employees and managers, fostering team development, managing employee stress, preventing workplace violence, and handling issues pertaining to termination, training, and development. The course also explores progressive discipline, improving performance management of employees and volunteers, and supervising "difficult" people.

This course introduces students to the branches of economics known as microeconomics, public finance, and welfare economics. Students learn to apply standard economic tools to identify policy issues and to analyze them. Specific skill set includes present value techniques. PREREQUISITE(S): MPS 500.

Focuses on processes and techniques of analyzing and designing public policies. Students are introduced to an analytical way of thinking that includes: defining and modeling policy problems; designing policy alternatives; evaluating policy alternatives using ethical, legal, economic, organizational, and political criteria; and anticipating problems of policy implementation.

This course introduces students to the principles underlying scientific and applied research. It covers both qualitative and quantitative approaches and teaches students to collect and analyze data. Students learn about research ethics, causality, sampling (both random and purposive), and the techniques of survey design. Students calculate descriptive and inferential statistics using statistical software. Students learn applied program research, including developing and evaluating program theory and processes.

This course introduces students to more advanced mixed methods of scientific research including interviews and focus groups, observation, and ethnography. Students learn about the design of experiments and the problems associated with spuriousness and control. Students calculate and interpret bivariate and multivariate statistics using statistical software. Students learn applied research, including needs assessment and outcomes evaluations. Students develop their own research proposal for their capstone or thesis project.

In this capstone course students complete an action research project integrating applied research, theoretical frameworks, and professional practice. Students choose one of the applied research competencies learned in MPS 590 and focus on either a policy or management issue.

This course provides students with the essential framework for personal and professional ethical decision making applied in the context of diverse workplaces and international organizations. Through lectures in ethical theories, case studies in applied ethics, and specific assignments, students clarify their personal-professional values, assess their moral intelligence, and develop their ethical leadership integrity. Students will also study the ethics of organizations, including the formation of social norms, how they influence individual decisions, and how entire organizations can become more ethical. Formerly MPS 506.

Students carry out a theoretically-based research project designed in MPS 585. The final product of this course is a master's thesis. Binding fee.