MPA Course Descriptions

Core Courses

PA 8150 - Collaborative Governance

Political, economic, and social context of government and public service; examines theories and models of new governance and implications for policy-making, public management, and public service delivery.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8150

PA 8160 - Organizational Dynamics and Leadership

Focuses on understanding human action in administrative situations and on developing personal capacities for effective action in varied and difficult organizational situations.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8160

PA 8170 - Public Policy Processes and Strategies

Processes through which public demands are generated, converted into public policy, and implemented. Examines the intersection of politics, policy, and management as well as the diverse strategies and tools of public action.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8170

PA 8180 - Research Methods & Inquiry in Public Affairs

Introduction to research methods for graduate students in public affairs. Topics include: measurement; quantitative description; problem definition; the policy research process; basic analytical tools commonly applied in public affairs.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8180

PA 8181 - Research Methods and Inquiry in Public Affairs II

Advanced topics and applications in research methods for public affairs. Topics include: multivariate analysis and other advanced quantitative techniques; evaluation of policy research products.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8181

PA 8185 - Research Methods and Inquiry in Public Affairs – In-Service

Sample Syllabus: PA 8185

PA 8190 - Economic Analysis for Public Affairs

Application of tools of economic analysis to understand and interpret the behavior of government, consumers and producers. Sources of economic inefficiency, including market failures and limitations, and policy solutions.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8190

PA 8195 - Economic Analysis for Public Affairs – In-Service

For in-service students only.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8195

PA 8210 - Ethics, Democracy and the Public Service

Uses the concepts of ethics and democracy to explore the historical, political, economic, organizational, professional, and interpersonal aspects of public service in American society in the context of globalization. Integrates learning from the MPA core curriculum and the specializations into a comprehensive view of the contemporary, multi-sectored public service.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8210

PA 8530 - Strategic Management of Public Service Organizations: People, Information, and Money

Presents the rationale for strategic planning and techniques and processes to develop and implement strategic planning in the public sector.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8530

PA 8211 - MPA Capstone: Applied Project

Application of concepts and methods of public affairs to public policy or management problems. Diagnosis of problem or decision situation, collection of relevant data, development of alternative solutions, recommendation of proposed course of action.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8211

Electives

PA 7001 - Topics: Leadership in Public Service

Sample Syllabus: PA 7001

PA 7330 - Scientific & Technical Aspects of Terrorism & Counterterrorism

Terrorism has been a familiar tool of political conflict, and it has assumed greater importance during the past twenty years. This subject has been treated by political scientists in various forms, but the scientific and technological aspects of different forms of terrorism cannot be found in a single place. It is important for persons who propose counter measures to understand the basics of different types of terrorism such as for instance the nature of chemical agents, their properties such as toxicity, etc. in order to build better defense systems.

PA 8001 - Topics: Collaborative Management

This course will explore the obstacles that managers face when they attempt to administer public programs in cooperation with other organizations and stakeholders, as well as the strategies that they employ to maintain and grow their own organizations while simultaneously ensuring program success. The most unique aspect of the course is that it will approach these questions from the perspective of both public and nonprofit managers. Students in this course will gain a more comprehensive understanding of modern governance by investigating the roles of the public and nonprofit sectors in that enterprise simultaneously.

PA 8171 - Environmental Policy

This course is an introduction to U.S. environmental policy, focusing on important political institutions and political actors. The course provides a survey of the primary laws, regulations, and policies that comprise pollution control and natural resource management.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8171

PA 8172 - Health Policy

This seminar will examine the health care system in the United States, including government funded programs, regulation of costs, and policies promoting healthy behaviors. The course will examine historical development, recent trends, and methods of health policy analysis.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8172

PA 8173 - Education Governance, Finance, and Policy

The course centers on public policy processes as applied to governance, finance and policy in public education. The administrative, political and economic dimensions of policy reform are emphasized. A special focus is placed on developing tools for analyzing and critiquing policy rationale, design and implementation.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8173

PA 8174 - Social Policy

This seminar will examine the nature and extent of poverty in the U.S., its causes and consequences, and the antipoverty effects of existing and proposed government programs and policies.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8174

PA 8280 - Public Affairs Internship

Gives students an opportunity to gain experience with government operations by providing supervised work with an agency at the local, state, or federal level of government or in nonprofit agencies.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8280

PA 8320 - Spatial Analysis for Public Affairs

Examines theoretical and empirical issues related to the spatial analysis of economic activity and local public issues. Major topics include the role of the public sector, the economics of public services, social accounting matrices, input-output analysis, econometric models of regional economies, and geographic information systems.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8320

PA 8340 - Regional Development Policy and Practice

Presents an overview of historical perspectives and current practice in regional development policy. Explores various rationales for regional collaboration. Topics include global and political context of development policy, human and intellectual capital, entrepreneurship, regional governance and community development.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8340

PA 8350 - Regional Development issues and Analysis

Examines theories of regional growth and development and methods for analysis with applications to current policy issues. Topics include firm location, workforce development, migration, the role of taxes and public expenditures, distribution of benefits, and sustainable development.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8350

PA 8420 - Public Program Evaluation

Integrates theoretical and analytical approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies and programs. Various methods based on different evaluative criteria are employed to assess how the use of policy tools influence policy design, implementation, and evaluation.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8420

PA 8430 - Public Policy Analysis

Uses economic logic and statistical techniques to design, analyze, and evaluate public policy. Applies social choice theory, cost/benefit analysis, forecasting, regression analysis, trend analysis, time series methods, and other analytic techniques to policy decisions.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8430

PA 8520 - Human Resource Management and Development in the Public and Nonprofit Sector

Examines the political, economic, and legal context of the personnel function, as well as the technical aspects of the personnel administrator’s job. Stresses the dynamics of bureaucratic organizations.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8520

PA 8540 - Local Government Management

Organization and division of service responsibility within local governments. Problems of managing delivery of services with special emphasis upon program implementation, productivity, planning, and responsiveness.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8540

PA 8610 - Group Dynamics and Conflict Resolution

Focuses on the study of group psychology in the context of communities and organizations. It provides a specific examination of the emergence and resolution of conflict.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8610

PA 8620 - Organizational Analysis and Change

Investigates processes and methodologies of organizational diagnosis, intervention strategies, and the role of a change agent.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8620

PA 8630 - Organizational Change in a Community and Global Context

Examines changing organizations in their task environments, which include communities and the global economy. The phenomenon of ambiguous boundaries between public and private as well as nonprofit sectors will be investigated as these profound changes impact organizational behavior.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8630

PA 8710 - The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector

Provides an overview of the history, function, size, scope, development, and management of the nonprofit sector. Historical, political, economic, and social perspectives are used to examine the meaning of voluntarism, charity, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8710

PA 8720 - Financial Management in the Public and Nonprofit Sector

Nature and environment of public and nonprofit financial administration. Principles of accountability for management of public and nonprofit funds; management and investment of cash balances; special problems related to long- and short-term debt.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8720

PA 8830 - Grant Writing I (formerly Grant Funding Development and Application

Provides students with knowledge regarding the process of seeking grant funding. Students will complete the proposal development process up to the submission stage for a letter proposal. They will experience the peer review process both as applicant and reviewer. Provides participants uwith nderstanding applicable to a variety of funding settings and an information base to use for preparation of future grant applications.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8830

PA 8831 - Grant Writing II

Provides students with the knowledge regarding the process of seeking grant funding. Students will work in small groups to complete a state or federal grant proposal. They will experience the peer review process both as applicant and reviewer. This course will cover a variety of funding sources and a range of funding types to provide students with an information base for preparing future grant applications.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8831

PA 8832 - Sponsor Relationships

Provides students with knowledge of the landscape and culture of grant seeking with an emphasis on understanding how private and public sector grant funding are, in many ways, significantly different enterprises. Students will gain an appreciation for the peculiarities and the rigors of both public and private grant seeking.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8832

PA 8833 - Grant Award Management

Provides students with knowledge regarding the processes and policies entailed in managing grant awards. Course content includes federal OMB circulars, basic human resource issues, project management strategies reporting obligations, and project close-out.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8833

PA 8850 - Policies and Institutions of the European Union

Provides an in-depth look at the institutions, policies, and contemporary issues that shape the European Union. Develops an understanding of the institutional composition of the EU, how policies are made within this institutional framework, and how policies made at the supranational level impact on the member states. Covers the various policies which make up the three pillars upon which the EU rests.

Sample Syllabus: PA 8850

Other Courses

In addition to the core and elective courses offered by the Truman School of Public Affairs, students may take courses offered by other schools and colleges on the MU campus, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Course descriptions for the Truman School's PhD program are available here.