Degree Requirements
Students must complete 52 credit hours (approximately 13 classes) to receive the MPA degree. This includes 7 required courses (28 hours total) and the required capstone course (4 hours). Students must take three courses (12 hours) in a selected concentration plus two additional courses (8 hours) of the student's choosing selected in consultation with the student's advisor.
The required courses are listed below:
Core Courses (each course is 4 credit hours)
Optional Internship Project (4 credit hours)
PA 490: Field Experience in Public Administration
Students work in an organization such as a governmental agency, community group, or non-profit organization. Students are required to submit written work and meet with professor on periodic basis to review work experience. Students who have no prior work experience in the public or non-profit sectors are strongly recommended to register for this course. Our students find that the internship serves as a useful way to explore a concentration of the program, as well as enhance their resume. The program has been quite successful in assisting students obtain relevant internships. Included among the recent internships held by some of our students are:
General Services Administration
UIC National Center on Physical Activity and Disability
Solidaridad Inspiracion Amistad (SIA) Community Foundation
Government Finance Officer's Association
Daniel M. Kerrane, Jr. Foundation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund Division, Region 5
Village of Lincolnwood
County Educational Conference Inc.
Oprah's Angel Network
UIC Survey Research Laboratory
Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley, & Co.
Students may substitute four internship course credits for the "at-large" elective course required of all MPA students. Students may take more than one Field Experience course. However, only four credits of PA 490 will be counted toward the MPA degree
Concentrations
Students are required to select one of the following six concentrations in the MPA program. Students are to take three courses in the selected concentration plus one additional course in consultation with their advisor. These concentrations allow students to focus their area of study in key areas of publiconcentrations allow students to focus their area of study in key areas of public administration and management, while taking advantage of the strengths of the PA Faculty and the MPA Program.
Public Management
Financial Management
Information and Performance Management
Survey Methods
Local Government Administration
Nonprofit Management
MPA students are required to take three courses in the selected concentration plus two additional courses of the student's choosing selected in consultation with the student's advisor. These concentrations allow students to focus their area of study in key areas of public administration and management, while taking advantage of the strengths of the PA Faculty and /the MPA Program.
Students may create their own concentrations with permission from the MPA Committee. Students must submit their proposed concentration with justification to the MPA Committee for approval. Interested students should contact the PA Program for more information.
Public Management
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
Financial Management - Provides specialized expertise in topics related to the financial function of public and nonprofit organizations that go beyond budgeting such as capital and financial planning, accounting, state and local finance, debt management, risk management, cash management, procurement, and internal controls. Students who specialize in financial management will be prepared for careers in the fields of budgeting, economic development, financial analysis, policy analysis, bond rating, treasury, auditing, and many others.
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
Information and Performance Management - Introduces technology issues in public management, including e-government, database management, and the use of technology in public and nonprofit organizations. UIC is one of a handful of PA programs to offer such a specialization, despite the increasingly information-driven environment of public and nonprofit administration.
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
Survey Methods - Provides a unique opportunity to learn survey research methodology and to engage in data collection that can inform organizational decisions and performance measurement. This is one of the few survey research specializations in the country associated with a graduate program in Public Administration.
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
Local Government Administration - Takes advantage of local government and urban expertise within the program and across the university. Introduces students to special considerations in local government management, including metropolitan, intergovernmental, fiscal, and economic development issues.
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
PA 537: Local Government Management (recommended)
PA 523: Intergovernmental Management
PA 526: Public Decision Analysis
PA 550: Financial Management of Government
PA 552: Capital Budgeting and Infrastructure
PA 553: State and Local Public Finance
UPP 533: Development Finance Analysis
UPP 530: Economic Development I
POLS 551: Urban Politics
POLS 553: Urban Public Policy
Nonprofit Management - Provides specialized expertise in the nonprofit sector including theory, history, management, and fundraising and financial management in nonprofit organizations. Students examine the relationships between nonprofit organizations and government such as the civic base of the nonprofit sector, intergovernmental and inter-sectoral relations, advocacy, lobbying, and nonprofit budgeting for government contracts and grants.
(Each course is 4 credit hours.)
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Course Descriptions
400: Public Administration Theory. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Development of public administration as a professional and scholarly area of knowledge and practice focusing on administrative reform and its intellectual roots. Politics versus administration, efficiency, effectiveness, representative bureaucracy, and market versus bureaucratic alternatives. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
407: Data Analysis for PA. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Topics and methods of analyzing information relevant to the administration and management of public programs and organizations. Includes causation, univariate statistics, significance testing, correlation, and regression. Prerequisite: Appropriate score on the department placement test; and graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
410: Economics for Public Administration. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Basic economic tools and methods relevant to public administration and current policy: opportunity cost, supply and demand, rational choice, production costs, competition versus monopoly, economic efficiency versus equity, market failure, public goods, and externalities. Prerequisite: Appropriate score on the department placement test; and graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
415: Public Management. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Theories and concepts of organizational behavior and public management from economics, sociology and political science. Organizational decision making, bureaucracy, organizational change and learning, public versus private organizations, leadership, and organizational culture. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
530: History and Theory of the Nonprofit Sector. 4 hours. Syllabus History and theory of the nonprofit sector and its implications for public service and advancing public values through third party governance. Material focuses on the history of philanthropy in the US, nonprofits in an international context, the civic base of the nonprofit sector, and the historical and modern relationships between the government and the nonprofit sector, including intergovernmental and inter-sectoral relations, advocacy and lobbying.
536: Financial Management and Fundraising in Nonprofit Organizations. 4 hours.Syllabus Examines financial management and fundraising activities in nonprofit organizations. Topics include financial accounting, developing nonprofit resources, fundraising, fund development, marketing, philanthropy, grant-writing, and nonprofit budgeting for government contracts and grants.
460: Data Management. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Database theory and constructing and managing databases relevant to the operation of government. Utilizes database software and allows students to gain practice with complex database programs and development of a database system. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
461: Management of Information Technology in Government. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Concepts and methods of planning, implementing, and managing new information technology or modifying existing technology. Factors contributing to difficulties of implementing information technology decisions and strategies for increasing the likelihood of changing current technology. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
462:Project Management.
Syllabus
Application of the Internet for public management. Web-based service delivery, online governance, discusses the theory, principles, tools and techniques behind solid project management. This course relates the use of project management skills in today’s public sector environment, where public administrators are required to deliver upon time-sensitive, critical projects while also attempting to keep the scope and costs in check. The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) standards for project management will be emphasized throughout the course.
463: The Internet and Public Administration . 4 Hours. Syllabus
Application of the Internet for public management. Web-based service delivery, online governance, the technological divide, and the changing role of public managers. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.490. Field Experience in Public Administration. 6 Hours. Students work in an organization such as a government agency, community group, or nonprofit organization. Students are required to submit written work and guide group discussions relevant to their experience and agency. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
465: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Public Managers.
Geographic information systems (GIS) technologies rapidly are becoming a central feature in day to day operations and the decision support systems of many public sector organizations. Individuals completing this course will have an understanding of fundamental GIS tools and applications as well as the challenges in implementing and sustaining a GIS function in the public setting.
490: Field Experience in Public Administration. Syllabus
Students work in an organization such as a governmental agency, community group, or non-profit organization. Students are required to submit written work and meet with professor on periodic basis to review work experience. Students who have no prior work experience in the public or non-profit sectors are strongly recommended to register for this course. May be repeated for credit. A maximum of 4 hours of credit may be applied to the MPA program. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
494: Special Topics in Public Administration. 4 Hours. Syllabus
May be repeated for a maximum of 12 hours of credit. Students may register for more than one section per term. Consideration of timely or enduring issues in public administration not available in regularly offered courses. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
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502: The Legal Context of Public Administration. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Legal basis and statutory framework for administrative agencies and actions in government. Relationship between courts and public agencies, rulemaking and adjudicative powers of public agencies, and impact of specific laws on government. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
503: Public Personnel Management. 4 Hours. Syllabus
History and current innovations in managing personnel and other areas of human resources. Compensation, classification, affirmative action, performance appraisal, labor relations, and unions. Statutory and court decisions affecting government personnel issues. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
504: Budgeting for Public Administration. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Processes and methods relevant to government finances and fiscal health: revenues, taxation, budget formulation, operating budgets, cost analysis, planning and performance, budget reforms, politics, capital budgeting, and role of budgeting in management. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
506: Policy Development and Analysis for Public Administrators. 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course examines (1) the process by which public policies are formulated, decided on, implemented, and evaluated, (2) techniques of analysis appropriate for various policy issues, and (3) substantive policy issues facing us today. Prerequisite: Graduate standing; or consent of the instructor. Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
521: Strategic Management: Planning and Measurement. 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course addresses strategies and issues relating to the strategic management of public and quasi-public organizations. It addresses strategic planning and performance measurement processes within organizations. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor. Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
522: Ethics and Accountability. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Better government through institutionalizing ethics and accountability. Effectiveness of boards of ethics, Inspector General, codes of ethics, and educational programs. History of ethics within the Western intellectual tradition. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor. Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
523: Intergovernmental Management. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Relationships between federal, state and local governments focusing on management of overlapping programmatic, regulatory and fiscal responsibilities. Constitutional, political, fiscal, and administrative features and how they have evolved since the 1960s. Prerequisite: Admission to the MPA Program or consent of the instructor.
524: Leadership in Public Sector Organizations. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Examine theories and practices of leadership in public sector organizations. Global, political, social, and organizational contexts of public sector leaders and interface between administrators, appointees, elected officials, etc. Prerequisite: Graduate standing; or consent of the instructor. Admission to the MPA program or consent of the instructor.
526: Public Decision Analysis. 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course provides an introductory treatment of decision analysis. The intended participants are students who want to learn more about decision making under uncertainty and tools that can be used to support it. Prerequisite: PA 407; and graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
529: Change and Reform in Public Organizations. 4 Hours.
Examines how large, bureaucratic organizations change how they do business. Can improved efficiency and effectiveness result from such change? What techniques are being applied by public organizations to achieve such change? Prerequisite: Graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
532: Labor Management Relations in the Public Sector. 4 Hours.
Skills and knowledge to manage labor relations in government. Constitutional influences on public employment, rights of public employees, management and labor unions; civil service laws and regulations, collective bargaining practices, and non-discrimination, and equal opportunity. Prerequisite: PA 503; and graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
533: Managing Workplace Diversity. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Examines discrimination and diversity in public sector workplaces along several dimensions including race, ethnicity, sex, age, sexual preference, and physical ability. Prerequisite: PA 503; and graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
537. Local Government Management. 4 Hours. Syllabus Issues in the management of local government, including the metropolitan and regional context, the evolving role of managers and special considerations in finance, reform, service delivery, economic development, and democracy at the local level. Prerequisite: Graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
538. Nonprofit Management. 4 Hours. Examines management and governance in nonprofit organizations. Covers issues relevant to various types of third-sector organizations: volunteer management, membership, fundraising, relationships with boards of directors, faith-based organizations, grant management, service delivery, philanthropies and missions, finance and reporting requirements, and performance. Prerequisite: Graduate standing; or consent of the instructor.
550: Financial Management of Government. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Overview of issues and concepts important for administration and management of government's financial affairs: government accounting, purchasing, cash management and investment, risk management, pension and benefits administration, debt management and capital financing. Prerequisite: PA 504; and graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
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551: Governmental Accounting. 4 Hours.
Introduction to major concepts, principles, and objectives of governmental accounting (including fund accounting) and budgetary control systems for local and state government. Designed for students with little or no background in accounting. Prerequisite: PA 504; and graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
552: Public Capital Budgeting and Finance. 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course examines governmental capital budgeting processes, linkages between the capital budget and capital improvement plan, and methods and techniques of financing capital projects including debt financing. Prerequisite: PA 504; and graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
553: State and Local Public Finance. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Analyzes expenditures and revenues of state and local govts and public sector responses to market failures. Examines state and local revenue sources and discusses governmental provision of services. Prerequisite: PA 504; and graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
567: Topics in Political Communication: Information Management in Public Sector Organizations (Cross-listed with POLS 567). 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course will address the following questions: How do public sector organizations juggle these competing demands when they devise their communication strategies to achieve their objectives? What social science theories provide guidance and how do they square with the real life evidence of what works and what doesn't? What changes have been brought about by new communications technologies and what changes in laws and public policies are needed to assure efficient and effective governmental communication as we move into the next century? Special attention will be given to problems of information-gathering and decision-making, secrecy, privacy and publicity, diffusion of information, public relations, transactions with citizens who are clients of political institutions, mass media management, and external communication strategies. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
578: Surveys, Public Opinion, and Public Policy. 4 Hours. Syllabus
This course will address the nature of the relationship between public policy and public opinion and the role that surveys play in that relationship. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
579: Practicum in Survey Methodology. 4 Hours.
Students learn about survey research by participating in the process of conducting a survey or surveys. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
580: Survey Nonresponse. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course provides an overview of current problems in survey nonresponse and related questions of impact on data quality. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
581: Cross-Cultural Survey Research Methods. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course will provide graduate students with a clear understanding of the methodological issues involved in collecting survey data across multiple cultural groups and best practices when conducting cross-cultural research. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
582: Survey Data Collection Methods. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course will address the impact of data collection methods on survey responses and data quality. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
583: The Psychology of Survey Measurement: Cognitive and Social Processes. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course introduces students to one approach to survey methodology - the examination of the psychological processes through which survey respondents answer questions. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
584: Internet Surveys. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course examines current developments in the collection of survey data via the internet, including both the methodological strengths and weaknesses of this approach, as well as current standards for best practice. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
585: Survey Research Ethics. 2 Hours. Syllabus
Students will be exposed to survey research ethical issues. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor\
586: The History of Survey Methodology. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course examines the history of surveys and their development and change over time. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
587: Seminar on Special Topics in Survey Methodology. 2 Hours.
This seminar is for special topics in survey methodology not covered in the other elective courses. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
588: Survey Data Reduction and Analysis. 2 Hours. Syllabus
This course will provide an in-depth overview of available procedures and standards for survey data reduction and data analysis activities. Prerequisite: Graduate or professional standing; or consent of the instructor.
590: Public Administration Capstone. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Integration of classroom learning with practical experience. Students will work in groups to solve real problems for public and non-profit organizations. Extensive collaboration required among group members outside of class time. Students should expect significant field work at their assigned organizations. Students are responsible to the course professor and to the project supervisor in their assigned organizations. Because the coursework is team-based, students are not allowed to drop this course once teams are created. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor and enrollment in the MPA program. Course must be taken in the last two semesters in the MPA program; or consent of the instructor.
UPP 533: Development Finance Analysis. 4 Hours. Syllabus
Financial feasibility analysis for residential, commercial, and industrial projects. Financial valuation and accounting principles, legal interests in real estate, and tax issues affecting cash flow and returns on investment. Prerequisite: Graduating standing and PA 410 (Economics for Public Administration and Policy Decisions).
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