Online Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.): Curriculum

Supervised work experience in public administration related-programs, government and administration. Reports and appraisals required. Only 5 credits can be counted towards the Master of Public Administration degree. Course can be waived, and elective credits substituted, with 4+ years of verified managerial experience in public sector.

This course focuses on the different tools available to public administrators interested in understanding the relationship between their programming and community outcomes.  Through the use of methods such as experiments, focus groups, and surveys, students learn how to engage stakeholders, collect and analyze data, communicate results, and translate those findings into improved programming. In addition, many public agencies and non-profits would benefit from assessment and learning, however, they lack the resources necessary to implement intensive evaluations.  In this course, students will discover low cost tools that can be integrated into programming without necessitating major overhauls to their operation or creating new, major demands on their current workload. 

Every student of public service will at some point in their career be in a leadership position; in a public agency, non-profit organization or in the private sector. Gaining a deeper understanding of effective leadership styles and skills will be valuable for future career success and development. This on-line course provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in these complex, changing social environments. We will explore theories of leadership and examine the skills and processes employed by effective leaders.

Political communication is not only used by candidates and elected officials. For 21st century governance, public administrators must also be able to speak and write to a variety of different stakeholders including other administrators, elected officials, community leaders, clients, and the public. In this course students will learn:

1. Who those stakeholders are
2. How to take complex ideas and translate them into clear messages
3. Choose the correct medium to communicate

Due to the nature of the subject matter, there is a strong oral communication dimension to this course.

This course examines the ethical foundations and practical challenges of public service in democratic governance. The course equips graduate students with frameworks for ethical reasoning and decision-making in public and nonprofit organizations, emphasizing accountability, equity, integrity, and professional responsibility. Through analysis of real-world cases, organizational policies, and contemporary ethical dilemmas, students explore the tensions among law, politics, administrative discretion, and the public interest. The course emphasizes applied judgment, ethical leadership, and effective communication of ethical reasoning to support responsible and trustworthy public administration.

Ever wonder how rural government ‘works?’ Through the study of public administration theory and praxis, key features of rural governance are brought to the fore. Students will learn about the values, concepts, and challenges salient in public administration and apply them in a rural context. Through this exploration, students will have a better understanding of how public problems ‘uniquely’ manifest in rural areas and how public administrators can position themselves to solve them.  Together, we will explore how policies are implemented by public servants, the influence of democratic values, as well as the political and economic environment within which complex public problems are addressed.  You will be evaluated on your ability to analyze, evaluate, and create knowledge based on a variety of concepts, themes, frameworks, and trends related to rural American governance in the 21st century.

As public problems remain ‘wicked,’ and are ever-increasing in complexity, community leadership must facilitate, coordinate, and manage the work of a diverse set of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Further, calls for more responsive and efficient public service provision has greatly expanded the use of contract- and grant-based public service. Due to these realities, we operate in an age of governance, not government. Graduate students must be aware of how public problem-solving unfolds in the 21st century and the many actors that are involved. To this end, this course will examine the political, legal, fiscal and administrative institutions involved in rural governance and the challenges of collaborating across governments and external agencies.

This course provides graduate students with applied training in quantitative analysis for evidence-informed decision-making in public and nonprofit organizations. The course introduces core statistical concepts and analytic techniques used in public administration, emphasizing how quantitative data can be used to evaluate programs, analyze policy outcomes, and support managerial and budgetary decisions. Students develop skills in data management, descriptive and inferential analysis, and interpretation of results, with attention to assumptions, limitations, and ethical use of data. Through hands-on exercises and applied examples, the course prepares students to critically assess quantitative evidence and communicate analytic findings clearly to policymakers, managers, and the public.

This course introduces graduate students in public administration to the theory and practice of qualitative research methods as tools for effective governance, policy analysis, and organizational decision-making. Students learn how qualitative approaches-such as interviews, focus groups, document analysis, case studies, and participant observation-can be used to understand complex administrative processes, stakeholder perspectives, and policy outcomes that are not easily captured through quantitative data alone.

Students will acquire a familiarity with geospatial data and ArcGIS software.  In this course, they will demonstrate a basic understanding of how to access, store, clean, and visualize raster and vector data in ArcGIS. Through this process, students will create and interpret original maps that highlight a geospatial relationship between environmental, social, or economic phenomena. 

Diversity is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing the richness of diversity contained within each individual. A workplace’s success depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits of workforce diversity. Mutual and unique challenges exist when attempting to create a diverse equitable and inclusive workplace environment in urban and rural areas. Examining such challenges will enable rural and urban workplaces to develop strategies and goals that will meet the specific needs of the organization and achieve long-term success. This course is the same as the previous HCA 512: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Practice at EOU.

Organizations are the vehicles used to collectively ‘get things done.’ Perhaps a more apt analogy is conceptualizing an organization as a complex organism; a system, relying on the harmonious interaction of its parts, directed towards a common purpose. Through discussions of bureaucracy, personnel, history, and culture, students will unpackage this complexity by analyzing the internal structures and external pressures placed on public and non-profit organizations. Due to the co-productive and co-dependent nature of organizations, there is a strong collaborative element to this course.

In this course, students will focus on the role of managers in non-profit organizations in the 21st century. Non-profit managers must translate overall mission and programmatic goals into actionable service provision amidst resource constraints. Through exploring key managerial strategies that recognize the importance of non-profit managers, volunteers, governing bodies, policymakers, donors, and clients, this course offers insight into how to overcome challenges likely to impact non-profit organizations.

In this course, you will explore a variety of policy related topics such as the politics of policy making, interpreting and constructing policy ‘problems,’ examining policy alternatives, evaluating outcomes, communicating success and defining failure. Through engaging these topics, you walk out of this course with a more complete understanding of the life cycle of policy and a better understanding of the complexity and context sensitivity that characterizes the policy process.

This course provides an understanding of budget preparation, adoption and execution; proposed reforms of the budget process; revenue strategies; and competing theories of the politics of budgeting. The course will be structured around a series of case studies and practical exercises.

An examination of the organization and operation of personnel systems and the role of leadership in the public and non-profit sectors. Course explores the motivational and personnel programs required by the organization, along with the leadership strategies for effective human resource management.

Students will demonstrate an advanced ability to manipulate and visualize geospatial data through ArcGIS software.  In this course, they will build on skills learned in POLS 570 to construct interactive raster and vector maps.  In the process, students will:

1. Learn how to structure complex overlays
2. Find, access, and translate discrete data into geospatial data
3. Draft an interactive, user-friendly dashboard that can be used by public administrators

As this is an advanced course, it will also cover basics of empirical inquiry.

An examination of the legal basis of government authority and the ways in which legal processes authorize yet limit action by public administrators. Review of relevant legal processes, including rule-making, administrative appeals, and judicial review. Attention is focused on the legal issues in which public administrators are most likely to become involved.