United States Institute of Leadership & Diplomacy
A Division of Orpe Human Rights Advocates
Why choose the Master of Public Administration program?
We’re not looking to build ideologues, we want to help you influence action and explore your interests in public service. At the USILD (School of Leadership and Public Affairs), our faculty and staff have dedicated decades to finding research-based solutions to challenges in the world, and that trickles down into the foundations of your learning.
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We’re uniquely prepared to help you learn the intricacies of public administration through a pragmatic approach. Study the management of financial and human resources. Learn how to take policy from planning to financing to execution and evaluation. Connect the public and private sector as partners, not adversaries. Help cut through red tape with organizational excellence, the kind that can translate just as effectively in a town hall or the halls of Congress.
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Our faculty members know the field’s obstacles and how to navigate them from firsthand experience. Our faculty members are professionals actively engaged in promoting public efforts that spark their interest. We want you to do the same, which is why we offer two distinct concentrations for the Master of Public Administration.
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Our Concentrations Explained
Public Leadership and Management
Leadership in the public sector isn’t easy in a digitally enlightened, post-recession U.S. The public wants to know its dollars are being spent wisely and effectively to achieve positive outcomes locally and across the nation. Learn to blend efficacy and ethics while maximizing financial resources and personnel.
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State and Local Government Management
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What can I do with an Master of Public Administration?
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With an MPA degree, you can put your strategic planning, communication, project management, and budgeting skills to work in leadership positions normally reserved for MBA grads. What’s the MPA advantage? Your knowledge of how organizations function. Your ability to translate technical talk and dense data for ease in public consumption. Your sense of social responsibility. Your determination to see a project through to completion.
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Our MPA degree curriculum
Designed for action.
Unlike other Master’s in Public Administration programs, we offer a curriculum built for the real challenges of public administration. You won’t find us teaching hypothetical. Instead we focus on topics like data analysis, public-private partnerships, and measuring outcomes. We also offer two concentrations that reflect the current landscape of public affairs, such as management in the burgeoning non-profit sector and leadership in the public sector.
Integrative Core Courses (27 Credits)
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MPA 6200 Foundations of Public Administration 3 Credits
An examination of the fundamental concepts and issues in the field of public administration.
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MPA 6010 Research Methods in Leadership and Public Affairs 3 Credits
Introduce students to the basic principles underlying social science research in the context of public affairs.
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MPA 5140 Organizational Leadership3 Credits
Examines how organizations have been described and theorized in public administration.
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MPA 5580 Public Sector Program Evaluation 3 Credits
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MPA 5860 Public Budgeting 3 Credits
This class examines principles of sound tax policy and politics surrounding revenue decisions. It also examines processes and techniques of governmental spending decisions. The practices and fundamental concepts of government accounting, budgeting, financial management, and public finance will also be introduced. Contemporary cases of budge decision-making processes at the national, state and local budge systems will be considered.
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MPA 5850 Policy Analysis for Public Affairs and Leadership 3 Credits
Focused upon key aspects of public policymaking and analysis, and designed to introduce you to ways of systemically thinking about public policies. Because one cannot analyze a policy without understanding the roots of the policy in question, in this course we spend some time understanding the key actors and forces in the policy arena, understanding how to develop an appropriate framework for analysis, and the limitations of each analytical framework.
MPA 5810 Public Private Partnerships 3 Credits
On much of the country, public and private actions develop business and physical infrastructure, provide needed services and contribute to other physical and intellectual attributes that constitute communities. This course examines the intermingling of public and private roles and responsibilities and the potential consequences for the business, social economic and physical development of communities that reflect the inevitable negotiation of public interest oversight and entrepreneurial risk in cross-sectoral partnership. This course will function as a public private partnership with faculty and students engaging business and public leaders to build and analyze partnerships for the future.
MPA 5590 Measuring Outcomes in Public and Non-Profit Organizations 3 Credits
Focuses on the skills needed to develop and implement outcome system within a public or non-profit organization. Methods for determining information needs for monitoring of service delivery and program outcomes will be explored. Evaluation issues will be considered in the context of ethical standards, program effectiveness and efficiency.
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MPA 6800Strategic Leadership and Public Value 3 Credits
Underlying focus is on the creation of public value.
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Public Leadership and Management Concentration (9 Credits)
MPA 5120 Public Human Resource Management 3 Credits
MPA 5830 Data Analytics for Public and Non-Profit Managers 3 Credits
MPA 5870 Financial Management in Government 3 Credits
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Non-Profit Management Concentration (9 Credits)
Course Descriptions
MPA 5680 Nonprofit Financial Management and Resource Development 3 Credits
An introduction to the tradition of philanthropy and fundraising in the United States. Examines practical, moral, and legal issues involving fund development and the fundraising profession. Provides students with an opportunity to apply fundraising techniques and practices to enhance the financial commitment of individuals, corporations, foundations, and government to “real-life” development projects.
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MPA 5890 Nonprofit Leadership and Governance 3 Credits
An introduction to the non-profit sector and its role in society, the economy, and the delivery of human services. Includes an overview of principle management junctions as each applies to non-profit organizations.
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MPA 5660 Strategic Communication and Outreach for Nonprofit Management 3 Credits
A communications plan is an important part of an organization’s daily operation. Additionally, for public and nonprofit organizations in particular, the activities in the plan should support overall communications goals in ways that help raise money, create change, recruit talent, and promote mission-related goals and objectives. As a living document, it frames the way both internal and external audiences perceive the organization; and since many nonprofits have limited staff and financial resources available for communications activities, it is even more important that these resources be deployed as strategically as possible. This course will offer an overview of communications concepts and media activities in ways that will help students develop a strategic communication plan focused on emphasizing a commitment to organizational mission; building trust among internal and external audiences; clarifying organizational priorities; and generating public value.
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State and Local Government Management
Course Descriptions
MPA 5870Financial Management in Government 3 Credits
The purpose of this course is to survey the principles, issues and skills of financial management in the public sector. The focus is upon applications in the public sector and not-for-profit environment. The objectives of the course are to provide student with both theoretical understanding of the topic and to develop some of the fundamental skills necessary to work competently in the field. The focus will be on preparing students to be skilled consumers of financial information who possess the ability to analyze it and make sound decisions based on their analysis.
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MPA 5900Special Topics: Civic Innovation and Citizen Engagement 3 Credits
This course will focus on the role of citizen engagement in policy making and implementation at the state and local government level. Students will learn effective and innovative citizen engagement strategies that move beyond basic legal requirements for citizen input, such as public hearings. Through case studies, students will explore innovative practices that engage citizens, including historically marginalized groups, in public problem identification, problem-solving, and program implementation.
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MPA 5900Special Topics: Public Sector Innovation in State and Local Government (Summer 2020) 3 Credits
This course will provide an understanding of the structure and responsibility of state and local governments, including municipalities, counties, and special districts. Students will gain a better understanding of the policy and management responsibilities of state and local governments in areas such as public safety, health and welfare, education, and economic development. Through case studies of best practices, students will explore innovative public sector strategies utilized by state and local governments to accomplish their respective missions.