Courses

Required Core Courses: 18 hours

1) PS 501 – Research Methods in Public Administration provides analysis and descriptions of the logic and procedures necessary for valid political inquiry.

2)PS 530– Public Sector Organizations explores the behavior and problems of public organizations in democratic environments, and links societal values to administration structure and behavior.

3)PS 538 – Public Service Ethics examines the ethical side of public decision making and the values the American political system is designed to promote and protect.

4) PS 541– Human Resources Management in Public Administration provides a systematic survey of public personnel administration in the U.S. and discusses the development of modern personnel systems in the public sector while emphasizing contemporary trends at the national, state, and local levels of government.

5) PS 542–Public & Nonprofit Budgeting provides a study of the financial administration process of government, with emphasis on local government; subjects covered range from budgeting to risk management.

6) PS 560–Public Policy Theory demonstrates the theoretical approaches to the analysis of public policy, policymaking, and policy implementations and to such topics as health and welfare, poverty, education, and urban affairs.

-OR-

PS 562 – Public Policy Implementation & Evaluation examines the various approaches and techniques for evaluating public problems.

7) PS 590 – Capstone in Public Administrationserves as the culminating event for the MPA degree; the capstone experience gives students the opportunity to relate the many different elements of the graduate program to one another and to reinforce the practical applications of the different concepts and perspectives learned.

PS 500 - Workshops in Public Administration emphasizes important and changing topics relevant to people working in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. (1.5 hours, may be repeated for credit)

PS 512 - Kentucky Government and Politics Traces the government and political development of the state from its constitutional beginning to the present. Primary focus is on the major factors and issues in the state's political development within the context of the national government setting.

PS 520 - Elements of Public Administration is an introductory survey of governmental administration; emphasizes relationships between political issues and the practice of administration in areas such as organizational structures, personnel and financial management, control and accountability, and ethical issues.

PS 526 – Local Government Administration provides a foundation and understanding of local government administration for students and future practitioners in public administration.

PS 549 - Special Problems in Public Administration provides a seminar approach to contemporary problems in public organizations reflecting political/managerial developments; topics reflect both student and professional needs.

PS 550 - Cultural Competencies for Public Administrators provides a specific set of skills so that practitioners in public administration can communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry

PS 554 - Cross-Sector Collaboration & Conflict explores the importance of intersectoral relationships (between the public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors) to good public governance.

PS 564 - Nonprofits & Public Policy explores the connections between nonprofit organizations and public policy

PS 566 - Environmental Politics & Public Policyexplores the politics surrounding the creation, implementation, and evaluation of environmental policy.

PS 580 - Directed Study allows for faculty guidance of student research in one or more selected fields of political science.

3 hours internship

All MPA students are required to complete an internship with an approved public service organization. Students who are currently employed or have previous relevant employment experience in a public or nonprofit organization may have the internship requirement waived and instead complete a field-based research project. The internship (or field-based research project) requirements are fulfilled as part of the Capstone experience in PS 590.

Students who wish to complete additional internship opportunities can enroll in PS 595 or PS 598:

PS 595 - Washington Internship and Seminar offers an individualized internship and/or seminar experience in Washington, D.C. tailored to the student's area of interest.

PS 598 - Internship in Public Administration provides work experience in a public sector or non-profit agency combined with faculty direction.