Public Administration, MPA

Program Goals

• Educate students to be compassionate and effective leaders who humanely manage public organizations
• Prepare students to initiate and facilitate interactions between government, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors to provide ethical and workable solutions to societal needs
• Create a collaborative environment of excellence in instruction, research, and service
• Translate research into effective practices and achievable, humane policies
• Prepare students to determine, collect, and analyze the evidence appropriate and essential for implementing public service strategies

Program Learning Outcomes

Goal 1: Educate students to be compassionate and effective leaders who humanely manage public organizations

• Identify and describe differences between the vision, values, and goals of actors in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors; discuss practical and ethical implications of these differences for public leadership
• Identify and discuss the role of public leaders toward recognizing and instituting the principles of democratic governance in public organizations and community-based initiatives

Goal 2: Prepare students to initiate and facilitate interactions between government, for‐ profit, and nonprofit sectors to provide ethical and workable solutions to societal needs

• Report findings and interpret research in recognition of, and with respect for, diverse cultural and historical perspectives; correctly identify limitations and constraints; effectively communicate with elected officials, administrators, issue advocates and the population at large
• Determine, collect and articulate the interests of diverse voices of a community, especially the most vulnerable among us

Goal 3: Create a collaborative environment of excellence in instruction, research, and service

• Demonstrate leadership behavior through application of organizational and managerial theories

Goal 4: Translate research into effective practices and achievable, humane policies

• Determine, collect and articulate the interests of diverse voices of a community, especially the most vulnerable among us
• Accurately interpret and communicate analytic research and policy implications to stakeholders

Goal 5: Prepare students to determine, collect, and analyze the evidence appropriate and essential for implementing public service strategies

• Develop and apply the critical thinking and analytical skills (qualitative and quantitative) necessary for effective, informed, and balanced policy analysis
• Develop and present informed and balanced results

Students in the health services administration concentration of the MPA will also:

• Identify challenges and issues in the U.S. health care sector in specific areas of policy, its contemporary legal framework, and management; describe/develop operational responses and managerial adaptations

Major Requirements (38 units)

The On-Campus MPA curriculum is comprised of 38 units. There are nine core courses, four units each, and one elective course at two units.