Elective Courses for Master's in Public Administration Degree Program

MPA 502 Economics in the Public Sector
This course provides an overview of the general study of economics and the role of the government in an economy. Economics is a social science that focuses on how people (both individually and in a group) use resources in the presence of scarcity. Economists are also concerned with the distributional aspects of resources and the ramifications of resource use. The primary objective of this course is to familiarize the student with basic economic concepts and theories that have been developed to explain economic issues that are faced, decisions that are made, and policies that are implemented.

MPA 521 Leadership and Management in Nonprofit Organizations
As more programs are operated by nonprofit organizations, public managers must understand the "third sector." This course provides an overview of the history, structure, and role of the nonprofit sector, including how nonprofit agencies differ from public and for-profit entities in mission, governance, funding, and staffing, and will consider current issues facing the nonprofit sector.

MPA 616 Global Issues in Public Administration
This course guides students through an overview of the challenges of managing public and not-for-profit organizations, which are staffed with a diverse workforce and subject to cultural and political influences beyond their obvious scope of responsibility. The course then builds on students' understanding of diversity issues, integrating them with administrative theory, as we examine ethical situations and decisions public administrators face in an increasingly globalized work environment.

MPA 622 Nonprofit Fundraising and Development
This course covers the fundamentals of effective resource development (i.e., fundraising) for nonprofit organizations. In this course we will examine the parameters within which nonprofit managers raise funds; the organizational, legal, and ethical contexts of fundraising for nonprofit organizations; the philosophy of philanthropy in the US and the various motivations for giving; and, practical guidelines for identifying potential donors, handling the “ask,” providing donor recognition, and utilizing your board effectively for fundraising purposes.

MPA 681 US Health Care Policies and Systems
US Health Care Policies and Systems is an introduction to health care delivery systems and the policy environment they operate in, with emphasis on the American system of health care and its major issues and challenges. The course explores the dynamics of administration in health care institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, and ambulatory care facilities, and the policy issues and controversies that shape the delivery of health care.

MPA 682 Ethical/Legal Issues in Health Care
Ethical/Legal Issues in Health Care provides the student with a fundamental knowledge of the legal system as it relates to health care institutions. The course then builds on the student's understanding of the legal system to integrate it with administrative theory as ethical situations and decisions unique to health care administration and to the health care industry are examined.

MPA 683 Critical Issues in Health Care
Critical Issues in Health care covers topics of contemporary and controversial nature, focusing on topics such as the implementation of health care policy and the ongoing challenges of balancing margin v. mission decisions while working to ensure the long term viability of an organization. It actively integrates historical information on health care issues with current topics under discussion in that week's news outlets. Once it helps the student develop an understanding of contemporary health care debate, it also provides tools and tactics for influencing the debate on a personal and system level.

MPA 685 Negotiations and Conflict Management
This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of interpersonal bargaining. The course will examine types of bargaining strategies, planning for negotiations, how to handle negotiation breakdowns, communications, power, persuasion, and ethics in negotiations, as well as international dimensions of bargaining. The pedagogical approach will largely be through experiential learning exercises based on weekly readings. Evaluations of student efforts will be based upon self-reflection, self-assessment, and personal portfolio construction, as well as in-class performance in negotiation sessions and debriefing discussions.

MPA 688 Ethical Management of Organizations
This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of ethics. Students will examine ethical frameworks as they relate to business, the environment, the consumer, and the individual with an organization. Students will learn to apply these frameworks using moral decision-making techniques to real-world case studies. The class will offer students practical tools to help them recognize and address challenging ethical decisions.

Contact Marist today to learn more about enrolling in the Master's in Public Administration degree. All MPA courses are available through our 100% online curriculum, allowing graduate students to earn their degree through a flexible schedule.

COMI 505 Public Relations Management
This course will give students a thorough understanding of public relations as a strategic management function. Students will explore various communication theories, trends/issues and practice areas with a spe­cial emphasis on the role of public relations in the integrated marketing communication process. In addition, they will gain real-life experience developing a comprehensive pub­lic relations plan that meets specific business and communication needs.­

OR

COMG 600 Organizational Management
This course will provide students with a historical and thematic overview of organizational communication theory and research. It will provide a systematic but critical basis on which to discuss communication in com­plex organizations and will analyze assump­tions and pragmatic solutions associated with these theories. It will also enhance students’ research, analysis, writing, and presentation skills.­

Analytics Concentration* Course Descriptions

MSIS 537 Data Management I

A study of the critical issues related to managing data in organizations. The concept of data as a resource, the data environment, the database approach, and the need for data modeling are examined in detail. The growing use of database management systems in managing data is discussed. The data administration function, its relevance in evolving organizations, and emerging issues are also addressed.

MSIS 545 Introduction to Data Analysis and Computational Statistics

This is an introductory course in data analysis with emphasis on statistical compu­tation, analysis, simulation, modeling, and prediction. A basic presentation of modern computational data analysis, graphics, and inferential statistics is provided in a labora­tory setting; students gain proficiency in using a statistical software platform such as R. The course will cover probability con­cepts, important distributions, descriptive statistics and graphical analysis, inferen­tial statistics including confidence intervals, hypotheses testing and ANOVA, as well as correlation and linear regression in one and several covariates. Computational techniques such as the bootstrap and resampling as well as for simulations are stressed throughout. Principles and methods of statistical analysis are put into practice using a range of real-world data.­

MSIS 645 Data Mining & Predictive Analytics

Data Mining & Predictive Analytics is the name given to a group of disciplines, technologies, applications and practices for analyzing data (usually based on past business performance) and building models to help enterprise users make better, faster business decisions. The course covers basic concepts, tasks, methods, and techniques in data mining, including data exploration, data preparation, classification, regression, clustering, association, and performance evaluation applied to predictive modeling. Prerequisite: While there are no official prerequisites for this course, it is expected that all students are familiar with elementary probability and statistics (recommended: MSIS 594).

*Students taking this concentration need to earn a “B” or better in MPA508.