866-492-5336 in the U.S.
+31.20.713.0200 Worldwide
Course Descriptions
MMPA 6000 Introduction and Orientation to Online Learning (4 cr.)
This course introduces the student to the university and the M.P.A. program. It is required of all students and is a prerequisite for taking any other course in the program. It prepares the student to use the online learning environment and Internet tools such as email and Web browsers. In addition, it provides basic instruction in techniques of online communication and interaction, time and stress management, APA formatting, writing skills, critical-thinking skills, and group work. (This course must be taken in the first quarter at Walden. It must be successfully completed before a student can take further courses in the M.P.A. program.)
MMPA 6100 Historical Foundations and Professional Development (4 cr.)
This course familiarizes students with the historical and contemporary roles and relationships of the public and nonprofit sectors in the United States. It provides a scholarly perspective on public policy and administration that traces major theories associated with the field and the political, social, and economic context within which they developed. Students are encouraged to reflect upon their career experiences and prior education as a basis for integrating theory and practice and for establishing specific academic objectives to help them achieve individual professional goals. This is intended to make a strong connection between the student’s own professional development and the development of the major theories and concepts of public administration. (This course must be completed in the second quarter at Walden.)
MMPA 6110 Organizational Theory and Behavior (4 cr.)
This course focuses on behavior in organizations as influenced by individual differences, group processes and interactions, and organizational processes. Skills and abilities essential for effective management in changing organizational contexts are emphasized. Topics examined include motivation, productivity, diversity, group development, team building, decision-making and communication processes, power and politics, leadership, job design, and organizational culture. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6120 Managing at the Boundaries (4 cr.)
This course examines the historical and contemporary patterns of interaction between levels of government and between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in the United States. Of all the Western democracies, the United States has the most fully developed nonprofit sector. In the past 20 years, growing efforts to privatize public service delivery and to work collaboratively with business and nonprofit organizations has created the need to understand each sector and its culture, values and practices. Increasingly, the boundaries between governmental levels and the three sectors have become more blurred and the action at these intersections more critical for the effectiveness of public/nonprofit sector leaders and managers. (This course must be taken in the second quarter at Walden. Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100.)
MMPA 6130 Applied Research (4 cr.)
This course is designed to introduce students to the research process as applied to problems in the public and nonprofit sectors. Beginning with an overview of the scientific method, it covers each phase of the research process, including formulating the research question, model building and conceptualization, data collection and analysis, and reporting results and conclusions. In addition, the course introduces qualitative methods, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Students are not required to have a background in quantitative methods, statistics, or computer-based analysis. (Required course for M.P.A. students. Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6140 Strategic Management of Information (4 cr.)
This course is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of information resources and their implications for the public and nonprofit sectors. Advancements in information technology, which are making e-government a reality and are causing administrators to rethink their approach to service delivery, are explored as new ways of structuring organizations for greater productivity. The human systems and organizational culture impacts of information technology are also examined. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6150 Nonprofit and Government Budgeting and Finance (4 cr.)
This course examines government and nonprofit budgeting policies and practices, as well as the fiscal climate within which these organizations operate. Students gain a better understanding of the role of finance in public and nonprofit organizations and the theories underlying major fiscal policy debates, and they learn how to construct budgets and capital improvement plans, and how to successfully generate funds to support nonprofit sector organizations. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6160 Human Resource Management (4 cr.)
This course is a survey of philosophy, approaches, and systems of managing people in government and nonprofit organizations. It includes historical developments, personnel management practices and behaviors, and current issues. It examines recruitment, classification, compensation, training, evaluation, and labor-management relations functions. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6170 Professional Leadership and Ethics (4 cr.)
This course examines the ethical issues of public and nonprofit sectors. It provides conceptual tools to clarify moral dilemmas and analyzes individual decision-making strategies and organizational programs from an ethical perspective. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6180 Policy Analysis (4 cr.)
This course provides a broad perspective on the policy process, recognizing that both public and nonprofit administrators are intimately involved in executive and legislative/board policy- and decision-making. It focuses on how policy is initiated, researched, shaped for decision-making, decided, implemented, and then evaluated. Balanced attention is given to the dynamics of the policy-making process itself, as well as the analytical and communications tools that equip professionals at many levels in organizations to be effective actors in this process. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
MMPA 6190 Capstone Seminar (4 cr.)
This course is intended to integrate learning from all the master’s courses to demonstrate a stronger, more intellectually cohesive understanding of public and nonprofit administration. It may focus on governance, policy, or leadership and management in either the public or nonprofit sectors, or it may take a cross-sector comparative perspective. Through this course, students assemble and analyze a professional portfolio of work completed in the M.P.A. program. (This course is required for M.P.A. students only and must be taken in the final quarter of study. Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120.)
Homeland Security Policy and Coordination
MMPA 6320 Public Policy Implications of Terrorism Legislation and Policies (4 cr.)
This course provides a broad perspective on the history of the USA Patriot Act, similar terroristic legislation and immigration laws, and their policy implications on law enforcement, governmental entities, organizations, and individuals. It provides a basic foundation upon which to build for those public administrators and public policy analysts who are charged with drafting and implementing public policy and enforcing and/or responding to potential terroristic threats, while simultaneously upholding and protecting constitutional freedoms. Material for this course is drawn from contemporary texts, Web sites, case studies, and from material representing international, national, and local governments and organizations. Learners critically review and analyze the USA Patriot Act and similar terroristic legislation and policies, and participate in online discussions about these laws and their implications on U.S. Constitutional freedoms. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
MMPA 6321 Terrorism: A Systemic Approach for Emergency Preparedness (4 cr.)
This course provides participants with an overview of terrorism—local, national, and international—and the need to develop a systemic approach for emergency preparedness. Topics include, but are not limited to, terrorism overview, terrorism and public health, bioterrorism, biosecurity, cyberterrorism, risk assessment, implications for public health, and components of a systemic preparedness infrastructure. Course participants begin the development and/or analysis of a terrorism preparedness infrastructure, and participate in online discussions. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
MMPA 6322 Critical Incident Planning and Leadership (4 cr.)
This course examines the principles of emergency planning, selection of leaders, specialized planning (e.g., schools, tourism), mutual aid, and leadership theories. It provides a basic foundation for public administrators to develop a critical incident plan and also understand leadership theories. Course participants critically analyze case studies, identifying weaknesses and potential solutions. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
Health Services
PUBH 6130 Health Care Organization, Policy, and Administration (4 cr.)
This course is intended to introduce students to health policy-making and the structure and administration of health care organizations, including the legal bases for public health practice. Students examine concepts from public policy, economics, organizational behavior, and political science. Students also survey the current issues in national and international health policy and the present organization and delivery of national and international health care systems.
PUBH 6250 U.S. and International Health Care Systems (4 cr.)
This course examines the new organizations, structures, and relationships that are developing as national and international health care systems reform themselves. Detailed analysis of health system delivery entities and their purposes, advantages, and disadvantages is presented. The influence of corporate and governmental agencies on the delivery and financing of health services is a primary topic of study. There is a strong emphasis on the legal issues confronting health care institutions (antitrust, fraud and abuse, and taxation). Students examine the market, fiscal, and public policy forces on national and international health systems and investigate the opportunities and challenges facing the management of community-based health care organizations. (Prerequisite: PUBH 6100.)
PUBH 6920 Health Services Financial Management (4 cr.)
This is a foundational course in the financial management of the health care service industry. Students will learn the functional role of the health care finance manager and the basic tools of health care financial decision-making, including financial reporting statements, analyzing financial statements, cost concepts and decision-making, budgeting techniques, cost variance analysis, time valuing of money procedures, capital acquisition, debt and equity financing, and working capital cash management. The course emphasizes application and case study use. (Prerequisite: PUBH 6100.)
International Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
MMPA 6330 Holding Up the Mirror: Understanding Different Cultures and Increasing Global Consciousness (4 cr.)
This course offers students an opportunity to explore and understand the cultural values and styles of communication, reasoning, and leadership unique to their home culture. Students apply their increased understanding to other cultures. They also identify and become familiar with the challenges American nonprofits face as they work internationally or cross-culturally within the United States. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120, 6170. Strongly advised: A course or direct experience in nonprofit management.)
MMPA 6331 Crossing Borders: U.S. and International NGO Organizational Cultures and Environments (4 cr.)
In this course, students study the cultures, structures, and activities of NGOs in select countries in-depth and compare their activities, organizational cultures, structures, and working environments with nonprofits in the United States. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120, 6170. Strongly advised: A course or direct experience in nonprofit management.)
MMPA 6332 Placing NGOs in the Global Context (4 cr.)
This course offers students knowledge and understanding about the geopolitical and economic contexts in which international, nongovernmental, and voluntary agencies function in other countries. Students analyze the historical, political, social, and cultural contexts in which NGOs work and the implications these contexts have on the work of local and international NGOs. Students identify strategies that make the international and cross-cultural efforts of NGOs successful. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120, 6170. Strongly advised: A course or direct experience in nonprofit management.)
Knowledge Management
AMDS 8335 Principles of Knowledge Management (4 cr.)
This course examines how information systems enable organizations to systematically identify, acquire, store, analyze, distribute, and reuse information and knowledge from all sources (e.g., internal and external, explicit and tacit) to enhance organizational productivity and competitiveness. The course also examines how information technology supports the organizational knowledge process. (Six-week course.)
AMDS 8800 Epistemology and the Practice of Knowledge and Learning Management (4 cr.)
This course reviews the history of knowledge from the early contributors, including Plato and Aristotle, to contemporary writers. It reviews the evolution of major movements, including rationalism, empiricism, functionalism, structuralism, and behaviorism. It covers contemporary authors involved with knowledge, learning, and change management, including Senge, Drucker, Deming, Nonaka, Garvin, Argyris, Knowles, and Rogers. The course provides a broad foundation for the study of knowledge and learning management. (12-week course.)
AMDS 8801 Principles of Learning Management (4 cr.)
This course defines learning and the emergence of learning management and reviews the responsibilities of the chief learning officer and the foundations of adult learning and development. The course reviews the role of corporate universities and distance learning in support of organizational learning. (Six-week course.)
Nonprofit Management and Leadership
MMPA 6260 The Third Sector: Governance, Entrepreneurship, and Social Change (4 cr.)
This course provides an overview and history of the third sector in American society, featuring governance and nonprofit corporation law. The course covers the relationships between the board and the executive director. Ethics topics typical to nonprofit organizations, such as conflict of interest, fiduciary responsibility, human resources, and board organizational structures, are examined in depth. The role of nonprofit organizations in fostering social change is a major component of this course, and the emerging trend toward entrepreneurship in nonprofits is examined in detail. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120. Students from other programs taking the nonprofit specialization may seek a prerequisite waiver from the program chair.)
MMPA 6261 Fund Raising and Marketing in Nonprofit Organizations (4 cr.)
This course examines the history of philanthropy and the philosophy of giving, and their relationship to the nonprofit sector in the United States. The principles of resource development and their relationship to organizational mission, governance, and capacity are a core part of the course. The course provides students with an understanding of the many fund-raising techniques and funding sources that generate financial support for nonprofits as well as the contexts of their use. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120. Students from other programs taking the nonprofit specialization may seek a prerequisite waiver from the program chair.)
MMPA 6262 Nonprofit Management (4 cr.)
This course provides the basis for understanding nonprofit management issues and for understanding how management in the nonprofit sector differs from both public and business administration and includes special issues of nonprofit management, such as mission, budgeting, financial management, volunteer management, strategic planning, and outcome evaluation and assessment. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120. Students from other programs taking the nonprofit specialization may seek a prerequisite waiver from the program chair.)
Public Management and Leadership
MMPA 6290 Strategic Context of Public Management and Leadership (4 cr.)
This course engages learners in collaborative study of the changing strategic context of public administration. Learners apply a systems perspective to construct a public enterprise model (PEM) of the public organization of their choice, as a way of understanding the strategic context for practical action and the stakeholder relations involved. This is an organization “mental model” similar to a traditional “business model,” but includes the three interrelated flows of money-knowledge-influence. Emphasis in this course is on management and leading of the unknown—imagining and creating a future that works in a time of unprecedented and unpredictable change. Students apply strategic scenarios to organizational change for the public organization of special interest to them. Students also develop professional action habits for pragmatic action learning in the practice of public administration. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
MMPA 6291 Transformative Change in a Shared Power World (4 cr.)
This course engages students in collaborative study of the nature and methods of transformative change in the complex human systems of contemporary public organizations. Students learn a pragmatic action learning process for learning from the experience of transformative change in complex systems. The dynamics of complex adaptive systems (CAS) are studied to gain an understanding of how large scale and highly interrelated human systems change through self-organization. Appreciative inquiry and other selected methods of transformative change are studied and applied to a positive organizational change situation of special interest to the students. Students also develop professional action habits for pragmatic action learning in the practice of public administration. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
MMPA 6292 Language, Thought, and Symbolic Managing and Leading (4 cr.)
This course engages students in the collaborative study of the power of language-and-thought leadership in public organizational change. Students learn how language can either liberate or stifle individual thinking and community thinking in organizations. They learn to apply a symbolic pattern language (image, metaphor, story, ritual, as well as generative ideas and ideals) to managing and leading, whether in a small work group or in a larger public arena of symbolic action. Students learn to enable and energize organization dialogue to create effective action and a culture of adaptive change. They learn to create a generative symbolic pattern language, which is an organizational DNA of idea-genes (memes) in the form of a symbolic language capable of shaping and guiding organizational evolution. They develop and apply symbolic communication to an organizational change situation of special interest to them, and they develop professional action habits for pragmatic action learning in the practice of public administration. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
Public Policy
MMPA 6280 Policy and Politics in American Political Institutions (4 cr.)
This course introduces students to the crafts of policy-making and analysis in the American democratic system. It covers the policy process—agenda setting, using policy analysis tools, managing the political process, implementing policy, and evaluation and feedback. Students develop skills in policy and economic analysis, as well as skills in determining the political feasibility of proposed policies. Regulation as a policy choice will be discussed. Students completing this course will enhance their abilities to develop alternatives and to assess strategies, which are proposed to achieve certain policy objectives. Policy areas of interest to students form the foundation of this course and may include communications, immigration, social, transportation, housing, labor, arts, and environmental policies. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
MMPA 6281 Program Evaluation (4 cr.)
This course provides an introduction to the tools used by policy-makers and policy analysts to evaluate the impact of social programs. Topics include selecting programs to evaluate; crafting program descriptions; identifying stakeholders and their interests; developing logic models; framing evaluation questions; applying utilization-focused evaluation techniques; using quantitative and qualitative tools to complete formative and summative evaluations; and formulating evaluation reports and feedback to decision-makers. By the end of the course, each student will develop a program evaluation design for a social program. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
MMPA 6282 Public Policy and Finance (4 cr.)
This course covers both micro- and macroeconomic models used in policy formulation and how public finance influences policy choices as well as implementation alternatives. Students examine tax policies and tax incentive models, budgeting, public/private models, market influences on policy, the impact of government expenditures on income redistribution, and economic considerations of welfare, food stamps, worker’s compensation, and Social Security. Outsourcing of public programs is also examined. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6120, 6180.)
Public Safety Management
MMPA 6310 Public Safety Management: Environments, Structures, and Issues (4 cr.)
This is a comprehensive survey of the issues faced by public safety agencies and personnel at the local, state, and national level, including police and sheriff, emergency medical, and fire services and related organizations. It emphasizes communication and coordination between public safety organizations. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
MMPA 6311 Managing Public Safety Organizations (4 cr.)
This course examines how public safety leaders find solutions to major issues confronting their operating systems, both organizations and communities, through research, analysis, planning, and decision-making. It adapts classic business management techniques and leadership principles to public safety operations. The concepts of "first-planner" and "first-responder" are introduced. Solutions and alternatives to varied situations confronting public safety managers are developed. Emphasis is on systems approaches, environmental analyses, contingency planning, implications for change, coordination, and controls. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
MMPA 6312 Leadership Cases in Public Safety (4 cr.)
This course applies the lessons of the first two courses in the specialization—management issues and planning solutions—to specific cases of leadership and personal responsibility in the public safety field. Using primarily the case study method, students will analyze leadership and ethical issues public safety officials encounter in their work and develop effective approaches for how standards and ethics can best be instilled throughout a public safety organization. Students analyze classic cases, including the federal 9/11 Commission report, for lessons applicable to any public safety agency and situation—in intelligence, planning, operations, command, interagency coordination, communication, and technology. (Prerequisites: MMPA 6000 or PPPA 8000, MMPA 6100 or PPPA 8100, MMPA 6110, 6120.)
