Public Administration
School
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
School Dean
Department
Program Director
Program Mission
Aligned with university’s mission of education, scholarship, and service to society, the mission of the MPA program is to prepare students for careers as servant leaders in public administration and public affairs.
This program emphasizes community-focused knowledge to become effective public servants working for social justice and in pursuit of the common good.
Program Specific Admission Requirements
Admissions is granted only to those with high promise for success in graduate study and a strong motivation for public service. Potential may be demonstrated by experience in increasingly responsible positions and previous schooling. Admission decisions take into account previous schooling, letters of recommendation, and a writing sample or GRE test performance. Writing samples consist of an essay to the question: "why public service matters?"
PA 6000X. Continuous Graduate Enrollment. 0 Semester Hours.
This course is available for students to complete graduate-level work.
PA 6301. Public Administration and Policy. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is a survey of the field of public administration and public policy including politics and policy process, organization theory, management principles, intergovernmental relations, the relationship between the private and public sectors, human resource management, and fiscal policy,.
PA 6302. Policy Formulation and Implementation. 3 Semester Hours.
This course examines the processes through which public policy decisions are reached, deliberates the fairness and viability of public policy alternatives, and explores consequences of those alternatives for the common good.
PA 6303. Urban Political Institutions and Processes. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is a study of power, conflict, and consensus in the urban political arena. Students will be asked to engage with questions related to urban politics.
PA 6304. Public Policy Analysis. 3 Semester Hours.
This course examines the core component of policy making - the examination, comparison, and choice of policy alternatives. This may include the values, assumptions, and tools associated with welfare economics, as well as alternative approaches to analysis. Policy analysis is systematic thinking about public issues or decisions leading to effective, efficient, and equitable responses and includes consideration of Catholic Social Teaching that can be broadly communicated.
PA 6306. Urban Planning. 3 Semester Hours.
This course explores the development and evolution of city planning. It is an introduction to the major concepts and procedures used by planners with emphasis on developing the urban general plan. Issues such as neighborhood revitalization, community planning, and the reflective practitioner may also be examined.
PA 6318. Principles of Public and Non-Profit Management. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is a survey of the main body of literature in the public and nonprofit fields. Topics may include mission design, budgeting, finance/fiscal management, organizational design, human resource policies, legal issues, and ethics.
PA 6355. Human Resources Management. 3 Semester Hours.
This course develops students' skills in assessing and managing the contemporary public sector environment at individual, group, and organizational levels. The course explores the dynamic interaction of these levels and may include topics such as organizational culture, human resources management, teams, job design, organizational development, and change.
PA 7300. Directed Readings. 3 Semester Hours.
PA 7302. Leadership and Organizational Culture. 3 Semester Hours.
This is a course that offers a comparative study of organizations and how different types of organizations affect the nature and style of leadership. This course gives the future public leader insight and understanding into the differences and similarities of the organizations that comprise public life and affect public policy.
PA 7303. Ethics and the Public Sector. 3 Semester Hours.
This course engages the student in thinking systematically about morals and conduct and making judgments about right and wrong as a public official. Students may be asked to consider their responsibilities to their community and the common and specific ethical conflicts that may arise as within their specific role in the workplace as a public servant.
PA 7304. Management of the Public Budget. 3 Semester Hours.
This course focuses on the operational level of public budgeting and finance systems rather than the specific details of practice or theory. It is designed to train public managers to exercise control over the financial resources of their organization through an understanding of accounting, budgeting, and financial practices following the guidelines of the governmental Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAPP). This course will help public managers to understand financial language and practices so that they can interpret financial reports, control organizational resources, ensure that financial systems support each other, and maintain the financial integrity of their organization.
PA 7305. Municipal Law. 3 Semester Hours.
This course examines how cities in the states of Texas function. This course will explore the jurisdiction of cities and their powers. Special attention will be paid to the common issues public officials must face on a daily basis; land use regulations, how to purchase materials and build city facilities; conducting open meetings and public disclosure requirements and much more. This course will discuss the reasons why a city, as a public entity, cannot be run like a business enterprise and vice-versa.
PA 7306. Urban Economic Development. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is designed to introduce the student to the rationale behind the development and growth of cities. The course will begin with a discussion of the origin of cities and what function they play in society and culminate with an exploration of the intricacies of the politics underlying why cities take the physical forms that they do.
PA 7307. Local Politics and Public Conflict Resolution. 3 Semester Hours.
This course examines how disputes over public policy choices and outcomes are either resolved constructively or evolve into chronic community conflicts. Conflict is viewed as an opportunity for positive growth and change in local communities if and when leaders in these communities demonstrate the will and point the way to constructively resolve conflict. This course examines the sources of public policy conflicts, ways of resolving and transforming the conflict into constructive change, and the leadership competencies associated with effectively meeting this challenge.
PA 7386. Public Policy and Program Evaluation. 3 Semester Hours.
The methods of critical thinking and microeconomic analyses are used to evaluate policy proposals and programs. The values underlying the policy and the likely consequences are analyzed, and, criteria for program evaluation are examined and applied.
PA 8300. Special Topics. 3 Semester Hours.
This course will vary by public policy or public administration topic as indicated in the title of the course offered in a particular semester.
PA 8301. Public Service Internship. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is designed for students to receive three required credit hours toward the MPA degree by completing a 150-hour internship. The PA graduate program director or designee will coordinate the internship with the student and the student's workplace supervisor.
PA 8302. Public Service Internship. 3 Semester Hours.
This course provides students the opportunity to earn three (3) credit hours of elective credit through an additional 150-hour internship experience. The PA graduate program director or designee will coordinate the internship (beyond PA 8301) with the student and the student’s workplace supervisor.
PA 8310. Applied Public Service Management. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is limited to in-service students (graduate students with one or more years of full-time employment in the public or non-profit sector) and provides students the opportunity to earn three (3) credit hours of internship credit. Students will be required to undertake a project or responsibilities in coordination with their current employer. The student will work under the supervision of a designated faculty member.
PA 8320. Applied Public Service Management. 3 Semester Hours.
This course is limited to in-service students (graduate students with one or more years of full-time employment in the public or non-profit sector) and provides students the opportunity to earn three (3) credit hours of internship credit through an additional experience in coordination with their current employer. The student will work under the supervision of a designated faculty member.
PA 8365. Human Resources Management. 3 Semester Hours.
Emphasizes the application of the latest human resource theory in the operation of the modern organization. Special attention is given to the role of strategic thinking in human resource management applications, the initiation of missioning and visioning in the implementation of a quality philosophy in the organization, and to the application of the latest quantitative and qualitative programs in the field of human resource management.
PA 8390. Organizational Behavior. 3 Semester Hours.
PA 8395. Applied Research. 3 Semester Hours.
This course and its exit paper represent the culmination of Masters in Public Administration graduate program at St. Mary’s University. It is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their mastery of public administration.
PA 8601. Public Service Internship. 6 Semester Hours.
This course is designed for students to receive six (6) credit hours toward the MPA degree by completing a 300-hour internship. The PA graduate program director or designee will coordinate the internship with the student’s workplace supervisor.