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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
(PAD)

5003 Introduction to Public Administration
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Provides an overview of the theoretical foundations, substance, and boundaries of modern public administration. Examines the traditional management functions in the legal domain performed by public administrators as well as current issues and problems in the field.

5013 Communication Skills for Public Management
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Designed to improve a student’s ability to use oral, written, graphic, or other presentation techniques as a means of expressing and conceptualizing ideas. Focuses on written and oral communications skills in public administration. Topics may include instruction in grant writing and the development and management of conferences, seminars, and workshops.

5023 Quantitative Methods for Public Administration
(3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Undergraduate statistics or methodology course.
Examines data analysis techniques with emphasis on the social and policy sciences. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, inference, and multivariate regression analysis. Proficiency in the use of statistical software is developed.

5033 Theories of Public Organizations
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course allows students to examine major theories of organization and assess how these theories fit with and impact public-sector bureaucracy. Emphasis is on organizational dynamics, behavior in bureaucracies, sources of organizational change, and the integration of theory and practice.

5223 Urban Management
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An examination of the major economic, social, and political processes involved in managing urban government in the United States. Topics may include contemporary issues in urban areas, urban finance, and intergovernmental dimensions of urban management.

5233 Scope and Methods of Inquiry
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
A comprehensive exploration into the nature and modes of analytic inquiry for administrative and decision-making settings. Course material relevant for social sciences, managerial sciences, policy sciences, and other disciplines. Foci include the formulation of research designs, the conduct of literature reviews, measurement of variables, operationalization, use of theories and models, scientific investigations, and systematic inquiries.

5243 Management Information Systems
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course explores managerial means of accessing, organizing, and using information and data in public organizations. Attention is given to use of the Internet and database and information systems management.

5253 Electronic Government
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course examines managerial and policy issues associated with electronic government (or, “e-government”) in public administration. The emphasis will be on the adoption of information technology to enhance access to and delivery of government information and services to citizens, business partners, employees, other agencies, and governmental entities. Topics discussed may include e-government business models, infrastructure, security and privacy, the digital divide, and e-procurement.

5303 Ethics in Government Administration
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An inquiry into the philosophical and legal foundations of government administration, and the propriety, application, and enforcement of ethical standards for conducting government. Topics may include the dilemmas associated with public administration in democracies, multicultural environments, and societies marked by socioeconomic and ideological stratification.

5313 Public Policy Analysis
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course examines the core component of policy making—the examination, comparison, and choice of policy alternatives. The values, assumptions, and tools associated with welfare economics, as well as alternative approaches to analysis will be studied in detail. Key issues such as informational capacity, public input, rhetorical tools of argument, and ethical obligations of the policy analyst may also be covered.

5323 Public Policy Formulation and Implementation
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
A broad overview of the creation and execution of public policy at all levels and venues of government. Through theoretical approaches and case studies, this course examines key issues such as the impact of politics on policy formulation; the role of public opinion and interest groups; the dynamics of small-group decision making; rulemaking; and variables influencing successful implementation.

5333 Program Evaluation
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
The process, politics, and methodology of analyzing and evaluating public programs. Addresses uses and limitations of methods such as cost-benefit analysis, time-series analysis, and case studies. Students are required to produce a report evaluating a program.

5343 Human Resource Management in the Public Sector
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An examination of the theory and practice of human resource management in public organizations, including the economic, political, and social factors shaping human resource policies in the public sector. The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the techniques for managing personnel in the public sector.

5363 Public Sector Financial Management
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Addresses policies, procedures, and skills relevant to financial management in public sector organizations. Emphasis is on the practice of budgeting, financial reporting, revenue generation, capital budgeting, and debt management.

5393 Economics for Public Administrators
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Develops the tools of economic theory and demonstrates their use for public policy analysis and evaluation. Topics addressed may include discrimination, tax incidence, housing, income maintenance, job training, and environmental issues.

5443 Diversity Policies and Management
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Examines current policies and management practices associated with cultural, ethnic, and gender differences in the workplace. Includes analysis of the theoretical and historical bases for affirmative action policies, the impact of such policies, and their interaction with civil service systems and collective bargaining structures.

5463 Intergovernmental Relations
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Examines the origins and dimensions of American federalism and intergovernmental administration, including the impact of the federal system on contemporary public policy. Topics may include fiscal federalism, bi-national relations, and the character of federal relations involving the borderlands.

5473 Land Use Policy
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An overview of the formulation and implementation of land-use policies in the United States, with an emphasis on South Texas. Topics may include the history of land-use policies, the clash of interests and values, the difficulties of land use in growing areas, and the role of legal controversies.

5483 Environmental Policy
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course explores the public policy dimensions of environmental quality, hazards, and regulation. Problems and policies dealing with air, water, solid waste, energy use, natural resources, sustainability, and global environmental governance are discussed.

5503 Introduction to Urban Planning
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
The course explores the development and evolution of city planning and introduces 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.

5513 Urban and Regional Economic Development
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Scope and status of urban-regional economic development. Analyses of factors contributing to the economic growth or decline of U.S. cities or regions. Roles of government in urban and regional economic development and public/private cooperation. Case studies of specific urban areas.

5563 Urban Planning Methods
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Prerequisite: PAD 5503 or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the analytical tools and research methods available to the city planner in addressing social, economic, and environmental problems. Urban data collection, analysis, and demographics are addressed.

5573 Public Policy and Policymaking in San Antonio
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Examines the historical development and context of public policy in the San Antonio area. Considers the political, social, and economic forces shaping the local policymaking process in city, county, and special purpose governments. Topics may include fiscal policy, public investment policies, urban development policy, environmental policy, urban revitalization, economic development, and transportation.

5623 Comparative Public Administration
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Analysis of a variety of contemporary administrative systems in Western, former Communist, and developing nations. Special attention to historical development, organization, function, and recruitment in selected bureaucracies. Examines relationships between bureaucracies and other components of the political system.

5663 Development Administration
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Explores the basic relationship between administration and development in underdeveloped, newly developing, and developed societies. The role of development administration and nongovernmental organizations, as well as regional and international political economic organizations, are also analyzed.

5813 Health Issues and Policies
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course explores selected policy areas and related contemporary topics. May be repeated once for credit when topics vary.

5913 Nonprofit Organizations
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course focuses on the role, characteristics, and management of nonprofit organizations. Topics may include advocacy, governance, accountability, philanthropy, voluntarism, and financial resources. In different semesters, focus may be on organizations dealing with health and human services, community development, housing, education, energy, and the environment.

5923 Nonprofit Leadership and Management
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course focuses on leadership and managerial responsibilities and techniques in nonprofit organizations. Topics may include the roles and functions of boards of directors; the communication of a vision and effectively moving toward it; coordinating committees of governmental and business leaders; organizing, coordinating, and facilitating meetings; the cultivation and use of volunteers; and the management of change and conflict.

5933 Fiscal Resource Development and Management in Nonprofit Organizations
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Designed to promote understanding of and practical knowledge and skills in philanthropy, fundraising, grants, contracting, resource development planning, and financial management appropriate to nonprofit organizations.

5943 Strategic Planning and Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course offers students an introduction to the context and processes of strategic planning and management in public and nonprofit organizations. Emphasis will be placed on topics such as developing an external organizational focus; identifying political, social, and economic trends; and developing and managing a strategic plan.

5953 Grant Development and Proposal Writing
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course will provide an overview of the various stages of the grant-seeking and grant-making processes. Topics that may be covered include types of grants and funders; the development of an idea; the creation of community partnerships; identification of possible funding sources; the design and evaluation of a proposed program; proposal writing; and the grant review process.

6213 Social Justice
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Examination of social justice theories and various constructions of justice for understanding social issues and tracing the consequences of public policies. Review of competing facts and values that surround the contemporary debate over justice policy and practice. Topics may include dimensions and contexts of social justice, structures of domination, human agency, resistance to domination, development of alternative organizations, development of moral reasoning and values, distributive justice, and social action approaches to the study of social justice issues.

6233 Law and Policy
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An overview of the inter-relationship of law, courts, and public policy. The course will stress a dual focus on the legal tools of policy makers, and courts as venues for policy formulation. Specific topics to be covered include philosophies of the role of law in society, types of law, and the various intersections of law and policy.

6243 Administrative Law
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course covers the procedural requirements that administrative agencies must adhere to and the body of law that defines those requirements. Topics may include rule-making, administrative hearings, and freedom of information, as well as broader questions of agency empowerment and the place of judicial review.

6253 Civil Rights Policies
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course will examine the state of current civil rights policies governing education, employment, housing, voting, and other social spheres, as well as with the history, from the post-Civil War period to the present, that got us to this point. In addition to this substance-based approach, the course will also utilize a process-based orientation, encompassing issues such as institutional influence on formulation (how different types of institutions, such as legislatures versus courts, produce different sorts of civil rights policies), the impact of public opinion, and the complexities of implementation. Public debates and controversies over necessary reforms or the continuing utility of various civil rights policies will also be discussed.

6303 Disaster Response and Preparedness
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
This course examines the functions involved with disasters including immediate response, long-term recovery, disaster preparedness, and mitigation strategies. The differences between human-caused disasters, technology accidents, and natural disasters are explored. The ways in which individuals, communities, and organizations (government, nonprofit, and for-profit) react when disasters occur are examined. The extent to which societal reaction to catastrophic events frames response, how perception of risk influences decision making, and the capacity of communities impacted by disaster to bring resources to support disaster relief efforts will be examined.

6543 Urban Service Systems
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Study of urban service systems such as infrastructure, public safety, housing, and transportation systems. Economy, equity, and effectiveness are also addressed. Political and social dimensions may also be examined.

6923 Applied Research
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Provides the opportunity to apply substantive expertise and research methods to managerial or policy issues in the public sector. May be repeated once for credit with a different emphasis.

6951,3 Independent Study
1 or 3 hours credit. Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission in writing (form available) of the instructor and the Graduate Advisor of Record.
Independent reading, research, discussion, and/or writing under the direction of a faculty member. For students needing specialized work not usually available as part of the regular course offerings. May be repeated for credit, but no more than 6 hours, regardless of discipline, will apply to the Master’s degree.

6961 Comprehensive Examination
1 hour credit. Prerequisite: Approval of the appropriate Graduate Program Committee Chair to take the Comprehensive Examination.
Independent study course for the purpose of taking the Comprehensive Examination. May be repeated as many times as approved by the Graduate Program Committee. Enrollment is required each term in which the examination is taken if no other courses are being taken that term. The grade report for the course is either “CR” (satisfactory performance on the Comprehensive Examination) or “NC” (unsatisfactory performance on the Comprehensive Examination).

6963,6 Internship
3 or 6 hours credit. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and 18 semester credit hours of graduate work.
Work-oriented experience in a public service related setting where the principles, theories, concepts, and methods of the discipline can be applied. A research paper under the supervision of assigned faculty is required.

6973 Special Topics
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An organized course offering the opportunity for specialized study not usually available as part of the regular course offerings. Special Topics courses may be repeated for credit when topics vary, but no more than 6 hours, regardless of discipline, will apply to the Master’s degree.

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