PADM 1000 - Introduction to Leadership in America

This course is an introduction to the study of leadership in America. It compares the administrative processes used in private and non-profit organizations and the U.S. government, including the U.S. military. This course introduces students to the theories of leadership and the styles, traits, and myths of leadership including the history, cultures, and ethical basis for good leadership in an American context.

Credit: 3

PADM 2000 - Supervisory Leadership

Prerequisite: PADM 1000 and any WC&IL I course.

This course is an exploration of the nature and responsibilities of the supervisor. Topics covered include: work environments; technologies, and supervisory styles; tools for decision-making; supervisory functions; and scheduling, staffing, directing, and controlling. This includes career skills involving both personal planning and interpersonal relations and skill areas such as time keeping, goal setting, negotiations, assertiveness, and networking.

Credit: 3

PADM 3000 - Analytical Techniques and Methods

Prerequisite: MATH 1123.

This course studies statistical techniques and quantitative methods for decision-making in an administrative environment. Topics include numerical and graphical descriptive statistics, probability and probability distributions, statistical inference, decision-making under uncertainty, forecasting, correlation, regression analysis, linear programming, project management, and simulation.

Credit: 3

PADM 3300 - Public Policy

Prerequisite: PSCI 3200.

This course examines the making of public policy in the United States. Our study of policymaking will be based on the proposition that an understanding of policymaking depends upon an understanding of institutions and political behavior. The course begins with an overview of the public policy process, examining the stages of policymaking and theories of the policy process. These theories are discussed in the context of specific public policies and public policy controversies, including social welfare, defense, tax policy, and other important issues.

Credit: 3

PADM 3400 - Public Personnel Administration

Prerequisite: Either HRD 1000 or PADM 1000, AND CJ 3000 (which may be taken concurrently); OR enrollment in BSW program.

This course examines the administration of the civil service system. Representative topics include civil service reform and the relationship of public personnel administration and organizational performance. The rights and responsibilities of public employees, patterns of discrimination, and the changing workforce will also be discussed in the context of public policies, law, and court rulings. Students will have an understanding of public personnel administration necessary to steward a valuable public resource competently within the limitations on the exercise of government authority while adhering to the values enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.

Credit: 3

PADM 3500 - Public Finance and Budgeting

Prerequisite(s): PADM 3000 and any WC&IL II course with a grade of C- or higher.

The course provides an overview of the processes, techniques, and political/administrative aspects of public budgeting and finance for federal, state, and local governments in the United States. The purpose of this curse is to introduce students to the theories, concepts, and practice of government budgeting and finance and to expose them to the current issues and challenges in this field. This course also provides students with both theoretical perspectives and practical analytical skills involved in understanding, analyzing, and preparing budgets.

Credit: 3

PADM 3600 - Non-Profit Management

Prerequisite(s): Any WC&IL II course with a grade of C- or higher.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the leadership skills needed to be successful in the non-profit sector in the United States. Topics covered in this course include the nature and scope of non-profit organizations. Other topics include mission statements, ethics, and cohesion; leadership, building organizational capacity, fundraising, and revenue generation; building and sustaining relationships with external constituencies; finding, training, and supervising volunteers, governance, and boards of directors; evaluation of operations and programs; and sustainability of non-profit organizations.

Credit: 3

PADM 3700 - Urban Government

Prerequisite(s): PSCI 3415.

The study of urban governance provides a valuable insight into economic, social, and political forces and how they shape city life. This innovative course casts new light on the issues and re-examines the state of urban governance at the start of the twenty-first century. Models of urban governance, such as corporatist, pro-growth, and welfare, are assessed in terms of implications for the major issues, interests, and challenges in the contemporary urban arena.

Credit: 3

PADM 4000 - Strategic Planning for Government Organizations

Prerequisite: Advisor approval.

This course is a capstone and a summary and integration of knowledge and skills gained in the public administration program. It is a strategic planning course at the city, state, and federal level with issues from the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawai‘i, the U.S. federal government, and or other government entities located in the Pacific basin. Topics include a clarification of mandates, mission, vision, and values; a situational analysis involving both the internal and external environments; the identification of the strategic issues facing those government entities; and the strategic plan for achieving the goals of the organization.

Credit: 3

PADM 6000 - Introduction to Public Administration and Public Service

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This introduction to public administration and public service provides insights into the theory, practice, and the interdependence and administration of government and nonprofit organizations at the federal, state, and city level. Topics include an introduction to research methodologies, principles and tools required in government budgeting and resource management, public organization theory, and decision-making, interprofessional team-based leadership, an understanding of ethics and accountability as it relates to the public sector, and a summary of the essential principles and issues relating to social, cultural, and legal matters that are relevant to the administration of public service organizations.

Credit: 3

PADM 6100 - Public Personnel Management

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course introduces traditional and contemporary issues in public personnel administration.  It examines the historical context and legal rights and responsibilities that public administrators encounter. Various components of personnel administration are covered including recruitment and selection; position management and classification; compensation, performance appraisal, unions and collective bargaining; and employee development.

Credit: 3

PADM 6200 - Non-profit Organizations

Prerequisite: Graduate Standing.

This is an introductory course, an overview of the non-profit sector in Hawai‘i, nationally, and worldwide for students who aspire to positions in middle management or senior leadership for a non-profit organization, with special applications for social work and public health. Topics include: non-profit management as a profession; introduction to budgeting; the relationship and impacts among relevant resources (social capital), associate social, cultural, and environmental goals with social entrepreneurship; and the organizational structures suited to those goals.

Credit: 3

PADM 6210 - Grant Writing and Fundraising

Graduate Standing.

Sources of revenue in the public sector differ from business organizations where incomes are earned from the sale of goods and services. Non-profits endeavor to achieve diverse revenue sources, both to minimize risk and to maximize autonomy. Income generating programs include some earned-income strategies but more typically focus on grant writing and fundraising from the general public like selling. Also includes pipeline management and catalytic philanthropy as it pertains to corporations, governments, and foundations.

Credit: 3

PADM 6220 - Staff and Volunteer Management for Nonprofit Organizations

Prerequisite: Graduate Standing.

The management of an organization’s human resources, regardless of their sector affiliation (public, private, or nonprofit) is pretty much the same except that nonprofit employees tend to be more vision driven. Volunteers, however, tend to be more leadership driven. In addition to general employee management principles, this course will include leadership theories and practices as they apply to volunteer management.

Credit: 3

PADM 6270 - Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations

Graduate Standing Required

This course provides insight for a non-profit’s long-range goals and the resources needed to reach them. Topics include non-profit governing boards and executive leadership, mission and vision achievement, opportunities and threats analyses, long-range strategy execution, and financial oversight.

Credit: 3

PADM 6300 - Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision-Making

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course studies statistical and quantitative tools and concepts as applied in public administration. Topics include: probability theory, descriptive statistics, statistical inference, regression analysis, decision theory, linear models, linear programming, network analysis, and simulation. It emphasizes practical aspects of applying such methods, appropriately interpreting the results of these statistical analysis tools, and gaining a meaningful understanding of how statistical analysis can be used to solve public administration problems. Use of computer tools for carrying out statistical analysis (SAS or SPSS) is also a major emphasis.

Credit: 3

PADM 6400 - U.S. Public Policy

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course examines the making of public policy in the United States. Our study of policymaking will be based on the proposition that an understanding of policymaking depends upon an understanding of institutions and political behavior. The course begins with an overview of the public policy process, examining the stages of policymaking and theories of the policy process. These theories are discussed in the context of specific public policies and public controversies as the impact America’s economy.

Credit: 3

PADM 6500 - Economics for Decision-Makers

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course introduces the primary concepts and methods of economics as they apply to decision making problems within various organizational settings such as a non-profit organization or a government agency. It covers the basics of both microeconomics and macroeconomics. In microeconomics, the focus is on learning economic analysis tools and developing economic way-of-thinking skills. In macroeconomics, the focus is on analyzing the process of decision making in a macroeconomic context. Throughout the course, students will learn that knowledge of economics and methodology of economic analysis leads to practical, informed, and sound decisions.

Credit: 3

PADM 6510 - Public Finance

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of public finance. Students learn the theoretical concepts and tools of public finance and apply them in the practice of public administration. It covers a wide range of issues in public finance with a focus on current policy debates and controversies regarding taxation and government spending in the U.S. Topics covered include market failure, the provision of public goods, cost-benefit analysis, public expenditures, government taxation, and the principles of government finance.

Credit: 3

PADM 6600 - Strategic Thinking for Non-profit Organizations

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the leadership skills and strategic thinking needed to be successful in the non-profit sector in the United States. Topics covered in the course include the nature and scope of non-profit organizations; mission statements, ethics and cohesion; leadership; building organizational capacity; fundraising and revenue generation; building and sustaining relationships with external constituencies; finding, training, and supervising volunteers; governance and boards of directors; evaluation of operations and programs; and sustainability of non-profit organizations.

Credit: 3

PADM 6610 - City Management and Urban Policy

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

The study of urban governance provides a valuable insight into economic, social, and political forces and how they shape city life. This innovative course casts new light on the issues and re-examines the state of urban governance at the start of the twenty-first century. Models of urban governance, such as management, corporatist, pro-growth, and welfare, are assessed in terms of implications for the major issues, interests, and challenges in the contemporary urban arena.

Credit: 3

PADM 6640 - Diversity in the Workplace

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

As the work force changes domestically and globally, individual and organizational strategies for working cross-culturally and ethically must be adopted. This course looks at the diversity in society and how organizations need to reflect on those diversities to allow them to offer more adequate services. The purpose of this course is to increase an understanding of relevant human differences in organization, to develop behavioral skills for working with these differences, and to show that using the diversity at all levels within the organization helps to provide a wider range of solutions to all kinds of problems.

Credit: 3

PADM 6998 - Special Topics in Public Administration

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

This course provides an opportunity for students to explore other areas directly related to the public administration curriculum but not included in the program of study. These special topics would be offered based on student interest and current events.  Course content will vary, and the course may be repeated as topics change. Examples include potential courses in public personnel administration, grant writing, group dynamics in the public sector, violence in American society, and disaster preparedness and response.

Credit: 3

PADM 7001 - Professional Paper I

Prerequisite: PADM 6000; PADM 6300; Program Chair approval

This capstone is the first of two courses required near the end of the student’s MPA program. It is, first, a review of the salient points from the program of study and culminates in a comprehensive exam. Second, it is a preparation for Professional Paper II, which gives the student the option of researching and writing a thesis on a public administration issue or completing an applied research project.

Credit: 3

PADM 7002 - Professional Paper II

Prerequisite: PADM 7001; Program Chair approval

This capstone is the second of two courses required near the end of the student’s MPA program. In this course, the student implements the option of researching and writing a thesis on a public administration issue or completing an applied research project. Public administration issues may include topics like the U.S. economy, social equality, criminal justice, etc. The applied research project option may include an objective or problem of concern to an entity or unit of the U.S. federal government, a state, city, or a non-profit.

Credit: 3