PAI 895

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR: MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP
Objectives are to establish an understanding of the schools of leadership thinking, especially current trends, to practice requisite skills, and to plan for additional learning and development through assessment and action planning. Course readings focus on leadership theory and practice and their application in the changing organizational environment.

OR 

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SEMINAR: HR MANAGEMENT This seminar will have three primary emphases: the examination of major reform priorities in human resource management; the extent to which capacity for effective implementation is considered in reform design; and the extent to which the capacity necessary for effective implementation can be created in a variety of national settings. The design of this course incorporates an examination of major elements of human resource management policies in both western industrial and developing nations, as well as discussion of the national experiences of students in the seminar. The discussion of creating the necessary administrative capacity will include analysis and use of the capacity model created by the Government Performance Project. This framework will allow discussion of reform design and implementation experience in different national and governmental contexts to be more rigorously comparative, and will also allow the creation of comparative case studies.

PAI 897

FUNDAMENTALS OF POLICY ANALYSIS This course considers the rationale for and limits to public sector policies and how those policies can be analyzed prior to their implementation with a portion of the course devoted to cost-benefit analysis.  Although the principles of economics are relied upon heavily in the course, no prior training in the subject is assumed. 

PAI 996

MASTER'S PROJECT PAPER
This is the capstone course and a core requirement for the MA degree. Students will participate through project teams to solve a public management or policy analysis problem defined by a sponsoring organization (e.g. The United Nations, US Congressional Research Service). Topics on project management and group dynamics will be covered to support student project teams as they work over the semester with sponsors and faculty advisors to complete their project. Students are expected to integrate material from all other parts of the MA curriculum in their work. A final oral presentation and a written report to the sponsor and faculty advisor are the major course requirements.