Public Administration (PA)

This course provides an understanding of the fundamental theories, key practices and underlying values that provide the framework for contemporary American public administration. It will discuss the political and administrative values affecting the theory and practice of public administration in the United States; review the historical development of American public administrative systems and processes; examine key issues facing public administrators in the light of both traditional and contemporary values and views; critically evaluate administrative approaches to public service delivery; and explore contemporary strategies to address critical problems in a rapidly changing world.

PA 502 builds awareness and understanding of the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations, preparing managers to be more effective within their organizational contexts. Topics include individual differences in motivation, perception, culture and learning style, group and organizational dynamics, and the impact of organizational structure and culture on behavior. Leadership techniques for influencing other organizational members, creative problem-solving and decision-making, ethics and values-based managing are covered. This course helps students relate basic theories, concepts, and techniques to real-world situations through the extensive use of case studies.

This course considers the role of statutes, case law, and administrative law in the establishment, operation, and control of public agencies. It also examines how legislation and administrative procedures direct and constrain the exercise of discretion by public managers and how they ensure accountability and the fair treatment of the public.

This course is an examination of local, state, and federal law as it pertains to the nonprofit sector. This includes such things as the IRS, lobbying, human resources, property, and contracts.

This course examines the behavior of firms and households and the determination of prices and resource allocation in market economy. Topics include empirical demand, production and cost functions, monopoly, oligopoly, and pricing practices.

This course provides hands-on training and practice in the styles of writing and related communications skills needed by all public managers, including memoranda, letters, and formal reports. Emphasis is placed on learning and practicing effective writing and communication related to real-world administrative and managerial situations relevant to the student's particular current or chosen professional position.

This course provides an introduction to comparative analysis of systems of public administration in selected nations, including Great Britain, Japan, China, and major non-governmental organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations. The nations and organizations discussed will be compared to each other and to the United States. Areas explored will include: the historical antecedents of current national administrative systems (including the development of the nation-state), public administration models and structure in both developed and developing nations, the relationship between bureaucracies and political systems, the rise of the international nongovernmental organization, and the impact of corruption on public administration. (3-0-3)

The goal of this course is to assist students functioning as strong advocates in their future careers and to help them prepare for their thesis or final project presentation. This is an advanced research and writing course. Public Advocacy is the study of effective argument. The course is designed to allow students to focus their prior learning experiences through problem analysis and advocacy. Using individual topics, students will address the problems of advocacy including different types of advocacy situations requiring different information, analyses, and presentations. Substantive topics of current interest and controversy will be discussed in the context of developing and advocating a particular position.

A practical introduction to database management programs. Demonstrates the use of a variety of other office automation software tools (including graphics, desktop publishing, telecommunications/file transfer, bibliographic text retrieval, computer-aided instruction, and expert systems). Considers issues relating to effective computer management, including computer ethics, security, needs assessment and training. Prior working knowledge of personal computer operating systems, word processing, and spreadsheet programs is needed .

This course teaches the fundamentals of doing business in technology-intensive industries. Students will not only be exposed to the basics of starting, growing and running a profitable business, but also learn how to compete in industries wherein technological transformation is rapid and business innovation is the basis for competitive advantage. They will learn how companies create and capture value, and how to analyze the business environment, industry, competitors and customers. They will learn about the five major functions of technology companies – R&D, Marketing, Production, Accounting and Finance – and how they can be integrated to generate value for customers and companies. They will learn Strategy – both the conventional approach and the new blue ocean strategy approach. Finally, they will be able to understand the role of business ethics and data-driven approaches to decision-making in business innovation and sustainability.

The course has the learning objective of becoming aware of the general management challenges that the use of information technology presents for governments and to be able to develop appropriate policies that address these challenges. Upon completion, students should be able to apply best practices to the management of computer hardware, software, networking, and other technologies in government and appreciate how the use of electronic government technology can transform government and be able to help governments develop and manage effective programs of e-government use.

This is a graduate level course which describes various topics in Finance and The Financial Markets through Mathematics. The purpose of the course is to be informative (increase knowledge), developed analytical skills (thinking), and to be career enhancing (get a job and make money and add value to an institution and the World). Students will be held to a high level effort and responsibility. The major topics which will be covered are: 1. Simple, Compound, and Continuous Compound Interest 2. Annuities and Mortgages 3. Bond Pricing 4. Forward Contract 5. Option valuation at Expiration and Strategies 6. Duration and Convexity of Bonds 7. The Calculus of Options and the Black Scholes Merton Formula 8. Newton’s Method for Solving Equations of Value 9. Volatility 10. Technical Analysis 11. Risk and Reward in a Portfolio 12. The Binomial Model for Option Pricing.

This course covers statistics tools that are critical for managers in enabling their firms to have a competitive advantage. The course includes descriptive statistics, probability, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, linear regression, ANOVA, time-series and goodness-of-fit tests. The models address problems in a variety of business functional areas and business processes. The focus of the course is on using business analytics to build models and using software to aid in decision-making.

After completing this course, students will know how to apply the built-in functionality of Microsoft Office Excel 2016 to analyze data, build Operations, Finance and Marketing-related spreadsheet models, formulate optimization models, and perform risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation. These objectives will be facilitated through the following key tools taught in this course, which are: 1) Advanced Excel functionality; 2) Data Analysis; 3) Spreadsheet modeling; 4) Optimization (resource allocation); and 5) Simulation for risk-analysis and modeling uncertainty.

This course teaches statistics and econometric techniques useful for the analysis of business and financial data. It emphasizes fundamentals of business statistics and practical quantitative methods. Data collection, sampling, statistics description, probability models, regression models, and time series analysis are covered. Course project asks you to analyze a financial market issue using real-world data. Pre-requisites: Excel.

This course focuses on human resource planning, recruitment, examination, and promotion of procedure. It familiarizes students with the key human resources management factors involved in supervising employees as well as collective bargaining, affirmative action, and employee productivity and performance evaluation. It is directed towards practical applications in dealing with these topics as managers and employees working in their teams or individually and covers employee professional responsibility and behavior. Students in this class will learn to utilize human resource planning, recruiting, interviewing and selection processes to improve organizational outcomes; analyze the legal/cultural aspects of personnel when making organizational decisions; identify the key components of performance management to improve themselves and their direct reports; develop specific solutions to solve critical workplace personnel issues; and apply a variety of motivation and team performance techniques in current and future organizational settings.

This course will focus on the three sets of key questions: (1) mission and vision ("What areas or activities should we be working in or on?"); (2) strategy and operations ("How can we perform effectively in this area?"); and (3) leadership (“What leadership skills are needed to develop and implement strategies effectively?”). We will cover both strategy formulation ("What should our strategy be?") and strategy implementation ("What do we need to do to make this strategy work?"). All organizations – government agencies as well as non-profit or private companies with a public purpose – face substantial challenges that demand strategic responses, often in uncertain economic, social, or political contexts. To deal effectively with these challenges, managers need knowledge and skills in strategic management and leadership: setting and aligning goals with the organization’s mission; handling complex trade-offs between demand for services and resource constraints; defining measures of success; motivating staff and other stakeholders; developing relationships with relevant groups; dealing with crises and environments in transition; and leading organizational change. In short, the course emphasizes the multiple, related requirements of the leader/manager's job: analysis, creativity, and action.

In this course we will emphasize Market Segmentation, the choice of ‘Target Markets’; and the design and integration of the variables in the ‘Marketing Mix’ to create a ‘Positioning’: and how these choices ‘fit’ with each other, the marketing strategy, other functional decisions and the competitive strategy of the Firm/SBU. The course will emphasize how understanding the segmentation of the market and the needs/behaviors of the Customer leads to ‘Positioning’ the integrated marketing mix to meet those needs over the product life cycle. This is often referred to as the S-T-P model. In addition to the development of a (set of) marketing strategy (ies) that ‘positions’ the product/service to the needs of one or more target markets (segmentation); the ‘execution’ of a marketing strategy (often referred to as ‘Strategic Marketing Management’) will require an economic and financial analysis of the costs and potential profits of the strategy to both the Vendor and the Customer; and an implementation plan including an organizational structure and an Expense Budget. This, combined with the S-T-P Marketing Strategy model; usually becomes the MARKETING PLAN and we will use the GOST (or similar) model to help organize and focus our ideas. Obviously, this will often be an iterative process to find an optimal combination of costs and pricing and volume to maximize profits.

This course covers a range of qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, ethnography, digital research, and surveys. Methods for both manual and automated research analysis are explored. The class will be exposed to a range of research applications across marketing, product development, and strategy.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to public budgeting, governmental accounting and related areas of public fiscal administration. The course will give students a basic understanding of the concepts and skills needed to evaluate budget processes and documents and to assess the financial condition of governments. It is also designed to provide students with an understanding of the public finance environment and an opportunity to explore practical challenges in managing government resources. Emphasizing best practice models and case studies, the course will focus primarily on local government finance with some reference to state governmental policies and practices and nonprofit organizations.

An advanced course focusing on the application of techniques used by financial managers to evaluate government financial condition and performance. Students will conduct case studies in which they apply tools such as performance measurement, budget analysis, priority setting, and financial indicator analysis to evaluate core public financial documents including budgets, capital improvement plans, and audited financial statements.

Nonprofit organizations are businesses organized on many of the same principles as for-profit organizations. However, there are many differences, including their mission, financial reporting, donation reporting, reporting to government funding sources, tax reporting, and investment strategies. This course will provide a foundation in the concepts and techniques of financial management for the non-profit sector. It will help students acquire some of the skills necessary to understand, analyze and responsibly guide the complex financial life of a modern nonprofit organization.

Resource Development in the Nonprofit Sector provides insight and learning into fundraising, marketing, and strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. This course offers an in-depth look into finding and securing the resources necessary to the success of nonprofit organizations.

This course introduces the student to the National Strategy for Homeland Security and describes the structure under which it was originally designed, the events that have affected the original concept and the various changes that is has undergone since the events of 09/11/2001. The student will become intimately acquainted with the key legal parameters affecting HS and the government components involved in HS operations, enforcement and intelligence. An emphasis on the overall integration of state, local, tribal, and private sectors will enable the student to apply the tenets of HS to their own individual situations. Other topics will include an understanding of how to conduct Threat Assessments as well as a cursory understanding of the Intelligence Cycle.

This course is taught by experts from various disciplines and provides a basic overview of homeland security including a brief history of terrorism. Specifically, the course is intended to provide the issues related to homeland security, awareness on the types of threats (damage to building processing plants, public facilities, etc.), and the type of risks involved. Other relevant aspects include types of weapons used by modern terrorists; how one goes about estimating risk and threat to a facility; how buildings and people respond when subjected to blast and fires; the role of search and rescue operation; weapon effect; building security; facility analysis to identify vulnerable areas given a threat; procedures for minimizing vulnerability; effective fire safety; contingency plans, etc. At the conclusion of this course the student will know how to estimate the risk and threat to a given facility, prepare a basic security audit; develop a basic contingency plan, develop passive/active security system for a given facility and develop post event search and rescue operations.

Provides an introduction to information systems security, an in-depth review of topics in cyber-crime issues in the public safety field and identifies methods of preventing cyber-crime in organizations. It includes issues involved with policy and legal issues of enforcement of cyber-crime laws, as well as tools used for network security.

Students in this class will acquire the fundamental knowledge to manage functions in local government in such a way as to maximize limited resources for the effective and efficient delivery of public goods and services. Staying true to preserving the public trust and protecting the public interest students will learn what is required to lead a local government agency, department, and or unit of government. The student will gain and demonstrate knowledge regarding: • The evolution of professional government management. • The importance of achieving effective community leadership. • Through critical thinking exercises, identify ways in which to enhance a governing body’s effectiveness. • How effective personnel management is critical to the success of the organization. • The processes associated with policy implementation, performance measurements, and program evaluation. • The need for effective intergovernmental relations. • Why a professional code of ethics is critical to successful local government management.

This course will introduce you to the formally accepted varieties of resolving disputes without going to court: negotiation, mediation, fact-finding, mini-trials, court sponsored settlement procedures, and arbitration. We will focus on process: what each term means; how the different processes work and compare with one another; when they can and cannot be used more effectively and how; and what considerations, techniques and/or factors make each kind of process work best. This is a survey course to give a general idea of the different kinds of alternative dispute resolution methods. Although simulations are used it is not equivalent to a full skills training program. Note: This course is also applicable to the nonprofit sector.

Performance management is a process of measuring progress toward specific organizational goals and objectives through the use of quantitative indicators of efficiency, effectiveness and quality. It is an essential tool that can help nonprofit and government leaders and staff plan and manage the programs and services they offer to customers, clients, and the public. This is an applied course which will help students understand performance management concepts, develop specific performance measures, and apply performance management techniques to solve real world problems in both the nonprofit and public sectors.

The effective development, planning, execution, and communication of special projects are critical to all types of public service organizations and private sector organizations. Service organizations, healthcare providers, nonprofits, government organizations, and private sector organizations constantly pursue new initiatives and projects to address the demands of their constantly changing environments. This course will offer an introduction to basic concepts and methods for directing projects and will provide students with tools that prepare them for success in project management. Examples in this course will be drawn from both the public and private sector. The course will be divided into the following components: • Project Plan Definition (Purpose, Goals, Objectives, Expectations, Roles, and Quality Management, Approach and Ground Rules) • Scope of the Project (Definition, Costs, Benefits, Risks, Products, Deliverables, Milestone, and Impacted Business Areas) • Assumptions (Specific and Measurable) • Constraints (Limitations to the Project, Related Projects, Critical Dependencies) • Quality Management Approach (Activity Reviews/Walkthroughs, Tools and Techniques, Test Approach, Performance/Quality Standards, Quality Management Roles, and Training) • Project Management Approach (Work Breakdown, Basis of Estimates, Project Effort Estimation, Project Standards, Project Roles and Responsibilities, Change and Issues Management Approach, Communication and Control Approach) • Attachments (Any pertinent work, flow charts, and approvals that need to be added to flesh out the project) • Project Budget • Project Impact Report • Approvals (Sign-off sheets)

This course examines the long history of charitable giving across the globe with special emphasis on the United States. In particular this course will focus on the philosophical roots of philanthropy, organized giving, and the role philanthropy has played in the development of modern public policy as it pertains to health and human services.

This course gives students a practical introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of social entrepreneurship. The course will begin by introducing students to contemporary understandings of poverty, its causes, and traditional poverty alleviation strategies. It will then turn to key concepts regarding social ventures including entrepreneurship, organizational structures (for profit, nonprofit, and hybrid), financing, marketing, and performance assessment (social and environmental impact). We will also examine the challenges that are faced in creating and operating social enterprises in different parts of the world. The course includes guest lectures by the Stuart School of Business faculty and social entrepreneurs working in different areas (such as health, education, and environment). Students will gain hands-on experience by either developing a business plan for a social enterprise to address a specific real world problem or assisting an existing social venture in developing a business plan geared towards an expansion of its services. It is expected that the plans can be entered into a variety of social venture competitions.

A city’s built environment begins with its underlying foundation or infrastructure. Historically, infrastructure had been built and financed by individuals and the private sector, but most infrastructure today is in the public domain. Governments plan, budget, and finance their fixed assets or capital facilities. This course will examine the capital budgeting process and its evolution, the linkages between the capital budget and the capital improvement plan, methods and techniques of financing capital improvements, prioritization of capital projects, capital budgeting concepts and investment strategies and evaluation techniques.

This course examines the major issues associated with the administration and operation of social welfare and health services in the United States by governments and nonprofit organizations. It is designed for students who work in such agencies and for those who have regular contact with them or their clientele. Structure, funding, staffing and other operating characteristics are examined.

This course deals with contemporary public safety and security management in communities for public safety professionals, public administrators, and law enforcement officials who deal with public safety issues existing in post-9/11 American society. Examines the relationship between police/public safety policy, operations, and administration. Addresses various current problems and issues through case studies. Focuses mainly on the City of Chicago and surrounding metropolitan area.

The subject of this course is governmental and private sector activities that influence the maintenance and development of the built environment. Students learn both quantitative and qualitative analysis and are introduced to planning systems incorporating fiscal analysis, social analysis, transportation analysis, and demographic and economic analysis. They will also learn about various processes providing participation and citizen input to the development of plans for the built environment. Regulatory tools covered include zoning, comprehensive plans, neighborhood planning, and subdivision regulation.

In the United States, an increasing proportion of the goods and services traditionally provided by governmental employees in the context of a governmental bureaucracy are now provided by outside contractors, or through indirect means such as social, economic regulation, tax policy, loan guarantees, vouchers, and manipulation of incentives for the private sector. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of various tools used by governments throughout the West as the traditional rule-based bureaucracy is replaced by other types of institutions and other means to provide goods and services traditionally provided by government.

This course covers materials on infrastructure management and the interrelationship of infrastructure management to urban and regional development. The course acquaints students with the increasing role of the private sector in infrastructure maintenance, development, and management. Students learn various analytic techniques useful for officials responsible for urban and regional development (including development of new infrastructure) and for the continuing maintenance and management of existing infrastructure. Students learn analytic techniques relating to management and planning.

This course requires successful completion of at least one other course marked with a satisfaction of IIT's Basic Writing Proficiency Requirement. This course places energy and environmental policy in domestic and global contexts. It also traces the economic and political implications of dependence on fossil fuels and the attempt to develop alternate energy sources and promote conservation. It assesses the environmental effects of resource consumption and the effort to control these effects by increased efficiency and regulation of pollution, and explores such problems such as nuclear waste, acid rain, global warming, and deforestation. Finally, it examines national and international attempts at economic, political, and technological solutions.

Globalization has become a powerful buzzword in social science and in popular discourse. This course utilizes a sociological perspective to examine the economic, socio-political, and cultural aspects of globalization within the context of contemporary debates about the phenomenon.

This course is an introduction to political economy exploring the relationship between economy and government or political system. Role of the state, role of the market, and impact of economic ideologies on political and economic systems will be examined. Structure of political and economic interests and the mediating effects of institutions on political and economic outcomes will be examined. Normative issues connected to ideal political and economic institutions and appropriate political and economic institutions and outcomes will be examined. The impact of the political and economic institutions on the problems of public administration at both the national and state level will be covered as well as the appropriate role for administrators, elected officials, and private sector leaders in the formulation of political and economic policy.

This course addresses the relationship between democratic institutions and processes of American politics and the administrative agencies of government. It also examines obligations of citizenship, influence of private interests (especially economic) on public purposes, and effects of demographic, economic, and technological change on self-government.

This course analyzes the decision-making process in urban and metropolitan government. It is designed to emphasize the role of elected and appointed officials, business, organized labor, community organizations, and the electorate. It also focuses on the major problems of city-suburban relations.

This course considers the role played by the nonprofit sector in the larger American society and economy. Topics include major organizational forms, financial management, human resource policies, leadership, board-executive relations, and private-public connections.

Nonprofits and the Public Sector provides an overview of the complex and important relationship between government and nonprofits. This course includes a review of the history, funding schemes, the differences between grant and contract funding, recent trends, and more.

This course examines the changing role of government regulation of private and public activities from a political and administrative perspective. It also explores the reasons for growth and reform of economic and social regulation and investigates the regulatory process including standards for rule-making and the involvement of organized groups and the courts.

This course is a strategy, competitiveness, and leadership laboratory for public sector managers and leaders of the 21st century. Students will gain an understanding of IIT Stuart's unique core concept of strategic competitiveness as well as frameworks from theories of entrepreneurial government, strategic management, and economic competitiveness. Students will critically analyze conventional frameworks for relevance to various contexts across the public sector in the rapidly changing Next Economy. Cases discussing the public sector's efforts to transform its management processes to meet the challenges of the Next Economy and to successfully interact with the business community are emphasized. The course employs a dynamic classroom environment using case method, class discussions, and group projects. Students will appreciate the challenges, complexities, and characteristics needed to effectively lead and be successful in the competitive global economy by delving into questions such as: How do countries, regions, states, and cities compete in the global economy? How do public leaders create innovative economic development strategies by influencing firms' strategic decisions regarding investment and trade? How can public leaders enhance the competitiveness of their business environment by adopting entrepreneurial government strategies? What are best practices for economic development in the Next Economy? .

The 21st century confronts the public sector with new challenges and opportunities. Many of these challenges and opportunities will take place on the community level, and many of those challenges and opportunities will be centered on the notion of social capital and the community. Social capital means the building of and use of community assets -- those resources available to the community through its residents or citizens, association, institutions, and economic life. Using an asset-based community development approach, the objective of this course is to help the student understand and use the concepts of asset-based approaches to social capital and community as it relates to public administration.

This reading and seminar will focus on a contemporary topic in public administration or policy. Subject matter will change in successive offerings of the seminar.

This course introduces students to governmental planning, policy-making, and their impact on the built environment. Using Chicago and nearby municipal areas as examples, the course acquaints students with the basic theories of urban and regional planning and development, and the regulatory tools and techniques used by government to impact the built environment. The course also includes material on housing, environmental protection, brownfields, historic preservation, new-urbanism and growth management, and various policy-making processes that determine governmental policies intended to influence the built environment.

This course focuses on the ethical problems and issues faced by individuals in public service organizations. It also examines questions related to corruption, abuse of power, financial impropriety, ethics codes and standards in government and professional fields, whistle-blowing, and other topics related to front-page concerns and individual problems of conscience and judgment. The course traces the growth of concern about the standards of ethical behavior in government in the U.S.

This course will present a variety of tools and techniques to evaluate existing programs and policies to determine and measure their most important elements, and to give policy-makers the necessary information to fund, improve or terminate programs based on empirical evidence regarding factors such as cost/benefit, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and other important characteristics. Evaluation can also allow policy-makers and staff to focus budgets and efforts to best achieve policy or program goals.

This course considers methods that help design effective Public Policy Design by presenting and examining practical, cost-effective techniques that can be used to make better decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources. Includes problem identification, goal development, data needs and collection, generation of alternative solutions, projecting impacts, goals-oriented evaluation, and strategies for implementation.

The purpose of this course is to introduce graduate students to a set of analytical concepts for understanding incentive structures, decision-making and barriers to mutually beneficial outcomes, and to introduce innovative tools for analyzing questions relating to public policy. An integral part of this course is to spend time and effort analyzing and discussing these concepts and tools. Students will find many of the tools introduced in class and through the readings will provide them with useful exposure to adapt to their everyday management lives. The course instructor will have the class master the following: • Align their organizational values and resources with targeted strategic objectives; • Employ varied motivational arrows to appeal to a broad spectrum of stakeholders; • Build and manage diverse and often dispersed teams that can learn continuously and collaborate productively; • Improve operations continuously, measure performance and foster organizational learning; and • Transform social networks into coalitions for social change.

Social Policy is the overarching program that includes aging, education, health, housing, and social welfare policy. Each area represents a major and enduring aspect of public policy concern, in which the need for leadership in public management and policy analysis is critical and can be expected to grow. The Social Policy area of study examines the roles and responsibilities of the public sector in designing, managing, and evaluating human resource programs for at-risk populations in the areas of health, education, and welfare. It is concerned with issues related to distributional equity and equality of opportunity and access, particularly for those least able to help themselves in a market society—the elderly, children, the disabled, the sick and the unemployed. Social policy involves elements of policy analysis, policy design, program evaluation, public management, and program implementation.

Students learn to design and manage key business information security functions including incident response plans and incident response teams; disaster recovery plans; business continuity plans; and crisis management teams and plans. Reporting, response planning, and budgeting are all addressed. Students working in teams will prepare an incident response, disaster recovery, business continuity, or crisis management plan for a real world organization such as a business or a government body or agency.

This course provides practical experience in public administration and may be taken only by students lacking extensive work experience in governmental administration.

This course consists of independent reading and analysis centered on particular problems and supervised by a member of the public administration faculty.

The subject matter of this course will vary with the interests and the background of the students and the instructor, and the course may be taken more than once. Instructor permission is required.

PA 599 is a capstone course where students apply concepts and theories they have studied to analyze an organizational or policy problem and deliver a report that normally specifies the problem or task, defines alternatives, and proposes recommended course of action. The recommendation will be supported by reasons and evidence. PA 599 should be taken in the student's last semester.