Public Administration

Program Director:

James B. Millikan

Political Science

The program in Public Administration offers a major and minor.

Public Administration is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide students with an understanding of the development and implementation of public policy in America. The program focuses on the theories, practices and roles of public bureaucracies at the national, state, and local levels. The major provides a foundation for graduate work and careers in public affairs, government service, law, and related fields.

The program is structured to cover five subject matter areas: (a) the political, social, and economic environment of public organizations; (b) policy analysis; (c) processes of management; (d) tools of analysis; and (e) individual, group, and organizational behavior. Public Administration majors also participate in the Political Science academic internship program, which allows a student to serve in a government office at least eight hours a week throughout a semester. The internship provides the student the opportunity to observe and participate in the operation of a government agency. Through the College’s affiliation with the Washington Center, highly qualified majors may spend a semester working in a government organization in the nation’s capital.

Ordinarily, an internship in a government office serves as the senior Capstone Experience; students unable to complete an internship must make other arrangements with the Program Director to complete the major.

Major

In the First and Sophomore years, Public Administration majors must take the following courses:

• BA 203 Financial Accounting
• BA 204 Managerial Accounting
• EC 176 Microeconomic Principles
• EC 178 Macroeconomic Principles
• PS 123 American National Government and Politics
• SO 101 Introduction to Sociology

Junior and Senior year requirements are as follows:

• BA 333 Organizational Behavior
• EC 205 Economics of Social Issues and Public Policy
• EC 305 Public Sector Economics
• PS 337 Public Administration PS 351 Public Policy Analysis
• PS 360 Congress and the Presidency

and one of the following two courses:

• PS 248 State and Urban Politics or
• SO 202 Sociology of Globalization

Two additional courses, selected in consultation with the Program Director, must be taken to fulfill major requirements.

Minor

A minor in Public Administration consists of:

• BA 333 Organizational Behavior
• EC 205 Economics of Social Issues and Public Policy
• EC 305 Public Sector Economics
• PS 123 American National Government and Politics
• PS 337 Public Administration
• PS 360 Congress and the Presidency