Faculty Contact Information:
Richard Miller
UMUC-Europe
Unit 29216
e-mail: romiller@faculty.ed.umuc.edu | |
Consultation:
| One half hour before and after class and by appointment. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Texts used exclusively in this course:
Denhardt, R.B. & Grubbs, J.W. (2003) Public administration: An action
orientation (4th ed.). Belmont, CA : Thomson Wadsworth.
Stillman, R.J. (2005). Public administration: Concepts and cases (8th
ed.). Boston: Houghton Miflin.
Text used in multiple courses:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington D.C.: Author. | |
Supplementary Readings:
| Each instructor has his or her preferences for supplementary reading material that may be added here. In addition, all graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
| A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge and pay-per-view academic journals are listed on the PA Webboard (http://webboard.ed.umuc.edu/~pa). Public Administration Review, the lead journal in the discipline,is especially useful for this course. I also recommend Arts and Letters Daily at www.aldaily.com to keep you up with current events and trends that may affect public administration. | |
Course Description:
| Prerequisite: Undergraduate American political science or American Government or permission from the Program Director. A survey of the fundamentals of public administration, management strategies and management techniques at the national, state, and local levels. | |
Course Goals:
As the introductory course in the M.P.A. program and a prerequisite to the certificate in E-Government, this course introduces and analyzes:
- Discipline and practice of American public administration.
- Role of government in general and public administrators in particular in a democratic society.
- Basic institutions of American government.
- Development of the administrative state.
- Component partsof public administration.
- Current standards and best practices in public sector management.
- Major theories, models, and concepts of public administration
| |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze
case material, web sites, public law, and research articles related to public administration
- Investigate
the relationship between historical and current issues in public administration
- Utilize
electronic resources to find primary source documents, data, statements on best practices, and research articles related to issues in public administration
- Develop and present
written and oral arguments, case studies, and/or research papers on current issues in public administration that make reference to and build on factual and expert information | |
Grading Information:
|
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 90%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog. Hard copies of the catalog are available in your local Education Center. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
Participate in classroom discussions 20%
Write graduate level papers or case studies 30%
Orally/visually present prepared material 20%
Complete one or more written examination(s) 30% | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner.
A graduate course such as PUAD 501 requires students to be responsible for the assigned readings and to come to class prepared to discuss them. Student participation is an important part of the class, and failure to be prepared or to failure contribute to discussions is not appropriate.
Write graduate level papers or case studies: You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your research in a professional manner. In a face-to-face course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material. In a DE class, this means creating a visual/textual presentation for your instructor and classmates. Students should be prepared to present their research paper to the class and should have also prepared one page summaries of the paper, its approach, and its themes and conclusions for distribution to the class and the instructor. Visual aids and materials must also be used during the presentation. A completed, final copy of the paper must be submitted before the end of the last day of class.
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary to successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students.
The Term Paper should sharpen the student's research and writing skills. Paper topics should be carefully chosen to insure that they are appropriate to graduate level work. Papers submitted for other classes are not acceptable in this course. | |
Course Schedule:
PUAD 501
Concepts of Public Administration
Term III Mildenhall-Grad
Date/Module
January 22
Module I Topic: Introduction, Overview of Course Goals and Objectives. Review of Syllabus and Course Requirements.
Module 2 Topic: The Field of Public Administration: An Introduction and Overview.
Readings: Stillman, Chapter 1 and Denhardt, Chapter 1.
January 23
Module 3 The Dynamics of Public Administration.
Readings: Stillman, Chapters 2-4, Denhardt, Chapter 2.
Module 4 American Public Administration in Action.
Readings: Stillman, Chapter 5, Denhardt, Chapter 3.
February 5
Module 5 Topic: Decision making in Public Organizations.
Readings: Stillman, Chapters 8, 9.
Assignment: Term Paper Topic Proposal Due. Students will present a brief, informal overview of their topic to the class.
Module 6 Topic: Organizational Dynamics and Management.
Video Presentation: Organizational Behavior: The Stanford Prison Experiments.
Introduction to Budget Simulation.
Readings: Stillman, Chapters 10-12, Denhardt, Chapters 8, 10, and 11.
February 6
Module 7 Topic: Budgeting, Financial Management and Program Implementation.
Readings: Stillman, Chapter 12, Denhardt, Chapter 5 and 7 (skim Chapter 7).
Module 8 Topic: Group Exercise: Getting to Yes on a Budget.
February 19
Module 9 People or Personnel.
Readings: Stillman, chapter 11, Denhardt, Chapter 6.
Module 10 Mid-term Exam.
February 20
Module 11 Topic: Issues for Contemporary Public Administration.
Readings: Stillman, Chapters 14, 15.
Module 12 Topic: Reform and Change in the Public Service.
Readings: Stillman, Chapter 15, Denhardt, Chapter 9.
March 5
Module 13 Topic: Ethics and the Public Service.
Readings: Stillman, Chapter 16, Denhardt, Chapter 4.
Module 14 Topic: the Future of the Public Service.
Readings: Denhardt, Chapter 12.
March 6
Module 15 Topic: Course wrap-up.
Module 16 Presentation of Term Papers. | |
Academic Policies:
The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism.
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi.
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
| Richard Miller is a Collegiate Professor with the University of Maryland University College-Europe. Prior to coming to UMUC-Europe, he was the International Projects Coordinator for the US Office of Surface Mining (OSM). He also served as Chief of the Office of Planning and Analysis and Chief, Office of Regulatory Development and Issues Management in OSM. He has been a Senior Policy Analyst in the US Bureau of Land Management's Office of Policy Analysis and also worked as a Regulatory Analyst in the Bureau's Division of Legislation and Regulatory Affairs. He was a National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration Fellow and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. Prior to entering Federal service, he was an Associate Professor of Public Administration at California State University, Bakersfield and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has a B.A. in International Relations and an MPA and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. | |