Other Elective Courses

Other Elective Courses

The MPA Program also offers courses in the following formats: Hyflex, Hybrid, Immersion, and Independent Study. Please read on for further details on each of these options and read through the Section Format Glossary of Terms

 

Hyflex Courses (1.5-3 credits)

  • Sections which allow both on campus and online students to enroll in the same section.
    • These sections are typically delivered with all synchronous instruction.
    • Both on campus and online students have access to these courses, with no priority registration given.
    • There are two formats of Hyflex courses:
      • Hyflex Online: Instructor and students are all virtual
      • Hyflex On-campus: Instructor and on-campus students meet in person, online students join online (if local, coming in person is welcome)
  • Available Courses (expand on each for more details):

PUBA 635: Military Leadership and Public Service

  • 1.5-3 Credits, Hyflex On-campus
  • Faculty: Charles Szypszak  
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description: Leadership as taught and demonstrated in the military and how it translates to leadership in public service, including the interrelationship of the military and other public service and the transition of veterans to civilian leadership roles.

PUBA 742: Data Visualization

  • 1.5 credits, taught in the Fall Term, Hyflex online
  • Faculty: John Quinterno
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description: This skills-based, half-semester course familiarizes professional program graduate students with insights into effective data communication, exposes them to a communication framework, and allows them to hone new skills through the completion of various assignments. Covered topics include developing clear messages, designing effective graphs and tables, formatting written documents, and creating multimedia presentations. While new tools and techniques feature in this course, the overarching goal is a timeless one: the sharing of ideas.

PUBA 754: Social Equity in Public Administration: Theory to Practice

  • 3 credits, taught in the Spring Term, Hyflex online
  • Faculty: Kimalee Dickerson
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description: Designed to help students think critically about social equity as the fourth pillar of public administration. Covering the origins of social equity as a concept in public administration. The course will also examine how social equity has been operationalized in practice, including how organizations create more equitable workplaces and communities and barriers to achieving social equity. Lastly, students will explore their roles and responsibilities to build a more just society as future public sector leaders.

PUBA 759: Social Capital

    • 1.5 credits, Hyflex Online
    • Faculty: Anita Brown-Graham
    • Sample Syllabus
    • Description: Social capital can come in many forms (trust, civic engagement, community attachment, and social networks) and has become one of the most contested concepts in social sciences. This course is designed to balance theories, methods, and applications, drawing on literatures from sociology, public policy, public administration, communication, media studies, and management.

 

PUBA 765 Capital Budgeting and Finance

    • 1.5 credits, taught in the Spring Term, Hyflex on-campus
    • Faculty: Kara Millonzi
    • Sample Syllabus
    • Description: Analysis of alternative approaches to planning and administering the budgets and financial operations of public agencies. Extensive use of case materials.

Hybrid Courses (1.5-3 credits)

  • Hybrid courses are sections which allow both on campus and online students to enroll in the same section;
    • Instructor and on-campus students are in-person and online students join remotely.
    • These sections are typically delivered with all synchronous instruction.

PUBA 738: Managing Local Government Services

  • 3 credits, taught every other spring in even-numbered years, hybrid
  • Faculty: Kim Nelson
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description: Course addresses current trends affecting the management of service delivery in local governments of all sizes. Case examples and guest practitioners will offer glimpses into real world challenges and solutions.

PUBA 744: Immersion Courses (1.5 credits)

  • The Immersion Course is taught in-person for both on campus and online format students and typically occurs on a Thursday evening through Saturday evening of the term.
    • The one course that allows all online students the opportunity to come to campus to take a course (given there are no capacity constraints)
    • Each year (typically fall term) the topic varies to address broad, contemporary, and cross-cutting topics in the field of public administration.
    • In addition to curriculum, this immersion experience is designed for building affinity for the program and to build relationships with peers/cohort of both formats
    • Pre and post work outside of the in-person Immersion should be expected.
    • While a credit-bearing course, the Immersion Course also offers some programmatic program-wide events and services such as meetings with academic advisors, faculty, and an alumni reception.
    • This course has a larger than typical enrollment cap to account for increased accessibility to the course of all students.

On-Campus Weekend Intensive Courses (1.5 credits)

Weekend Intensive Courses are taught in-person on campus typically during a Friday and Saturday of the term.

  • Pre and post work outside of the in-person weekend should be expected.
  • Traditionally more skills-oriented courses
  • There may be opportunities for online students to enroll in these sections if they are able to come in-person and seats are available

Available Courses (expand on each for information on term taught, faculty, sample syllabi, and course descriptions)

PUBA 768 Mediation Skills

  • taught in the Fall term
  • Faculty: John Stephens
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description:  Theory and practice of dispute resolution and consensus building processes for public policy and program implementation. Utilizes exercises to develop skills in multi-party conflict analysis, negotiation, and intervention for inter-governmental, nonprofit, and community disputes. Workshop-style course focuses on workplace and service provision conflicts to develop mediation skills; is comprised of short lectures, demonstration, and student practice of a mediation model/specific skill sets.

PUBA 769 Facilitation Skills

  •  taught in the Spring term
  • Faculty: John Stephens
  • Sample Syllabus
  • Description: Course is workshop-style that requires preparation via conference call or webinar; separate session on skills; and final requirement is a reflection paper. Course focuses on inter-organization and community settings to develop facilitation skills and is comprised of short lectures, demonstration, and student practice of facilitation strategies.

 

Independent Study Credits

  • may be taken with approval of the MPA Director
  • PUBA 781 Directed Readings in Public Administration (1-3 credits)
    • Directed readings in a special field under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty. 
    • Use this for when a student does an Independent Study with a faculty member. 
    • May be repeated for credit  
    • Independent study contract must be approved by the MPA Director by the 5th day of classes in any term for a student to register for independent study work.
  • PUBA 900 Research in Public Administration. 1-15 credits.
    • Use for Thesis Substitute work past 748 
    • COURSE OBJECTIVES for PUBA 900  – Sent by Director The central goal of PUBA 900 is to structure an independent study for students who need to complete their thesis substitute and oral exam after obtaining credit for the courses already designed to guide students through that process.  This credit does not come with traditional course work; it is an independent study credit used for students to make progress on either their thesis substitute written document or complete their oral exam.  The expectation is that by the end of the semester that the student receives this credit they will have either have made substantial progress on their written thesis substitute and submitted that written document to their committee for review and/or set a date and participated in their oral exam.  Enrollment in this credit hour facilitates student access to the necessary administration required for the thesis substitute and oral exam process, such as forming a committee and the committee’s time commitment in review of the written document or for the preparation and administration of the 90-minute oral exam. While it supports students having access to their committee, it does not guarantee additional support beyond the administrative aspects necessary to facilitate committee review and participation in the oral exam.  
    • Additional Context: The UNC Graduate School requires that students be enrolled in coursework in the term in which they sit for their oral examination. For MPA students completing their thesis substitute after successful completion of PUBA 748, enrollment in one credit hour of PUBA 900 will be required. Examples of when this course will be needed: 
    • When a student fails to turn in a thesis substitute paper by the deadline in PUBA 748 
    • When a student is still in the revise and resubmit process for a thesis substitute at the end of a term 
    • When a student fails an oral exam and must sit for it a second time