Requirements – Public Management & Policy
General Education
Introduction to the General Education Experience
- 1 unit - UNIV 101
Foundations
- 1st-year composition (ENGL 101 and ENGL 102, or ENGL 109H, or ENGL 107 and ENGL 108, or equivalent transfer courses)
- Math 107 or higher, or equivalent transfer courses (math substitutions not accepted)
- 2nd-semester second language proficiency required
Exploring Perspectives
- 3 units – Artist
- 3 units – Humanist
- 3 units – Natural Scientist
- 3 units – Social Scientist
Building Connections
- 9 units (three courses)
General Education Portfolio
- 1 unit – UNIV 301
Note: Students must complete a minimum of 32 units in their General Education coursework while satisfying the requirements.
Foundations
- 1st-year composition (ENGL 101 and ENGL 102, or ENGL 109H, or ENGL 107 and ENGL 108, or equivalent transfer courses)
- Math 107 or higher, or equivalent transfer courses (math substitutions not accepted)
- 2nd-semester second language proficiency required
General Education
- 6 units Tier 1 Individuals & Societies – 150
- 6 units Tier 1 Traditions & Cultures – 160
- 6 units Tier 1 Natural Sciences – 170
- 3 units Tier 2 Arts
- 3 units Tier 2 Humanities
- 3 units Tier 2 Natural Sciences
- 3 units Diversity
Minor
A minor is required for this program. Minors typically are 18-21 units.
Introductory Courses for Major
- Complete 5 introductory courses
Required courses (must complete all 4 courses):
National and international economic issues. An introduction to economic analysis.
General survey of the constitutional bases, organization, and functioning of the American national government; recent and current trends.
Theory and practice of executive agencies, including policy making and other functions, processes, personnel and fiscal management, and administrative law.
An introductory course in the fundamentals of modern statistics with applications and examples in the social and behavioral sciences. Topics include: methods for describing and summarizing data, probability, random sampling, estimating population parameters, significance tests, contingency tables, simple linear regression, and correlation.
Choose one course from these four courses:
Study of the international system, its actors and their capabilities; ends and means of foreign policy; international tension, conflict, and cooperation.
Basic issues in political thought, with emphasis on contemporary problems of democracy, liberty, authority, obligation, and ideology.
Survey of the major political systems and analysis of comparative political concepts, with a view to preparation for more advanced study.
Focus on the politics of diversity and inclusion in a fast-changing world. Attention to national-ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, and socioeconomic factors, among others, that underlie human diversity and the political conditions for cooperation, conflict, and well-being. Consideration of decision-making and political-institutional settings that may extend from the local and regional to the national and international.
Major Core Courses
- Complete 4 courses (12 units)
This course is required for public administration students and is four parts. The first section is devoted to the context of ethics in the public and non-profit sectors. Specifically, the students will read, discuss and contrast applied ethical postures, e.g., consequentialist and deontological. Most of the course will be devoted to the learners resolving ethical dilemmas in criminal justice organizations, health and human services organizations and government generally. The final section will examine larger issues in the civic culture.
Issues and techniques of financial management and budgeting in the public and nonprofit sectors.
Exploration of public organization theory and behavior in the context of issues confronting upper echelon public administrators on local, state and federal levels.
Needs and demands for public action on policy issues; organization and nature of political support; processes and problems of decision making in the formation of public policy at the national, state, and local levels.
Required Internship
- Required: PA 393 Internship Course (3 units)
- To earn 3 units of credit you must complete 135 internship hours and be enrolled in PA 393 at the same time
- Internship must be related to Public Management & Policy and be with a non-profit or government agency only (paid or unpaid)
- See internship opportunities
Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.
Public Management & Policy Concentration
- Complete 5 approved elective courses (15 units) from one of three concentration areas
- These courses may require Junior/Senior standing and/or introductory pre-requisite courses
- For a full list of approved electives, see the Public Management & Policy Major Checklist
You may pursue one of three areas to concentrate your studies:
Area 1: Environmental Policy
Environmental Policy Core (Required)
Role of government in management of energy, natural resources and environment; process and policy alternatives; special attention to the Southwest.
Environmental Policy Electives
Choose 4 elective courses (12 Units):
Global climate change is widely considered the greatest threat confronting societies and governments today. This course will cover the scientific evidence of global climate change, the role of science in policy and decision making, major policy options and their ethical implications, and the response of international organizations, businesses and the community to the environmental impacts of this issue.
This course introduces the concept of sustainable development as a policy goal, and explores the complex role of governance systems in promoting or inhibiting sustainability. Four major barriers to environmental sustainability are examined, including: 1) path dependency of policy choices, 2) collective action dilemmas, 3) conflicts over values and beliefs, and 4) the difficulty of translating scientific knowledge about coupled human and natural systems into effective policy solutions. This course emphasizes the understanding of practical solutions to problems of sustainability that are...
This course is a survey of environmental management and economics to maximize social benefit. Covering pollution control, nonrenewable resource extraction, and natural resource management, we address both theory and policy in practice to determine when markets work, when they fail, and what policy can do to help. We also discuss the taxonomy of value and introduce stated- and revealed-preference valuation techniques. This course aims to empower students with a set of tools to rigorously evaluate a range of real-world issues at the human-environment nexus through the synthesis of science...
This course will introduce students to political psychology, with an emphasis on how psychology may be used to understand mass political behavior, political movements, race and intergroup conflict, and attitude change.
Human security is an emerging paradigm that places individuals, rather than states, at the center of security considerations. This course is designed to provide a foundational understanding of the concept of human security, and the ways in which human security challenges have been addressed by the international community.
Analysis and discussion of social, economic, and political problems and proposed solutions in changing urban environments.
Area 2: Public Policy
Public Policy Core (Required)
Analysis and discussion of social, economic, and political problems and proposed solutions in changing urban environments.
Public Policy Electives
Choose 4 elective courses (12 Units):
Analysis of selected principles of criminal law, criminal procedure and correctional law.
This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain...
Policy makers have long struggled to regulate intoxicating substances, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opioids. While some of these substances are widely used for recreational or medicinal purposes, they can have significant deleterious effects on both the individual and societal levels. Furthermore, although evidence suggests that some policies to limit consumption of these substances may improve social welfare, other policies may unintentionally exacerbate societal inequality and cause further harms to public health and safety. In this course, we will analyze the various...
This course is about crime and misconduct in organizations, how much there is, what it is like and what the government can and cannot do about it. The readings, topics and discussions blend theory and research with current examples of white collar crime.
Role of government in the prevention and control of crime.
Global climate change is widely considered the greatest threat confronting societies and governments today. This course will cover the scientific evidence of global climate change, the role of science in policy and decision making, major policy options and their ethical implications, and the response of international organizations, businesses and the community to the environmental impacts of this issue.
Role of government in management of energy, natural resources and environment; process and policy alternatives; special attention to the Southwest.
This course is a survey of environmental management and economics to maximize social benefit. Covering pollution control, nonrenewable resource extraction, and natural resource management, we address both theory and policy in practice to determine when markets work, when they fail, and what policy can do to help. We also discuss the taxonomy of value and introduce stated- and revealed-preference valuation techniques. This course aims to empower students with a set of tools to rigorously evaluate a range of real-world issues at the human-environment nexus through the synthesis of science...
Structure, function, and processes of the "third branch" of the American government.
This course will introduce students to political psychology, with an emphasis on how psychology may be used to understand mass political behavior, political movements, race and intergroup conflict, and attitude change.
Political problems of the poor; analysis of systematic poverty in the U.S. and theories of causation; selected policy problems: education, housing, job training, enforcement of anti-discrimination statutes; future of "power" movements.
Description and analysis of the executive branch of government: how federal agencies capture policy-making; why bureaucracy develops; the rules of bureaucratic culture; who controls the administrative branch.
This course addresses the political causes and consequences of the use of terrorist violence as well as the variety of methods employed by the state in response to this violence.
The motivating question for this course is whether or not significant social, political, and/or economic change can be achieved through the courts.
Development and analysis of constitutional law of the U.S.; problems of distribution of powers.
Analysis of the constitutional guarantees of civil liberties in the U.S.
Overview of the role of intelligence in the formulation and execution of US national security policy. Will include a detailed look at challenges facing both the analysis of intelligence information and the introduction of that analysis into the national security policy process. Will also entail close reading and discussion of selected declassified intelligence documents.
Area 3: Public Management
Public Management Core (Required)
Description and analysis of the executive branch of government: how federal agencies capture policy-making; why bureaucracy develops; the rules of bureaucratic culture; who controls the administrative branch.
Public Management Electives
Choose 4 elective courses (12 Units):
his course will give students an introduction into the management of the many different and complex types of critical incidents whether man-made or natural. Students will examine the nature of critical incidents learning to identify objectives, common characteristics and the vast array of variables that can impact the success of incident mitigation. Students will explore different scenarios investigating the role of first responders, the use or lack of basic incident command principles which includes identifying the different Stages, Phases and Strategies of the incident itself. This...
This course introduces political networks as a lens to better understand critical issues in political science, public management, public policy, and criminal justice. Political networks are a method to describe the complex relationships between political actors, whether the actors in question are lawmakers, interest groups, or even covert organizations that strive to disrupt political systems.This course will introduce students to major research questions in the study of political networks, as well as their applicability to understand and manage real-world problems. Students will gain...
Policy makers have long struggled to regulate intoxicating substances, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opioids. While some of these substances are widely used for recreational or medicinal purposes, they can have significant deleterious effects on both the individual and societal levels. Furthermore, although evidence suggests that some policies to limit consumption of these substances may improve social welfare, other policies may unintentionally exacerbate societal inequality and cause further harms to public health and safety. In this course, we will analyze the various...
Global climate change is widely considered the greatest threat confronting societies and governments today. This course will cover the scientific evidence of global climate change, the role of science in policy and decision making, major policy options and their ethical implications, and the response of international organizations, businesses and the community to the environmental impacts of this issue.
This course is a survey of environmental management and economics to maximize social benefit. Covering pollution control, nonrenewable resource extraction, and natural resource management, we address both theory and policy in practice to determine when markets work, when they fail, and what policy can do to help. We also discuss the taxonomy of value and introduce stated- and revealed-preference valuation techniques. This course aims to empower students with a set of tools to rigorously evaluate a range of real-world issues at the human-environment nexus through the synthesis of science...
Exploration of classic and contemporary philosophical issues about law and morality. Topics covered will vary but may include, among others, the limits of social interference with individual liberty, legal paternalism and physician-assisted suicide, legal moralism, freedom of speech and expression, legal punishment and capital punishment, and civil disobedience.
Political problems of the poor; analysis of systematic poverty in the U.S. and theories of causation; selected policy problems: education, housing, job training, enforcement of anti-discrimination statutes; future of "power" movements.
Human security is an emerging paradigm that places individuals, rather than states, at the center of security considerations. This course is designed to provide a foundational understanding of the concept of human security, and the ways in which human security challenges have been addressed by the international community.
The motivating question for this course is whether or not significant social, political, and/or economic change can be achieved through the courts.
Development and analysis of constitutional law of the U.S.; problems of distribution of powers.
Analysis of the constitutional guarantees of civil liberties in the U.S.
Analysis and discussion of social, economic, and political problems and proposed solutions in changing urban environments.
2+2 Program
Pima Community College students: see the 2+2 program checklist