Online MPA Certificate: Curriculum
Curriculum Details
16 Total credits required
Calvin University’s Public Administration Certificate courses offer a global perspective on community leadership. Through online study, students become skilled in ethics, communication, planning, and finance. Guided by Calvin’s mission of renewal, the online MPA courses feature a Christ-centered curriculum and liberal arts focus.
Students can build a personalized degree that meets their individual goals by completing a graduate certificate in public administration through online courses. The full MPA is scheduled to begin Fall 2023, and courses from the Public Administration Certificate will apply to the full master’s program. Customize your learning experience further through completion of elective MPA courses.
Public Administration Certificate
An exploration of the history and organizational expressions of public service and public institutions within government and society, engaging perennial and new debates over the interplay of government and the nonprofit sector, including churches. It addresses organizational issues as federalism, division of power, and public-private partnerships, and values issues such as equity and justice.
An introduction to the field of public and nonprofit administration, focusing on organizational purposes, operations, and policies; theories of organizational functions, leadership, and management; budgets and funding; accountability and oversight. The course also examines the politics and operations of public agencies and nonprofit organizations and both inter- and intra-organizational interactions.
An examination of the relationship between politics and administration, defining public interest and differing public values. Topics include organizational leadership, budget and financing, human capital and staffing, ethics, strategic planning.
An introduction to the academic literature on community development and impediments that stand in its way, i.e., economic divestment, inadequate housing, structural violence, lack of community services, crime, etc. It considers the various roles that government, the private sector, and non-profit organizations play in community revitalization and offers models of change for community revitalization that include, among others, doughnut economics, social mobilization, and asset-based community development.
An introduction to local politics and government in the United States, examining who is involved in local politics and how the political processes in cities shape policies. Topics include urban political institutions, machine politics, federal urban policy, race representation in cities, local elections, structure of local administrations and key policy areas within the local and metropolitan context, such as education, policing, and urban planning and development. The course will also examine the historical practices of cities with the United States.
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