BA 505 Organizational Behavior 3 credits
Learners will develop an understanding of organizational behavior by understanding what goes on in the minds of managers and employees when they interact in organizations. Learners will explore motivation as well as individual and group behavior in the communication process. Management for performance will be emphasized. Prerequisite: Management Principles. Same as PA 505.
BA 507 Advanced Law and Ethics 3 credits
This course reviews and debates the concepts of business law and ethical issues. This course will examine all elements of contract law, negotiable entrustments, business organizations, debtor-creditor relationships and property. The focus of this course will include interpretive responses and thorough written/oral communication. This course will also investigate ethical issues in contemporary topics of professional occupations with detailed examination in the accounting field.
BA 509 Theories of Leadership 3 credits
This course will include the investigation of leadership theories and explore the role of leadership in organizations. The course will also focus on the characteristics of leadership and the implications leadership has for organizations. Prerequisite: Management Principles. Same as PA 509.
BA 510 Financial Accounting Theory 3 credits
This course describes the framework of accounting theory and provides application of theory to relevant issues facing modern accountants, including income concepts, financial statement presentations, long-term assets and liabilities, disclosure requirements and ethical responsibilities. Prerequisite: Undergraduate degree in accounting or 30 semester credits of undergraduate accounting.
BA 513 Financial Management 3 credits
Learners will study contemporary theories of finance as applied to management decision-making including cash flow analysis, capital budgeting, risk and return, valuation models, financial instruments, statement analysis and capital structure. Prerequisites: Corporate Financial Management and Macroeconomics Principles.
BA 520 Training and Development 3 credits
This course work provides a detailed review of the principles and methods for training and developing human resources in a work environment. Learning theory and principles of effective training provide the foundation, but the emphasis is on applied delivery including training and presentation skills. Methods for analyzing training and development needs and the principles and techniques of program evaluation are also emphasized. Development of a training proposal is a key element. This course provides "hands on" experience in designing and implementing training programs.
BA 521 Advanced Managerial Accounting 3 credits
This course examines the role the management accountants with the organization. A variety of cost measurement and allocation methods is described. The concepts of activity-based management and budgeting are presented. Quality, capacity, and environmental issues are discussed. Prerequisite: Undergraduate degree in accounting or 30 semester credits of undergraduate accounting.
BA 522 International Marketing 3 credits
This course introduces students to marketing concepts used by domestic and foreign companies seeking to market products in global markets. Students will recognize the opportunities and challenges in today's International business climate and understand how these opportunities and challenges are an important factor in modern marketing strategies and planning. A marketing plan/national audit of a specific product in a specific foreign market will also be designed.
BA 524 Managing in the International Environment 3 credits
This is a survey course of the issues presented to managers in the international environment. Learners explore a variety of topics utilizing discussion, researched reports and case analysis. Learners will explore issues including: the nature of international business, the external environment of international business, strategy and planning, marketing, trade practices, human resources management, financial management, and operations management in an international environment. Learners also explore the ethical considerations faced by international managers in decision making.
BA 526 International Law 3 credits
An analysis of the U.S. and foreign laws governing international trade.
BA 528 Research Process and Design 3 credits
Research provides leaders the opportunity to gain new knowledge that subsequently can change their understanding of themselves, the business and the business environment. This course explores the use of research to enhance management decisions and improve leadership effectiveness in the production, finance, marketing and management areas of business. Learners explore the importance of business research to fulfill the need for knowledge to make management decisions. The course provides learners with a basic understanding of the types of research, the limitations of different research methodologies, and the outcome of the design of research studies on research results. The course emphasizes understanding and interpretations of research results to provide learners an ability to assess the validity and application of research results in business contexts.
BA 531 Financial Markets and Financial Strategy 3 credits
Students will explore domestic and international financial markets and the environments in which they function with emphasis on the operation, regulation, use, and evaluation of principal financial markets and institutions. Related issues explored include monetary policy, arbitrage, and their affects on business valuation. Learners will examine the choices available to finance businesses and selection of optimal capital structures.
BA 533 Advanced Accounting Information Systems 3 credits
Learners explore advanced topics in Accounting Information Systems (AIS) needed to understand and use technologies in making decisions in key practice areas of the accounting profession: managerial accounting, financial accounting, auditing, and tax accounting. Course topics include the technologies involved in AIS, types of AIS applications and systems, use of systems technology and database concepts as a philosophy of AIS, internal control issues of AIS, audit issues related to AIS, and systems development issues including the Software Development Life Cycle and current trends in AIS design. Prerequisite: Undergraduate degree in accounting or 30 semester credits of undergraduate accounting.
BA 536 Derivatives and Risk Management 3 credits
This course introduces the student to derivative securities and their application in the context of corporate decision-making. Students will explore issues associated with the valuation, trading, hedging, and use of derivative securities covering options, swaps, forwards, and futures that are traded or negotiated. Identification and valuation of options embedded in financial and operational decisions will be explored. Students will also explore issues including the use insurance to transfer risk and the recognition, measurement, and management of portfolio risk.
BA 537 Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures 3 credits
Students will explore the analyses, valuation, financing and processes associated with both private and tendered acquisitions and mergers from the viewpoint of both the target and acquiring organizations. Anti-takeover defenses will be studied, including their affect on value and their effectiveness. Identification and valuation of operations to be divested will be covered as well as common techniques such as full sale, spin-off, partial divestiture, and tracking stock.
BA 539 Regulatory Environment of Financial Management 3 credits
Students will explore the regulatory environment in which senior financial executives operate including SEC regulations and filings, NYSE and NASDAQ regulations and filings, and legislative requirements such as the Securities and Exchange Act and the Sarbenes-Oxley Act.
BA 540 Labor/Management Relations 3 credits
An investigation of the National Labor Relations Act and its implications to businesses. Labor legislation, labor unions and collective bargaining are topics to explore.
BA 542 Managerial Statistics 3 credits
Introduces students to basic concepts in probability and statistics of relevance to managerial decision making. Topics include basic data analysis, random variables and probability distributions, sampling distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing and regression. Problems, cases and examples will be chosen from quality-control applications, finance, marketing and management.
BA 544 Organizational and Management Theories 3 credits
This course provides an overview of the major principles of organization and management, in an integrated context. Frameworks for the analysis of managerial problems and decision will be explored. Starting with basic organization theory and concluding with theories of micro-level processes, this course will introduce the different lenses with which to view behavioral processes within and between organizations. Special emphasis on issues of managing in a global business environment, the changing nature of governance, shareholder and stakeholder rights, multiculturalism in organizations, organizational power and domination and alternative organizational forms will be woven throughout.
BA 546 Compensation and Benefits 3 credits
A study of the design and functioning of the entire compensation system with emphasis on wage and salary determination, individual group incentives, employee benefits, and non-economic rewards.
BA 547 Contemporary Topics in Financial Accounting 3 credits
This course covers contemporary issues in the accounting field. This class may include recent pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), accounting and technology, cash flow analysis, and globalization in the accounting field. The focus of this class will change as the accounting field changes. Prerequisite: Undergraduate degree in accounting or 30 semester credits of undergraduate accounting.
BA 548 Development and Management of Human Resources Management 3 credits
An exploration of the principles and practices required to forecast and acquire the human resources necessary to implement operational and strategic plans in organizations. Learners will develop a plan for a specific project. Topics can include compensation, motivation and quality of work life.
BA 550 Special Topics Seminar 3 credits
This seminar is designed to examine in-depth current developments in specific areas of practice and research. Specific content of the seminar will change with each offering and will be announced prior to the term in which it is offered.
BA 553 Organizational Development 3 credits
An explanation of the core values and behavioral science theories that have shaped the field and defined the practice for organizational development and a prerequisite to understanding collaborative processes for managing planned change. Learners are familiarized with the intellectual legacies of the major theorists and practitioners that have influenced the evolution of organization development as well as the traditional organizational development concepts, models and interventions. Contemporary practices and future trends in the field are also examined.
BA 555 Organizational Culture 3 credits
This course focuses on managing the informal organization; individual idiosyncrasies; the organization as a social system; and organization politics. The course reviews various models of organizational culture, including origins and purposes; how to establish and nourish a business-supporting culture; culture audits; and culture change.
BA 560 Organizational Diagnosis and Intervention 3 credits
This course utilizes the conceptual foundations acquired in Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Development as a basis for analyzing and diagnosing organizational performance and designing appropriate interventions. A primary focus is on understanding and applying organizational functioning, and becoming familiarized with different interventions and organizational development technologies. Heavy emphasis is placed on applying various diagnostic models. Both in-class case analysis of organizations and outside projects which require learners to conduct a diagnosis and assessment in an organizational setting are used to facilitate the acquisition of diagnostic competence. Prerequisites: BA 505 and BA 553.
BA 561 Continuous Quality Improvement 3 credits
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) will be examined both as a concept and a process. The course material includes how CQI applies to organizations from all sectors, the new emerging paradigms that are represented by CQI, a focus on customers, an understanding of variation, the needed cultural change for a successful CQI implementation, as well as case studies. Emphasis will be placed on practical application of CQI concepts as they apply to organizations.
BA 563 International Accounting 3 credits
This course presents a conceptual framework for the understanding and application of international accounting standards. The impact of cultural and environmental factors on diverse accounting practices world wide, will be examined. Accounting practices in a numbers of countries, representing various political and economic systems, will be analyzed. Prerequisite: Undergraduate degree in accounting or 30 semester credits of undergraduate accounting.
BA 564 International Financial Management 3 credits
Learners will explore the financial management issues faced by organizations that operate in the global economy. The course integrates macroeconomic theory with financial theory as applied to a multinational corporation operating in the global arena.
BA 565 Implementation of Quality Systems 3 credits
A course designed to give the learner an understanding of the requirements for the effective implementation of a quality system in an organization. Emphasis will be given to the practical application of implementation strategies and processes. Prerequisite: BA 561.
BA 567 Quality Management and Productivity 3 credits
This course focuses on the concepts of continuous improvement and quality management, viewing quality as a systematic process that improves customer satisfaction. The course covers methods and technologies that will aid managers in assuring that the organization's quality system is effectively meeting the organization's continuous improvement goals.
BA 569 Operations Research 3 credits
This course focuses on quantitative decision making tools, theory, and statistical process control. Topics covered include capacity management, inventory control, queuing, and scheduling. The course includes transportation decisions and project management techniques.
BA 570 Team Building Techniques 3 credits
A course that will illustrate how teams benefit organizations and analyze how teams function. The learner will obtain and analyze techniques used to improve group dynamics and obtain skills in how to facilitate an effective meeting.
BA 576 Global Supply Chain Management 3 credits
Introduces students to the concept of the supply chain management with a focus on the issues of the global business environment. Topics covered include the sets of business processes called “channels,†channel integration, management functions of planning, organizing, and controlling, and collaboration. The context of the supply chain in today's world is treated as highly significant and issues of culture and globalization will be addressed throughout the course.
BA 580 Entrepreneurship 3 credits
Both internal organizational and external entrepreneurship will be explored. The role of the individual as a leader in the management and innovation of change will enable the learner to understand the meaning of entrepreneurship in the technical, economic, and social aspects of an organization. Prerequisites: Business Law, Marketing Principles and BA 513.
BA 586 Global Business Strategy 3 credits
Students will explore and apply the essential theories of strategic management and operations concepts employed by best-practice companies in the transnational, international and global environments. Students will examine critical success factors in establishing and operating businesses in the global environment, including companies and their environments and the various external and internal issues not normally faced when operating solely in the domestic environment.
BA 590 Research Seminar 3 credits
The emphasis serves to integrate the learner's studies in Business Administration by examining in depth an issue or problem of significance and special interest to the learner. Research, writing, and presentation skills are employed in this course. Each learner will design his/her own project, subject to approval of the faculty member, in order to fulfill the course requirements. The project shall demonstrate (1) integration of the MBA program objectives, (2) graduate level writing skills using APA format, (3) graduate level critical thinking skills and (4) in-depth understanding and application of the objectives of the area of emphasis utilizing appropriate research techniques. A PowerPoint® presentation of the project, suitable for senior level decision makers, is also required of each learner. Prerequisite: completion of all core and area of emphasis courses (may take one area of emphasis course concurrently).
PA 505 Organizational Behavior 3 credits
Same as BA 505.
PA 507 Ethics of Public Service 3 credits
Analyzes and discusses the role of ethics for the practice of public administration. The development of ethical codes is traced from moral and constitutional roots. Explores the conflicts faced by program managers between ethical behavior and political/program expediency utilizing case studies and legal precedents. Focuses on the role of organizational, societal, and individual values in ethical public administration, consequences of ethical and unethical behaviors, and models for resolving ethical and values-based conflict in public organizations.
PA 508 Terrorism and Politics 3 credits
This course reviews the history of terrorism, especially since the French Revolution; its evolving definition, and how it relates to state violence; and its protean contemporary forms.
PA 509 Theories of Leadership 3 credits
Same as BA 509
PA 510 Public Administration 3 credits
An advanced study of the interaction among public sectors organizations, both not-for-profit and governmental, with various levels of government, including politics, administration, and bureaucratic policy-making at the local, state, and national levels on a broad range of not-for-profit and public systems and entities. Study will include the relationship between government bureaucracies and the political system of the United States.
PA 513 Government Budgeting Systems 3 credits
This course examines the budgeting policies and practices of not-for-profit and governmental organizations. Budgeting, as a fiscal management tool, is examined within the political decision making process. A variety of budgetary techniques such as Line-Item, Performance Budgeting, PPBS, and Zero Based Budgeting will also be studied. Theories of fiscal policy are illustrated with exercises in constructing different types of budgets and managing public funds.
PA 515 Grant Writing and Administration 3 credits
A study of the administration and management of the grantsmanship process; basic principles, skills, methods, and techniques of grantsmanship for public and nonprofit organizations. Learners will explore the sources of grants, types of grants available, and strategies to submit proposals for grants. Learners will prepare a grant proposal on behalf of a real or hypothetical public organization.
PA 522 Psychology and Culture of Terrorism 3 credits
This course will review the definition and various forms of terrorism, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of terrorism and terrorist typologies. Various forms of political, religious, and cultural terrorism will be examined, as well as their causes. The course draws on theories and research from psychology, sociology and cultural studies to assist in reaching an understanding of terrorism from a psychological and cultural perspective.
PA 529 Public Policy Formulation, Implementation, and Assessment 3 credits
Explores theory and issues that affect formulation of policy in public and not-for-profit entities. Examines research methodologies and techniques employed in policy formulation and program assessment. Explores the process by which issues of concern enter into the public debate, are adopted by the political process, are formulated into specific policies and put into practice in government and non-government organizations. Identifies assessment standards and requirements to ensure creation of policies in a manner that facilitates assessing attainment of policy goals. Includes social indicators, quantitative and qualitative methods, and experimental and quasi-experimental designs as used in applied policy formulation and program assessment. Prerequisite: BA 542
PA 530 Public Policy and Healthcare 3 credits
An exploration of the analysis, development, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs affecting health. Focuses on health-care institutions, with some attention to managing health problems with non-medical interventions at the community level. Uses the case method applied to realistic situations in which specific decisions must be made by health managers or officials.
PA 532 Public Sector Personnel Administration 3 credits
Students will explore and analyze personnel policies and practices in the public sector in the context of patterns of interaction among political executives, personnel professionals, public employees, and interest groups in the development of personnel policies.
PA 534 Economics of the Helping Professions 3 credits
Students explore the affect of macro- and micro-economic theory on the design, implementation, and outcomes of health and human services programs. Learners explore optimization, consumer/client demand, production/service delivery, investment decisions, market structure, and information problems as applied to the public and not-for-profit health and human services sectors.
PA 535 Counter-Terrorism 3 credits
This course will include an analysis of counter-terrorist global policies, strategies, operations, and organizations since September 11. Students will become familiar with radical extremist organizations to evaluate current U.S. counterterrorism strategy to defeat these groups. A comparison will be made of U.S counterterrorism strategy to other western nations‘ strategy to defeat terrorism. Given a scenario, students will critically analyze a terrorist organization's motives, methods, and tactics to develop a counterterrorism strategy. Prerequisite: PA 508: Terror and Politics.
PA 536 Legal Environment of the Helping Professions 3 credits
Explores the legal and regulatory issues faced by executives responsible for delivering health-care and social services in the Not-For-Profit and government sectors. The course uses readings and case analyses to develop an understanding of the range of actions available to health-care and social service executives and the affect limitations on actions can have on the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of the services provided. The issues of privacy concerns, conflicts of interest, and fiduciary responsibility are explored.
PA 538 Healthcare Financial Management 3 credits
Explores the processes and methods of financial management in the health-care industry. Patterns of health-care expenditures, methods of financing health care, financial planning and development, third party reimbursement, and internal controls in health institutions and programs management.
PA 540 Information Systems and Public Management 3 credits
Explores information systems technologies and policies in the public or nonprofit sectors. Focuses on practical management information systems application in the public sector through case studies and implementation strategies, including topics such as databases, system architecture, data normalization, benefit-cost analysis, and an introduction to programming. General familiarity with personal computers is required. Explores the implications of computer hardware and software issues for public sector management, with particular emphasis on applications of microprocessors. Includes a survey of database management problems, control, resource allocation, communications, and networking issues.
PA 543 Emergency Management: Planning and Response 3 credits
Examines the theory and practice of strategic and operational planning for emergency response. Reviews the principles associated with evaluation of risk and the formulation of prevention programs and response plans. The principles of risk identification and communication, management and coordination of resources, and public education will be examined. Learners will explore contemporary and evolving concepts of disaster planning and response from a governmental perspective. The organizational aspects of emergency management and its position within local, state, and national governments will be discussed from both national and local perspectives. Identifies the issues and policy responses necessary to achieve coordination of agencies and collaboration with appropriate private resources. Cases and scenarios will be examined to apply these concepts in practice.
PA 544 Productivity Improvement in Government 3 credits
Explores and analyzes current research on productivity in public organizations, with particular attention to human factors, work processes, effective outcome measurement, and labor-management relations. Productivity theories of a more generalized nature also will be explored. Integrates conceptual works in productivity with case studies that describe actual operations of public productivity programs. Cases cover concepts of measurement, management, technology and capital investment, and labor-management relations, with an emphasis on understanding the linkages between theory and practice.
PA 548 Advanced Issues In Public Management 3 credits
Examines how managers in public and nonprofit agencies can secure and utilize legal authority, human resources, and funds to accomplish organizational goals. Employs case studies to explore current problems and emerging issues of public administration.
PA 550 Advanced Criminal Procedure 3 credits
Examines and explores the laws, regulations, rules, and legal precedents governing admissibility and exclusion of evidence in civil and criminal litigation, including judicial notice; examination, competency and privileges of witnesses; relevancy; hearsay; opinion and scientific evidence; documentary evidence; burden of proof and presumptions. This course also addresses both the Federal Criminal Rules of Procedure as well as substantive Federal Criminal Law as applicable to the law enforcement professional. The course also will address search warrants, including trap and trace, wiretap, and pre-register. The course includes an introduction to and discussion of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
PA 552 Correctional Systems Issues and Policy 3 credits
Analyzes selected problems currently confronting corrections professionals in both institutional and community settings. Considers issues such as overcrowding, excessive costs, ineffective programs, corruption, brutality, escapes, inmate violence and uprisings, and corrections officer professionalism. Explores the affect of alternative policies on corrections professionals, incarcerated persons, local communities and society.
PA 554 Theories of Crime and Public Policy 3 credits
Examines theories of crime and sociological principles applied to public policy issues to explore the relationship between scientific analysis of crime and formation of public policy. Integrates policy analysis and criminal justice planning. Explores how to assess proposals intended to reduce crime levels and to improve the effectiveness of policing, adjudication, and corrections.
PA 555 Critical Infrastructure: Vulnerability Analysis and Protection 3 credits
Learners will explore the issues, complexities and challenges associated with developing vulnerability analyses and the subsequent allocation of resources once the vulnerability analysis has been done. This is done by identifying critical vulnerabilities for each sector, and then building a model of the sector so that it can be tested for vulnerabilities. This course examines five fundamental sectors in detail: water, power, energy, telecommunications and the Internet. A secondary level including the chemical industry, transportation, and banking and finance are also reviewed. Supporting technologies such as SCADA are examined in the context of water and power. Each sector and its components is characterized in terms of its vulnerabilities, especially its interdependencies and couplings with other sectors. The emphasis of the course is on how use a model-based vulnerability analysis in order to protect critical sectors.
PA 556 Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties 3 credits
Provides an intensive review of past and recent Supreme Court decisions that interpret Constitutional guarantees and limit government actions. Examines problems of reconciling individual rights with societal concerns about safety and crime prevention. Analyzes the conflicting group interests that arise around issues such as freedom of speech and assembly, church-state relations, equal treatment before the law for members of minority groups, and post-incarceration rights and duties of convicted persons.
PA 558 Psychology of Criminal Behavior 3 credits
Focuses on the major psychological theories of criminal and aggressive behavior. Viewpoints from cognitive, psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, behavioral, social learning, descriptive and developmental psychologists are discussed. Students will also explore theories of congenital and acquired brain defect as causes of criminal behavior. Case examples are used to illustrate the various theories. Specialized topics include alcohol and crime; sex crimes; juvenile delinquency; and women and crime.
PA 590 Research Seminar 3 credits
The seminar serves to integrate the learner's studies in Public Administration by examining in depth an issue or problem of significance and special interest to the learner. Research, writing, and presentation skills are employed in this course. Each learner will design his/her own project, subject to approval of the faculty member, in order to fulfill the course requirements. The project shall demonstrate (1) integration of the MPA program objectives, (2) graduate level writing skills using APA format (3) graduate level critical thinking skills and (4) in-depth understanding and application of the objectives of the area of emphasis utilizing appropriate research techniques. A PowerPoint® presentation of the project, suitable for senior level decision makers, is also required of each learner. Prerequisite: completion of all core and area of emphasis courses (may take one area of emphasis course concurrently).
PA 594 Internship 3 credits
Supervised field experience in a public sector or not-for-profit agency. Consent of MPA Coordinator and written report are required. Prerequisite: completion of courses in the emphasis area
