Courses

Grant writing for public and nonprofit agencies: proposal writing, promotional and support materials, budget development, fundraising sources, and grants-management system.

Note: Course is Writing Intensive

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of the U.S. healthcare delivery system and health policy. The course covers topics such as the history, organization, financing, technology, regulation, and quality of medical and health services in the United States. The course also explores how policy addresses healthcare outcomes and examines the processes of policy formulation, implementation, modification, and reform. The course provides essential foundations in the macro aspects of the health policymaking process and healthcare organizations.

This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the financial aspects of healthcare systems. The course explores the various financial mechanisms, policies, and practices that affect healthcare organizations and their operations. The curriculum covers healthcare financing models, including private insurance, government programs (e.g., Medicaid and Medicare), and alternative payment systems. The course also addresses topics such as revenue generation, cost management, reimbursement methods, and budgeting and planning within the healthcare context.

This course introduces students to theoretical, conceptual, and practical foundations in healthcare management. The course covers the fundamentals of healthcare management, including the structure, function, and culture of healthcare organizations. The curriculum explores key management concepts such as strategic management, human resource management, financial management, diversity management, and performance management in the context of healthcare. The course also addresses health regulation and compliance as well as emerging issues in healthcare management.

The course addresses public sector human resources management from multiple perspectives, including theoretical, legal, political, policy and practical. It covers the important contemporary issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as other critical issues such as public sector labor relations, performance management, ethics, and privatization.

Independent study is available on a very limited basis as a concentration course for students to investigate a specific topic or issue in depth. Independent study occurs under the direct supervision of a core faculty member. Independent study requires permission from the supervising faculty member and MPA Director approval before students may register. Independent study is limited to 3 credits during the course of the MPA program, and it may count as either a concentration course (with approval) or an elective; Independent Study cannot substitute for a core course.

Requirements to receive credits for independent study:

• Approval from a SPAA faculty member to direct the independent study.
• Submit a detailed description of the proposed topic, the deliverables to be assessed, and a recommendation letter from the supervising faculty member to be considered by the MPA Director for approval.
• The typical minimum deliverable for Independent Study consists of a substantial research paper, including: literature review, collection of data, analysis. The supervising faculty may require additional assignments.

This course enables independent research on a topic related to public administration under the guidance of a faculty adviser.

This course examines the field of public administration through historical lenses, focusing on the periods of development from "the Orthodoxy" to New Public Management and beyond. It emphasizes the challenges that the field has faced and continues to face with respect to its paradigmatic base, scope, and methods. Each student will be required to formulate a synthesis or "paradigm" for the field of public administration.

The MPA Program does not require an internship, but encourages internships for pre-career and career-changing students. Rutgers SPAA assists on-campus MPA students in locating internship opportunities with an expanding network of partners in the Newark urban area in local, county, and state government organizations, and among dozens of nonprofit organizations in the surrounding areas. Additionally, the school circulates information about available national and international internship opportunities via regular email announcements. Approval from the MPA Director is required before any internship taken for academic credit begins. Students are limited to one 3-credit internship; if a student takes an internship, the credits count toward the student’s concentration, which means he/she takes two elective courses from his/her concentration, rather than the customary three. An internship must be related to the student’s concentration. After the MPA Director approves the request, the student will complete the internship contract and submit it to the department for a special permission number to register for credit. An internship can only count for an elective and cannot replace a core course.

Requirements to receive credits for internship:

• Submit a completed contract
• Complete 150 hours of work within one semester
• Submit mid-semester and final evaluations (by the supervisor and the student)
• Submit a 10 to 20-page research paper relating the internship to the student’s concentration (if applicable) at the end of the semester

This course introduces students to data tools that are important in today’s government and 
nonprofit environments. It focuses on key quantitative skills including data interpretation, 
visualization, management, and analysis. Throughout the class, students will learn and 
demonstrate responsible data practices that can be directly incorporated into professional 
contexts. Students will engage with real-world datasets and problems to explore the ways that 
data science can positively inform decision making, management practices, and policy.