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Concepts of Public Administration
PUAD 501 - Public Administration

University of Maryland - European Division
Rota, Spain

Term 2: Oct 24-Dec 16
Tues/Thur 18:00-21:00

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Kathy J Boyd
                            Graduate Programs - Europe
                            University of Maryland
                            Unit 29216, APO AE 09102

CONSULTATION HOURS: Before class by appointment or by email kboyd@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course provides an overview of public administration fundamentals, management strategies, and management techniques at the national, state, and local levels of government. Students are offered the opportunity to learn and understand

1. The historical evolution and ideas of the primary thinkers in the field of public administration
2. How public sector administration is similar to and distinct from private sector administration.
3. The importance and consequences of current trends, e.g., privatization
4. The impact of environmental factors such as demographics, the economy and political factors on public administration
5. Basic information about organizational theory, administrative behavior, decision making, intergovernmental relations, etc. REQUIRED TEXTS:

Denhardt, Robert B. Public Administration: An Action Orientation, Third Edition. Harcourt Brace College Publishers (Ft Worth, TX: 1999).

Stillman, Richard J., Public Administration, Concepts and Cases, Seventh Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company (Boston, MA: 2000).

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

1. Express systematically in writing ideas about the proper scope of public administration
2. Summarize and critique professional/scholarly articles on any non technical aspect of public administration
3. Discuss basic features of organizational theory and behavior, etc.
4. Analyze complex cases and relate them to issues in public administration. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Discussions: My teaching method places a great deal of emphasis on participation and in-class discussions/analyses of case studies in public administration. Coming to class prepared to delve into all of the assigned reading material is paramount to your success. I will ensure that you have ample opportunity to expand upon your ideas through active discussions. The last two days of class are dedicated to student presentations. Listening to and asking relevant questions or making observations on your classmates presentations is part of your grade on class participation.

Exams: The midterm and final exams will provide you with important opportunities to prepare for the Comps. The exams will be largely essay in nature - focusing on the broad conceptual themes of the class and the application of these concepts to case studies.

Paper: The first day of class we will spend a considerable amount of time discussing the research paper assignment. In brief, your research paper will be on a topic of importance to the future of public administration. You will use

Presentation: The ability to prepare and deliver a coherent presentation in 10 minutes is an important professional skill, as is the ability to anticipate and field questions from an interested audience. You'll have the opportunity to further hone this particular skill by presenting your research paper to the class the last weekend.

ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS/GRADING SCALE:

Item	Points	Due Dates	Comments
Participation	15	All class meetings	If you're not there, you can't participate. I do not distinguish between good and bad reasons for missing class. Everyone is an adult and everyone is busy.
Midterm	20	Nov 14	Designed to help you prepare for the Comps
Final Exam	20	Dec 7	Designed to help you prepare for the Comps
Research Paper	30	Dec 12	Late papers automatically lose one letter grade
Presentation	15	Dec 12 & 14	10-15 minutes, followed by 10-15 minutes of questions and answers

Grading Scale

90-100	A	This student performed at a graduate level on all fronts: wrote thoughtful, careful exams; participated fully and intelligently in all discussions; prepared, delivered and defended a well organized presentation; and wrote a well researched, documented, and argued paper on an important topic.
80-89	B	This student performed at a graduate level on most fronts but wrote exams that were less detailed or under developed; participated in most discussions but was occasionally unprepared; prepared, delivered or defended a presentation which was a bit of the mark but acceptable; and wrote a research paper with minor problems.
70-79	C	This student often arrived in class unprepared; wrote exams that failed to demonstrate an adequate level of understanding; appeared unprepared to engage in the discussions or made frequent comments suggesting a failure to read or understand the texts; delivered an under developed presentation or failed to adequately explain or defend the relevant points; and wrote a paper with important grammatical problems or which demonstrated a failure to adequately research the topic.
0-69	F	This student either stopped coming to class altogether; failed to deliver the final paper; or systematically failed to meet the requirements of the class.

SUPPLEMENTAL READING LIST:

COURSE SCHEDULE

DATE	READING	TOPICS	COMMENTS
Oct 24	Denhardt 1 Stillman 1	Introductions & Syllabus	We will review the syllabus and discuss all course requirements, focusing on the research paper and presentations. You should begin thinking about possible topics now.
Oct 26	Denhardt 2 Stillman 2 & 4	Political Context	We'll focus on analyzing the cases in Stillman's text. This process will occupy most of our class time and will be part of the midterm and final exams. It is an analytical process and goes well beyond simply "discussing" the case. You can prepare by considering the questions which proceed and follow each case.
Oct 31	Denhardt 3 Stillman 3 & 5	General Environment	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 2	Denhardt 5 Stillman 12	Budgeting	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 7	Denhardt 6 Stillman 11	Human Resource Management	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 9	Denhardt 4 Stillman 16	Ethics	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 14	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	MIDTERM EXAM	Bring the texts with you
Nov 16	Stillman 7	Discuss Midterm Exercise	This is an important discussion - we'll review the entire exam and discuss the kinds of answers which work best. I strongly recommend you attend this class.
Nov 21	Denhardt 7 Stillman 8 & 13	Implementation	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 23	Denhardt 8 & 9 Stillman 10	Communications	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 28	Denhardt 10 & 11 Stillman 9	Managerial Effectiveness	We'll focus on the cases, but you are responsible for all the reading.
Nov 30	Stillman 4	Revisit Challenger Case	We'll revisit Ch 4 of Stillman and analyze the Challenger Case using a variety of constructs.
Dec 5	Denhardt 12 Stillman 14 & 15	Review/ Summary	We'll review/summarize the material covered after the midterm and prepare for the final exam. Once I strongly recommend you attend this class.
Dec 7	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	FINAL EXAM	Bring the texts with you
Dec 12	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	PRESENTATIONS All Papers Due at Beginning of Class!!	Each student will present his/her research paper and then field questions from the class. Your participation in the discussion of each paper is required. Failure to attend the final two sessions will weigh heavily on your overall grade.
Dec 14	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	PRESENTATIONS	Each student will present his/her research paper and then field questions from the class. Your participation in the discussion of each paper is required. Failure to attend the final two sessions will weigh heavily on your overall grade.