UNIVERSITY CATALOG: 2023-2024

Program: M.P.A., Public Administration

Public Sector Management and Leadership Option

Program Description

The Master of Public Administration (MPA) is the appropriate professional degree program for administrators who are currently employed in the public, private or nonprofit sectors and who want to improve their management knowledge and skills. The program has been designed to provide an academically sound and effective course of study for midcareer professionals who have successfully earned their baccalaureate or master’s degrees in fields other than public administration, but whose career paths and interests have heightened their need for advanced professional study and preparation in public administration. Because most MPA students are busy professionals, the program is designed to fit their schedules and is offered in two formats—open enrollment and cohort. Students joining the open-enrollment MPA have the flexibility of taking classes at their own convenience. In the cohort model, a group of approximately 25 students moves through the program as a unit, starting and finishing at the same time. The schedule is fixed and classes, which are offered off campus, are guaranteed for each cohort student.

This program is available through self support (funded entirely by student fees and offered in a cohort format) in partnership between one of the CSUN academic colleges and The Tseng College.

Program Requirements

A. Admission Requirements for Classified Status

  1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
  2. Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0.

B. Admission Requirements for Conditionally Classified Status

  1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
  2. At least two years of work experience in the public sector.
  3. Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.50-2.99.
  4. Students with less than a 3.0 GPA must provide three letters of reference from supervisors that include information about work assignments and their completion, overall work performance and growth in responsibility in the workplace.

C. Graduation Requirements

  1. Completion of a minimum of 33 semester units of approved graduate courses.
  2. Completion of at least 24 of these units in residence.
  3. Completion of all coursework with a GPA of at least 3.0.
  4. Completion of a comprehensive examination equivalent to 3 semester units (in addition to the 33 units of coursework).
  5. Students must be fully classified at the time of graduation. (In order to be fully classified, students must have the following: bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and a 3.0 GPA in their cumulative postgraduate coursework.)

D. Course Requirements

1. Required Core Courses (18 units)

MPA 610 Seminar in Public Administration and Its Environment (3)
MPA 620 Research Methods for Public Administration (3)
MPA 630 Organization Theory and Human Behavior (3)
MPA 642A Ethics and Professionalism (3)
MPA 644 Public Budgeting and Financial Administration (3)
MPA 650 Seminar in Public Policy Process (3)

2. Elective Courses (15 units)

Note: Due to the cohort nature of the program, electives are prescribed for students enrolling though The Tseng College.

MPA 612A Intergovernmental Relations (3)
MPA 622A Policy Implementation and Program Evaluation (3)
MPA 623A Seminar in Effective Public Sector Management (3)*
MPA 623B Approaches and Methods in Program Evaluation (3)**
MPA 623D Human Resources and the Basics of Competencies Measurement in Government (3)
MPA 632A Organizational Leadership (3)
MPA 632B Strategic Management (3)
MPA 632C Communication in Public Organizations (3)
MPA 640 Public Policy Analysis (3)
MPA 642B Public Sector Labor Relations (3)
MPA 643 Human Resources Management (3)

*This is a required course for this track only.
**MPA 620 is a prerequisite.

3. Culminating Experience (3 units)

MPA 698S Graduate Project (3)
or MPA 697S Comprehensive Examination (3)

Total Units Required for the M.P.A. Degree: 36

Contact

Master of Public Administration
Program Director: Henrik Minassians
(818) 677-5115

On-Campus, Off-Campus and Online Programs
Staff: Ruth Asmel
(818) 677-2584

Staff: Elliott Maude
(818) 677-4607

Staff: Louis Gutierrez
(818) 677-5635

Program Learning Outcomes

Students receiving a Master of Public Administration will be able to:

  1. Recognize and address ethical dilemmas and create ethical policy.
  2. Exercise ethical and professional responsibilities of public service and administration.
  3. Identify and engage key policymakers, community members, and cross-diverse jurisdictional stakeholders and populations.
  4. Lead, collaborate and communicate through a variety of media with members of diverse populations.
  5. Apply and integrate systems thinking, evidenced-based practices, and the principles of public administration, policy sciences, governance, organization science and management.
  6. Design, implement, optimize and evaluate analytic strategies.
  7. Integrate innovative strategies that promote effective public administration, policymaking and service delivery.
  8. Utilize data and technology in decision making.
  9. Design succession planning strategies to develop, retain and engage talent within an organization.
  10. Manage the public funds in an efficient and sustainable manner to meet the organizational objectives through relevant legal and financial principles.