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"The PUBA Program paid dividends beyond my expectations. Aside from being the single best experience for my personal and professional development, the MPA credentials helped me obtain a promotion from one federal agency to the next. The PUBA staff are some of the most dedicated people I've come across in my career and I'm proud that I pursued my degree at U.H."

Michael Heh
Program Management Specialist
U.S. Pacific Command

 

Public Administration > The Program > Master's Degree > Core Year

Core Year

The first year of the Master's in Public Administration consists of a prescribed core year that emphasizes, among other things, self-understanding, learning to work effectively in groups on problems of common concern, increasing abilities to integrate knowledge and analyze complex issues, and developing individual skills in a cooperative, collaborative environment. It is based on an integrated, team-taught curriculum presented in a format that utilizes seminar and discussion sessions. The core year is organized by modules in the following subjects:

PUBA 600 (Fall)

Political & Economic System Processes (7) This course consists of six modules that cover the broad context within which public organizations operate, and a set of communication, organizing, and thinking skills. Certificate and Master's Degree students are required to complete all modules.

Modules:

  • Managing Ideas, Writing, Time & Thinking Critically
    Writing for yourself - to learn what you think and why; writing for others - to communicate your position and argument; reading analytically; time management; an orientation to critical thinking and specific tools for thinking about complex issues.
  • Interpersonal & Group Communication
    Interpersonal communication styles; group processes and group development; verbal and nonverbal communication in organizational settings; meeting facilitation; making formal presentations.
  • Economic Perspectives
    The nature of economic thinking and economic analysis; dynamics of Hawaii's economy; economic perspectives on government activities and public actions; state and local economic issues and economic policy.
  • Political Perspectives
    Foundations and evolution of the liberal state and public institutions in the United States; stresses and conflicts in the American political economy and in American political myths; history of Hawai'i's political economy and development of its public institutions; internationalization of economic relations and their implications for local public sector concerns.
  • Legislative Process
    Functions of legislatures; the relationship between formal rules and informal dynamics.
  • Hawaiian Perspectives
    Issues of indigenous peoples generally and of Native Hawaiians in particular; public policy and the Hawaiian community; sovereignty and futures for Hawaiian people.

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PUBA 601 (Spring)

Policy & Organizational Processes (7) This course consists of six modules that cover the organizational settings in which public service work is done, and a set of skills useful for information systems, budgets and data analysis. Certificate and Master's Degree students are required to complete all modules. Pre: 600.

Modules:

  • Understanding Organizations
    Characteristics of organizations and the issues they present, multiple (mechanistic, political, cultural, change) frameworks for understanding and diagnosing organizations.
  • Budgetary Process
    Federal, state, and local budget issues; budget analysis and budgetary processes.
  • Public Policy, Administrative Law & Rule-Making
    Policy analysis as a tool, issues in administrative law, rule-making and bureaucratic discretion.
  • Research Design & Methods
    Asking and answering relevant questions, obtaining and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information, evaluating public programs and policies.
  • Ethics & the Public Interest
    Exploring the idea of the "public interest," ethical dilemmas, and ethical codes.
  • Hawai'i's Futures
    Alternative futures in Hawai'i and their implicaitons for public problems and public agencies, futures analysis as a tool for public decision-makers.

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