Public Management

In the wake of the financial crisis, bank bailouts, and stimulus plans, the relationship between American economic power and national security is especially salient. In this course, students investigate core topics in international political economy, analyzing the security implications of each. Topics include trade relations, international finance, monetary relations, poverty, and development. (Core course for the MA in Global Security Studies. Recommended elective for MA in Public Management)

This course is designed to introduce students to the public policymaking process, to the basics of policy analysis, and to the substance of some of today’s major policy debates. The first half of the course focuses on establishing a framework in which to analyze public policy formulation within the United States. The class also reviews the tools for developing and implementing policy. The second half of the course turns to policy analysis of some critical contemporary issues. Building on earlier readings, we will study current debates in economic/tax policy, education, health care, social security, and national security. (Core requirement for the MA in Public Management. Elective option for Government. Analytics students)

(Formerly Program Development & Evaluation in Nonprofits.) A major goal of this course is to help students become more proficient in recognizing, evaluating, and encouraging the kinds of benefits or outcomes intended by our society’s variety of nonprofit and public programs. We will examine what needs and opportunities are addressed by four major types of programs: those serving individuals, those serving communities, those serving networks or systems, and those serving other organizations. Evaluating each requires different lenses and different tools; we will explore the role of culture and context in choosing particular approaches to evaluation. A view of programs as interconnected rather than isolated will be encouraged. A second goal is to help students become more proficient in managing an evaluation process: We will explore purposes and uses of evaluation, the essential elements of an evaluation inquiry, and ways to communicate and use evaluation results. We will explore the variety of quantitative and qualitative strategies useful for evaluating progress in an organization’s attainment of its intended outcomes or benefits. Students can expect to become more proficient in discussing issues of nonprofit and public “program effectiveness,” and strategies for improving nonprofit and public program designs. Elective course for the Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

This course focuses on financial aspects of public sector organizations and institutions. The objectives of this course include helping students (1) learn the basics of public sector accounting and the construction of their financial reports, (2) become more intelligent users of the financial statements of public sector organizations such as sovereign, state, and municipal institutions, and (3) better understand the factors that affect the financial condition and financial performance of such entities.

More specifically, the course focuses on (1) the financial reporting concepts and standards that are applicable to public sector organizations; (2) ratios and other summary indicators used by analysts to evaluate the financial condition and financial performance of public sector and nonprofit organizations; (3) the analysis and interpretation of financial statements of selected public sector organizations; (4) fundamental finance principles; and 5) basic principles of budget formulation.

Economic thinking provides an important set of tools for almost every aspect of public policymaking. This course aims to offer students a basic understanding of economics and its importance in public policymaking. The first half of the course will offer students an understanding of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, including a discussion of when markets can work to achieve policy goals and when “market failures” call for government intervention. The second half of the class will use these economic tools and theories in order to survey several specific policy areas, including health policy, tax policy, and the national debt. (Core course for the MA in Public Management This course counts toward the Economic Security concentration (GSS). Elective option for Government Analytics students.)

The federal budget process is an enormously complex mixture of administrative routines and mechanisms designed to bias decisions, avoid blame, or reduce conflict. This course explores the structures of federal budgeting in terms of its varied goals and in the context of the wider governing process. The course will review the budgetary process in both the executive and congressional branching, as well as the interaction of those two systems. In order to gain understanding of the difficult policy choices and political pressures policymakers face, students will be asked to do a simulation of a budget process within the executive branch. The role of entitlements, scoring issues, and tax policy will be examined in the context of the debate over budget policy. The course will start with a short primer on finance theory. (Recommended elective for MA in Public Management. Elective option for Government Analytics students.)

With the passage of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, all federal agencies are now required to make data accessible to the public and to implement specific plans for developing statistical evidence to inform policymaking. This course will examine the ways in which evidence and expertise are now being used for policy development and assessment. Specific topics will include cost-benefit analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, contingent valuation, forecasting and the communication of statistical evidence. In addition, the course will explore the interplay between political decisionmakers, experts and citizens in the evidence-based policymaking process.

Risk management has always been in the vanguard of data analytics because risk measurement is a critical element in calculating risk/return tradeoffs. This course will examine both qualitative and quantitative analytical methods commonly used in risk management. Qualitative tools include impact/likelihood analysis; event and fault trees; threats, vulnerability, and consequences (TVC); and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). However, a key lesson in risk management is that what gets measured gets managed. As a result, a major part of the course will focus on quantitative tools, including modeling and stochastic simulations. We will use the @Risk software to build realistic risk models, including one in assessing project management risks. The objective of the course is to equip students with practical tools they can apply in risk-based decision making. Prerequisites: 470.681 Probability and Statistics; working knowledge of Excel

This course introduces students to big data management systems such as the Hadoop system, MongoDB, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure. The course covers the basics of the Apache Hadoop platform and Hadoop ecosystem; the Hadoop distributed file system (HDFS); MapReduce; common big data tools such as Pig (a procedural data processing language for Hadoop parallel computation), Hive (a declarative SQL-like language to handle Hadoop jobs), HBase (the most popular NoSQL database), and YARN. MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database that handles documents in a free schema design, which gives the developer great flexibility to store and use data. We cover aspects of the cloud computing model with respect to virtualization, multitenancy, privacy, security, and cloud data management.

Prerequisite: 470.763 Database Management Systems

Technology Requirements: A 64-bit computer with a chip that supports virtualization (set via BIOS) Windows Operating System 7, 8, or 10 At least 8 Gb of Physical RAM Oracle VirtualBox version 4.2 (free) Please be in touch with the instructor with questions about the technology requirements.

This course addresses the legal, policy and cultural issues that challenge the government and its citizens in the increasingly complex technical environment of privacy. We will examine the challenges in balancing the need for information and data against the evolving landscape of individual privacy rights. The course will examine privacy at all levels: by analyzing the shifting views of individual privacy by citizens as well as the technological challenges in both protecting and analyzing personal information for government use. Using case studies and hypotheticals, we will discuss the issue of transparency in the government use and retention of data. The cases will range from Facebook to healthcare.gov to sunshine laws to national security uses of information. We will trace the development of legal and policy measures relevant to privacy concerns and envision future solutions needed in an era of great technological innovation including the use of big data. Prerequisite: none

This course explores technological and data-driven solutions for policy challenges. This includes developments within government, such as the new types of leadership provided by Chief Innovation or Chief Data Officers, the trend toward digitalization of services, and the movement toward open data. It also covers innovation by citizens through the civictechnology movement. Civic tech initiatives have been used to extend and improve services, increase efficiency, design applications for citizen engagement, and improve communication across a variety of policy domains. The course also covers the concept of smart cities and how it can be understood as both new applications of technology (such as sensors and smart infrastructure), and the strategic use of data. For the course project, students will evaluate a policy initiative using city open data, policy research, an analysis of political culture within which the initiative would be implemented, and the technology that could be used for the initiative. Some familiarity with R programming language and theRStudio environment is helpful. Prerequisites: one of the following: 470.681 Probability and Statistics or 470.768 Programming and Data Management

This course provides students with a strong foundation in database architecture and database management systems. Students will evaluate the principles and methodologies of database design and techniques for database application development. Students will also examine the current trends in modern database technologies such as Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), NoSQL Databases Cloud Databases, and Graph Databases. Prerequisite: none

From the perspective of a nonprofit leader, this course provides a solid foundation in understanding key financial tools such as audits, financial statements, budgets and tax documents. Using these tools, students will analyze and assess the financial transparency, accountability, and health of various national and international organizations, determine the financial strengths and weaknesses within those organizations, learn how to use that information in the decision-making process, and finally, practice making informed recommendations to organizational leadership. This course is not designed to make students financial experts or practitioners. Instead, it is designed to enlighten students on key financial management concepts that improve their ability to be informed leaders, participants, and donors in the nonprofit sector. Students will also explore the responsibilities and consequences of international nonprofits engaging in activities in the US, as well as implications for US nonprofits operating abroad. This is an elective course for the Certificate in Nonprofit Management.