Certificate in Policy Analysis

Analysis of concepts, methods, and procedures involved in managing public organizations. Problems of organization, planning, decision-making, performance evaluation, and management of human resources are considered. Cases are drawn from a variety of public services found at federal, state, and local levels of government.

Focuses on analytical models and their use in solving problems and making decisions in the public sector. Discussion of standard approaches to modeling and estimation of parameters.

An examination of the role of public affairs professionals in policy processes. Focuses on relationships with political actors in various policy areas.

This course focuses on applications of the principles and concepts of intermediate microeconomic theory and managerial economics to public sector management decisions and policy analysis. The course utilizes case studies to give students opportunities to recognize the economic dimensions inherent in the public policy problems and to develop an analytical problem-solving orientation.

This course applies benefit-cost analysis to public and environmental policies. The first part of the course develops the foundation of benefit-cost analysis. The second part of the course consists of case studies applying benefit-cost analysis to actual policy decisions.

Study the fiscal role of government in a mixed economy, including sources of public revenue and credit; administrative, political, and institutional aspects of a budget and the budgetary process; problems and trends in intergovernmental fiscal relations.

An introduction to the field of policy analysis. Includes discussion of different models, approaches, conceptual foundations of the field, and the basic issues surrounding application.

This course focuses on the interaction between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to achieve consensus in decision-making to influence federal, state, and local policies. The course conveys theoretical and practical aspects of multisector collaboration to achieve more effective outcomes than each sector could individually conceive. 

The seminar focuses on the decision-making of societies with respect to environmental and natural resource issues. Current topics surrounding energy, environmental justice, climate change, and pollution will be covered in a setting focusing heavily on discussions and presentations. Interactions between society, economics, and the environmental sphere are highlighted.

This course covers the creation and management of public spaces as well as aspects of urban planning. Students will be exposed to selected topics of importance in urban/local management including service delivery and sustainability, and methods for improving urban spaces through understanding the relationships between people and spaces.

Conceptual and technical overview of geographic information systems (GIS). Applications in various fields of public affairs and environmental science.