UVa Course Catalog (Unofficial, Lou's List)
Complete Catalog of Courses for the Certificate in Public Administration-Graduate    
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These pages present data mined from the University of Virginia's student information system (SIS). I hope that you will find them useful. — Lou Bloomfield, Department of Physics
Professional Studies-Public Administration
PSPA 5000Intro to Public Administration (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Explores theories and practices of public administration. Examines U.S. administrative systems, government processes, and intergovernmental and cross-sector relationships designed to deliver public value. Topics include history of public administration, roles and responsibilities, social equity, accountability, and organizational capacity. Offers students a chance to apply practical knowledge via cases and explore ways to advance public service.
PSPA 5010Public Policy Analysis (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Introduces traditional and alternative approaches to policy analysis while exploring public policy theory. Develops knowledge necessary to identify contemporary public issues, assess policy alternatives, and analyze strategic impact. Covers policy stages from stakeholder engagement and agenda setting through policy formulation, adoption, and evaluation. Examines how politics can influence policy making across levels of government.
PSPA 5020Public Organization Management (3)
Explores theories of organizational behavior applied to public sector agencies and cross-sector initiatives focused on delivering public value. Introduces theories, skills, and tools to analyze organizational dilemmas and identify promising practices to help individuals and teams achieve collective goals. Covers organizational planning and decision-making, process improvement, evaluation, accountability, leadership, and stakeholder communication.
PSPA 5030Public Budgeting and Financial Management (3)
Offered
Spring 2025
Provides a basic understanding of the financial activities of U.S. governments at all levels. Explores the purposes, characteristics, processes, and operations of financial management systems and focuses on financial operations analysis, coordination across relevant public entities, and effective public resource management. Topics include budgeting theory and practice, debt management, treasury and cash management, and revenue/tax administration.
PSPA 5040Ethics (3)
Introduces and explores the philosophical and practical issues related to ethical decision making. Emphasizes the analysis of ethical problems and the development of analytical skills and values. Incorporates case studies, journal articles, current events, and debates as practical examples of ethical issues.
PSPA 5050Environmental Policies and Practices (3)
Provides an overview of current environmental policies and practices at the federal, state, and local levels as well as global environmental issues. Covers such topics as environmental justice, sustainable development, resiliency; environmental risk, economic environmental issues; and the distributed effects of environmental pollution across ethnic, racial, income and occupational groups.
PSPA 5060Digital Government (3)
Examines the ways in which the public sector is changing as a result of information technology. Covers various topics such as the social, ethical, policy, and management issues related to information technology. Explores federal, state and local initiatives in digital government. Reviews the theoretical foundations of information technology.
Course was offered Spring 2014
PSPA 5070Emergency Services in Public Administration (3)
Provides an overview of emergency management disciplines, including hazards and risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, communications, response, recovery, international disaster management, terrorist threats, and future-related challenges and opportunities. The history and evolution of emergency management law, policies, management approaches, and institutions is emphasized along with government approaches.
Course was offered Spring 2017, Spring 2016