The Masters in Government Administration
Requirements
Program of Study
Course Descriptions
The Master in Government Administration
The objective of the Master in Government Administration(MGA)Program at Matn
U's is to prepare its students for leadershipin government service, non-profit and social service organizations,and
organizations closely associated with the public sector.The twelve-course MGA program revolves around four core
areas:Finance (accounting, budgeting, financial management); Politics(political structure, governance); Economics
(economic analysis);and Management (leadership and human resource development,quantitative skills and communications).An
integral part of the program is "The Internship"requirement which allows students to explore public service
areas of particularinterest to them.Internships may include positions in offices of parliamentarians,cabinet members,
executive offices of country leaders and presidents and other publicservice government institutions.The program
includes eight requires courses in the four core areas plus four electives.Electives offer students the opportunity
to further their education in one of the core disciplines,such as finance or management, or in related areas such
as privatization and evaluating social welfare services.
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Requirements
Core Requirements
GAD6621 Economic Analysis in the Public Sector
GAD6631 Politics, Policy, and Public Service
GAD6651 Accounting and Management Control
GAD7794 Communications
Major Requirements
- a) Required courses
GAD6623 Leadership in the Public Domain
GAD7722 Public Expenditure Budgeting
GAD7732 Governance in the Public Sector
GAD7783 Public Financial Management
b) Four Elective courses
Choice of four elective course from the following list
GAD7704 Administrative Law
GAD7710 Topics in Government
GAD7725 Industrial Location and Urban Development. GAD7750 Managing Nonprofit Organizations
GAD7752 Management Methods
GAD7760 Intergovernmental Management
GAD7780 Mangement of Cities
GAD7789 Policy Development
GAD7790 Managing Independent Authorities
GAD7792 Privatization and Reinventing Government
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Program of Study
The Master in Government Administration requires a
minimum of twelve graduate level courses, of which four at most can be transferred from relevant graduate courses
at other schools or universities.
The course requirements are as follows:
|
Type
|
No of Courses
|
| Core Course |
4
|
| Concentration Courses |
4
|
| Elective Courses |
4
|
| Total |
12
|
|
Thesis Option
|
The thesis carries six (6) semester credits and will be considered in lieu of the two (2) elective
course requirement. |
Matn U's Master's Degree is a two year program. The first year is dedicated to completing
the core requirements curriculum, which exposes
the student to a breadth of subjects and approaches, that provide fundamental business skills,
knowledge, and perspectives. Students are required to
complete the core requirements before taking courses in their specified concentration.During
the second-year students build upon the foundation of the core
curriculum as they develop expertise in their chosen fields.
Also students can gain deeper insight into a specific field or explore new disciplines through
elective courses available at Matn U's Graduate Studies.
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Course Descriptions
Core Courses
GAD6621 Economic Analysis of the Public Sector.
This course provides students with the knowledge required to understand government
operations in relation to the market economy. In theory of supply and demand, students
explore the pricing mechanism, price elasticity, and the effects of price controls on markets.
Efficiency is examined in connection with competition and again in connection with equity,
and market failure is considered as a reason for government intervention. Cost-benefit analysis
is examined in the context of selecting among public investment alternatives. The course also
assists students in addressing issues connected with local public goods and economic development.
GAD6631 Politics, Policy, and Public ServiceThis first-semester course is designed to
orient students to the constraints that characterize leadership and management in the public
service sector. The course traces the origins of these constraints, illustrates their durability,
and suggests ways in which public agents may deal with them more effectively. Key historical
documents and recent classics are examined for their bearing on contemporary views on topics
such as public goods, the role of science in governing, individualism, and the theory of rights,
factions, and interest groups. The main areas of inquiry are the environment of public service,
policy analysis, politics, and political realism.
GAD6651 Accounting and Management Control.
This course introduces students to basic accounting concepts including accrual, adjustment,
estimate and variance. In the sessions on government accounting, students examine the different
kinds of funds used by governments as well as transactions involving more than one fund, and they
learn to read and analyze financial statements. The nonprofit accounting sessions pay special attention
to examples drawn from health care organizations and institutions of higher education. The course
emphasizes management control through reporting systems and audits. The main areas of inquiry are:
general accounting concepts; government accounting; nonprofit accounting; and management control.
GAD7794 Communications
This half-course module shows students how to make effective speeches of several common kinds and
gives them practice in delivery.
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Concentration Courses
GAD6623 Leadership in the Public Domain.
This course challenges students to think in terms of systems which operate within internal and
external environments and are subject to both stabilizing and destabilizing influences, to develop a
strategic vision, and to reflect on themselves in a relational way. Leadership is presented at first from an
historical
standpoint and then in exploring the ambiguity of authority and the challenge of managing the competing tendencies
toward
freedom and equality which characterize democracies and the democratic mindset. An inquiry into organizational
dynamics prepares
students for the examination of change management which concludes the course. The main areas of inquiry are:
developing a
personal management orientation; leadership; group, intergroup, and organizational dynamics; and managing organizational
change.
GAD7722 Public Expenditure Budgeting.
Through budget theory which addresses all levels of government and a budget practice focused on preparing a
budget for a medium-sized city, students learn the
how and why of public sector budgeting. Along with the perennial topic of budget theory, the course introduces
students to the new emphasis on service efforts and accomplishments in performance budgeting. In the practicum,
students are coached in establishing expenditure and revenue history, developing projections and estimates,
and presenting a completed budget to the legislature and the public.
GAD7732 Governance in the Public Sector.
In this second-semester course, students focus on bureaucracy and related institutional features of government.
Differences in organizational culture are examined along with their implications
for public managers. Students establish an understanding of leadership issues including incentives, performance,
accountability, and program management. Four areas of inquiry are pursued: bureaucracy, centralization and
decentralization, performance, and privatization.
GAD7783 Public Financial Management
This course prepares students to manage cash and debt in the public sector through a study of theory and operations.
Where public finance differs from corporate finance, the difference is highlighted. Students examine current financial
management
techniques from a strategic perspective and learn to identify the impacts on economic development of tax policies
as well as of capital projects which may draw on both public and private sources of funds. The course focuses on
five main areas of inquiry: public finance theory and practice; government
finance functions; public pensions, enterprises, and revenue analysis; municipal bonds; and special project
funding.
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Elective Courses
GAD7704 Administrative Law.
Review of select jurisprudential models and an examination of social, political, historical, psychological,
philosophical, economic, and other events which influence outcomes.
GAD7710 Topics in Government.
This course topic changes every semester to offer classes in topics that are relevant to today's political climate
and the issues faced by public sector entities.
GAD7725 Industrial Location and Urban Development.
This course teaches skills to conduct market studies and to determine operational, physical, and financial feasibility
of urban and economic development proposals.
Special attention is given to feasibility studies for retail, hotel, industrial, and office development projects.
GAD7750 Managing Nonprofit Organizations.
The course will present an overview of the third sector in relation to public organizations and private for-profit
organizations. Effective management of nonprofits will be discussed including
the implementation of strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, financial management, marketing, fund
raising, human resource management, and leadership strategies.
GAD7752 Management Methods.
This is a strategic planning course in which students evaluate complex executive issues, human and organizational
questions, ethics, values, and policy concerns as they apply to public sector management.
The course employs a top-management perspective to analyze large-scale enterprises and to illustrate particular
management issues.
GAD7760 Intergovernmental Management.
This course's topics include: analytics and politics of intergovernmental management; the founders' concerns
with intergovernmental relations; measuring and managing growth and decline in the
influence of governments at all levels; links among jurisdictions; executive orders, legislation, and decisions
of the courts; current intergovernmental shifts against the background of long-term trends; decentralization and
privatization.
GAD7780 Management of Cities.
This course discusses management of cities from the perspective of the chief executive officer (Mayor or City
Manager). This course examines relationships to the public, media, constituencies, business, community, and city
council.
GAD7785 Governor as Chief Executive Officer.
This course discusses the management tasks of governor as the chief executive officer including, but not limited
to: cabinet; media; legislature; budget; and program.
GAD7789 Policy Development.
This course examines the policy development process including: the interaction of branches of government; policy
analysis; information; constituencies; and management of a policy development office.
GAD7790 Managing Independent Authorities.
This course examines various tasks and perspectives on public-private or private-public management. Topics range
broadly from managing joint ventures to managing the flow of information, as in lobbying.
GAD7792 Privatization and Reinventing Government: Contracting and Other Techniques.
This course addresses performance issues associated with different ownership regimes. Also, the course examines
privatization in its different forms including asset sales, deregulation and public-sector contracting, ownership
and managerial behavior, state-owned enterprises and mixed-ownership enterprises, international experience, techniques
and politics of privatization. Finally, the course looks at the reinvention of government movement as a response,
in part, to privatization
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