The Rutgers Camden Executive MPA is a two year, 42-credit program for public sector and non-profit professionals who possess five or more years of mid- to upper-level administrative and/or managerial experience. Managers with at least five years of professional experience may qualify for up to 12 credits if accepted to the Executive MPA, reducing the course requirements. The program uses a cohort model of 12-20 students and is designed to develop and enhance the students’ leadership, organizational, policy and public management skills.
The program offers a hybrid model for learning, in which some classes are taught both in the classroom and online. Students attend classes Saturday mornings in West Windsor from 9 am to noon, and the in class work is complemented by online assignments. The combination of online and in-class teaching supports learning and accommodates the time pressures of working students.
Sample First-Year Courses
Fall (6 credits)
56:831:525 Public Management (3)
Contemporary management approaches, techniques, and skills for managing various kinds of public organizations. Decision making, administrative leadership, planning, implementation, evaluation, ethics, and budgeting are key topics. Students identify and diagnose the principal types of problems encountered at levels of high administrative responsibility in government and the nonprofit sector.
56:831:557 Human Resources Management (3)
The relationship between employers, employees, and their labor relations organizations in government, health and human services, the nonprofit sector; leadership and direction of employees; impact of collective negotiations on critical issues of public policy; civil service organizations.
Summer (3 credits)
56:831:505 Organizational Behavior (3)
Examines organization behavior-of individuals and groups/ teams-and the organization context in which that behavior takes place. Organization theories as well as behavior theories and approaches discussed, including seminal historical works and more current treatments.
Spring (6 credits)
56:831:501 Foundations of Policy Analysis (3)
The logic of action, decision making, and belief; epistemological issues underlying scientific and policy research; causality, probability, statistics, and public policy; the role of problem definition, description, theory, model building, explanation, and prediction in policy research and decision making. Reviews major substantive theories of public choice and public policy making and critically examines them from a logical and theoretical perspective.
56:831:558 Leadership & Communication Skills (3)
Strengths and limitations of various leadership theories. Awareness of personal learning, leadership, influence, and communication styles. Develops leadership skills through interpersonal exercises and through course projects involving current managerial and political issues. Communication skills involving writing, speaking, meetings, media relations, and strategic planning emphasized.
Sample Second-Year Courses
Fall (6 credits)
56:831:553 Financial Management of Public Programs (3)
Explores the politics of budgeting and methods for projecting expenditures and revenues. Examines budgetary processes, municipal bonds, cash management, and intergovernmental fiscal relations as they apply to financial management of public programs. Topics include cost-benefit, cost-revenue, and cost-effectiveness analyses, as well as contemporary issues such as privatization and liability insurance.
56:831:536 Public Information Systems (3)
Management-oriented computer methods including personal productivity systems and office automation; database management; and the analysis, supervision, and coordination of the management information systems department within the larger organizational culture.
Spring (6 credits)
56:831:503 Law and Public Policy (3)
The place of law in the formulation, articulation, and enforcement of public policy; legal sources, such as constitutions, statutes, cases, administrative rulings, and agency practices; federal, state, and local sources and materials examined for policy inconsistencies, contradictions, and overlap; the effectiveness of fees, taxes, licenses, labeling, injunctions, and other legal sanctions.
56:831:535 Research Methods (3)
Research as a practical skill for public administrators. Topics include research design, descriptive and differential statistics, multiple regression, and qualitative research. Course prepares students for the Capstone project over the summer.
Summer (3 credits)
56:831:675 Capstone: Research Workshop (3)
Guides students in formulating, researching and writing a capstone research paper. Integrates the skills and concepts from the core courses as students use quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze a selected policy or administrative problem.
The final capstone paper will reflect and integrate concepts covered in all courses.