2023-2024 Academic Catalog

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Public Administration (PUAD)

PUAD 1000 -  Public Service Online Success and Career Exploration  (1 Credit)  

Offers Public Service majors the chance to explore their career field and adapt to an online learning environment. Topics will include Canvas tips, online course etiquette, community building for the online learner, how online students can utilize CU Denver student-success resources, writing and citation tips, and contemporary time management techniques. Restriction: Restricted to freshmen or undergraduates with less than 30 credit hours. Max hours: 1 Credit.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Restriction: Restricted to freshmen or undergraduates with less than 30 credit hours.

PUAD 1001 -  Why You Should Care About Government: Public Service and Administration  (3 Credits)  

Students will gain the opportunity to understand the discipline of public administration; public administration aims to help public and nonprofit agencies more effectively respond to public demands made by citizens, organizations, and other levels of government. Explore multiple career paths to advancing the public good in government and nonprofits, including volunteerism, citizenship, community engagement, and leadership. Consider implications for enhancing public integrity and trust in government. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Additional Information: Denver Core Requirement, Social Sciences.

PUAD 2001 -  Management for Public Service  (3 Credits)  

Learn how managers in public sector organizations foster human capital and manage performance in a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative workforce. Examine strategic management techniques, human resource law and procedures. Explore the values of character and competence in creating effective organizations. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 2002 -  Policy and Advocacy  (3 Credits)  

Students will develop skills and tools for creating policy change. Public policy is the decisions and nondecisions of public actors as they attempt to address social, economic and political topics. The course will introduce students to policy change, lobbying, advocacy, and the ways in which policies lead to entrenched coalitions, perceptions, behaviors, and funding models. Max hours: 3 Credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3001 -  Project Management and Program Evaluation  (3 Credits)  

Examine strategic management techniques, organizational theory, and tools for organizational change. Explore structures, life-cycles, and change dynamics of government and nonprofit organizations including organizational culture, the relationship between organizational structure and services, and organizational strategy and effectiveness. Learn the analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills required for program design, implementation, and evidence based decision-making. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3002 -  Organizational and Strategic Management  (3 Credits)  

Examine strategic management techniques, organizational theory, and tools for organizational change. Explore structures, life-cycles, and change dynamics of government and nonprofit organizations including organizational culture, the relationship between organizational structure and services, and organizational strategy and effectiveness. Learn the analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills required for program design, implementation, and evidence based decision-making. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3003 -  Introduction to Nonprofit Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Explore the historical background, development, role, auspices, organization, and purposes of nonprofit agencies. Expand awareness of the scope and breadth of the nonprofit sector in the U.S., examine the inner workings of nonprofit organizations as the foundation for further study. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3004 -  Managing Nonprofit Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Examine leadership and decision-making theory and practice in the nonprofit sector. Explore classic and contemporary theories on leadership, management, governance and organizational effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. Techniques for effective board meetings, committee work, development of board members, and policy development. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3005 -  Collaboration Across Sectors  (3 Credits)  

Organizations across sectors respond to complex problems with innovative and flexible responses through networks. Managing within and across organizations is essential to effective performance in a networked system. Explore collaborative governance across sectors--nonprofit, for-profit, and public--with analyses and applications. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3110 -  Seminar in Nonprofit Management  (3 Credits)  

This course provides an overview of the principles and concepts that are unique to nonprofit management. Topics include executive management, funding diversity, human resource management, marketing, volunteer management and ethics. Students are also given an introduction to the history and the importance of the nonprofit sector. Cross-listed with PUAD 5110 and CRJU 5010. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3400 -  What Communities Tell Us: Stakeholders, Public Opinion, and Community Feedback  (3 Credits)  

Integrating community feedback into a strategy, message, and organizational feedback loops enhances leadership, keeps leaders connected to their communities, and can help drive decision making. This course examines various forms of publicly available opinion data, techniques for collecting stakeholder and community feedback, and the challenges and opportunities this feedback can present in public and nonprofit organizations. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3500 -  Managing and Leading in Environmental Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Students will explore the intersections between management, science, regulations, policies, and sustainable programs, and issues associated with “being green.” Students will also consider the intersection of environmental laws with efforts by businesses, governments, NGOs, and other organizations to protect natural resources, build collaborations for effective environmental management, and the deep-seated value conflicts over the causes, or even the existence, of environmental problems and the appropriate solutions to address them. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 3600 -  International and Global Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Students will learn about the history of development paradigms and understand the relationships among development actors and how they address persistent global problems such as poverty, human trafficking, trade, education, health, and human rights, as examples. Students will understand the impact of colonialism and the finite resources available to address complex social issues in the developing world. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4000 -  Human Resources and Ethics in Public Service  (3 Credits)  

Learn how managers in public sector organizations foster human capital and manage performance in a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative workforce. Understand ethics in public service, explore ethical concerns in public affairs, and confront ethical challenges in government and nonprofit organizations. Examine human resource law and case studies to apply ethical judgement to organizational decisions. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4002 -  Leading and Engaging for the Public Good  (3 Credits)  

Develop a personal leadership identity, tools for collaboration and stakeholder development, as well as work toward building an understanding of the interdependence of public and nonprofit organizations within communities. Investigate cultural competency, social justice, and your own citizenship skills. Look at issues related to leadership, personal ethics and values, motivation, change management, and teamwork. Students explore how stakeholders, networks, partnerships, and communities work together to achieve public goals. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4003 -  Strategic Communications for Public Engagement  (3 Credits)  

Strategic communicators are needed in all fields, especially those that serve the public good. Grow in your abilities to demonstrate the value of government, educational, and non-profit organizations while driving positive engagement with diverse audience networks. Gain relevant professional writing, facilitation, presentation, social media, and crisis management skills to support your favorite institutions. Learn how to conduct situational and diverse audience analyses, solidify objectives, appreciate place branding, and craft messaging. Experience the excitement of executing the public communications function through guest speaker appearances, experiential outings and discussions, and hands-on activities. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4004 -  Building Public and Financial Support for Nonprofit Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Examines methods, techniques, and directed experience in fundraising for nonprofit agencies. Explores relationships with umbrella organizations, government funding, grantsmanship, budget control, and accountability. Discusses social entrepreneurship and social innovation. Examines communications, marketing, and public relations intersection with resource development. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4005 -  Human Rights and Social Equity  (3 Credits)  

Achieving social equity is only possible through significant public policy, administration, leadership and managerial changes. This class explores the intersection between achieving social equity and efforts toward securing human rights. The course will cover local, state, and global challenges that public administrators face as they aim to address harms created by policy legacies. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4006 -  Organizational Development  (3 Credits)  

Examine structures, life-cycles, and change dynamics of government and nonprofit organizations including organizational culture, the relationship between organizational structure and service provision, and organizational strategy and effectiveness. Learn diagnostic and assessment tools, methods, and processes for improving organizational performance. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4007 -  Nonprofit HR: Governance, Staff, Volunteer Management  (3 Credits)  

Current issues in human resource administration for employees of nonprofit organizations. Topics include such areas as recruitment, staff development, volunteer management, performance, evaluation, labor-management issues, and affirmative action. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4008 -  Current Issues in Public Sector Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Explore the impact on public sector organizations of emergent issues such as globalization, changing demographics of the citizenry and workforce, sustainability, declining budgets, and information technology. Examine ways public sector organizations adapt to these trends. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4009 -  Human Service Organizations  (3 Credits)  

Provides an overview of human services delivery in government and nonprofit organizations. Explore causes and conditions that give rise to the need for effective and equitable human service organizations. Learn essential skills including cultural competencies, boundaries, and collaboration. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4010 -  Public Service in Emergency Management and Homeland Security  (3 Credits)  

Introduces emergency management and homeland security including: management of hazards, emergencies, disasters, and the networks of government and nonprofit organizations providing services. Focuses on principles of emergency management and homeland security at state and local jurisdictional levels. Cross-listed with PUAD 5650, CRJU 4010, and CRJU 5650. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4011 -  Community Resilience, Climate, and Emergency Response  (3 Credits)  

Climate change and disaster mitigation increasingly consumes time, energy and efforts of public and nonprofit leaders. This course, through an all-hazards approach, will guide students in understanding how communities can plan, prepare, respond and mitigate potential climate-related and mass casualty disasters. Through case studies and public sector agencies, students will explore techniques that can enhance community resilience, create partnerships across jurisdictions, and reduce risk. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4012 -  Principles of Emergency Management  (3 Credits)  

Introduces the discipline and practice of emergency management. Topics include administrative practice and processes by which public policy shapes governmental responses to hazards, emergencies, and disasters. Cross-listed with PUAD 5655, CRJU 4012 and CRJU 5655. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4020 -  Social Entrepreneurship  (3 Credits)  

Social entrepreneurship, practices, theories, and allied concepts. Using private, nonprofit, and government examples, explore innovation, creativity, profit for social welfare, and innovative management. Advance an organization’s social good mission, and increase effectiveness, accountability, and efficiency through market-based techniques. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4140 -  Nonprofit Financial Management  (3 Credits)  

Provides a grounding in financial management for the "non-accountant" by focusing on an array of knowledge and management skill areas necessary for allocating and controlling resources and for analyzing, reporting and protecting the fiscal health of the organization. Topics include key accounting principles, understanding and using financial statements, the budget development process, cash flow analysis, banking relationships, using the audit report, maximizing investment policy and strategy, and understanding the boundaries of tax exemption. Cross-listed with PUAD 5140 and CRJU 5140. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4145 -  Philanthropy  (3 Credits)  

Today, the organized field of philanthropy and its companion field, impact investing, are growing at a remarkable speed. This course will explore the origins of philanthropy and impact investing and provide students with an in-depth understanding of how philanthropy works today and the nuances that exist among different forms of philanthropy and investment: individual giving, foundations, corporate philanthropy, and impact investing. It will also explore new trends among individual and institutional investors and unpack the different approaches that funders are taking to influence how services are delivered and the striking efforts to affect systems changes. Cross-listed with PUAD 5145. Max hours: 3 credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4160 -  Nonprofit Boards and Executive Leadership  (3 Credits)  

The important roles and responsibilities of a voluntary board of directors and the process of governing are often misunderstood. This course explores the special powers of a nonprofit board of directors as framed by and responsive to public policy. From the perspective of organizational behavior and theory, the course examines the leadership role and interplay between board members and the executive director. The examination includes a comparative analysis of different governing models, and explores fundamental questions of board composition, the role of advisor boards, achieving effective board meetings, the realm of liability, using committees, and the board's role in fundraising, among other special subject matter. Cross-listed with PUAD 5160. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4220 -  Human Resource Management  (3 Credits)  

Covers human resource functions in public and nonprofit agencies. Topics include job analysis, compensation, recruiting, selection, rewarding, training and development. Contemporary issues concerning civil service reforms are also presented. Cross-listed with PUAD 5220. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4325 -  Public Private Partnerships  (3 Credits)  

This course has been designed to introduce students to public private partnerships (PPPs) as a field of study and practice using Colorado as a laboratory for current practice, policy, strategy, management and finance. Students will engage current examples of PPPs as cases, learn and exchange in class presentations with guest lecturers currently leading PPPs and evaluate projects in class assignments doing research, analysis, and field interviews. Students will enhance their knowledge as well as skills commonly used in public, private, nonprofit and enterprise management and the public policy context and narrative of PPPs in international and U.S. practice. Cross-listed with PUAD 5325. Max hours: 3 credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4440 -  Negotiation and Conflict Resolution  (3 Credits)  

Focuses on concepts and skills necessary to negotiate policy and management decisions and manage internal and external conflicts. Designed to help students understand the dynamics that affect negotiations and to apply the principles and strategies of negotiation in a variety of decision making and dispute resolution contexts. Cross-listed with PUAD 5440. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4600 -  Special Topics in Public Service  (1-6 Credits)  

This highly specialized seminar addresses cutting-edge and emerging developments in the field of public service and provides students and faculty with the opportunity to explore significant themes, issues and problems from a broad interdisciplinary perspective. Topics vary from semester to semester. Repeatable. Max hours: 18 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 18.

PUAD 4620 -  Crisis and Emergency Communication  (3 Credits)  

This course examines strategic communication practices throughout the three stages of a crisis or emergency event. Special emphasis is placed on crisis planning, emergency messaging, media relationships, image restoration, ethical responses, and organizational learning. Cross-listed with PUAD 6620, COMM 4557, and COMM 5557. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Typically Offered: Spring.

PUAD 4628 -  Social Problems and Policies in the Urban Environment  (3 Credits)  

Examines local government and nonprofit approaches to addressing common urban social problems. Topics covered may include urban poverty, crime, education, housing, and immigration. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4630 -  Economic Development  (3 Credits)  

As governments search for new ways to be efficient, improve performance and leverage resources, they are also looking at their communities, states and regions in terms of competitiveness, international trade and globalization innovation, collaboration and partnerships. This course will look at practices where economic development includes these elements: the Colorado Innovation Network, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Metro Denver and Denver South Economic Development Partnerships, Mile High Connects, the Downtown Denver Partnership, and public-private partnerships across multiple sectors in transportation, broadband, water and innovation. Students will develop an economic development strategy based on knowledge and tools learned in the course. Political and professional leadership will be part of the dialog. Cross-listed with PUAD 5630. Max hours: 3 credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4633 -  Economic Development  (3 Credits)  

As governments search for new ways to be efficient, improve performance and leverage resources, they are also looking at their communities, states and regions in terms of competitiveness, international trade and globalization innovation, collaboration and partnerships. This course will look at practices where economic development includes these elements: the Colorado Innovation Network, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Metro Denver and Denver South Economic Development Partnerships, Mile High Connects, the Downtown Denver Partnership, and public-private partnerships across multiple sectors in transportation, broadband, water and innovation. Students will develop an economic development strategy based on knowledge and tools learned in the course. Political and professional leadership will be part of the dialog. Cross-listed with PUAD 5633. Max hours: 3 credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4638 -  Colorado Politics, Policy, and Administration  (3 Credits)  

This course focuses on the state-level policy-making process in Colorado, and how that process is affected by local, state, and federal politics, administration, and other policy-making constraints applicable to the state. Substantive topics covered will vary, but students will be exposed to a wide range of perspectives and experiences from practitioners and policy influencers engaged in state-level politics, policy-making, and administration. Cross-listed with PUAD 5638. Max Hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4740 -  Sustainable Energy Policy  (3 Credits)  

This course will cover the basic principles and operation of policy and regulation that impact the production and use of energy (with a focus on transportation and electricity generation) from all of the major sources currently available and used. We will analyze (and, through a sustainability lens, critically evaluate) energy from water (hydroelectric, hydrokinetic), coal, domestic and international petroleum, natural gas and nuclear reactors. A significant portion of the course will focus on electricity generation and associated policy, technologies and regulation. In the context of each energy source and use, we will review and discuss sustainability practices, policies, and, issues. Cross-listed with PUAD 5740. Max hours: 3 credits

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4840 -  Independent Study  (1-6 Credits)  

This course consists of faculty-guided research in an area of mutual interest to the student and instructor. Students are responsible for selecting their area of inquiry prior to contacting the instructor. Permission of instructor is required. Repeatable. Max Hours: 6 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 6.

PUAD 4939 -  Public Service Internship  (1-9 Credits)  

The internship course, required for all Public Service majors unless waived, provides career-related experiential learning in a government agency or nonprofit organization. Students must apply to the internship course in the semester before they hope to enroll and obtain permission from their advisor and the instructor prior to enrolling. Prereq: PUAD 1001 plus any other 2000 level (or higher) PUAD course, a GPA of 2.0, and a minimum of 15 UCD credit hours completed. Repeatable. Max Hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

PUAD 4941 -  Integrating Professional Public Administration  (3 Credits)  

This is a student-directed, project-based course that allows the student to bring together their entire collegiate knowledge base into a project, program, thesis, or experience that will demonstrate how their public administration knowledge and expertise connects to their BAPA Core, concentration, thematic sequence, core University requirements, and personal goals. This course is intended for students in their final semester of the bachelor's degree. Max hours: 3 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

PUAD 4961 -  Capstone  (1-10 Credits)  

Synthesizes competencies gained throughout the course of study into a client-based research project. Students conduct independent research, complete a final project demonstrating their qualifications and expertise. Restriction: Restricted to undergraduate students in the School of Public Affairs. Max hours: 10 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 10.

Restriction: Restricted to undergraduate students in the School of Public Affairs.

Additional Information: Report as Full Time.

PUAD 4995 -  Global Study Topics  (3 Credits)  

This course is reserved for CU Denver faculty-led study abroad experiences. The course topic will vary based on the location and course content. Students register through the Office of Global Education. Cross-listed with PUAD 5995. Repeatable. Max hours: 9 Credits.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade

Repeatable. Max Credits: 9.

Typically Offered: Fall.