Master of Public Management

Learn how to make a difference in the running of cities, counties, and states.

The Master of Public Management (MPM) is offered to students interested in careers in public sector management. Specifically, this program was created for managers of public agencies and those who implement policy at municipal, regional, and state levels. Courses are offered in a blended format, combining face-to-face and online interaction to meet the scheduling needs of students. Housed in a vibrant Urban Studies Department, the MPM capitalizes on Worcester State University’s urban location and helps to develop public leaders for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond.

This program has an interdisciplinary core faculty drawn from many academic disciplines including urban studies, sociology, political science, economics, management, and criminal justice.

A 3-course Action Research and Management Project Fieldwork component at the end of the program allows for real-life experience and a synthesis and evaluation of coursework.

Explore sample courses in this program.

PM-901 Project Management for Public Organizations

This introductory course provides students with the skills, tools, and techniques necessary to run a project successfully from conception to evaluation. Students learn the systematic methods of planning, implementing, and evaluating a project. Students develop a broad range of skills including communication, team management, coordination, monitoring, and control. Specific resource management (time, space, and people) are also explored.

3 credits

PM-902 Internship

With the help of an internship coordinator, local students who do not have nonprofit experience and all international students identify suitable nonprofit organizations in which to do an internship. The internship must provide valuable, career-related experience and learning goals. The goals of the internship are established in conjunction with the coordinator and the host organization. These goals should take into account the student’s career interest, for example, development, fundraising and grant-writing, human resources management, financial management, etc. Students must complete a minimum of 100 hours in the organization and write a summary of the internship experience.

3 credits

PM-903 Economics for Policy Analysis

This course utilizes both microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts and tools with an emphasis on applications to public management and policy analysis. Decision making in the public sector is made within a political context and involves different considerations than decision making in the private sector. This course is designed to help public policy administrators and managers address real-world issues and problems from an economic perspective to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their organizations. Central issues include the economic justification for government involvement, the balancing of efficiency and equity, and the development of policies to improve the well-being of citizens.

3 credits

PM-908 Legal, Regulatory & Ethical Issues in Healthcare

An overview of the legal and regulatory framework governing health care from both the manager’s and the client’s point of view. Legal rights and duties of patients and health care providers, hospital liability, hospital-physician relationships, patient’s rights, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, and negligence and malpractice.

3 credits

PM-934 Ethics & Management of Human Resources

Leaders and managers of nonprofit and public organizations face moral and ethical dilemmas in dealing with their publics (clients, staff, volunteers, donors, government agencies, board of directors, collaborating partners, the community, etc.). These dilemmas are particularly pronounced in those organizations because the organizations operate under strict ethical guidelines, are accountable to the general public, and have to deal with many different publics. This course explores the ways in which leaders resolve these ethical dilemmas while sustaining their organizations. Additionally, this course explores the human resources management functions including planning, recruitment and selection, motivation, compensation and employee services, and development.

3 credits

PM-940 Leadership Skills & Group Dynamics

Explores the nature and principles of effective group and organizational leadership. Students participate in a group that studies its own leadership process. Examples are taken from therapy groups, business/organizational situations, classrooms, and other case studies. Emphasis upon the components of effective leadership and fellowship in small groups and organizations. Group formation, group roles, group stages, and group conflicts are studied.

3 credits

PM-942 Organizational Theory

Organizational theory and development strategies considered. Formal and informal aspects of organizations, authority structures, specialization and integration of functions, and the role of professional managers.

3 credits

PM-944 Politics and Public Policy

An explication of the nature of political power and the influence of power upon the delivery of various types of nonprofit: public, health care and human services.

3 credits

PM-945 Financial Management for Public Organizations

This course explores the theoretical, technical, and political elements of financial management in public organization settings. The primary objective is to enable students to gain an understanding of how to develop and use financial information to make management decisions in public organizations. The course focuses on: 1) the development, implementation and control of a financial plan and 2) the development of financial statements, including the summarizing and reporting of the organization’s financial performance and the analysis of the organization’s financial health. The course emphasizes the use of financial statements by managers of public organizations.

3 credits

PM-946 Seminar in Program Analysis & Evaluation

Explores philosophical issues, politics, and specific evaluation instruments involved in effective program analysis upon utilization of computer systems.

3 credits

PM-949 Strategic Leadership & Planning for Public Organizations

This course critically examines the external and internal environments of public organizations through exploration of the strategic planning process. It involves a discussion of various strategic leadership decisions and the management skills necessary to design and implement a successful plan in the light of the political dynamics in strategic planning.

3 credits

PM-950 Unions & the Public Sector

An intensive examination of key collective bargaining topics. Topics include grievance-arbitration processes, productivity bargaining, and impasse resolutions in the public sector.

3 credits

PM-951 Negotiation & Conflict Resolution for Public Organizations

Through theory and situational role playing, students learn effective skills in negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and conflict resolution. The course provides an opportunity for students to diagnose and plan different situations requiring negotiation and conflict management, practice the negotiation process, and develop confidence in approaching and diffusing tense situations.

3 credits

PM-980 Management Project Fieldwork I for Public Management

In individual consultation with the instructor, students identify a management project and write a plan to carry out their projects. The plan will include an executive summary, explanation of strategic/organizational alignment, project scope, feasibility assessment and contingency plans, constraints, human resources requirements, material/equipment requirements, project schedule, budget/cost estimate, risk management, project issues, change management, communication management, approvals, and attachments.

2 credits

PM-990 Action Research

The goal of this course is to prepare students to undertake nonprofit-relevant research projects in areas of their choice, by developing an understanding of fundamental concepts of research design. By the end of the course, students develop a research proposal.

3 credits

PM-993 Public Relations for Public Organizations

This course explores the theories of human interaction as they relate to the public sphere. Students acquire effective public relations skills that are essential for success in the public sector. This course reviews the components of a public relations campaign and helps students learn to develop public relations tools such as news releases, pitch letters, biographies, position papers, crisis communications, and other tools included in a strategic publications relations kit. This is an essential course for managers and administrators of public agencies who must constantly communicate their agencies’ position to various, often divergent, constituencies.

3 credits

Admissions Requirements

Online application with essay and application fee
Bachelor’s degree with a minimum GPA of 2.75
2 letters of recommendation from a professional or academic source
Prerequisite courses: Introductory courses in principles of management, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and political science required; a course in financial accounting highly recommended
Students may take up to 6 credits before matriculation

Program of Study

The Master’s in Public Management is a 12-course, 36-credit degree with the following curriculum:

10 required core courses:

PM-901 Project Management for Public Organizations (3 credits)-
PM-903 Economics for Policy Analysis (3 credits)
PM-934 Ethics & Management of Human Resources (3 credits)
PM-942 Organizational Theory (3 credits)
PM-945 Financial Management for Public Organizations (3 credits)
PM-949 Strategic Leadership & Planning for Public Organizations (3 credits)
PM-951 Negotiation & Conflict Resolution for Public Organizations (3 credits)
PM-990 Action Research (3 credits)
PM-980 Management Project Fieldwork I for Public Management (2 credits)
PM-981 Management Project Fieldwork II for Public Management (4 credits)

2 elective courses selected from:

PM-902 Internship (3 credits)
PM-908 Legal, Regulatory & Ethical Issues in Healthcare (3 credits)
PM-940 Leadership Skills & Group Dynamics (3 credits)
PM-944 Politics & Public Policy (3 credits)
PM-946 Seminar in Program Analysis & Evaluation (3 credits)
PM-950 Unions & the Public Sector (3 credits)
PM-993 Public Relations for Public Organizations (3 credits)
PM-994 Assigned Readings (3 credits)
PM-996 Public Law (3 credits)

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