Coursework and materials in my classes are never too far from the world outside the classroom door, yet never divorced from overarching theories. "Real world" illustrations and examples are continually brought back to the literature to show which parts of theory have been informed by these empirical observations. I assign very concrete and applied projects that force students to appreciate the linkages between the things that scholars study and the ways that policy and practice are affected by scholarship.
As a policy scholar, I integrate policy theory, development, and analysis with administration and management. In my view, public administration is where the policy "rubber meets the road": policy is affected by its administration, and policy development shapes its implementation. Employment policy, therefore, manifests partially in personnel management. And while I study employment policy across a broader spectrum-by class and gender across the public and private sector-much of my research is devoted to government personnel practices. In this way, my research on labor markets enriches human resource policy, and vice versa.
I have taught classes in data analysis, research design, economic analysis and policy, and public personnel management. Click on the links for the most recent syllabus in each course, where available.
Managing Workplace Diversity (PA 533)
This course examines rationales, impacts, and dimensions of diversity among workers in public sector workplaces, and includes theories on workplace diversity and organizational performance; links between diversity and administrators’ behaviors and actions; effects of diversity on policy outcomes; public management tools used to foster workplace diversity; various dimensions of diversity beyond race and gender; and the role of diversity education in public affairs and public administration curricula.
For the assignment “Being A Minority”, students selected events or places where they could go to experience what it was like to be an identifiable minority. For example, one student went to a Middle Eastern gathering place and engaged in discussions on culture and politics; another attended religious services of a faith very different from her own, and another student shadowed a female construction worker on the job. One purpose of the assignment was to force students to experience—if only for a moment—the feeling of being a minority in order to help inform their managerial decisions on issues of diversity. This was important for students of all races and ethnicities to appreciate diversity across several dimensions including race, gender, class, religion, and sexual orientation.
Economics for Public Administration and Policy Decisions (PA 410)
In this course, students apply economic reasoning to policy issues, study and incorporate microeconomic principles into public administration and policy decisions, understand different types of government intervention into economic processes and the reasons why such government interventions occur, examine price and wage determination through market mechanisms and study examples of government programs that affect prices and wages, and study taxation, including excise taxes, tariffs, burden and incidence of taxation.
Readings in this class came from a wide range of ideological perspectives and included essays from the dollars & sense collective, the Ludwig vonMises Institute, religious economics, and evolutionary economics. One purpose of this approach was to counter recent trends in the field and expose students to a range of economic views. Another purpose was to make students weigh the pros and cons of various ideologies: because Economics is Everywhere, I force my students to identify economic decision making behavior and consider many possible outcomes.
Research Design for Public Administration (PA PhD 540)
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the logic of scientific investigation. Students focus on the formulation of scientific questions and alternative methodologies that can be employed to address the questions. Within this context, students examine alternative philosophical groundings for social inquiry, hypothesis construction, issues of observation, measurement and analysis. Students place an important emphasis on the strengths and limitations of each approach, as well as the ethical boundaries of social science inquiry.
Data Analysis for Public Administration (PA 407)
This course covers topics and methods of analyzing information relevant to the administration and management of public programs and organizations, and includes causation, univariate statistics, significance testing, correlation, and regression. During one semester, students developed proposals to evaluate a program of a “real” agency or department and presented their findings before decision makers in that agency/department. One purpose of the assignment was to force students to think in practical terms how the findings from their statistical analyses could be applied in an organization, how to develop concrete recommendations, as well as how to best present complex analyses in order to facilitate audiences’ understanding.
Administration and the Policy Process (PA PhD 515)
This course examines theories and research issues concerning the role of administrators in policy formation, theories of policy science, and case studies and research on federal, state, and local agencies.
Impacts of Policy on Women and Families (WS 301B)
The role of government has changed over the years. Some things are considered the government’s responsibility, and others are not. For instance, the social safety net is a relatively new concept: before FDR’s New Deal in the 1930s, government stayed out of “internal” matters. Policies influencing the lives of women and their families are uniquely affected by changing perceptions of the proper role of government.
Throughout the semester, students pursue three main goals: Investigate the role of applied research, research grants and foundation funding in creating and shaping the perception of the proper role of government by creating opportunities for policy silences to become policy; Delve into concepts of woman’s role, and how the enduring image of “woman” has commonly meant that policies and programs affecting women have an impact on families, as well; and Understand women’s policy issues and women as political leaders within and beyond United States.