A focused graduate degree concentration designed to prepare public administration students to lead successful careers in the public or nonprofit sector.

ELECTIVE COURSES — 12 UNITS

Select three of the following:

EMPA 300

Theory, Ethics and Practice in Public Service

EMPA 303

Organizational Development and Leadership

EMPA 306

Public Service and the Law

EMPA 397

Internship: Public Service

This concentration is designed for law enforcement, public safety, probation, correctional, military police, first responders, as well as public and private security professionals who seek to gain advanced knowledge, critical thinking, as well as operational and managerial skills in their dynamic field.

Courses focus on effectively and efficiently managing change, productivity, and diversity in law enforcement, emergency, and security organizations, using leadership skills.

Students will learn how to develop collaborative professional and operational relationships and partnerships within the law enforcement, emergency, and security community with consideration for the legal, ethical, and moral influences that affect governmental, non-governmental, and business organizations.

Graduates will leave the program knowing how to synthesize and apply knowledge from current research on public affairs, policy, security, emergency, and law enforcement administration to form a solid intellectual basis for operational practice and action.

ELECTIVE COURSES — 12 UNITS

Select three of the following:

EMPA 311

Current Issues in Law Enforcement

EMPA 312

Disaster, Emergency, and Security

EMPA 313

Law Enforcement Ethics, Training, and Accountability

EMPA 397

Internship: Public Service

Designed for city, town, county, regional, and urban managers, planners, analysts, and consultants who seek to gain advanced knowledge, critical thinking, as well as operational and managerial skills in this rapidly evolving and dynamic field. Practitioners will benefit from the core EMPA courses in leadership, organizational development, law, budgeting, and research. The specialization courses on urban growth, inclusiveness, and resilience address economic, social, and environmental issues and cases facing administration and operations in business, government, and nonprofit organizations.

ELECTIVE COURSES — 12 UNITS

Select three of the following:

EMPA 320

Growth, Technology, & Competitiveness

EMPA 321

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility

EMPA 322

Resilience, Livability, & Sustainability

EMPA 397

Internship: Public Service

Students may declare concentrations when they have completed the coursework required for their desired concentrations, or after the “Last Day to Drop Course without Tuition Charge” (per the Academic Calendar) for their final terms, if they will be able to complete their concentrations in their final terms.

To be eligible to declare concentrations, students must have already completed the required concentration coursework, or be able to complete it in their final terms without requiring waivers, substitutions, or directed study courses, unless they are approved in advance by the department chair, program director, or dean.

Students may declare up to two concentrations in a given degree program. Students seeking to declare more than two concentrations will be required to appeal to the dean or vice president of academic affairs for approval. Students’ diplomas will list the concentrations that they had successfully completed at the time their degrees were conferred. Students may not declare additional concentrations after their degrees have been conferred.