This program is for students who want to make a positive impact on the world in the fields of public service, public administration, and community and nonprofit settings. We will explore public service leadership from m u ltiple perspectives to better understand how to lead and manage in public service organizations and settings, as well as to learn and practice the skills necessary to manage and lead change aimed at cultivating the common good. We will explore topics such as leadership theory, group building , team, and organizational capacity, ethics, and public service values. We will also explore tools for self-awareness, communication, implementing diversity and equity, understanding power and oppression, deliberation, framing issues, and inspiring and motivating others. Students will also have multiple opportunities to observe public service leadership in real world settings to better situate praxis; how what we are learning in class is practiced (or not) in public administrative settings such as city council meetings, other municipal meetings, and non-profit organizations.
We will explore questions such as: What is public service leadership? What values and ethics are under consideration when governing public goods? How do we lead change in organizations and in our communities? What skillsets are necessary to plan for strategic, equitable , and innovative social change amidst the contemporary complexity of public service environments? What is the role of public administrators in facilitating citizen involvement, collective action and decision making, and social change? We will explore these questions from within the social/political contexts in which public servants work to better articulate the meaning of public organizations in democratic society. Students will develop their leadership knowledge and skills and consider how to meet the challenges of improving leadership in the public and nonprofit sectors.
This program will prepare students for careers in public administration, nonprofit organizations, state and local government, community development, and community engagement.
This is a hybrid program with in-person and online (Zoom and Canvas) class meetings. We will meet on most Monday evenings through the quarter. Roughly half of the class hours (approximately 10 hours a week) will be conducted asynchronously -- i.e., scheduled on your own each week. This asynchronous learning consists of Canvas modules (including recorded lectures and discussion board assignments) as well as an independent project that involves additional field visits/observations of local democratic spaces along with a final presentation of findings.
Roughly half of the class hours (approximately 10 hours a week) will be conducted asynchronously -- i.e., scheduled on your own each week. This asynchronous learning consists of Canvas modules (including recorded lectures and discussion board assignments) as well as an independent project that involves additional field visits and observations of local democratic spaces along with a final presentation of findings.
The in-person meetings will take place during Saturday and weekend intensives during weeks 2 and 9 where we will meet for eight hours, from 9 am until 5 pm, on the following days:
- Saturday, January 17
- Sunday, January 18
- Saturday, March 7
Please note that we will have in-person field trips to downtown Olympia during the evenings of the following days:
- Thursday, January 29
- Tuesday, March 3
- A third field trip is to be determined, most likely in week 6 or 7.
Registration
Academic Details
Public policy and administration, nonprofit work, community organizing, local government, social work.
$20 fee covers entrance costs for tours of local organizations