IU Indianapolis Campus Bulletin 2024-2025

Criminal Justice Courses

• SPEA-J 501 Evolution of Criminological Thought and Policy (3 cr.) This course provides an intensive introduction to the theoretical literature on crime and delinquency. Its purpose is to develop students' ability to critically evaluate and compare theories of crime as they apply to public policy and the criminal justice system.

• SPEA-J 502 Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Public Affairs (3 cr.) This course examines research techniques necessary for systematic analysis of the criminal justice system, offenders' behavior, crime trends, and program effectiveness. The course requires that students actively pursue such techniques as conducting interviews, coding data, and designing studies.

• SPEA-J 503 Crime Analysis (3 cr.) Examines patterns of criminal behavior including the environmental, situational, temporal, and spatial characteristics of crime and crime types. Techniques and examples used in tactical, strategic and administrative crime analysis are evaluated. Students learn to present, interpret, and assess local and national crime statistics.  

• SPEA-J 520 Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety (3 cr.) The use of geographic information systems to map locations of events and analyze patterns for decision making and facility location in areas of public safety including criminal justice, fire services, emergency management and homeland security; and the management and application of those systems.

• SPEA-J 524 Emergency Management (3 cr.) This course explores the values underlying effective emergency management principles and policies in a democratic society. Topics include: hazard identification, effective planning, stakeholder and public communication, examination of federal, state, and local agency roles and critical partnerships, preparation for, mitigation of, and response to hazards.

• SPEA-J 528 Risk Analysis for Public Safety (3 cr.) An examination of theoretical foundations of risk analysis including the history of risk analysis, risk assessment, perception and communications; models for decision making, techniques for generating alternative courses of action and definitions of risk and opportunity within a context of local, state and federal regulatory guidelines, media and social context.

• SPEA-J 531 National and Homeland Security in America (3 cr.) This course addresses federal policy and management issues related to preventing, mitigating, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from major catastrophic events; both natural and man-made, including acts of terrorism. Topics include emergency management, resource and response infrastructures, public health issues, best practices, crisis communications, and business and governmental continuity.

• SPEA-J 550 Topics in Criminal Justice (1-3 cr.) Selected research and special topics in criminal justice and public safety. Repeatable.

• SPEA-J 580 Readings in Criminal Justice and Public Safety (1-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Readings and research on selected topics in criminal justice and public safety.

• SPEA-J 581 Public Safety Law (3 cr.) Survey of the historical development of Anglo-Amercian law of public safety, including criminal law, civil remedies, administrative regulation of risk, and recent developments in employee and consumer safety. Emphasis on understanding legal theory and practice as basis for management decisions. Comparison of jurisprundential viewpoints and other disciplinary approaches to public safety programs.

• SPEA-J 582 Criminal Justice Systems (3 cr.) Detailed examination of operations of police, courts, and correctional agencies. Study of management problems in system response to criminal activity. Development of understanding of relationships among system components. Examination of major policy issues in criminal justice, with emphasis on decision-making techniques.

• SPEA-J 585 Practicum in Criminal Justice and Public Safety (1-6 cr.) Students hold work assignments with public agencies. Grading is on an S/F basis.

• SPEA-J 586 Public Safety in the U.S. (3 cr.) Overview of criminal justice and public safety. Definitions of public safety and identification of major components. Functional description of major public safety agencies. Discussion of basic issues in public safety. Management in public safety system.

• SPEA-J 587 Criminal Violation: Problems and Characteristics (3 cr.) Commonalities in criminal behavior. Circumstances leading to the commission of the criminal act, subsequent perceptions of them. Family, community, and other environments affecting criminal behavior. Behavioral consequences of processes of crime control.

• SPEA-J 588 Law and Control in Society (3 cr.) The role of law versus other forms of social control. How social change and social institutions shape the law. Social factors influencing the administration of law.

• SPEA-J 590 Research in Criminal Justice and Public Safety (1-6 cr.) Research on selected topics in criminal justice.

• SPEA-J 599 Thesis Research (1-6 cr.) Research under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty leading to a Masters Thesis. This course is eligible for a deferred grade. Course may be repeated for credit.

• SPEA-J 600 Capstone in Criminal Justice and Public Safety (3 cr.) Course is designed to expose students to the realities of the policy process in criminal justice and public safety through detailed analyses of case studies and projects.

• SPEA-J 666 Criminal Justice and Public Safety Policy Evaluation (3 cr.) An empirical assessment of the foundations of contemporary and historical attempts to control or prevent crime. Major policies, programs, and strategies are reviewed and critically analyzed. Specific topics and policies will vary in this capstone seminar.

• SPEA-J 682 Planning and Management for Criminal Justice and Public Safety (3 cr.) Methods and procedures involved in criminal justice and public safety planning and management. Administration and implementation of public policies in policing, courts, corrections, emergency management and homeland security. Organization, decision making, evaluation and human resource issues of public policy.

Environmental Science Courses

• SPEA-E 511 Sustainability Assessment (3 cr.) P: SPEA-E 538, SPEA-V 506 or equivalent.

  There has been a proliferation of various metrics that measure the sustainability of products, services, buildings, and institutions.   Three are developed: life cycle analysis (IS014040), the USGBC's LEED certification, and the AASHE's STARS metric. Various uses of these metrics to design products, certify performances, and improve outcomes will be evaluated.  

• SPEA-E 529 Application of Geographic Information Systems (3 cr.) Conceptual and technical overview of geographic information systems (GIS). Applications in various fields of public affairs and environmental science.

• SPEA-E 560 Environmental Risk Analysis (3 cr.) P: SPEA-E 538, V 506 or consent of instructor Methods of probabilistic risk analysis applied to environmental situations. Event trees, fault trees, toxicological estimation, ecological risk analysis. Social and psychological aspects of risk. Individual and group projects assessing some real environmental risk are an important part of the course.

Public Affairs Courses

• SPEA-V 502 Public Management (3 cr.) Analysis of concepts, methods, and procedures involved in managing public organizations. Problems of organization, planning, decision making, performance evaluation, and management of human resources are considered. Cases are drawn from a variety of public services found at federal, state, and local levels of government.

• SPEA-V 504 Public Organizations (1-3 cr.) This course focuses on the behavior and theory of public organizations in four areas: (1) individuals and groups in public organizations, (2) the design of public organizations, (3) organization-environment relations, and (4) interorganizational relations.

• SPEA-V 506 Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making (3 cr.) Noncalculus survey of concepts in probability, estimation, and hypothesis testing. Applications of contingency table analysis and analysis of variance, regression, and other statistical techniques. Computer processing of data emphasized.

• SPEA-V 507 Data Analysis and Modeling for Public Affairs (3 cr.) P: SPEA-E 538 or SPEA-V 506. Focus on analytical models and their use in solving problems and making decisions in the public sector. Discussion of standard approaches to modeling and estimation of parameters.

• SPEA-V 509 Administrative Ethics in the Public Sector (3 cr.) Ethical conduct in the public sector is examined. Topics covered could include personal ethical responsibility, deception, corruption, codes of ethics, policymaking, morality, politics, and whistle blowing. Case studies and media material will be used to illustrate these and other such issues affecting the workplace.

• SPEA-V 510 Advocacy and Government Relations (3 cr.)

  This course concerns the advocacy as practiced by public and nonprofit organizations. Advocacy includes a broad range of activities which attempt to influence a specific policy, legislative, regulatory or implementation outcome.  Advocacy also can include efforts to influence private behavior or encourage individual action. 

• SPEA-V 511 Collaborative Governance (3 cr.)

  This course focuses on the interaction between the public, private, and non-profit sector to achieve consensus in decision making to influence federal, state, and local policies. The courses conveys theoretical and practical aspects of multi-sector collaboration to achieve more effective outcomes that each sector could individually conceive. 

• SPEA-V 512 Public Policy Process (1-3 cr.) An examination of the role of public affairs professionals in policy processes. Focuses on relationships with political actors in various policy areas.

• SPEA-V 513 Managing Change and Organizational Development (3 cr.)

  This course provides an overview of theory and practice of organizational change. A particular focus hereby lies on organizational responses to the external environment as well as individual responses to organizational change.

• SPEA-V 514 Seminar in Arts and Cultural Management (3 cr.)

  This course provides a survey of major themes in arts and cultural management. This includes an exploration of the boundaries of “arts” and “culture” in society and policy as well as the challenges and opportunities for arts and cultural leaders to create and sustain social value.

   

• SPEA-V 515 Sustainable Communities (3 cr.) Course explores proactive strategies for moving communities toward economic, social and environmental sustainability. Through case studies, projects, tours, and visiting professionals the new thinking in community design, from individual green buildings to regional scales of transportation, land use, commerce, natural systems restoration, waste, food, water, and energy is developed.

• SPEA-V 516 Public Management Information Systems (3 cr.) This course focuses on the application of information systems concepts and tools to challenges and opportunities in the public sector. Topics covered will include current trends in information systems; managerial use of information systems; hardware, software, and telecommunications; systems development processes and practices; and strategic and policy issues in information systems.

• SPEA-V 517 Public Management Economics (3 cr.) This course focuses on applications of the principles and concepts of intermediate microeconomic theory and managerial economics to public sector management decisions and policy analysis. The course utilizes case studies to give students opportunities to recognize the economic dimensions inherent in the public policy problems and to develop an analytical problem-solving orientation.

• SPEA-V 519 Seminar in Environmental Policy and Sustainability (3 cr.)

  The seminar focuses on the decision making of societies with respect to environmental and natural resource issues. Current topics surrounding energy, environmental justice, climate change, and pollution will be covered in a setting focusing heavily on discussions and presentations. Interactions between society, economics, and the environmental sphere are highlighted.

   

• SPEA-V 520 Environmental Policy Analysis (3 cr.) The interrelationships among social, technical, and natural systems. Theories of growth. Causes and implications of environmental problems. Alternative policies and mechanisms for environmental control and bases for choice.

• SPEA-V 521 The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector (3 cr.) Same as PHST-P 521. The theory, size, scope, and functions of the nonprofit and voluntary sector are covered from multiple disciplinary perspectives including historical, political, economic, and social.

• SPEA-V 522 Human Resource Management in Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.) This course provides an overview of the human resource management areas necessary for the productive functioning of nonprofit organizations. Theories of motivation applicable to the management of staff and volunteers and personnel topics of recruitment, selection, board-staff relations, compensation, training, and development are covered.

• SPEA-V 523 Civil Society and Public Policy (3 cr.) Exploration of interaction of public policy and nonprofit organizations, drawing on history, political theory, and social science. Includes examination of regulations and taxation. Depending on instructor’s interests, course covers nonprofit role in selected policy arenas (such as environment and poverty) and industries (such as international development and health care).

• SPEA-V 524 Civil Society in Comparative Perspective (3 cr.) An exploration of state-society relationships in a variety of regimes and time periods. Focuses on ways regimes' policies affect the existence and contribution of those nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations that stand between the individual and the state and how nonprofit organizations shape the policy agenda of a regime.

• SPEA-V 525 Management in the Nonprofit Sector (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 521 or PHST-P 521. An examination of nonprofit organizations and their role in society. Management issues and public policy affecting these organizations are discussed. Primary emphasis is on U.S. organizations, but attention is given to the global nature of the sector.

• SPEA-V 526 Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.) This course emphasizes a thorough understanding of the language and key concepts of nonprofit financial management. A working knowledge of the basic analytical tools used in financial decision making for nonprofit organizations will be examined through the use of computer software.

• SPEA-V 527 Urban Sustainability (3 cr.) This course is an introduction to urban government and policy issues within the context of sustainability. Specifically, the course introduces social, fiscal, economic, physical, and political aspects of sustainable policy in urban areas.

• SPEA-V 528 Energy, Policy, and Sustainability (3 cr.) This course is designed to investigate the origins of U.S. and Indiana energy policies, and apply the concept of sustainability to the analysis of past and current energy policies, as well as the development and adoption of future energy policy alternatives.

• SPEA-V 529 Seminar in Career and Professional Development (1 cr.) Introduction to career development in public and environmental affairs. Orientation to career development approaches and resources. Discussion and practice of professional skills and techniques. Orientation to career development opportunities. Grading is on an S/F basis.

• SPEA-V 531 Urban Planning and Placemaking (3 cr.)

  This course covers the creation and management of public spaces as well as aspects of urban planning. Students will be exposed to selected topics of importance in urban/local management including service delivery and sustainability, and methods for improving urban spaces through understanding the relationships between people and spaces.

• SPEA-V 539 Management Science for Public Affairs (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 506. Focuses on management science methods as applied to public affairs. Includes treatment of decision theory, constrained optimization, and probability simulation.

• SPEA-V 540 Law and Public Affairs (3 cr.) Explanation of law in society and its influence on public sector operations. Examination of some of the central substantive areas of the study of law, including regulatory processes, administrative adjudication, the Administrative Procedures Act, ombudsmen, and citizen rights, among others.

• SPEA-V 541 Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public and Environmental Policies (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 517 or consent of instructor. A course applying benefit-cost analysis to public and environmental policies. The first part of the course develops the foundation of benefit-cost analysis. The second part of the course consists of case studies applying benefit-cost analysis to actual policy decisions.

• SPEA-V 542 Governmental Financial Accounting and Reporting (3 cr.) P: or C: SPEA-V 560. An introduction to the fundamentals of accounting in business, nonprofit, and public sectors. Intended only for students without previous accounting courses. Primary emphasis is on municipal entity fund accounting, including the development and use of financial statements.

• SPEA-V 544 Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.) This course examines the concepts of marketing and the extent to which they apply to the nonprofit sector, as well as how marketing can assist organizations both in resource acquisition and program development/implementation. Contexts such as social marketing, arts marketing, fundraising, education, and health care marketing will be considered.

• SPEA-V 547 Negotiation and Dispute Resolution for Public Affairs (3 cr.) Students will learn the skill of interest-based negotiation through role play and simulation. Students will learn about dispute resolution techniques such as mediation, arbitration, fact finding, early neutral evaluation, ombudsmanship, and facilitation. The course covers dispute resolution in federal government and in the context of public, environmental, labor, and business disputes.

• SPEA-V 550 Topics in Public Affairs (1-4 cr.) Selected research and discussion topics organized on a semester-by-semester basis, usually with significant student input in the course design. This course may be repeated for credit.

• SPEA-V 557 Proposal Development and Grant Administration (3 cr.) This course provides the opportunity for each student to develop a complete proposal through participation in the entire grant application process. The integration of case studies, visual media, printed materials, and class discussions provides students with practical knowledge for writing successful proposals.

• SPEA-V 558 Fund Development for Nonprofits (3 cr.) Important aspects of the fundraising process in nonprofit organizations are covered, including techniques and strategies for assessing potential sources of support, effective use of human resources, process management, theory to underlay practice, analysis of current practice, practice standards, and discussion of ethical problems.

• SPEA-V 559 Principles and Practices of Social Entrepreneurship (3 cr.) This course will survey issues in social entrepreneurship and engage students in completing class projects applying principles and practices of social entrepreneurship to problems of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and social-purpose business.

• SPEA-V 560 Public Finance and Budgeting (3 cr.) The fiscal role of government in a mixed economy; sources of public revenue and credit; administrative, political, and institutional aspects of the budget and the budgetary process; problems and trends in intergovernmental fiscal relations.

• SPEA-V 561 Public Human Resources Management (3 cr.) Analysis of the structure, operations, and design of public personnel systems, including government agencies and public enterprise. Relationships between public policy and personnel concepts, values, and operations are considered.

• SPEA-V 562 Public Program Evaluation (3 cr.) Examination of how the programs of public agencies are proposed, established, operated, and evaluated. Discussion of the role and conduct of research in the program evaluation process. In addition, techniques of effective evaluation and analysis are discussed.

• SPEA-V 564 Urban Management (3 cr.) This course deals with the management of public policy in American urban government, with special attention to the relationships between structure, process, and policy. Readings and case studies will focus on urban management problems relating to leadership, planning, and operations.

• SPEA-V 566 Executive Leadership (3 cr.) The course offers an in-depth examination of factors that contribute to successful executive leadership practice in a wide variety of organizational settings. Topics include what leadership is, what impact leadership has, and how leaders use various approaches and powers to achieve their goals.

• SPEA-V 569 Managing Interpersonal Relations (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 502. This course will teach students the theory and application of individual and group human behavior. Key interpersonal skills will be modeled expertly on videotape. Students will be expected to practice these key skills and receive feedback on their performance.

• SPEA-V 572 Urban Topics (3 cr.) Selected topics in urban policy and administration. The course is sometimes restricted to a special group of students in order to focus on a particular research interest.

• SPEA-V 580 Readings in Public Affairs (1-3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Readings on selected topics in public affairs. This course may be repeated for credit.

• SPEA-V 581 Public Safety Law (1-3 cr.) Survey of historical development of Anglo-American law of public safety, including criminal law, civil remedies, administrative regulation of risk, and recent developments in employee and consumer safety. Emphasis on understanding legal theory and practice as basis for management decisions. Comparison of jurisprudential viewpoints and other disciplinary approaches to causation, prevention, and correction of public safety problems.

• SPEA-V 585 Practicum in Public Affairs (1-6 cr.) Students hold work assignments with public agencies. Grading is on an S/F basis. This course may be repeated for credit.

• SPEA-V 586 Public Safety in the U.S. (2-3 cr.) Overview of criminal justice and public safety. Definitions of public safety and identification of major components. Functional description of major public safety agencies. Discussion of basic issues in public safety. Management in public safety system.

• SPEA-V 590 Research in Public Affairs (1-6 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Research on selected topics in public affairs. This course may be repeated for credit.

• SPEA-V 597 Land Use Planning (3 cr.) The course examines the theoretical basis and practical need for land use planning. Emphasis is placed on the institutional context in which land use planning occurs. The course provides an in-depth analysis and exercise in plan preparations.

• SPEA-V 598 Governing and Leading in a Global Society (3 cr.) This gateway course will increase the student’s appreciation of the role of the profession in governance across multiple sectors of society within the global context. Students will learn norms associated with effective practice and frame a professional development plan to acquire the leadership skills to support these norms.

• SPEA-V 600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs (3 cr.) Interdisciplinary course designed to expose students to the realities of the policy process through detailed analyses of case studies and projects. Course integrates science, technology, policy, and management.

• SPEA-V 601 Workshop in Public Affairs (1-6 cr.) Projects in public affairs. The students work on a research and resource team to complete a project for a public-sector client. Faculty act as project managers and resource personnel.

• SPEA-V 602 Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 502. Concepts, cases, and problem solving associated with the structure and process of strategic management in the public sector, broadly defined to include governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

• SPEA-V 639 Managing Government Operations (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 502. This is an introductory survey of operations management. Emphasis is placed on the analysis, design, and management of operation systems using models from operations management. Readings, lectures, and structured exercises are used to present the models and demonstrate their application.

• SPEA-V 645 Environmental Law (3 cr.) An overview of U.S. environmental law. Key environmental statutes are examined, as are court decisions interpreting those statutes. Topics include water and air pollution, hazardous waste, toxins, pesticides, and environmental impact statements.

• SPEA-V 652 Managing Work Force Diversity in Public Organizations (3 cr.) P: SPEA-V 502. Explores and applies theoretical and empirical research from a management perspective on workforce diversity. Topics include theories and constructs pertaining to diversity in work organizations, organizational postures toward workplace diversity, the interface between heterogeneity, work processes, and management practices; and the effects of heterogeneity on work-related outcomes.

• SPEA-V 662 Public Program Management and Contracting (3 cr.) An examination of theories, concepts, and processes concerning multi-actor program implementation and alternative forms of service delivery. Focus will be on the problems and challenges public managers face in designing and managing contractual relationships, networks, and other complex implementation structures.

• SPEA-V 663 Policy Analysis (3 cr.) An introduction to the field of policy analysis. Includes discussion of different models, approaches, conceptual foundations of the field, and the basic issues surrounding application. Students without appropriate previous coursework are expected to do extra reading under the guidance of their instructor or choose the audit existing masters courses.

• SPEA-V 599 Thesis Research (3-6 cr.) P: Permission of instructor Research under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty leading to a Masters Thesis. This course is eligible for a deferred grade. Course may be repeated for credit.