Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs (BSPA)- Program Learning Outcomes
Describe the intellectual depth, breadth, and mental agility of learning to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and solve problems in public affairs
- Recognize, characterize and analyze issues and problems in public affairs using appropriate technology to collect, collate and assess data through statistics and other quantitative tools
- Evaluate information using different analytical methods and tools
Develop an awareness of one's personal responsibility and service to the public, and to seek principled solutions to problems in public affairs.
- Recognize and demonstrate sensitivity to diverse points of view
- Work effectively as a team
Recognize and incorporate concerns, theories, concepts and other information rooted in the broader concepts of globalization, civic engagement, sustainability, and management in working with public affairs issues and problems.
- Recognize different approaches to civic engagement practiced in different communities
- Design responses to public problems that incorporate diverse needs and priorities
Communicate effectively important information and ideas in public affairs both with individuals and in group settings, and using oral, written, visual, and electronic modes.
- Communicate ideas using written and oral modes
- Communicate ideas using data in various formats
Recognize, characterize and analyze issues and problems in public affairs using appropriate technology to collect, collate and assess data through statistics and other quantitative tools.
- Understand basic quantitative approaches to gather and analyzing data
- Use common quantitative methods to guide inquiry and decision making
- Demonstrate familiarity with the ethical considerations associated with data gathering and data use
Apply knowledge and theory of the public, nonprofit and private sectors (e.g., microeconomics) to analyze, evaluate and contribute to the development of solutions for public affairs issues and problems.
- Recognize the components of a healthy civil society
- Learn the structures and stages of the political process and anticipate the ways that the political process impacts civic engagement
- Understand and apply the theoretical and practical foundations of leadership
- Learn and use negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
- Evaluate the costs and benefits of different approaches to addressing a civic problem through the lenses of economics and effective policy making
Students will be able to demonstrate additional learning specific to their major.
Sustainability Practice and Policy Major
The concept of sustainability arises from three distinct intellectual origins: (1) the understanding of ecosystems and the natural systems of the Earth; (2) concerns about ethics, especially social responsibility and intergenerational justice in the structure and functioning of society; (3) and economic approaches to the problems of relying on free or regulated markets in regard to common-pool resources and pure public goods—many of which include the natural resources and systems of the Earth. This major introduces and investigates the interrelationships between these approaches as a system to synthesize a basic understanding that can lead to sustainable solutions across organizations and policy through real-life learning opportunities, namely by using IU Indianapolis' campus as a living laboratory of sustainability by which to develop, test, and apply sustainable solutions.
- Understand, describe, and in an informed manner discuss, what sustainability is and provide tangible examples of implementing sustainable practices across sectors and topic areas
- Understand how best sustainable practices are implemented across sectors and topic areas
- Be scientifically literate in areas pertaining to sustainability, specifically the science of climate change and the carbon cycle
- Be familiar with different perspectives and theoretical models of organizational management and the policy process and be able to discuss them in relation to sustainability
- Be aware of the various channels available for active participation in organizational management and the policy process as they relate to sustainability
- Demonstrate an understanding of the grant writing process and apply learned material to a real-life application
- Understand how to conduct a greenhouse gas emissions assessment and craft plans for reduction efforts
- Identify common sustainability measures and the common methods or analysis used to assess and track targets
- Develop an orientation toward systems thinking
Management and Civic Leadership Major
The management major is concerned with the functioning of organizations, whether public, private or nonprofit. Students electing the management major will study resource allocation, organizational design, accountability, and other generally applicable principles involved in all organizational structures, with an emphasis on issues specific to public and nonprofit organizations. Students in management will be able to:
- Understand and participate in the management of public and nonprofit organizations.
- Understand the principles of finance and budgeting in the public sector, and be able to undertake basic finance and budgeting activities in that context.
- Understand the principles of finance and budgeting in the nonprofit sector, and be able to undertake basic finance and budgeting activities in that context.
- Understand the principles of human resource management, and be able to apply them in the context of a public or nonprofit organization.
- Manage diversity in a changing workforce.
- Understand the decision-making in public and nonprofit organizations, and be able to contribute to that process in those organizations.
The policy studies major is concerned with the exercise of power and the nature and wisdom of the rules that constrain the use of power. In contrast to the management student, whose focus in on the organization, and the civic leadership student, whose focus is on the community and community networks, the policy studies student will primarily be concerned with the rules we establish to govern our communal endeavors. Students in policy studies will be able to:
- Understand, explain and apply common models of the policy process to problems in public affairs.
- Understand the options for public input into public decision-making and policy implementation.
- Read, understand and evaluate program evaluations and policy analyses reported by others, and communicate those digested findings clearly and concisely.
- Understand and apply basic methods of program evaluation using common quantitative, qualitative and mixed tools.
- Understand and apply basic methods of public policy analysis using common quantitative, qualitative and mixed tools.
- Understand a policy area in depth.
