MNL Program Overview
Your coursework will focus on four core areas of study, will be rounded out with electives, and will end in a capstone experience. Visit our Degree Information page for the full degree requirements.
1. Foundations of the Nonprofit Sector and Nonprofit Leadership (12 credits)
These courses will provide you with a solid foundation to understand the unique role the nonprofit sector plays in society and how nonprofits can lead social change in today’s world.
• History and Foundations of the Nonprofit Sector: PA 521 (3 credits)
• Leadership for the Nonprofit Sector: PA 528 (3 credits)
• Administrative Ethics and Values: PA 513 (3 credits)
• One of the following courses:
- Culture, Values and Leadership: PA 547 (3 credits)
- Cross-cultural Communication: PA 549 (3 credits)
- Enhancing Diversity in the Workplace: PA 594 (3 credits)
- Civil Rights for Public Managers: PA 593 (3 credits)
- Diversity and Social Justice: SW 539 (3 credits)
2. Fundamentals of Nonprofit Management (12 credits)
These courses will give you the critical skills you need to manage a nonprofit or grassroots organization effectively.
• Governance of Nonprofit Organizations: PA 522 (3 credits)
• Administrative Theory and Behavior: PA 540 (3 credits)
• Fundamentals of Fundraising: PA 526 (3 credits)
• Financial Management of Nonprofit Organizations: PA 524 (3 credits)
3. Analytic Skills (9 credits)
In these courses, you will learn and apply best practices for data collection and analysis, applied research, and program evaluation.
• Analytic Methods I: PA 551 (3 credits)
• Analytic Methods II: PA 552 (3 credits)
• Program Evaluation and Management: PA 555 (3 credits)
4. Advocacy, Policymaking and Community Change (6 credits)
The knowledge and skills you gain from these courses will help you find avenues for your nonprofit or grassroots organization to create meaningful social change.
• Advocacy and Political Participation by Nonprofit Organizations: PA 538 (3 credits)
• One of the following courses:
- Creating Collaborative Communities: PA 543 (3 credits)
- Civic Capacity: PA 519 (3 credits)
- Public Policy Process: PA 533 (3 credits)
- Administrative Law: PA 534 (3 credits), or Law, Politics and Society: PS 524 (4 credits)
- Interest Groups: PS 517 (4 credits)
- Political and Economic Decision-Making: PS559/USP 636 (4 credits)
- Concepts of Community Development: USP 528/428 (4 credits)
- Negotiation in the Public Sector: USP 584 (4 credits), or Negotiation: CR 515/415 (4 credits)
- Dialogue Across Differences: CR 523/423 (4 credits)
In addition, you can round out your knowledge and skill set with electives you choose in consultation with your academic adviser and with a community-based capstone project:
Electives (9 credits)
Elective courses should be selected in consultation with your academic adviser, including those outside of the Department of Public Administration, but if you are interested in the following areas of nonprofit leadership and management, you may want to consider these options:
Leadership | Finance and Fundraising |
Leadership Development for Public Organizations: PA 517 (3) Leading Public Organizations: PA 518 (3) Foundations of Collaborative Governance: PA 575 (3) Values-Based Management: PA 598 (3) | Grantwriting for Nonprofit Organizations: PA 525 (3) Social Entrepreneurship: PA 541 (3) Public Contract Management: PA 556 (3) Advanced Fundraising: PA 581 (3) Public Budgeting: PA 582 (3) |
Organizational Change | International NGOs |
New/Emerging Nonprofits: Development and Change: PA 527 (3) Strategic Planning: PA 536 (3) Organizational Development: PA 545 (3) | Global Leadership and Management: PA 514 (3) Nonprofits on the World Stage: PA 523 (3) |
Equity and Social Justice | HR Management |
Social Justice Pedagogies: GRN 510 (3) Power and Knowledge: GRN 515 (3) Critical and Decolonizing Methodologies: GRN 520 (3) | Supervision in the Public Sector: PA 546 (3) Managing Employee Performance in the Public Sector: PA 562 (3) Human Resource Management in the Public Sector: PA 590 (3) Employment Law and Policy: PA 591 (3) |
The MNL Capstone (6 credits)
Your program of study will culminate in a community-based capstone project we refer to as an Organizational Experience (PA 509). This is an opportunity for you to solidify what you’ve learned throughout the program with a hands-on project aimed at helping a nonprofit or grassroots organization build its capacity.
Optional Certificates
You can also complement your MNL degree by adding an optional certificate to your program of study. Complementing your MNL degree with any of the following certificate specializations will add depth to your knowledge and skill set. Certificate credits can be applied to your MNL Electives. Please visit the links below for additional information and if this interests you, please discuss with your faculty advisor.
• Collaborative Governance Online Graduate Certificate
• Energy Policy and Management Graduate Certificate
• Sustainable Food Systems Graduate Certificate
• Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Certificate
• Gender, Race and Nations Graduate Certificate