School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
Public Affairs (BS)
The Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs is intended for individuals called upon to manage in the arenas of government, nonprofits, or business. These generalist managers must synthesize many forms of knowledge derived from government, economics, sociology, and other fields, and must apply that knowledge creatively to meet the varied and multiple challenges of public administration. The ability to understand the substance of policy and program issues; the ability to grasp the administrative, political, and ethical implications embedded in them; and the ability then to act upon the issues with effect, together define the worth of contemporary managers.
The Public Affairs program promotes acquisition of knowledge and skills essential to the tasks of identification, analysis, design implementation, supervision, evaluation, communication, and other key functions that are integral components of management careers in federal, state, and local governments; criminal justice; in social service, education, community development, arts and other nonprofit organizations; and in business firms.
Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs
Degree Requirements (120 semester credit hours)1
View an Example of Degree Requirements by Semester
Faculty
Professor: R. Paul Battaglio Jr., Doug Goodman, L. Douglas Kiel
Clinical Professors: Donald R. Arbuckle, John R. McCaskill
Associate Professors: Young-joo Lee, Sarah Maxwell, Meghna Sabharwal
Assistant Professors: Evgenia Gorina, James R. Harrington
Senior Lecturers: Teodoro Benavides, Galia Cohen
I. Core Curriculum Requirements: 42 semester credit hours2
Communication: 6 semester credit hours
Choose two courses from the following:
COMM 1311 Survey of Oral and Technology-based Communication
RHET 1302 Rhetoric
ECS 3390 Professional and Technical Communication
Mathematics: 3 semester credit hours
Choose one course from the following:
MATH 1306 College Algebra for the Non-Scientist
MATH 1314 College Algebra
Life and Physical Sciences: 6 semester credit hours
Select any 6 semester credit hours from Life and Physical Sciences core courses (see advisor)
Language, Philosophy and Culture: 3 semester credit hours
Choose one course from the following:
HUMA 1301 Exploration of the Humanities
LIT 2331 Masterpieces of World Literature
PHIL 1301 Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 2316 History of Philosophy I
PHIL 2317 History of Philosophy II
Creative Arts: 3 semester credit hours
Choose one course from the following:
AHST 1303 Survey of Western Art History: Ancient to Medieval
AHST 1304 Survey of Western Art History: Renaissance to Modern
ARTS 1301 Exploration of the Arts
American History: 6 semester credit hours
Choose two courses from the following:
HIST 1301 U.S. History Survey to Civil War
HIST 1302 U.S. History Survey from Civil War
HIST 2330 Themes and Ideas from American History
Government / Political Science: 6 semester credit hours
GOVT 2305 American National Government
GOVT 2306 State and Local Government
Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 semester credit hours
PA 2325 Introduction to Public Service3, 4
Component Area Option: 6 semester credit hours
EPPS 2301 Research Design in the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
And choose one course from the following:
EPPS 2302 Methods of Quantitative Analysis in the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
EPPS 2303 Descriptive and Inferential Statistics for the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
II. Major Requirements: 57 semester credit hours
Major Preparatory Courses: 3 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum
ECON 2301 Principles of Macroeconomics
or ECON 2302 Principles of Microeconomics
EPPS 2301 Research Design in the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
EPPS 2302 Methods of Quantitative Analysis in the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
or EPPS 2303 Descriptive and Inferential Statistics for the Social and Policy Sciences3, 4
PA 2325 Introduction to Public Service3, 4
Major Core Courses: 24 semester credit hours
PA 3306 Advanced Research and Writing for the Policy Sciences
PA 3310 Managing Government Organizations
PA 3333 Human Resources Management: Leading a Diverse Workforce
PA 3378 Public Finance and Economics
PA 3380 Organizations: Theory and Behavior
PA 4355 Managing Nonprofit Organizations
PA 4370 Leadership, Democracy, and Ethics
PA 4390 Capstone - Social Entrepreneurship: Leading Change
Major Related Courses: 30 semester credit hours
30 semester credit hours of Major and Related electives5
15 semester credit hours of which must come from the following:
PA 3314 Financial Management
PA 3379 Diversity in the Public
PA 3382 Sustainable Communities
PA 4345 Negotiations and Conflict Resolution
PA 4351 Managing the Urban Environment
PA 4352 Emerging Communications Stategies in Public Service Organizations
PA 4350 Public Agencies, Management, and Ethics
III. Elective Requirements: 21 semester credit hours
This requirement may be satisfied with lower- and upper-division courses from any field of study. Students must complete at least 51 semester credit hours of upper-division courses to qualify for graduation.
Minor in Public Affairs: 18 semester credit hours
Required Courses: 6 semester credit hours
PA 3310 or PSCI 3310 Managing Government Organizations
PA 3333 Human Resources Management: Leading a Diverse Workforce
Upper-Division Courses: 12 semester credit hours
Any upper-division course with a PA prefix with the exception of PA 4V97, PA 4V98, and PA 4V99.
1. Incoming freshmen must enroll and complete requirements of UNIV 1010 and the corresponding school-related freshman seminar course. Students, including transfer students, who complete their core curriculum at UT Dallas must take UNIV 2020.
2. Curriculum Requirements can be fulfilled by other approved courses from institutions of higher education. The courses listed are recommended as the most efficient way to satisfy both Core Curriculum and Major Requirements at UT Dallas.
3. A Major requirement that also fulfills a Core Curriculum requirement. Semester credit hours are counted in Core Curriculum.
4. Prerequisite course to upper-division PA courses.
5. Most students take upper-division PA courses. However, subject to advisor approval, courses from other disciplines may be used to satisfy this requirement.