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Bachelor of Arts, Minor in Public Administration

Regulations effective September 1, 2022.

The Public Administration minor is designed for students who are seeking managerial careers at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government, as well as within non-profit and quasi-governmental organizations. Students can select a mix of Arts and Applied Studies courses in such areas as governance, political science, public policy, economics, public finance, budgeting, legal studies, human resources management, industrial relations, communications, health administration, and indigenous studies.

The role of public servants is becoming increasingly complex as the global economy becomes more integrated and the capacity of nation-states to act decisively is constrained by a multitude of factors. Public Administration professionals must possess strategic, analytic, and creative thinking skills. This minor prepares students to assume public sector managerial roles in the knowledge-based society; it provides them with exposure to administrative concepts, tools and practice, yet keeps them firmly grounded in the liberal arts education program.


Public Administration Minor (optional) - 30 credits

Required courses

(24 credits)

GOVN 301 Governance, the Public Sector and Corporate Power (3)
GOVN 380/HSRV 363
or
GOVN/POLI 405
or
GOVN 450
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Governance
or
Innovative Public Management
or
Public Budgeting and Financial Management in a Globalized World
(3)
GOVN/LGST 377
or
GLST/GOVN/POLI 440
or
LGST 331*
or
INST 426*
Issues in Access to Information and Privacy Protection
or
Global Governance and Law
or
Administrative Law
or
Aboriginal Law and Government
(3)
A Policy course, such as:
GOVN 390/POLI 392
or
GOVN/POLI/GLST 403
Public Policy and Administrative Governance
or
Public Policy in a Global Area
(3)
A Statistics course, such as:
CMNS 308
or
SOCI 301
Understanding Statistical Evidence
or
Social Statistics
(3)
A Professional Ethics course, such as:
PHIL 333 Professional Ethics**
or
Other PHIL professional ethics course
(3)
Indigenous cultural competency course, such as:
INST 203
or
INST 205
or
POLI 311
or
ANTH 362
Indigenous Studies I
or

Indigenous Studies II
or
Aboriginal Politics and Governments
or
First Peoples of Canada
(3)
Women-focused of gender studies course, such as:
 
ANTH 375
or
HSRV 421
or
POLI 350
or
LGST 390
All WGST courses
or
The Anthropology of Gender
or
Advocacy from the Margins
or

Women in Canadian Politics
or
Women, Equality, and the Law *
(3)

Electives

(6 credits)

GOVN All GOVN courses that are not required courses  
GLST 205 Building Blocks of Global Studies: Overview of Approaches, Concepts, and Issues (3)
GLST/ENVS 243 Environmental Change in a Global Context (3)
ENVS 305 Environmental Impact Assessment (3)
ENVS 435 Transformative Change in Building Sustainable Communities (3)
ECON 247
or
ECON 248
Microeconomics
or
Macroeconomics
(3)
ADMN 232*
or
SOCI 300
or
ORGB 326*
or
ORGB 364*
Introduction to Management
or
How Humans Organize: From Primary Groups to the World Wide Web
or
Organizational Theory
or
Organizational Behavior
(3)
SOCI 381 The Rich and the Rest: The Sociology of Wealth, Power, and Inequality (3)
IDRL* All IDRL courses
HRMT* All HRMT courses
LBST All LBST courses
POEC All POEC courses
POLI All POLI courses

Notes:

All courses above are designated Social Science, unless otherwise indicated by asterisks.

*Applied Studies courses. Note that students are only allowed to take 18 credits of Applied Studies towards an Arts degree.

**Humanities.


Language proficiency

Students who wish to pursue employment in the federal civil service or foreign affairs are strongly encouraged to take French for their Option courses. Students interested in North American integration should take Spanish. Students interested in governance capacity building for First Nations communities should consider taking an Indigenous language course.

Information effective Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023.

Helpful links and resources:

  • Faculty website
  • Transfer credit services
  • Archived program regulations
  • Estimated program fees

Updated March 15, 2023 by Office of the Registrar (calendar@athabascau.ca)

https://www.athabascau.ca/calendar/ c3f13fe80a2a55f3406c7062a1615857