Public Management Concentration

The Public Management concentration at Coastal Georgia focuses primarily on the management of public sector organizations such as local, state, and federal government agencies.
 

Why study Public Management at Coastal Georgia?

The goal of this concentration is to provide marketable competencies that can be directly applied in the workplace while instilling essential values to ensure that students thrive upon graduation in their new careers as public servants.

What will I learn?

Public Management students are provided opportunities to study and interact with public sector organizations in the community and beyond through applied

Coastal Georgia graduate's cap

research and service-learning. Internships provide a capstone experience during the senior year. Many of the public management courses are offered in an online or hybrid format to enhance the flexibility of this program.

Students entering the Public Management major generally have completed 60 hours of program curriculum in the general education core (Areas A-F). Requirements include the following course areas and outcomes:

  • A minimum of 60 credit hours in Area A-F
  • A grade of C or better in all Area F courses and MATH 1401/1401H
  • An institutional GPA of 2.0 or better
  • Have met all prerequisites for the courses in which they plan to enroll

Following successful completion of preliminary work, the student must complete 36 hours from a core set of classes that provide the essentials for public and nonprofit management. To further tailor the degree to their specific interest, in this case, the Public Management concentration, students then complete an additional 18 hours, and two additional guided electives for degree completion. The required Senior Seminar includes a 120-hour internship with a nonprofit organization.

What can I do when I graduate?

Recent program graduates are readily being hired into positions in the public and nonprofit sectors. Students in the Public Management concentration are prepared to enter the public sector in a variety of positions, including:

  • Government Manager
  • Government Relations Director
  • City Manager
  • Lawyer
  • Program Evaluator
  • Law enforcement leaders
  • Urban Planning and Development
  • Community Health Director
  • Parks and Recreation Director
  • Environmental Agency Manager
  • Economic Development Director
  • Public Relations Consultant
  • Human Resources Director
  • Higher Education Administration

  • Dr. Heather Farley

    Heather Farley, College of Coastal Georgia

    Chair, Department of Business and Public Administration
    Associate Professor of Public Management

    912-279-4569


    Education
    Ph.D. in Political Science with Distinction, Northern Arizona University
    M.A. in Political Science with Distinction, Concentration: Public Policy, Environmental Policy, Northern Arizona University
    Graduate Certificate in Public Management, Northern Arizona University
    B.S. in Biology, College of Charleston

    Teaching and Research Interests/Recent Publications or Scholarly Output
    Fields of Study: Public Policy (Primary), International Relations (Secondary), Environmental Policy/Politics (Cognate)
    Dissertation: “Interpreting Sustainability: An Analysis of Sustainable Development Narratives Among Developed Nations”
    Chair, Department of Criminal Justice, Public Policy, and Management
    Tenured Associate Professor of Public Management
    Former Director of the Honors Program at the College of Coastal Georgia
    Former Sustainability Coordinator/Director at Northern Arizona University and the Sea Island Company
    Associate of the Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies
    Certified in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)

    I teach courses in public administration, public and for-profit management, public and environmental policy, sustainability, environmental political theory. My research spans environment and sustainability topics but often relates to the topic of the integration of sustainability in policy.

    Recent Publications include:

    Trussell, M.R., & Farley, H. (2023). Economic impact of CarePortal donations in Glynn County, Georgia.
    Journal of Public Child Welfare, 18(5), 1074-1083.

    Farley, Heather M. and Zachary A. Smith (2020). Sustainability: If it’s Everything is it Nothing?
    Routledge. 2nd edition. In Progress.

    Rudd, M.A., Moore, A.F.P., Rochberg, D. et al. (2018). “Climate research priorities for policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists in Georgia, USA.” Environmental Management 62: 190.

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