When a public administrator is hired, he/she is typically hired due to outstanding skills and experience along with other factors such as attitude, achievements and leadership style. In many instances public administrators hold a variety of skills that may be different from the private sector.

Assignment Guidelines

In this assignment you will locate a recent article or news release regarding the hiring of a public administrator at any local government organization. You will discover the real-life skills, experience and traits of public administrators at the local level.

Task: Please use at least one local online or print news source and /or a press release from the hiring government agency. In your own words write 3-4 pages in which you will:

    Identify the position that was filled;
    List the reason for the vacancy;
    Disclose the person that was selected/hired, including listing their professional background, education and previous employment;
    Discuss how the person was selected, for example was the hiring decision made with public input (a citizens panel, a Board, or committee) or was the decision made without public input?
    What are the professional or personal goals of the person who was hired?
    Next, briefly describe the position salary and benefits.
    Remember to support all of your arguments with scholarly resources.
    Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.

Assignment TIPS: Several new hire positions you might want to look for, a new City Manager, Fire or Police Chief, or new department head (Parks Dir. Library Dir. etc.) at a city. Or a new school principal, coordinator, or superintendent at a school district. A simple internet search for phrases such as list of new city managers, new police chief or Q&A with new city manager or similar search will yield good results.

Specific Assignment Resources:

Careers In Government, Executive Recruiters, A directory of executive search firms specializing in Public Administration positions, https://careersingovernment.com/tools/community/executive-recruiters-directory/

Bloomington Penagraph, A Q&A with Bloomington’s new city manager, 2018. https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/a-q-a-with-bloomington-s-new-city-manager/article_a20742df-41b1-5f8b-ae46-6f8b11b357fc.html

The process of creating an annual budget for any government organization can take a great deal of time and the process usually involves many groups, priorities and extraordinary planning.

Assignment Guidelines

In this assignment you will consider and discuss several duties and responsibilities of the public administrator within the budgeting process.

Task: In your own words, write 4-5 pages in which you will:

    Describe who is involved in the open budgeting process. Why are they important to the process?
    Explain the importance of planning in the budgeting process.
    List and explain one benefit and one disadvantage of economic upturns and downturns in the budget process.
    Illustrate how outsourcing, privatization and P3 agreements (Public, Private Partnerships) might help control costs when creating a government budget.

Assignment TIPS:

Try to use the information you have learned from throughout this course of Public Administration within your responses in order to demonstrate overall course-long learning.

Specific Assignment Resources:

National League of Cities, The Public Budget, https://www.nlc.org/public-budgets
   
ACG, The Construction Association, Public Private Partnership (P3) Basics, https://www.agc.org/public-private-partnership-p3-basics

Use the attached PDF as a reference and additional guidance for creating a written budget plan.

6. Performing the Analysis Conduct the analysis you have been planning. What can you project based on the method you have defined in your analysis plan? What does this mean for each of your criteria?
a. Fill in your analysis matrix to show what the available data and projections indicate in terms of each policy and the evaluative criteria.
7. Drawing Conclusions What can you conclude about each policy option from your analysis? What is the overall outcome?
a. Policy Alternative 1:
i. Conclusion about Criterion 1:
ii. Conclusion about Criterion 2:
iii. Conclusion about Criterion 3:
b. Policy Alternative 2:
i. Conclusion about Criterion 1:
ii. Conclusion about Criterion 2:
iii. Conclusion about Criterion 3:
c. Policy Alternative 3: Take no policy action.
i. Conclusion about Criterion 1:
ii. Conclusion about Criterion 2:
iii. Conclusion about Criterion 3:

8. Make Recommendations Given what you have learned in your analysis, what do you recommend as the best course of action? What should we do?
a. Given the conclusions you have made about each policy alternatives evaluation, can you recommend that policy?
i. Policy Alternative 1: Can you recommend it?
ii. Policy Alternative 2: Can you recommend it?
iii. Policy Alternative 3: Can you recommend it?
b. If you had to choose a best option, which would it be? Why?

4. Identify Policy Alternatives What are some potential options that could help solve the problem? These can be drawn from the literature, borrowed from other places, modifications of other policies, or your own creation. Choose two alternatives in addition to taking no action. Briefly describe how they work and why these are reasonable options to solve this problem.
a. Policy Alternative 1:
i. What is it, where did it come from, how does it work?
ii. Why is this being considered?
b. Policy Alternative 2:
i. What is it, where did it come from, how does it work?
ii. Why is this being considered?
c. Policy Alternative 3: Take no policy action.
i.    Describe what no policy change looks like.
ii.    ii. Why is this being considered?
5. Develop the Analysis Plan
a. How are you performing the analysis?
What exactly will you be looking at and what are you looking for?
b. What are the potential outcomes? That is, for each operationalized criterion, what would different results mean?
i. Criterion 1: How do you define positive, neutral and negative potential outcomes?
ii. Criterion 2: How do you define positive, neutral and negative potential outcomes?
iii. Criterion 3: How do you define positive, neutral and negative potential outcomes?
c. How will you make your projections of potential outcomes? What will you do to estimate the potential merits of each policy?
d. Set up a rough analysis matrix.

1. Define the Problem
a. What is the problem?
b. What are the impacts of the problem?
c. Who is impacted by the problem?
d. Why is this important?
e. What is causing the problem?
f. What current policies apply?
2. Establish a Policy Goal Youve identified the problem. What is the ideal state you are trying to achieve with this policy? What would be different in the world if successful?
a. What is the desired outcome?
b. Why is this the desired outcome?
3. Establish Evaluative Criteria Here you need to establish exactly how you will be assessing the options available to you. Choose three criteria and operationalize them that is, what does each mean in this case? Finally, what would be your source of data?
a. Criteria 1:
i. Operational Definition
ii. Data Source
b. Criteria 2:
i. Operational Definition
ii. Data Source
c. Criteria 3:
i. Operational Definition
ii. Data Source

In what circumstances would Quarantine against the spread of disease constitute breach of Human Rights?

What is the United Nations views and advice on this? Views of the International/European Court of Justice/Human Rights?

Summary of 8 to 10 most notable and representative cases of quarantine exercise (arising for the fear of the spread of disease) by governments in the world which were challenged in international courts or courts in those countries for breach of human rights.

Conclusion: where to draw the line between reasonable, necessary and legal quarantine And excessive, arbitrary or illegal restriction of human movement and hence breach of human right?