As an MSW@USC student, you have the opportunity to enroll in online graduate-level courses from schools affiliated with our technology partner 2U, Inc. Choose a program to see available courses.

The following courses are available from MPA@UNC, the online Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government:

Managing Economic Development
3 credits
Emphasizes the practical application and implementation of various approaches to economic development. Students will apply tools/strategies by doing case studies and small group projects based on real-world scenarios faced by local practitioners.

Technology and Community Engagement
3 credits
Technology and Community Engagement provides background, tools, and practice for using technology to achieve community engagement in a variety of public service settings.  This class is about understanding community engagement, about how to get people involved with, invested in, and informed about your organization, and learning how to identify, assess, and propose the tools that will help your organization use community engagement to further its mission.

Governmental and Not-For-Profit Accounting & Reporting
3 credits
Students in this course will learn the principles of accounting and financial reporting in governmental and nonprofit settings. They will hone skills for analyzing the financial condition, efficiency, and effectiveness of government agencies and programs.

Productivity Improvement in Local Government
3 credits
This course will review principal techniques used to improve productivity in local government and ways to overcome barriers to productivity improvement initiatives.

Navigating Nonprofit-Local Government Relationships in Organizations
3 credits
This course is designed for graduate students who are seeking professional positions in local government or nonprofits. The overall objectives are to exchange information about issues of mutual concern to both nonprofits and governments.

City and County Management
3 credits, Available September 2014
This class will examine the particular nature of city and county management, including expectations, staff, peers, and contemporary issues.

Federal Policies and Institutions
3 credits, Available September 2014
The motivations of public agency officials, interactions between bureaucracies and other political actors, and alternative strategies to control bureaucratic power and discretion in making, implementing, and evaluating public policies.

Grant Writing & Evaluation
3 credits, Available January 2015
Students will hone their grant writing skills as they critique grant proposals, draft their own grant proposal, and learn about the role of program evaluation in grant writing and grant reporting.

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Please note that MBA@UNC is currently piloting this new initiative and while the program is in this trial phase it is subject to cancellation or revision. MBA@UNC has the following restrictions on enrollment for visiting students:

The following courses are available from MBA@UNC, the online MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School:

Analytical Tools
4 credits, no prerequisite
Analytical Tools is a basic course in statistics, decision analysis, and simulation modeling. Course objectives are to learn the basic techniques of data analysis, sampling and estimation, hypothesis testing, multiple regression, decision analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation; to apply these techniques to practical managerial decision problems; to develop basic skills in the use of Excel; and to see how quantitative methods impact on the meaning of life. The course will be conducted using a combination of lecture and case discussion and will cover hypothesis testing, regression analysis, time series, risk and decision analysis.

Operations
4 credits, Prerequisite: Analytical Tools
Operations Management focuses on the activities necessary to utilize the resources of an organization to meet the needs of its customers. This class provides an understanding of the operations management function and its relationship to other functional areas within the firm. Operations Management provides tools, techniques, and strategies for making organizations work more effectively and efficiently, and for making you a better manager. The approach we will take in introducing the areas of Operations Management is twofold. First, we will cover some basic theory and frameworks in each area. Second, we will look at a variety of domestic and international cases that show applications (good and bad) of the theory. Course objectives are to provide an understanding of the operations management function and its relationship to other functional areas within the firm; to develop a framework whereby the strengths and weaknesses of a firm’s operations can be analyzed, and whereby the firm can develop viable alternatives in pursuing its goals and objectives; to examine the tradeoffs that managers face in emphasizing one goal (such as high capacity utilization) as compared to another goal (such as minimum throughput time); and to develop competence with specific tools and techniques used by practicing operations management personnel.

Financial Accounting
4 credits, no prerequisite
Financial accounting is a crucial business tool. Course objectives are to become informed users of financial statement information; to learn how to analyze financial statements, footnotes, and other corporate disclosures, including interpreting articles from the Wall Street Journal and other business publications; to develop the skills to understand analyst reports; and to ensure that you are comfortable with the mechanics of financial accounting.

Marketing Strategy, Analysis, and Development
4 credits, no prerequisite
The role of marketing management in organizations is to identify and measure the needs and wants of consumers; to determine which targets the business can serve; to decide on the appropriate offerings to serve these markets; and to determine the optimal methods of pricing, promoting, and distributing the firm’s offerings. Successful organizations are those that integrate the objectives and resources of the organization with the needs and opportunities of the marketplace. Our goal in this course is to facilitate your achieving these goals regardless of your career path. Course objectives are to critically analyze the task of marketing; to examine the major functions that comprise the marketing task in organizations; to develop an ability to apply marketing concepts to real-life marketing situations; and to develop a deep understanding of the applicability of the marketing concepts within the context of any specific business problem.

Introductory Finance
4 credits, Prerequisites: Analytical Tools, Financial Accounting, Economics
Financial markets are places where suppliers of capital (‘investors’) and consumers of capital (‘firms’) meet and trade. The first part of this course examines the techniques that both investors and firms use to deal with cash flows that occur at different points in time; we look at valuation problems across several types of capital markets.

The second part of this course introduces the concepts of risk and uncertainty, which are central to an understanding of finance. We introduce a measure of risk and develop a model of how this risk measure corresponds to a level of expected return on an asset or project. We integrate this model of risk and return with the valuation of cash flows through time, and consider the evidence on how prices in financial markets are related to value. Finally, we introduce options, discuss how they are valued, and consider applications of option valuation. Course objectives are to provide students with a good grounding in basic concepts of finance; to establish a “finance mindset” that views finance as applied microeconomics in a business context, with value creation as a central concept; to develop skills in financial analysis, planning and decision-making; and to develop an appreciation for decision-making in a complex world.

Economics
4 credits, Prerequisite: Analytical Tools
This course explores basic economic principles (theories and applications) that are relevant to the business core in the MBA program. This course is about learning to think like an economist and amassing the tools necessary to do so, including the study of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Course objectives are to learn the determinants of market demand and supply, and how economists model markets; to examine prediction markets and production and cost analysis; to learn how firms manage in competitive and monopolistic environments; to study strategic firm behavior, including basic game theory, entry and deterrence, collusion and cooperation, and bargaining; to develop an understanding of information, auctions, and incentives; to analyze gross domestic product and its components as well as monetary policy and the supply and demand for money; and to provide a strong foundation for understanding the business cycle.

Business Strategy
2 credits, Prerequisites: All other MBA@UNC core courses
The purpose of this course is to increase your ability to analyze the strategy of corporations. By strategy, we mean the distinctive approach that the executives within a corporation employ to win in their markets and against their competitors. We will discuss fundamental strategy theories and illustrate their use within a diverse set of corporations. Specifically, we will consider industry structure and generic strategies, the resource-based view of the corporation, and opportunity-driven strategies based on complexity theory. The ultimate intent of the course is to help you to work more effectively in your professional careers. Course objectives are to introduce the basic concepts of strategic management; to integrate functional knowledge, behavioral concepts, and analytical tools learned separately in more specialized courses; to examine the process through which competitive strategies are formulated and implemented within organizations to gain competitive advantages and to achieve their objectives; and to enhance individual and team analytical, communication and decision-making skills in addressing integrative, strategic issues.

Developing Management and Leadership Skills
4 credits, no prerequisites
This course will cover and apply a variety of core concepts and theories from sociology, psychology and organizational science, which form the knowledge base for leadership and management skills. The focus of the course is on surveying key core skills and setting students up for continuous learning of these skills. Accordingly, students will be provided with in-depth materials for every topic through soft copies of recent significant articles on the topic, self-evaluation instruments, and specific suggestions for further learning and development of skills through activities available throughout the program. Course objectives are to improve your leadership and management skills, particularly those skills that will make you better able to cope with today’s increasingly dynamic and complex business environment; to provide awareness of your strengths as a leader and a manager, and of areas where you need additional development; to build a professional development plan, a critical step in improving your ability to manage and lead yourself and others; and to enable study groups to apply course concepts to your own development through the program.

Business Communication
4 credits, no prerequisites
This course introduces you to best practices in business writing and business speaking that are exceedingly important to advancing your career. Course objectives are to organize and write informative, negative, and persuasive business messages; to design documents with a high “skim value;” to construct effective paragraphs and sentences that show rhetorical relationships; to apply style techniques that result in efficient prose; to punctuate for clarity; to structure presentations efficiently and effectively; to incorporate stories, visuals, logic, and emotion into business presentations; to integrate slides, handouts, notes, and questions; and to deliver information with a natural confidence.

Modeling
2 credits, Prerequisites: Graduate level statistics course, experience with Excel (particularly, Solver and Regression) and interest in optimization and discrete simulation
The purpose of this course is to provide exposure to a number of different modeling techniques that are used in Operations Management, developing your skill both in building models and interpreting the output of these decision tools. Although the emphasis of this course is on operations, the tools that we will discuss have practical applications in a wide variety of functional areas, including marketing, finance and human resource management. The objective is not to create expert mathematicians; we will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of these techniques only as needed. Rather, the emphasis is on assessing the applicability of these tools in practical situations.

Project Management
2 credits, Prerequisite: Project Management Experience
Most MBA graduates will spend a significant portion of their career taking part in and leading projects. The use of projects in organizations is only increasing. In many areas, ranging from consulting and investment banking to product development and service delivery, organizations deliver their primary output through projects. In other organizations projects are used to implement strategic decisions. Also, projects provide an opportunity for high-potential individuals to hone and prove their capability prior to taking on the responsibility of managing a larger business. While every project has its unique components, in many ways projects in organizations are quite similar. It is these commonalities that permit us to explore project management generally. In this course we will examine a range of contexts – e.g., outsourcing, product development, geographic expansion, construction, merger integration – to help students become familiar with the tools and concepts of project management. The objective of this course is to prepare students so that they have the ability to effectively take part in and lead projects. The goal is to equip individuals across any career concentration, rather than extend the expertise of project-management specialists. Therefore, this class will be highly interactive consisting of active case discussions each day that will be supplemented with short lectures when appropriate. We will cover both quantitative and qualitative aspects of project management.

Global Supply Chain
4 credits, Prerequisites: Statistics, MBA703, MBA775
Increases in product variety and customization in the past few years have posed challenges to firms in terms of delivering products to customers faster and more efficiently. With the prevalence of the usage of the Internet for business, electronic business transformations are occurring in every business. One of the fundamental enablers for electronic commerce is effective supply chain management. Thus, supply chain management has become the focus of attention of senior management in the industry today. This course considers management of a supply chain in a global environment from a managerial perspective. The focus is on analysis, management and improvement of supply chain processes and their adaptation to the electronic business environment. The course is divided into six related modules, namely, Inventory and Information Management, Distribution and Transportation, Global Operations, Supplier Management, Management of Product Variety and Electronic Supply Chains. Several new concepts including Prognostic Supply Chains, Build-to-Order, Collaborative Forecasting, Delayed Differentiation, Cross Docking, Global Outsourcing and Efficient Consumer Response will be discussed. The course will focus on traditional supply chain concepts and also introduce students to changes in supply chain management practices due to emergence of the Internet. Analytical and simulation approaches utilized in industry will also be introduced. At the end of the course, a student will have the necessary tools and metrics to evaluate a current supply chain and recommend design changes to supply chain processes.

Management
2 credits, no prerequisites
Perhaps the most difficult task for organizations is to discover market opportunities that are “undiscoverable” for other firms in the industry. For example, the launch of iPod and iMac by Apple is a leap in innovation that may not be achievable by firms that narrowly define the competitive space to that of simple “personal computing”. As evidenced in many industries, technology, innovation, and competitive advantage are a powerful trio. Yet, it is sometimes difficult to bring discipline to the process of innovation, R&D spending, and technology investment. Clearly, business leaders must be prepared to assess coming waves of technology, their impact on business process, and their impact on relationships with suppliers, customers, and competitors. This course provides a strategic perspective of technology/innovation management and its impact on the competitive positioning of the firm. We will examine tools and techniques that help leaders understand emerging trends and the opportunities/threats they may present to prevailing business models. We will also examine how organizations design and implement creative responses to the marketplace. You will use these techniques and become an active participant in the innovation process. No matter how creative or (non-creative) you may consider yourself, the techniques of this course will help you become a more effective manager of business innovation.”

Managing Innovation
4 credits, no prerequisites
This course is intended to introduce you to management models and make you think deeply about how to manage innovations in the 21st century organizations, especially in an economically challenging environment. The objective is to examine how the most innovative organizations around the globe excel at exploring, executing, and exploiting innovations with an eye towards superior performance. The major topics in the course include: cultivating a culture for innovation, instilling appropriate structures to foster innovation, leveraging creative human capital, and designing “open” innovation processes. We will look at innovation from both intra- as well as extra-organizational perspective. The aim is to help you as managers lead your organizations and people within to continuously develop and commercialize innovations. The course is pertinent for general managers, consultants, marketing managers as well as operations managers.

Strategy (FKA Managerial Accounting)
4 credits, no prerequisites
Managerial accounting provides information for decision making, product–costing, and planning-control-evaluation activities. This course takes the perspective of both the user and the preparer of accounting information. The emphasis is on the fundamental concepts and the strategic importance of accounting data to managerial activity with special consideration given to the underlying accounting procedures and the underlying accounting processes. During this course, you should specifically: develop an appreciation for the role of accounting data in decision making, product-costing, and planning-control- evaluation activities; embrace an understanding of the data accumulation process in order to facilitate effective communication between managers and accountants; master specific techniques for using a myriad of accounting information in multiple situations; and internalize contemporary concerns with respect to U.S. productivity and the world economy along with implications for information systems.

Taxes and Business Strategy
4 credits, Prerequisite: Financial Accounting
Most people have the feeling that they would have an edge if they knew more about taxes, and they are right. Part of being financially savvy is having an understanding of how taxation affects business decisions. When we examine real transactions and real companies in this class, you will see huge differences in taxes (and after-tax profits) depending on how things are structured. Most people also feel that taxes are incredibly complicated, and they are also right. That is one reason why tax knowledge gives you an edge, because most people are so afraid or baffled by taxes that they don’t know where to begin. Our job is to make it more understandable, to help you see through the thicket of details to the essentials, and give you an understanding of the fundamental principles of taxation and tax planning – those principles that apply today, tomorrow, and no matter what country you are dealing with. This course will give you a fundamental understanding of tax planning over the life cycle of a firm: starting with deciding which organizational form to use, forming a company and raising capital, operating a company, compensating employees, making distributions to owners, engaging in mergers and acquisitions, expanding across states and countries, and finally liquidating a company or bequeathing it to one’s heirs. We will make extensive use of real transactions to illustrate the impact of tax planning on earnings and cash flow.

Financial Statement Analysis
4 credits, Prerequisites: Statistics, Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance (MBA 777)
Financial Statement Analysis is an applied perspective on analyzing financial statements. There are three main skills students will learn upon completion of this course: 1. Earnings management – how and why managers can move earnings up and down using accounting tricks, and how to detect and adjust for this. 2. Profitability analysis – how to decompose a firm’s overall profitability into its key elements in order to tell whether the firm is really making money or losing money, where this is happening, and why it is happening. 3. Statement analysis – how to pull apart a firm’s financial statements and footnotes so that its major business activities and results are clearly visible. Financial Statement Analysis is designed to be particularly useful for finance-oriented students looking at consulting, corporate finance, entrepreneurship, general management, and investment and marketing careers.

Global Marketing
4 credits, Prerequisite: Introductory Marketing (MBA 740)
This course examines specific issues involved in developing and executing marketing strategies on a global scale as opposed to a domestic scale. The course is intended to provide a thorough understanding of global marketing strategies, including: (1) fundamental trends underlying convergence of world markets; (2) pitfalls and challenges of entering other countries; (3) ways to design global marketing strategies; (4) the impact of organization structure, management processes, culture, and people on global marketing strategy implementation; and (5) the important and unique role emerging markets play in global marketing strategies. The course will help you achieve your career goals as you work – as virtually all of you will – in or with companies that are active in the international marketplace as well as domestic companies who face active international competitors.

Services Marketing
2 credits, Prerequisite: Introductory Marketing (MBA 740)
Services can be defined as deeds, processes, and performances provided by firms and individuals to create customer experiences. Services dominate the U.S. economy: with only 13% of the GDP in manufacturing and 6% in agriculture, services are critical to your future, to the United States’ future, and to the success of world economies. Many of the most critical U.S. initiatives—overhauling the healthcare system, saving financial organizations, harnessing the speed of technology, and growing firms that depend on manufacturing—involve services. For this reason, services marketing is studied as a sub-discipline of marketing.

Corporate Finance
4 credits, Prerequisite: Financial Accounting, Intro to Finance (MBA 770)
Corporate Finance is a more advanced course in corporate finance theory and policy. The aim of the course is to rigorously analyze the major issues affecting the financial policy of a modern corporation, such as the choice of its capital structure, dividend policy, share issuance and repurchase and corporate governance system. We will critically discuss costs and benefits of the strategies available to a firm’s top management to address these issues effectively. The course will also examine private equity and venture capital, and the process of raising capital through IPOs and SEOs. The course will conclude with a discussion of the role of corporate financial risk management. Classroom presentation will be mainly theoretical, but will illustrate the main concepts with examples drawn from the real world. Exposition will be analytical, and a working knowledge of basic mathematics and statistics is assumed.

Derivatives
2 credits, Prerequisites: Intro to Finance (MBA 770) or experience in area & faculty approval
The course provides an introduction to the primary instruments of the derivative securities market. Emphasis will be placed on real-world applications of theoretical (or conceptual) material discussed in class. After developing the ideas of static and dynamic arbitrage, the course applies the basic concepts to different business settings, from capital budgeting to risk management. The course is particularly important for anyone going into finance, but stress will be given to topics that are of relevance for general managers. Topics covered include no-arbitrage-based pricing; binomial option pricing; the Black-Scholes model; practical issues with Black-Scholes model; the pricing of futures and forwards; hedging with derivatives; portfolio insurance; equity and debt as options; real options.

Fixed Income
2 credits, Prerequisites: Intro to Finance (MBA 770) experience in area & faculty approval
The objectives of this course are to describe important fixed income securities and markets and develop tools for valuing fixed income securities and managing interest rate risk. The course will cover traditional bonds, the term structure concepts, as well as more recently developed fixed income derivatives. The course is rigorous and quantitative. Students are expected to understand and apply quantitative methods. Examples illustrate important real-world applications of the theory.

Corporate Strategy
2 credits, no prerequisite
This course covers the fundamentals of corporate-level strategy as opposed to business-level strategy. “Business-level” (business) strategy deals with achieving and sustaining a competitive advantage in a discrete and identifiable business. “Corporate-level” (corporate) strategy deals with the way a company creates value through the selection of a portfolio of businesses and the configuration and coordination of these businesses. The primary way in which corporate strategy ultimately creates value is through increasing the ability of businesses in the portfolio to create and sustain a competitive advantage. For example, sharing manufacturing activities may reduce costs. Alternatively, sharing a strong brand may increase differentiation while reducing overall marketing costs. Hence there is a very close relationship between business and corporate strategy. The major topics we will cover are diversification (related and unrelated), vertical integration, restructuring, synergy, alliance strategy, and global strategy. We will be introducing a variety of tools to help us analyze these topics. The primary objective of the course is to introduce you to the primary decisions, tools, and concepts of corporate strategy. By the end of the course you should be able to understand how multi-business firms can create and destroy value; be able to engage in a thoughtful discussion of corporate strategy with senior executives; be able to identify opportunities to improve corporate strategy; understand and be able to analyze the major benefits and risks of various diversification strategies; understand the economic and organizational realities behind the term “synergy” and be able to identify and analyze synergy opportunities; understand the role alliances play in corporate strategy and be able to analyze the major tradeoffs between alliances and acquisitions; understand the role a particular business plays in a corporate strategy; and understand the nature and strategic implications of both regional/global rationalization and local responsiveness in global strategy.

Sustainable Enterprise
2 credits, no prerequisite
This course examines the origins, evolution, and current schools of thought around sustainable business practices. Study and discussion of sustainability as a theory of industrial development and accompanying models of commerce provides a context for understanding current models of business and its effects on other systems. The course also focuses on strategy, leadership, and innovation as applied to the Sustainable Enterprise. Through example as well as application of management theory, we will examine how today’s leaders are creating programs of transformation for competition in the “next” generation of industry and commerce.

Negotiations
2 credits, no prerequisite
Negotiations offers a basic introduction to negotiation with a heavy emphasis on the development of practical skills. Among other things, this course seeks to develop student capabilities in (a) analyzing your negotiation style, (b) planning for negotiations, (c) dealing with strong emotions, (e) employing “principled” negotiation techniques, and (f) assessing negotiations.

Leading from the Middle
4 credits, no prerequisite
MBA programs spend a great deal of time talking about and learning how senior leaders in the organization make decisions (both financial and strategic). This is a great and needed focus. But, rarely does one start out at the top. In fact, most MBA students will graduate and be placed right in the middle of the organization (either as an individual contributor or as a manager of others). The ability to effectively understand larger organizational dynamics and “get things done” in the middle – managing and aligning multiple stakeholders to make good decisions and implement these decisions without drama – is key to rising to the top. In other words, leading from (in) the middle is about “getting things done” (i.e., implementing decisions and initiatives) within the broader organizational context. In order to do this, it is critical to understand how organizations do “their work” so that you know how to effectively engage various systems and people to accomplish “your work.” This course is about how things get done within organizations and how you can improve your ability to get things done as a middle manager. Broadly defined, organizations do “their work” using a combination of formal and informal processes or systems: •The formal organizational structure which divides the work into jobs, teams, departments, units; attaches metrics/incentives of success to the different component tasks; manages the interface and coordination of these components; puts in place supporting systems such as information technology, etc. •The informal system of comprised of a common vision, organizational culture (and subcultures) and the use of informal influence and power where individuals use their knowledge of the formal structure and culture to build networks, coalitions, allies and so forth to successfully implement decisions and strategic initiatives. This course is designed to help you understand the broader organizational context in which you are operating and the influence of this context on decision making, networks, and power and influence. The course is designed to have a mix of teaching methodologies including behavioral simulations/exercises, computer based simulations, cases, (some) lecture, and an ongoing integration of your experiences into the classroom.

Consulting
2 credits, Prerequisites: Corporate Finance (MBA 777), Marketing (MBA 740), Operations (MBA703), or experience in all three areas & faculty approval
Consulting Skills and Frameworks is a course designed to provide MBA students with immediately usable tools for any team problem solving situation. The core consulting skill training will focus on the all-important “TAP” skills (teamwork, analysis, and presentations) and will introduce the TEAM FOCUS framework which covers the following aspects of team problem solving – Talk, Evaluate, Assist, Motivate, Frame, Organize, Collect, Understand and Synthesize. We will also cover a few of the most critical high level functional frameworks used by top consulting firms today. The course is geared toward any students considering a career in consulting (or other team oriented career track).

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies
2 credits, no prerequisite
In this course, we explore how innovation and entrepreneurship (e.g. opportunity identification, evaluation, and exploitation) create individual and social wealth in developing country settings—while often simultaneously addressing major social problems. This course is about identifying opportunities and constraints that typify this context so that you can enter or return to a developing country to establish a venture—or lead and fund people who do so. It is also about using the power of business to fight poverty and other social problems. While many themes will surface, my objective is to help you learn more about business model variations and unique partnerships and how both play a critical role in venture success. Secondarily, we will discuss funding mechanisms. In an effort to innovate how we teach and present this course, we have filmed two cases and several guest speakers on location in Ethiopia. However, the topics in this course and the lessons from it absolutely relate to locations worldwide. We will work together to understand the similarities and differences between Ethiopia and other developing countries in Asia, Latin America, South America, Africa and elsewhere.

Introduction to Entrepreneurship
2 credits, no prerequisite
Courses in entrepreneurship have gained popularity in business schools everywhere, but it is not clear just what should be taught and how. In contrast to accounting, for example, entrepreneurship lacks a defined technical base or discipline. Moreover, individuals and organizations ranging from street vendors to transnational corporations all espouse entrepreneurial activity, which suggests that the topic should permeate all of business education. What can the focus of a special course in entrepreneurship possibly be? The mission adopted for the course is to prepare MBA students to start and nurture their own businesses. The mission is based on the premise that student interests lie mainly in starting and building ventures in which they have a significant equity stake. Business schools admit students with great talent and high long- term expectations of responsibility, autonomy, and financial reward. Historically, some MBA students have had an innate desire to run their own businesses, but even those who didn’t often turned to entrepreneurship after they confronted the realities of a pyramidal corporate world. Of the many that started in large corporations, only a few could rise to the top. The rest were subject to implicit or explicit up-or-out policies or shunted to positions that could not satisfy their natural ambition and drive. Today, many MBAs are skeptical of long-term careers in large corporations. They belong to a culture that celebrates entrepreneurial individuals. They are also older and more cognizant of the realities of corporate ladders, and they may have directly witnessed the effects of downsizing. Therefore, although only a handful of MBA students start businesses right out of school, a large proportion expects to do so some years later. The course seeks to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will support and enhance their entrepreneurial activity.

Real Estate
2 credits, Prerequisites: Corporate Finance (MBA 777) & Modeling (MBA705)
The Real Estate Process introduces students to the basic concepts of real estate. This course provides a background on the concepts of urban and spatial economics, analysis of markets, valuation, law, development, capital markets and investment analysis. It also familiarizes students with the vocabulary of real estate and exposes them to real-world decision making processes through a series of case studies. This course is designed to introduce students with an interest in real estate to the real estate asset class, as well as some important aspects of real estate analysis. In addition, the course is designed to incorporate current topics that are relevant to real estate decision makers in all aspects of the industry. During the course, we’ll look at decisions commonly made by developers, lenders, investors and other market participants. As such, the course is a survey course that covers a broad range of real estate topics.

New Ventures Discovery
2 credits, Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic financial accounting and basic marketing
The goal of this course is to introduce the important tools and skills necessary to create and grow a successful new venture. The course is designed to simulate the real life activities of entrepreneurs in the start-up stage of a new venture. Students will develop an understanding of the elements required to start a new business and hear from successful entrepreneurs about their journey and then evaluate real business plans for entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey.

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The following courses are available from MPH@GW, the online Master of Public Health from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University:

Biological Concepts for Public Health
2 credits
The goals of this course are (1) to provide an overview of current knowledge about the biologic mechanisms of diseases that are major causes of death and disability in both developed and developing countries; (2) to understand and interpret the reciprocal relationships of genetic, environmental, and behavioral determinants of health and disease within an ecologic context; and (3) to provide opportunities to analyze, discuss, and communicate biologic principles of disease across the biologic and public health spectrum.

Environmental & Occupational Health in a Sustainable World
2 credits
This introductory course examines the connection between population health and exposures to chemical, physical, and biological agents in the environment. Through the use of problem-solving frameworks, students will become familiar with key data and information sources, methodologies, and policy approaches that address the public health impacts of environmental and occupational health hazards, including the consequences of climate change, demands on natural resources, and industrial and agricultural production. The course will integrate key concepts of environmental health with principles of sustainability to illustrate how public policies and practices on the local, national, and global levels affect population health.

Social and Behavioral Approaches to Public Health
2 credits
This course is part of the MPH core curriculum. It examines the complex relationships between social context, behavior, and health at both the individual and community level. It identifies key social and behavioral aspects of health in the United States and throughout the world and presents theories that facilitate interventions aimed at improving health and well-being.

Principles and Practice of Epidemiology
3 credits
This 3-credit course will introduce the general principles, methods, and applications of epidemiology, the basic science of public health. We will be using a textbook that places an emphasis on current methodologic concepts in epidemiology and will also introduce students to newer conceptual models of disease causation. The course is designed for all public health students who will be consumers of epidemiologic literature and for those who will be practicing epidemiologists. Topics covered in the course include; approach and evolution of epidemiology, history of epidemiology, outbreak investigation, measures and comparisons of disease occurrence in populations, major sources of health data in the US and globally, analysis and interpretation of disease patterns, hypothesis development and testing, study design, including a discuss of all of the major epidemiologic designs, analysis of bias and confounding and methods for assessing and for controlling for its effects, concepts of disease causation, screening, public health surveillance, and critical evaluation and synthesis of research. Lectures and case studies include applications of the theory and practice of epidemiology to cancer, other chronic disease, and infectious diseases.

Policy and Management Approaches to Public Health
3 credits
This course provides an introduction to basic principles, concepts and skills related to public health management and policy. The course focuses on management and policy approaches to public health at three different levels: the system, the organization, and the group/individual level. A third of the course will concentrate on the larger, system issues surrounding the organization, financing, and delivery of health services in the United States along with policy typologies/frameworks and the legal basis for health policy interventions. A third of the course will also examine policy and management at the organization level. During this segment, we will explore organization theory and design, organization change, financial management, and crafting a policy analysis for an organizational decision-maker. The last third of the course will be dedicated to the group and individual. Here, we will explore personnel management, teams and team performance, and communication. Throughout the course, the interrelated nature of management and policy will be reinforced.

Biostatistical Applications for Public Health
3 credits
Application of biostatistical principles to critical analysis of retrospective studies, prospective studies and controlled clinical trials, as well as studies in the health services literature. Selection, basic calculations and interpretation of statistical methods for detection of significant associations and differences.

Planning and Administration of Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Programs
3 credits
In this course students will develop skills to effectively plan, implement and manage programs that address public health problems for defined populations in a variety of settings. 

Comparative Global Health Systems
2 credits
Examines what national health systems are, how they differ, and how they are performing. Health systems will be analyzed through four different lenses: Health Care Organization; Health Workforce Development; Health Care Financing and Health Policy Development. The course compares health systems and health reforms in seven regions of the world and draws lessons on how health system performance might be improved. 

Global Health Program Evaluation
2 credits
Students will gain skills in the fundamentals of program evaluation and monitoring methods. Students will also understand the evaluation aspects of major international health programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the President’s Malaria Initiative. Country-specific case studies will be used as synthesizing tools to review major concepts and assess student knowledge of key concepts.

Introduction to Public Health Communication and Marketing
3 credits
Communication theories and methods used in promoting health and preventing disease. Theoretical background in communication and behavior science and practical communication development methods. 

Introduction to U.S. Health Care System
2 credits
Introduction to the systems that define and shape delivery of health services in the United States. Case studies and presentations on major issues develop an appreciation of dilemmas confronting policymakers, providers and patients: balancing cost, quality and access. Access and disparity, health care professions, facilities, managed care organizations and government health care programs. Policy changes that have had major impact on American health care in the past century.

Qualitative Research Methods
2 credits, Available June 2014
The course examines the fundamental concepts of empirical analysis and qualitative analysis. Topics covered include open and axial coding, the basis of “Grounded Theory,” and regression analysis.

Qualitative Methods in Health Promotion
2 credits, Available June 2014
Application of qualitative methods in the development of health promotion interventions, evaluations, and research. Collecting and analyzing qualitative data through participant observation, interviewing, group methods, and case studies.

Global Health Program Development & Implementation
2 credits, Available June 2014
Basic concepts and principles of program development and implementation including data collection methods, decision making, and problem-solving techniques. Application of program development techniques to specific interventions.

Community Organization, Development and Advocacy
3 credits, Available September 2014
Educates health promotion practitioners in how to organize community groups to promote health. The focus is on learning how to use resources available in the community to advocate change.

Public Health and Law
3 credits, Available September 2014
Examines how law can both promote and impede the public’s health. Introduces students to the legal concepts that underlie the public health system and that inform public health policymaking in the United States. Topics to be covered include the role of law in public health care and policy (e.g., governmental powers vs. civil liberties, regulation of public health, tobacco regulation), managed care and public health, the role of public health officials in shaping law and policy, and public health law reform.

Global Health Communication Interventions
2 credits, Available September 2014
Examines social marketing theory with specific emphasis on public health, including social marketing campaign design, best practices for implementation, and evaluation methodology. It will cover applied techniques for domestic and international markets. It is an introduction to the importance of public/private partnerships in development and to stakeholders in social marketing organizations.

Advanced Public Health Communications
3 credits, Available September 2014
Focuses on the use of communication to positively influence people’s – and population’s – understanding of health information, decision-making, and health behavior. In this skills-based course, students will study, and in a group project apply, a range of theories and techniques germane to effective message design and delivery.

Global Health Data Collection
2 credits, Available January 2015
Provides further depth to understand data collection in a global health setting. Methodologies include survey design, interviewing, and participant observation. Archival research and clinical trial research will also be discussed.

Media Advocacy for Public Health
3 credits, Available January 2015
Focuses on the use of communication to positively influence public policy and public opinion. In this skills-based course, students will study and apply a range of theories and techniques germane to the policy advocacy process.

Design and Conduct of Community Health Surveys
2 credits, Available January 2015
This course teaches students how to frame questions in health promotion surveys using sound principles of questionnaire design with emphasis on reliability and validity. Students learn survey design principles and methods and how to analyze survey data.

Social Marketing
2 credits, Available March 2015
Focuses on the use of marketing to change the behavior of people, populations, and policy makers in ways that are in their, and society’s, best interest. Students in this skills-based course will study and work in teams to apply a range of marketing strategies to a real-world situation.

Marketing Research for Public Health
3 credits, Available March 2015
Focuses on the use of marketing research techniques to better understand customers of public health programs and thereby improve program design, implementation, and effectiveness. A range of qualitative and quantitative techniques will be studied for their relevance to program planning, development, and continuous improvement. 

Global Health Policy & Analysis
2 credits, Available March 2015
Introduces policy and analytical issues that have implications for the health of populations worldwide, as well as various concepts, paradigms, practices and programs that have global health policy implications. Major areas of focus will include the role of regional and international health organizations in developing and implementing global health policies and conducting policy analyses, and the critical role of rich and poor nations in global health policy and analysis. 

Primary Health Care Policy
2 credits, Available March 2015
Explores the politics and policy of the provision of primary health care in the U.S. Covers the rise of the field of primary care and how it is supported and financed, and the role of insurers and government in regulation and oversight in the areas of access, cost, and quality.

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The following courses are available from International Relations Online, the online Master of Arts in International Relations from the American University School of International Service:

International Studies: History, Theory, and Practice
3 credits
As befits the complexity of the realm it investigates, international studies is a multifaceted, interdisciplinary field, characterized more by recurrent debates and disagreements than by broadly consensual knowledge. This course begins by introducing three key controversies in the field—whether international politics is inevitably the domain of coercive force, whether actors on the international stage act based on interests or on ideas, and whether the international environment is relatively immutable or is amenable to more or less deliberate efforts to change it—and then exploring how those controversies inform a variety of historical cases and contemporary issues. The focus throughout the course is on making explicit the principles and perspectives underlying different and divergent views of international relations, including the principles and perspectives brought to the course by the students themselves.

Intercultural Communication
3 credits
This interdisciplinary course examines the interaction of people across cultures and considers such topics as cross-cultural communication, management and adaptation, intercultural negotiation, and how culture impacts conflict between individuals, cultures, and nations. The primary goal is to provide students with concepts, knowledge, and skills that will allow them to analyze and interpret the dynamics of any cross-cultural interaction or conflict. 

Global Governance
3 credits
For centuries, mankind has struggled to find ways to organize international life and restrain the chaos and conflict that have so often plagued it. The increasing destructiveness of warfare and the accelerating pace of economic globalization have made that quest more urgent. But the search for structures to govern the world has always encountered forces that push in the other direction. The desire for uninhibited national sovereignty has been a consistent check on movements for global governance. As daunting have been simple coordination problems. What mission should international organizations have? Who should control them and to whom are they responsible? How should they be funded?

Today there exists a group of powerful but incomplete and often flawed institutions, including the World Bank, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the International Criminal Court, the European Union, the African Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Other less formal global governance initiatives have also emerged as important factors. Understanding the complex interactions between these initiatives and national governments and individuals is essential to understanding contemporary world politics.

Quantitative Methods for International Relations
3 credits
This course provides students with an introduction to research design and research methods, with a particular focus on quantitative measurement, statistical analysis, and computer use for international relations research. More specifically, this course aims to teach students how to design and execute independent, original, and quantitatively oriented research on topics relevant to the study and practice of international relations.

International Economics
3 credits
How do countries exchange wealth in a world with hundreds of currencies? How do we know whether one country is richer or poorer than another? Why do countries trade? What are the effects of trade? This course provides students with the tools and insights that economists have developed over the years to answer these and many other questions about trade and monetary relations among open economies. It also explores the range of policy choices and the impact of those choices on people, countries, and the global economy.

Strategy and Forecasting
3 credits
Strategy and Forecasting is a multidisciplinary method of problem solving. This course teaches students the theoretical and practical foundations of this craft through exploring its application to national security and strategy. The course seeks to provide students with the tools they need to deconstruct and analyze security problems and apply what they have learned over the course of their studies and professional careers to construct an array of potential solutions. To this end, the course problematizes rationality, bureaucratic interests, and other sources of bias in the decision making process in order to help students evaluate alternative policy options.

Program Design, Monitoring and Evaluation
3 credits
This course is designed to build and/or strengthen an individual’s knowledge, methods, and skills to (1) situate evaluations within project cycles; (2) identify organizational and project “hot spots” for decreased efficiency and effectiveness; (3) design, implement, and analyze comprehensive program and project evaluations for domestic and international NGOs, either as internal or external evaluators; and (4) train others, including nonprofessional indigenous populations, in evaluation methods, tools, and implementation processes.

Politics of Global Development
3 credits
Politics of Global Development offers examination into the field of international development. The course focuses on the history, theory, and current approaches toward alleviating poverty and global inequality, and focuses especially on the impacts of development strategies on the environment and on the most vulnerable members of society. This course emphasizes critical analysis of the central assumptions and power relations that have influenced the field, and resulting discourses, policies, programs, and political arrangements. In the course, we explore what development means, how to measure it, and how to understand attempts to balance between economic, ecological, and equity concerns. The course engages the key propositions that emerge in contemporary international development debates, and offers frameworks for evaluating theories, interventions, and policies. The course offers a foundation for uncovering and assessing social structures, institutions, inequalities, and development policies as theories meet practice. Students will be able to:

Global Politics of the Environment
3 credits
Global environmental dangers are among the most profound challenges facing humanity. They currently undermine the quality of life for many and threaten, in the extreme, to compromise the fundamental, organic infrastructure that supports all life on earth. This course introduces students to the sociopolitical dynamics of global environmental affairs. It explores the causes of environmental harm and avenues of effective response. Furthermore, it examines a number of key environmental challenges including species extinction, food and agriculture, and climate change. Its overall aim is to familiarize course participants with the role power plays in the emergence of environmental problems and how power in turn can be wielded in the service of sustainability. Those who participate fully in this course should by its end:

Global Health Politics
3 credits
Beginning with an overview of the most significant health and disease issues facing the global community—including HIV, TB, malnutrition, SARS and avian flu, endemic diseases like malaria, and the growth of noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer—this course will relate these nontraditional challenges to current theories and research in international relations. The course addresses a number of different issues in international relations and affairs, primarily from the perspective of how they interact with global and international public health.

Topics covered will include the following:

Introduction to Economic Theory
3 credits
Introduction to fundamental principles of modern economic theory, including the major analytical tools of price and income theory. Includes foundational concepts of both microeconomics and macroeconomics.

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The following courses are available from @WashULaw, the online Master of Laws (LL.M.) in U.S. Law from the Washington University School of Law:

Intro to U.S. Law & Methods I: U.S. Legal System
2 credits
This course is designed to introduce distinctive aspects of the U.S. legal system to lawyers who earned their first degree outside the U.S. The goal is to learn how law is found, made and changed in the U.S., rather than to learn any particular area of law. The objective is to learn largely through assuming the role of a lawyer resolving a practical client problem with U.S. legal sources, methods and institutions. The course is organized by various sources of law: common law, statutes and regulations, constitutional law and case law interpreting and applied enacted law. In addition, the jury trial and the importance of procedure are covered. In each subject, the class formulates what appears to be distinctive in the U.S. system. There is a final exam, in which problems similar to those resolved during the semester will be posed.

Fundamentals of U.S. Law I: Contracts
3 credits
This course is designed to introduce foreign-trained lawyers to U.S. contracts. The course will be run using the Socratic method. Students are expected to participate in class discussions and will be called on at random. In addition to learning principles behind U.S. theories of contractual obligation, the course is intended to provide instruction in “how to succeed” in a U.S. law school class. Each week will include one session per week of detailed review of the week in class, focusing on strengthening academic skills necessary for effective participation and course management.

Intro to U.S. Law & Methods II: Legal Writing
1 credit
This skills course introduces students to effective formats and style for written communication with U.S. educated lawyers and avoidance of plagiarism and exam-taking in U.S. law schools. In written comments and personal conferences as well as in class, professors emphasize prediction of probable court holdings through the analysis and synthesis of judicial decisions and statutes as well as the use of fact argument and analogy.

Fundamentals of U.S. Law II: Civil Procedure
3 credits
This course is designed to introduce foreign-trained lawyers to the process of U.S. civil litigation, focusing on such topics as procedural posture, the sequence of events in pre-trial and trial practice, and standards of appellate review.  The course is intended to provide students with skills necessary to read and analyze American judicial decisions.  The course will be run using the Socratic method.  Students are expected to participate in class discussions and will be called on at random. Each week will include one session of detailed review of the week in class, focusing on strengthening academic skills necessary for effective participation and course management.

Business Associations
3 credits
This course is a survey of the law of business associations, emphasizing corporations and issues and problems relating to corporate governance. The course will cover publicly and closely held corporations, the organization of business associations, the distribution of power and control between management and shareholders, with focus on the fiduciary duties of directors and officers. In this regard, we will explore the developing notions of fiduciary duties to shareholders and other stakeholders. The course will explore the rapidly evolving nationalization of corporate governance standards and its implications. The course will further focus on practical application of the material by applying the fundamentals of corporate organization through collaborative class exercises. Students may use laptops during this class. The final grade will be based on a final examination, although the professor reserves the right to consider class participation.

Professional Responsibility
3 credits
The goal of this course is to help prepare students for the ethical dilemmas they will face as practicing lawyers. The course will examine the nature and types of lawyer regulation, client-attorney relationships, confidentiality rules, conflicts of interest, duties to courts, adversaries and third parties, client solicitation and billing, and access to legal services. The course will address the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the California Rules of Professional Conduct, relevant sections of the California Business and Professions Code, and will also consider ethical duties arising under common law and other sources of authority.  Most of the classes will focus on the skills of identifying and solving the ethical dilemmas lawyers face in practice and on the professional values of providing competent legal representation, improving the legal profession, and promoting justice and fairness. Regular class attendance and participation are required.

International Business Transactions
2 credits
Cross-border business transactions are the mainstay of the modern global economy, and very few transactions can be negotiated or performed without due consideration of implications that may arise in such an international environment. Accordingly, understanding of the legal aspects of private transactions carried out across national borders can be indispensable to the modern legal practice. This two- unit course will provide a survey of such issues, including transnational sales, cross-border operations (including branch offices and subsidiaries), international business combinations (including mergers and joint ventures), and the role of international law (including treaties and international organizations such as the WTO and IMF). A series of problems will be used to explore the dynamics of planning, negotiating, creating and executing cross-border transactions. The course grade will be based on an in-classroom final examination, which will consist primarily of short essay questions, and class participation. The final will be open book. Although not required, it would be helpful to have taken or be taking International Law.

Negotiations
2 credits
The course will emphasize learning the skills of negotiation by simulations, lectures, and exercises in which students will negotiate and watch their classmates and experts negotiate. Class members will conduct at least three negotiations during the course – a sales contract, a retainer agreement between an attorney and a client, and a complex multi-party dispute. In addition to the simulations and discussion of the readings, there will be instruction on drafting agreements and individualized advice about further steps to improve negotiation skills.

Property
2 credits, Available June 2014
An examination of real and personal property, the estate concept, some of the problems of landlord and tenant law, future interests, easements and legal principles of property law as they apply to the use of property in our society.

Intellectual Property
3 credits, Available September 2014
This intellectual property course combines an overview of patents, trademarks, and copyrights with a focus on early stage issue recognition, planning and response. Specific topics will include patent searches, patentability opinions, business name selection, business product/service/domain name selection, and copyright registration. Instruction will include lecture, case studies, simulations and practical problems. Regular attendance and preparation are essential. The majority of the course grade will be based on a written final examination.

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The following courses are available from USC Rossier Online’s Master of Arts in Teaching program from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education:

New Media Literacies in High Needs Schools
2 credits, no prerequisite
New Media Literacies in High Needs Schools is designed to provide candidates with the opportunities to explore an emerging body of literature where media and communication studies converge with educators, researchers, and public policy makers. This course attempts to facilitate the convergence of students’ interests in communications, cultural studies, media production, and literacy education. Candidates will examine curricular materials, as well as apply learning theories, content knowledge, and the pedagogical repertoire of skills acquired in concurrent courses and threaded throughout the program as the basis for decision-making to positively affect student participation, learning, and outcomes.

Culture Learning in Schools: Latino
3 credits, no prerequisite
Through this course, participants will learn about themselves and their own culture. We begin by exploring our own beliefs, attitudes, perceptions and experiences as members of diverse ethnic backgrounds. This helps us understand the similarities and differences within and across ethnic cultures to gain a better understanding of diversity. As we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves as individuals and as learners we can begin to understand the decisions we make as teachers working with diverse student populations.

Political and Academic Issues Affecting Gifted Students
3 credits, no prerequisite
This course has been designed to assist educators to understand the beliefs and misconceptions about the political, academic, social, and personal decisions related to identifying and educating gifted and high-ability students. This course is intended to uncover the reasons contributing to both the achievement and underachievement of gifted and high-ability students. Learning theories and teaching practices that contribute to nurturing and/or denying the realization of potential in gifted and all students will be examined for their implications to differentiate curriculum, align pedagogical practices, and design the intellectual environment of a classroom.

Relationships with peers, parents, community members, and policy makers that foster the multiple dimensions of gifted and high-ability students of cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity are areas of study in this course. An outcome for course participants is to become an “educational leader” in the field of gifted education. Education leaders are defined as teachers of the gifted, coordinators of gifted services, counselors working with gifted students, curriculum developers, professional development consultants or advocates.

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Which courses can I take?
You can take select courses from colleges and universities that are affiliated with our technology partner, 2U, Inc. You can see a list of courses here.

Will I receive credit for taking these classes?
No. USC will not accept these courses as transfer credit.

How can I enroll in these classes?
You will enroll as a non-degree-seeking student at the course-providing institution. Your student support advisor will be able to tell you more and walk you through the registration process.

How do I pay for these classes?
You will be billed by the course-providing institution at the school’s current per-credit rate. If you have questions about costs and billing, contact your student support advisor.

Can I apply my financial aid toward these courses?
No, you will not be able to use your MSW@USC financial aid package to fund your courses.

What if the school’s semester schedule is different than the MSW@USC’s?
You will attend courses on the schedule dictated by the course-providing institution. The MSW@USC course schedule only applies to MSW@USC courses.

How will the online learning experience be different?
The online learning experience will be very similar to your experience with the MSW@USC. These schools also partner with 2U, the technology company that provides our virtual campus. This means all classes will be live, online, and taught by university faculty. Like USC, these schools have also partnered with 2U to create their course content, so you will continue to benefit from immersive, dynamic self-paced coursework.

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