The Master of Public Administration degree is designed to provide the public administrator with an understanding of the governmental and economic environment in which he or she must work. In addition to serving administrators in governmental organizations, the program is appropriate for career military personnel, nonprofit organization administrators, and the private sector professionals whose responsibilities involve extensive contact with governmental agencies and public sector personnel.
A capstone is a senior project purpose of which is to consolidate classroom learning with research in an area of interest to the student. These capstone projects can be in the form of a portfolio of the student’s work or a more formal thesis or dissertation.
Capstones from 2011
HELP of Southern Nevada analysis project, Lauren Cella, Carly Dunlap, Jonathon Nunes, and Anna Vaillancourt
NevadaGIVES.org: Building website capacity for data collection, Snezhanka V. Christy and Lisa E. Stamanis
Public Utilities Commission of Nevada: A research design for data collection, Mario Heresi, Jamie Stout, Brandy Davis, and Cheyenne Pasquale
Telework within the Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region office, Theresa Lee, Lynne Arnold, John Wagner, Elias Samorano, and Anita Morgan
Evaluation of mentoring in southern Nevada, Andrew Merz and Glen Leavitt
Ready for Life — An evaluation: Factors relating to truancy and promising practices, Clayton Nichols, Shenita Harper, Maria Thomas, Mikaela Louve, and Christina Vela
Program evaluation: Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region business lines and focus areas “Water Drop” project, Adriana VanBuskirk, Marion Biron, Kris Kirby, and Theodore Anderson
Capstones from 2010
City of Las Vegas, Department of Building and Safety: Valuation based fee schedule analysis, Darcy Adelbai-Hurd, Vicki L. Brown, Josh Turley, and Mary Ann Weidner
Centennial Hills Active Adult Center business plan, K. C. Brekken, Jeff Buchanan, David Gordon, and Doug Guild
The Case for increased cross-agency data sharing in the State of Nevada, Richard Entringer, Tina Jara, Alysia Peters, and Steve Price
Volunteer Management Analysis for the City of Las Vegas, Robert Fash, Jose Rodriguez, Bertral Washington, and Heather Whitesides
Capstones from 2009
Nonprofits in crisis: How to retain employees in the nonprofit sector, Liz Armstrong, Jocelyn Bluitt-Fisher, Lori Lopez-Newman, Diana R. Paul, and Keith R. Paul
The Use of policy analysis in southern Nevada planning and development departments, Dawn Barlow, Shane Dillon, Lynn Hunsinger, Ted Lendis, Neo Vidal, and Wendy Yada
City of Las Vegas Detention and Enforcement accreditation evaluation program, Daniel Bennett
Getting on track: Consolidating and streamlining positions at Clark County, Elaina Bhattacharyya, Kevin Cerny, Craig Christiansen, and Elizabeth Muto
The Role of tuition in financing higher education, Jay Craddock, Amjad Kisswani, Krista Kurvers, Hillery Leslie, Kumiko Primm, and Abigal Sills
Program evaluation of help Las Vegas Genesis Apartments, Shauna Davis, Bristol Ellington, Alexis Mussi, and Jason LaMarr Wasden
HopeLink: A program evaluation, Cheryl Edwards, Telma Lopez, Bryan Osborne, and Erik Pappa
City of Las Vegas Detention and Enforcement commission on accreditation of law enforcement accreditation program evaluation report, Karen Kelly, Cecelia McNeely, and Sandy Seda
Analysis of Boys Hope Girls Hope of Nevada, Andrea Sundberg, Brad Giles, Cedric Pittman, Imelda DeLatorre, and Rebbeca Morris Fridley
Capstones from 2008
An Economic development plan for Boulder City, Mel Barosay, Amber Z. Cunningham, Dollinda Fields, and Silas Prince
Urban corruption policy analysis, Michael Buttars, John Devaney, Jared Gerber, and Kevin Sansom
Boulder City, Nevada revenue generating analysis, Mayra A. Castro, Dolores P. Leyva, Arnetta M. Meagher, and Wade Zimmerman
Recruit training academy Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Kristin Cooper, Christine Dudas, Torrell Huber, Stephanie Jordan, and Darryl Martin
Policy analysis: Compressed workweek, Rick Crosby, Matt Richardson, Stephen Nowicki, and Ly Doan