Navigate complex policy environments to achieve equitable outcomes for the communities you serve. This course builds practitioner capacity to decode policy requirements, identify flexibility within constraints, conduct equity audits, build coalitions, communicate implementation evidence compellingly, and influence future policy. Grounded in practical frameworks and equity-centered analysis, participants move from compliance-focused implementation toward strategic practitioner-advocacy. Designed for educational leaders, healthcare managers, nonprofit managers, public sector professionals, community organizers, and advocacy professionals who must work within policy systems while still advancing their mission. Applicable to any policy context; no prior policy analysis experience required.
Number of Units: 3.0 graduate level extension credit(s) in semester hours
Who Should Attend: This course is designed for public service professionals across education, healthcare, nonprofit, and government organizations who implement or influence policy. Ideal for leaders, managers, administrators, community organizers, and advocacy professionals.
Grading and Feedback: This course is entirely self-paced and automated. Unlike our standard courses, it features no instructor interaction, and no feedback. The final assessment is automatically graded utilizing internal systems.
Required Materials:
Bardach, E. & Patashnik, E. (2019). A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis (5th ed.). CQ Press. Selected chapters. [~40 pages; instructor-provided excerpt; university library]
Ouedraogo-Thomas, R., Rummage Massey, S., & King Bullins, L. (2025). Equity in North Carolina's SHLT-003: Gaps and recommendations for inclusive trauma-informed education. Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, 4(3), 1–26.
Green, T. L. (2017). Community-based equity audits: A practical approach for educational leaders to support equitable community-school improvements. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(1). [~20 pages; university library]
Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services (30th anniversary ed.). Russell Sage Foundation. Chapters 1–2. [~25 pages; university library]
Instructor-created course materials: Policy Equity Audit Scaffold, Data Story Template, Policy Brief Template, Power Mapping Guide, Practitioner-Advocate Sustainability Worksheet. [Original materials; CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; embedded in Canvas] → Modules 1–7
Prerequisites:
No specific prerequisites are required. Participants should have professional experience in education, healthcare, nonprofit management, public administration, community organizing, or a related public service field and familiarity with at least one policy environment relevant to their work. Access to a real policy challenge in their organizational or advocacy context for application throughout the course is expected.
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