Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management

The Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management is designed to:  1) Provide students with the intellectual foundation for a professional career in nonprofit organizations; 2) Provide currently employed individuals a means to demonstrate to their agency that they have undertaken "management" staff development; 3) Improve the overall effectiveness of the nonprofit sector in Nevada.

It is envisioned that the Certificate program will provide individuals who have recently moved into a management position or who desire to move into a management position the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be an effective manager.  The pool of candidate entering the program will have had widely different undergraduate education experiences.  Few will have had the requisite background to fully develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities to become effective professionals.

The rapid growth of the nonprofit sector suggests that there currently is and will continue to be demand for additional educational resources both in Southern Nevada and nationally. Research conducted by O'Neill and Fletcher (1998) suggested that management skills are vital both for the success of the individual professionally and for the health of the organizations and communities that they serve. Non-credit nonprofit management certificate programs exist here and at other NSHE institutions but this will be the only program providing graduate education in southern Nevada. Moreover, the primary target student population for this certificate program are professionals that currently work in nonprofit organizations.

Students interested in the Certificate Program must have:

a. Earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

b. A Grade Point Average sufficient to meet Graduate College requirements.

c. Submitted two letters of reference.

d. Submitted a written essay explaining why they were interested in the certificate program in nonprofit management.

e. Submitted a resume.

** Students may apply for admission for the Fall semester. Students in the Certificate program may not take any other courses in the MPA program until the certificate is completed. If students decide to enter the MPA program, they must apply for the program and all of their credits will be applicable to their degree program. Twelve of the fifteen credits in the certificate program may be used as electives while the remaining three credits are from a course that is required in the MPA degree. If students complete the certificate program with a 3.5 grade point average or above, they will not need to take the GRE exam.

Certificate Requirements

Required (15 credits)

Students must take:

a.                   PUA 770 Nonprofit Management and Theories of the 3rd Sector

b.                  PUA 708 Seminar in Public Personnel Administration

Students must choose from two of the following three courses:

a.                   PUA 774 Community Outreach and Volunteerism

b.                  PUA 775 Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation for Nonprofits

c.                   PUA 776 Development for Nonprofit Managers

Students will select three one-credit courses from the following:

a.                   PUA 792 Board Development

b.                  PUA 792 Legal Issues and Risk Management

c.                   PUA 792 Advocacy and Coalition Building

d.                  PUA 792 Financial Management

e.                   PUA 792 Leadership and Ethics

Environmental Scan Project (Capstone Experience)

In addition, every student will be required to complete an environmental scan of a nonprofit agency. The scan will have at the minimum a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. The scan will also evaluate the agencies Board, and its maturity, the financial health and stability, and the existing strategic plan including the process by which it was undertaken.