If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur ~ Red Adair
POLS 323: Public and Nonprofit Personnel Administration
University of Southern Indiana, Department of Political Science and Public Administration
COURSE SYLLABUS
Class Time: T/R 10:30-11:45Instructor: Trent A. Engbers
E-mail:
Office Phone: 812-465-1130 / Office: LA 3062
Mailbox: 3rd Floor Liberal Arts
Classroom: LA 2004
Home Phone: 812-477-1432
Office Hours: T/R 9:00-10:00
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to examine public and nonprofit personnel issues, specifically issues related to personnel/human resource management, employee motivation, evaluation, promotion/demotion, training, benefits, wages and salaries, as well as disciplinary policies and various legal aspects relating to public sector and nonprofit employment. No prereq.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, you will have a basic understanding of public and nonprofit personnel administration and the most common practices and policies of public sector and nonprofit human resources. Specifically, you will be able to:
· Understand social and legal changes effecting personnel decisions in the public and nonprofit sector and develop appropriate policies
· Evaluate human resource policies
· Make strategic decisions about public and nonprofit personnel matters
· Respond effectively to contemporary personnel issues in the public and nonprofit sector.
Program Objectives:
· Students who earn a degree in political science will be able to learn and articulate the significant concepts in each of the discipline’s major fields: Americangovernmental institutions, international relations, comparative politics, political theory, publicadministration, public policy, & political behavior.
· Students who earn a degree in political science will be able to apply qualitative & quantitative research methods in a real world context.
· Students who earn a degree in political science will be able to critically assess political information & data and suggest policy solutions to contemporary problems.
· Students who earn a degree in political science will have the option to learn professional skills by taking part in a variety of experiential learning opportunities such as: service learning courses, internships, and independent research. (when applicable)
· Students in USI’s pre‐law program will have a structuredexperience that will help them improve their abilities to obtain admission to law school or to findbachelors‐level positions in the legal field.
Required Texts/ Materials:
1. Selden, S. C. (2008). Human capital: Tools and strategies for the public sector. CQ Press.
2. Additional readings as assigned
Blackboard:
I encourage you to use blackboard to share and collaborate with your classmates. I will use it to post required readings not found in the textbook. Class announcements will also be distributed through blackboard. All assignments should be submitted to me in hardcopy and questions should be directed to me through phone (preferred) or e-mail. Discussion board assignments are the only assignments that should be submitted electronically and those should be posted to Blackboard.
Class Policies:
1. Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, cheating, submitting another person's material as one's own, or doing work for which another person will receive credit will subject a student to disciplinary action which may include dismissal from the University. Definitions of academic dishonesty also apply to the use of electronic, photographic, Internet-based, and other media for intellectual and artistic expression. See the Student Handbook, Section 3.0 of the Student Rights and Responsibilities: A Code of Student Behavior available on the Dean of Students website at www.usi.edu/deanofstudents for a description of the process.
2. Laptops and Electronic Devices: In Spring 2010, The Department of Political Science and Public Administration passed a classroom ban on laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices. All electronic devices must be turned off and stowed in your backpack or briefcase at the start of class, unless approved for a scheduled class activity. In exceptional circumstances, you may leave your cell phone set to “vibrate” during class. However, you must clear this with your instructor prior to the beginning of class. There are few things that I find ruder than ringing cell phones. If you cell phone rings during class, you will be asked to leave for the remainder of class, you risk the loss of participation points and you will insight my ire.
3. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per business day (10%) unless given PRIOR approval by the instructor for extenuating circumstances.
4. There will be no incomplete grades except under extraordinary circumstances with the appropriate documentation, in accordance with the University of Southern Indiana Academic Handbook.
5. Final Grades: In accordance with graduate school policy, you must earn a C or better to pass this course.
6. If you have a disability for which you may require academic accommodations for this class, please register with Disability Resources (DR) as soon as possible. Students who have or who receive an accommodation letter from DR are encouraged to meet privately with course faculty to discuss the provisions of those accommodations as early in the semester as possible. To qualify for accommodation assistance, students must first register to use the disability resources in DR, Orr Center Rm. 095, 812-464-1961 http://www.usi.edu/disabilities. To help ensure that accommodations will be available when needed, students are encouraged to meet with course faculty at least 7 days prior to the actual need for the accommodation.
7. Course Evaluations: Course evaluations are an integral part of the teaching and learning process. At the University of Southern Indiana, course evaluations are used for many purposes. These purposes include curriculum and assignment review, course structure changes, changes in instructional delivery as well as the university’s evaluation of, and continuous improvement efforts for, faculty and faculty development initiatives. Please complete the course evaluations for this course with care, thought and attention toward the improvement of the class, the faculty and the university community overall.
8. Grades posted on blackboard are not the official records of your grades, but can be used to confirm that the grade that I hand back to you matches the grade in my personal grade book. Please save all assignments in case there is a discrepancy.
9. This syllabus is our contract and will only be changed with explicit consent of the majority of students and the instructor.
Assignments/ Grading:
Course grades will be assigned based upon the following distribution:
Assignment / PointsReading Memo (3x50) / 150
Current Events Response (8x50) / 400
Participation / 100
Employee Handbook / 50
Organization HR Research Project / 300
TOTAL / 1000
Reading Memos
(Estimated length 2 ½ -4 single space pages)
Three times during the semester, you will be assigned a class to write a memo and lead the course discussion. Your memo should highlight the main points of that week’s reading, but more important should integrate the readings for that week into an original argument. What do you agree with? With what do you disagree? What are the implications of the assigned readings for that week? The purpose of this memo is to prompt discussion and debate among your classmates, so the more thought provoking the better. You need to post your memo to the discussion board by 5:00 PM on the Friday before the assigned class. You will also be asked to work with the instructor to identify supplemental readings for the course. You will then be responsible for leading the class discussion for a portion of the class period. For whatever reason, if you must miss class on the day you are assigned to do a presentation, you must contact me 12 hours before the scheduled presentation. Failure to do so will result in a zero for the entire assignment.
Current Events Response
(Estimated Length: At least 1-2 pages single space)
Nine times throughout the course of the semester I will post a journalist article or two that examines the topic in an applied way. The article will be posted with some guiding questions. In some cases, two articles will be posted (one public and one nonprofit focused). Choose the article relevant for YOUR professional interest. After you have read the article, prepare the following information to bring to class: 1) answers to some though not necessarily all of the questions that I pose, 2) your analysis and opinion on the article, 3) application of the previous classes’ course readings to this topic. Summary of the articles should be NO MORE than 1 paragraph. Focus on an original contribution. Too much summary will dramatically impact your grade.
Participation
This class has a seminar style format and as such relies on your participation. While I will not generally take attendance, participation requires you to be here. It also requires you to read the material and most importantly talk regularly in class. Please ask for a mid-semester evaluation of your participation.
Employee Handbook
(Estimated length 1-2 single spaced pages)
Each week, we will spend some time looking at concrete examples of employee handbooks. Your assignment is to bring in a copy of the employee handbook for an organization that you select (see the assignment below). This will be due around the 4th week of class, so you must get permission from your organization to study it and to get a copy of the handbook ASAP. This assignment is graded pass/fail and thus should be an easy source of points. The only way that you will lose points is if is late.
Research Paper
(Estimated lengths 15-18 single spaced pages)
Thirty percent (30%) of your final grade will be an assessment of human resource management in a government or nonprofit organization (depending on your professional interest). The project is intended to provide you with direct experience with an organization. Your goal will be to gather information from published documents, interviews, and other sources that permit you to describe and evaluate personnel management in the organization you select. This is a major assignment and you should be working on it throughout the course of the semester. You should meet with me 1 on 1 to discuss your paper once you have an initial draft.
Course Schedule
Tuesday / 10-Jan / Introduction
Thursday / 12-Jan / The Civil Service / Seldon Chapter 1
Tuesday / 17-Jan / The Civil Service / *E.S. Savas and S.G. Ginsburg. (1973). The civil service: A meritless system. The Public Interest, 32 (Summer), 70-85; P. Ingraham. (2006). Building bridges over troubled waters: Merit as a guide. Public Administration Review, 66(4), 486-495
Thursday / 19-Jan / HR in Reinvented Government / P. Battaglio and S. Condrey. (2006). Civil service reform: Examining state and local government cases. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26, 118-138
Tuesday / 24-Jan / 1. Seminar: Civil Service / J. L. Perry and N. D. Buckwalter. (2010). The public service of the future. Public Administration Review, 70 (supplement 1), S238-245. TBA Current Events Article
Thursday / 26-Jan / Guest Speaker James Perry
Tuesday / 31-Jan / Demographic Change / *D. A. Wolf and A. A. Amirkhanyan. (2010). Demographic change and its public sector consequences. Public Administration Review, 70(supplement 1), S12-S23.
Thursday / 2-Feb / Diversity and Affirmative Action / D. W. Pitts and L. R. Wise. (2010). Workforce diversity in the new millennium: Prospects for research. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 30(1), 44-69.; D. W. Pitts. (2006). Modeling the impact of diversity management. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26, 245-268. / Employee Handbook Due
Tuesday / 7-Feb / 2. Seminar: Diversity / TBA Current Events Article
Thursday / 9-Feb / Legal Issues in HR / *J. Hartman, G.W. Homer & A. H. Reff. (2010). The legal issues in HRM. In Stephen E. Condrey (ed.), Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government, 3rd Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, pp. 423-454.
Tuesday / 14-Feb / Labor Unions in the P/NP sector / N. M. Riccucci. (2010). Public sector labor relations scholarship: Is there a “there,” there? Public Adm
Thursday / 16-Feb / 3. Seminar: Unions and Legal Issues / TBA Current Events Article
Tuesday / 21-Feb / Recruiting and Selecting Employees / Seldon Chapter 3
Thursday / 23-Feb / 4. Seminar: Recruitment and Selection / TBA Current Events Article
Tuesday / 28-Feb / Retaining Employees / Seldon Chapter 4
Thursday / 2-Mar / 5. Seminar: Retention / TBA Current Events Article / Organizational HR Research Project Part 1
Tuesday / 7-Mar / Spring Break
Thursday / 9-Mar / Spring Break
Tuesday / 14-Mar / Training and Development / Selden Chapter 5 / Schedule 1 on 1 meetings with instructor to discuss paper
Thursday / 16-Mar / 6. Seminar: Training and Development / TBA Current Events Article
Tuesday / 21-Mar / Performance Appraisals / Seldon Chapter 6
Thursday / 23-Mar / 7: Seminar: Performance Appraisals / TBA Current Events Article
Tuesday / 28-Mar / Assessment Day
Thursday / 30-Mar / Financial Compensation / Selden Chapter 7; Ruhm, C. J., & Borkoski, C. (2003). Compensation in the nonprofit sector. Journal of Human Resources, 38(4), 992-1021.
Tuesday / 4-Apr / 8. Seminar: Financial Compensation / Perry, James L., Trent A. Engbers, and So Yun Jun. "Back to the Future? Performance‐Related Pay, Empirical Research, and the Perils of Persistence." Public Administration Review 69, no. 1 (2009): 39-51.
Thursday / 6-Apr / TBA
Tuesday / 11-Apr / Benefits / N. J. Cayer. (2010). Managing employee benefits: From health care to pensions. In Stephen Condrey (ed.), Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government, 3rd Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 817-834
Thursday / 13-Apr / 9. Seminar: Benefits / TBA Current Events Article
Tuesday / 18-Apr / Careers in the sectors / D. T. Hall and D. E. Chandler. (2005). Psychological success: When the career is a calling. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 155-176.
Tuesday / 20-Apr / Careers in the sectors Roundtable
Tuesday / 25-Apr / Future of Public Administration / Selden 8 and 9
Tuesday / 2-May / Final Exam / Organizational HR Research Project and Pres.
6