Projects and Evaluation:

 Students can earn up to 1,125 points on a variety of assignments. Each assignment has a due date. Once the due date has passed, it will not be possible for a student to elect to complete the assignment. No late papers will be accepted and no makeup exams will be given. Students will be evaluated based on their performance on their choices from among the following list of assignments:

 Learning Log (75 points possible, 15 points per log entry): THIS IS THE ONLY ASSIGNMENT REQUIRED FOR ALL STUDENTS.

Entry 1 (due: September 10) Develop a game plan for the course indicating which assignments you plan to complete. Why have you selected these options? What do you think your choices indicate about your learning preferences? Why do you think a teacher would give students a choice about assignments? How do you think your strategy will affect your performance in this class?

Entry 2 (due: October 6) You have probably decided to complete one large-point assignment – the research paper, the media journal or the volunteer experience and journal. How are you coming with this? Have you gathered articles, hooked up with the non-profit organization, begun collecting research data? If so, describe the steps you’ve taken. If not, how do you plan to finish on time? If you have not elected any of these projects, how do you plan to succeed in this course?

Entry 3 (due: October 27) Take stock of how you are doing in this class so far. How many points do you have now? If you took the midterm exam, how did your study plan for that exam work out? Revisit your game plan described in Entry 1, and discuss any changes you plan to make. Is this course structure and grading system having any impact on your learning? Include some examples to illustrate the impact you have described.

Entry 4 (due: November 10) At the end of most class sessions, I have asked you to work together to summarize and identify key points from the material covered in that session. Has engaging in that process helped you to understand and integrate the material better? Or, is it a waste of class time? What evidence do you have to support your answer? (For example, have you done better on exams and/or quizzes as a result, been able to organize your thinking about material in the text, or are you more confident about participating in class discussions?)

Entry 5 (due: December 3) Submit this entry in a sealed envelope with your name on the envelope. I will record 10 points upon receiving the envelope. I will read the contents AFTER I have submitted final grades.

Over the summer a friend emails that she has signed up for this class in the fall. She asks you what she needs to do in order to do well in the course. What would you tell her? Telling her to drop the course is fine, so long as you tell her why. On the other hand, you might share with her what you would do differently if you were taking the course again. If you’ve done well in the course, to what would you attribute your success? What important things, if any, have you learned?

 Library Day (25 points) Learn how to use the resources of our Library for your research or media journal projects. Attendance will be taken for the awarding of points. (Location to be announced)

 Research Paper (150 points possible): Students may opt to complete a research project on a topic related to the course material and approved in advance by the instructor. Research papers must be typed (12 point font), at least 15 pages in length, and have at least 10 separate sources beyond the textbook for the class. The final product should answer a research question in depth, going beyond the discussion of the topic in our textbook. It should demonstrate the student’s proficiency in the material covered. Due: Nov. 5.

 Presentation of Research Project or Volunteer Experience (50 points possible) Students who elect to do a research project may also choose to present their research findings to the class (Dec. 1 and Dec. 3 will have time slotted for presentations.)

 Midterm Exam (150 points possible): Objective part only – 60 points; Essay part only – 60 points; both objective and essay parts – 150 points. (The 30 bonus points for attempting both parts of the exam will only be awarded if the student earns at least 35 points in each part.)

 Volunteer work and reflective journal (150 points possible): Students may complete 20 hours of volunteer work with a nonprofit organization. Their participation must be verified by the organization’s director on the organization’s letterhead. Students will complete a reflective journal (10 pages or more) on their experience – answering such questions as: What did I learn about my community from this experience? Or, What did I learn about myself through having this experience? Due: Nov. 19

 Media Journal (100 points possible): To prepare a media journal, students must read and collect news articles related to public agencies or public policy for a period of ten weeks, beginning with the first week of class. These news articles may be drawn from regular daily newspapers (like the Chicago Sun Post, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Times, or the Post-Tribune), from news magazines (like Time, Newsweek, or the US News and World Report), or from online versions of these media. To prepare the journal, the student will select the five articles (from those collected) he or she thinks are the most critical or most significant as related to the issues we discuss in class. For each article chosen, the student will write a 2-page description, analysis, and response. The five articles and the five papers are to be turned in loosely bound. Due: Nov. 12.

 Guest Lecture (50 points) Students may elect to prepare and present a short guest lecture (approximately 15 minutes) on specific topics chosen by the instructor. If you choose this option, you can only select one topic, and only one student will be scheduled to present each topic. You will need to decide early and make a firm commitment to deliver a lecture. Dates and topics are listed below:

1. Power. Tell us what are the internal and external sources on bureaucratic power, and what constraints there are on the exercise of power by a public manager. (Text book pages 58-71)  Date: September 3
2. Discuss state and local government machinery. (Text book pages 95-104) Date: September 10
3. Discuss the structure of intergovernmental relationships (Text book pages 147-154) Date: September 17
4. Give a lecture on fiscal federalism. (Text book pages 160-167) Date: September 24
5. Give a lecture on strategic management. (Text book pages 351-359) Date: October 22
6. Discuss the formal functions of human resources management. (Text book pages 412-423) Date: November 5
7. Discuss labor relations and the collective bargaining process. (Text book pages 440-446) Date: November 10
8. Discuss the history and process of Equal Employment Opportunity. (Text book pages 462-473) Date: November 12
9. Give a lecture on financing public expenditure – how we get the dollars needed to finance the cost of collective action. (Text book pages 508-514) Date: November 19
10. Discuss types of audit and their purposes. (Text book pages 542-547) Date: November 24

  

Homework assignments (up to 20 points each – 200 points possible): Weekly assignments drawn from the assigned reading for each week. Each assignment will be due on the date listed below. The product of these assignments will be a 2-3 page typed (double-spaced) thought paper due on the date listed..  

1. What do you, as a citizen, expect from government? What do public managers do to meet citizens’ expectations?  Due: September 10.
2. What are the major elements in the public policymaking cycle and how do they interact? Due: September 15.

 3.      Why are mandates such a cause of friction in intergovernmental relations? Due: September 22.

 4.      Describe an ethical problem you might encounter in an organization, and take it through the steps of Cooper’s model

        of ethical decision making. Due September 29.

 5.      In what ways are principles of Scientific Management and Classical Organization Theory still relevant today? Due: October 6.

 6.      What are the pros and cons of bureaucratic impersonality? Due: October 13.

 7.      Select any major government agency and explain how a SWOT analysis of it would usefully contribute to its strategic planning process. Due: October 27.

 8.      What is position classification and why is it so important? Due: November 5.

 9.      Briefly present the case FOR and the case AGAINST Affirmative Action. Due November 12.

 10.  Get a copy of both a local and state government budget from the governments themselves or from sources on the Internet. Compare the two budgets in a 2-3 page paper. What elements do they have in common? How do they differ? What would you recommend to make these instruments more understandable for citizens? Due: November 19.

  

Final Exam (150 points): Objective part only – 60 points; essay part only – 60 points; both objective and essay parts – 150 points. (The 30 bonus points for attempting both parts of the exam will only be awarded if the student earns at least 35 points in each part.)

 Bonus points: I will occasionally take attendance (unannounced) and award 5 bonus points to those present. I may develop other bonus point opportunities for students through the semester.

 

Course Grading Scale

Over 750 points – A+             610-629 points – C+               Fewer than 490 points - F

720-749 points – A                 580-609 points - C

700-719 points – A-                560-579 points – C-

680-699 points – B+               540-559 points – D+

650-679 points – B                 510-539 points - D

630-649 points – B-                490-509 points – D-

 

It will be up to you to choose assignments carefully. Select those options that you think will enhance your learning of the material and will yield you the kind of grade you want to achieve. I would advise you to do as much as you can, as early as you can, so that you can relax toward the end of the semester. Remember: Once the deadline for an assignment or quiz or exam has passed, you can no longer turn it in!

 As the class is structured around activities, lecture, and discussion, attendance and participation are important to the learning experience.  Should you have to miss a class, please contact the professor.

Schedule of readings and assignments (students should complete readings before class dates below and must turn in assignments on the dates specified):

 Unit     Date    Topic                                                                          Readings

1          8/25     Introducing the class. Defining Public Administration          Chapter 1

            8/27     Film

 

2          9/01     Labor Day Holiday – no class                                              Chapter 2

            9/03      Political and Cultural Context

 

3          9/08     Library Day   Learn about Library resources. Library Room 230               

            9/10     Reinventing the Machinery of Government                           Chapter 3

4          9/15     Intergovernmental Relations                                                   Chapter 4      

9/17    

5          9/22     Honor, Ethics, and Accountability                                         Chapter 5

9/24    

 6          09/29   Management and Organization Theory                                  Chapter 6                  

            10/01                                                              

7          10/06   Organizational Behavior                                                         Chapter 7

            10/08  

(study guide for midterm handed out 10/06; exam covers material through unit 7)      

8          10/13               Midterm Exam                                 

            10/15   Managerialism and Performance Management                       Chapter 8      

            10/20          

9          10/22   Strategic Management                                                                        Chapter 9                  

            10/27  

10        10/29   Leadership                                                                              Chapter 10    

            11/03                                                                                      

11        11/05   Personnel Management/Labor Relations Research Paper due Chapter 11 

11/10                                                                                      

12        11/12   Social Equity                           Media Journal due                Chapter 12

11/17 

13        11/19   Public Financial Management      Volunteer Experience Journal Due                                                                                                                                                             Chapter 13    

            11/24                                      

14        11/26   Auditing, Accounting, and Evaluation                                   Chapter 14    

                                                                        

15        12/01   Presentations               Study Guide for Final Exam given out.

            12/03   Presentations               Review for Exam

             

***Final Exam will be given during the scheduled time for a final for this class***

Wednesday, December 10, at 2:30 pm.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  Cell phones and pagers are to be turned off in the classroom. If there is a legitimate reason for your communication devices to be on, please discuss this with me. If permission is given, the student should set the device to vibrate.

 Each student will be required to provide an email address for this class. For those who do not presently have an email address, the University provides Internet access free of charge. We will be using the Internet to communicate, to complete assignments, and in other ways.

The LAST DATE to withdraw from the class is October 31, 2008. If you fail to attend or complete the coursework, and do not communicate with the professor or withdraw, you will receive a failing grade. Incompletes are ONLY given in circumstances where the student has completed most of his/her course work opportunities with a satisfactory grade. An incomplete will not be granted when there has been poor planning on the student’s part.