San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus
Course Syllabus and Schedule
PA 330-Public Personnel Administration
Spring 2015, Wednesday 4:10PM-6:50PM, Room Rodney Auditorium
Instructor: Richard C. Martin, Ph.D.
Office Hours: by appointment
E-mail: rmartindiaz85364@yahoo.com (best way to reach me)
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the course design
I.
II.
Course Description: All people, managers and employees, encounter human
resource processes. In addition, these issues are frequently found in headline news
reports. Special cases such as genetic testing in recruitment and selection; pay reform
initiatives in compensation; employee and management competencies, family friendly
workplace, outsourcing, women in employment careers traditionally held by men,
sexual harassment or discrimination based on sexual preferences make the study of
Human Resource Management (HRM) very interesting. This course examines the
personnel processes, in public service organizations, that are central to the
functioning of all institutions. It studies how human relations problems arise and
what can be done to solve them. Examples of some specific topics to be covered
during the semester include history of civil service; hiring; compensation; equal
opportunity; party politics; employees’ rights and responsibilities; recruiting,
screening and selection; motivation; pay for performance; civil service protection; the
changing nature of the workforce; the family friendly organization; affirmative action
and increasing workforce diversity.
Student Learning Objectives:
a. Be familiar with the role of the HRM function in public service
organizations
b. Learn ways to improve the HRM functions in public service organizations
c. Value the history of the civil service and how it affects selection
d. Understand the changing environment, key principles, and operating
characteristics of public HRM
e. Explore ethical judgments required in HRM and develop guiding
questions to make decisions
f. Identify the framework of HRM law and understand its paradoxes and
problems
g. Know recruitment and selection challenges and processes
h. Grasp the functions of a compensation system
i. Recognize the composition of the workforce and trends that drive
employee-responsive programs
j. Grasp the foundations of a family friendly organizations
k. Be familiar with problems of different compensation systems
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l. Understand employee motivation
III. Evaluation
Student performance will be assessed in several ways during the semester. Evaluation
will be based on the following elements.
 Attendance
 Class participation
 Use of clicker
 Exams

IV. Course Requirements:
1. Textbooks:
a. Evan M. Berman, James S. Bowman, Jonathan P. West, Montgomery Van
Wart, Human Resources Management in Public Sector, Fourth Edition
Sage. 2013
2. A clicker for use in class-Clickers will be used extensively in class for two
purposes. (1) Clickers will be used to collect information from students on
opinions and status on different issues; (2) Clickers will be used to answer quiz
questions (similar but not the same as exam questions) during the class. These
quiz questions are designed to help students learn the material and prepare for the
exams. All students who answer an opinion or status question will receive full
point for those questions they answer. Students who answer a quiz question
incorrectly will receive 70% for attempting to answer the question; students who
answer a quiz question correctly will receive 100% for their answer. Clicker score
will be curved to reflect class performance. The best clicker score will receive a
100% score and receive 3 points added to their course grade; the second highest
clicker score will have 2 points added to their course grade; and the third top
clicker score will have 1 point added to their participation grade. If you forget
your clicker you will not receive clicker points for that day’s class. In order to
receive clicker points you must register your clicker. On January 28, I will check
who has registered their clicker and notify those students that are not registered.
Clicker points will start being earned on the February 4 class and continue to be
earned until the last lecture on May 6.
3. Examinations: There will be four exams during the semester. The exams may
include multiple choice questions and short answer questions. The exams will
cover the material discussed in class as well as the assigned readings. The exams
may or may not be cumulative and will cover all the weeks specified prior to the
exam. Only the grades from the top three exams will be calculated into the grade
point average. If a student misses more than one exam, those exam(s) will receive
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a grade of zero. There are no make-up exams. Further explanation of the
requirements will be provided during the semester.
4. Regular Attendance & Participation. Students are expected to be active
participants. Class attendance will be monitored. It is the participant’s
responsibility to obtain materials for any missed classes from other students.
Missing three sessions or more sessions will be noted negatively: there are NO
EXCUSED ABSENCES for this purpose. Good and active class participation will
be rewarded.
5. Preparedness: Read all materials as outlined in the syllabus as well as any
handouts and be prepared to discuss in class. It is highly recommended that you
read the assigned chapters before attending the class. It is the student’s
responsibility to check blackboard on a regular basis, at least every couple of
days.
6. Appropriate Behavior: Students are expected to maintain civility in the
classroom. No disrupting the class by whispering, and chatting to others, or
working on other projects is tolerated. The same applies to cheating and
plagiarism. Students must maintain respect for themselves and others in the class
through appropriate language and body language. Failure to comply with
behavioral codes of conduct will impact upon grades.
7. Evaluation Criteria:
Class Attendance
Class Participation
Clicker Score
Top three exams
10%
5%
10%
75%
8. Grading Criteria:
A = 100-94; A- = 93-90; B+ = 89-87; B = 86-83; B- = 82-80; C+ = 79-77; C = 76-73; C= 72-70; D+ = 69-67; D= 66-63; D-=62—60
I will have discretion for adjusting the course grade by one grade category, (e.g. from D+
to C- or D+ to D) for quality class participation, excessive absence and/or frequent
tardiness or disruptive behavior. I will normally only use this discretion to increase
grades that are below a C-.
A grade of “WU” for a “withdrawal unauthorized” (formally “U”) indicates that you
enrolled in a course, did not officially withdraw from the course, but failed to complete
course requirements. For purposes of GPA computation, this grade is equivalent to an
“F”. If you attend a portion of a course and then, after receiving a failing grade, stop
attending without officially withdrawing, you will receive a final grade of “F” rather than
“WU”
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A grade of “I” for “incomplete authorized” is only given when a minor portion of
required course work has not been completed and evaluated in the prescribe time period
due to unforeseen, but fully justified, reasons. It is your responsibility to bring pertinent
information to the instructor and to reach an agreement on the means by which the
remaining course requirements will be satisfied. An incomplete shall not be assigned
when the only way you could make up the work would be to attend a major portion of the
class when it is offered next.
There are no makeup exams.
9. E-mail and Blackboard- Every student enrolled in PA330 is required to have a
ROHAM e-mail account that is linked to Blackboard. Students can login to web
portal click button ROHAM/e-mail account. It is the student’s responsibility to
check blackboard on a regular basis, at least every couple of days.
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Classroom Participation Rubric
Distinguished=100- Proficient=89-80
90
100% will be
Participant is almost
received if a
as good as one
participant attends
receiving a
100% of classes and distinguished rating
is:
but one or two
elements are not
Always well
always done.
prepared for class.
Evident that
individual has
completed all
readings
assignments prior to
class.
Exhibits positive,
supportive attitude
toward course and
class members.
Consistently
answers questions
using their clicker
Consistently
contributes to class
discussion
Intermediate=79-70
Deficient below 70
Participation is
generally similar to
one getting a
deficient rating, but
there are one or two
elements done well
Seldom prepared for
class. Evident that
that individual has
not completed
reading assignments
prior to class.
Is absent from
several classes
Exhibits negative
attitude towards
course and class
members
Does not contribute
to class discussion
or in class activities
Does not attend
most classes
Does not use clicker
on a regular basis
during class
Class Attendance
100% attendance = 100%
-8% for each class missed
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V. Course Schedule:
Jan. 21
Review the syllabus, set expectations, begin introduction of Human
Resource Management and Public Personnel Administration.
Jan. 28
Human Resource Management and Public Personnel Administration
responsibilities, environment. Begin section on recruitment
Assignments:
Berman Introduction and Chapter 1
Feb. 4
Recruitment, tasks, skills and responsibilities, civil service staffing
Assignments:
Berman: Chapter 3
1st exam
Feb. 11
Feb. 18 & 25 Screening & selection, tasks, skills and responsibilities, different
philosophies
Assignments:
Berman Chapter 4
Feb. 25 and March 4 Human resource planning, job analysis and job classification,
Assignments:
Berman Chapter 5
March 11
2nd exam
March 18 & 25
Motivation, climate of and tools for:
Assignments
Berman Chapter 6
April 1
Spring Break
March 25 & April 8
Compensation and benefits, pay systems
Assignments
Berman Chapter 7
April 15
3rd Exam
April 22 & 29
Employee friendly policies, family/work programs, health safety
and wellness, flexible work arrangements, traditional benefits
trends social equity.
Assignments:
Berman Chapter 8
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April 29 & May 6
HRM law, employee rights and responsibilities, laws governing the
workplace, privacy issues, discrimination.
Assignments:
Berman: Chapter 2
May 13
4th Exam
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