Urban Administrative Services
Urban and Regional Studies Institute
Spring, 2008
Instructor:
Mitchell Berg
Phone: 651-214-1036
Office: 218-935-2573
mrbinmn@hotmail.com
Office Hours: Wed 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Or by appointment
Texts:
Klinger, Donald E. and Nalbandian, John. Public Personnel Management Contexts and
Strategies, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 2003.)
Municipal Management Series: Management Policies in Local Government Finance, 5th
Edition (ICMA, 2004)
Course Goal:
This course is designed for you as an adult learner to provide an overview of Urban
Administrative Services. The emphasis is on local government human resource
management and urban finance systems. The class will concentrate on financial,
economic and human resources issues one would deal as an administrator in either a
public or non-profit environment
Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, you will be able to:
1. Identify and become familiar with the components of human resource
management systems.
2. Examine issues involved in human resource decision making and policy
3. Analyze trends in the field of human resource management and their impact on
productivity and employee job satisfaction.
4. Explore the role of the human resource manager, organizational relationships and
career options
5. Understand the financial issues and the relationship various level of governmental
financing can impact local governments
6. Learn about different revenues and how economic development can be used to
stimulate other local tax revenues
7. Be familiar with debt and risk management
Weekly Schedule
Jan 16 -
Class Introduction; distribute and review course outline; discuss course
requirements
Jan 23 -
Read: Public Personnel Management Chapters 1 and 2
Jan 30 -
Career Day Panel (meeting time from 11 am to 1:30 pm)
Feb 6 -
Read: Public Personnel Management Chapters 4 and 5
Feb 13 -
Read: Public Personnel Management Chapters 6 and 7
Video on Affirmative Action
Research paper topic to be submitted (one page outline decribing topic,
significance and research methods)
Feb 20 -
Read Public Personnel Management Chapters 8, 9 and 10
Begin preparation for group HR project
Feb 27 -
Read: Public Personnel Management Chapter 12, 13, and 14
Continue preparation for group HR project
March 5-
Read: Public Personnel Management Chapter 11
March 12 -
No Class – Spring Break
March 19 -
Conduct group HR project
March 26 -
Read: Green book – Chapters 1 and 2
April 2 -
No formal meeting – paper research
April 9 -
Read Green book – Chapter 4, 10 and 12
Submit and present essay on local government finance
April 16 -
Read Green Book – Chapters 11 and 17
April 23 -
Read Green Book – Chapters 13 and 14
Begin research paper presentation
April 30 -
Research paper presentation
May 7 -
Research paper presentation
Course recap
Required Course Assignment:
Reading and Class Participation: you are responsible for reading the text as assigned in
the attached weekly schedule. For each chapter one student will be required to present
the chapter to the class. You are encouraged to share with the class related articles,
materials, and/or experiences which may further clarify or expand upon the context
within each chapter
Assignment:
ESSAY
Each student is asked to pick at least one topic of “current” interest relating to HR
management and public finance. Each essay shall be between 2-3 pages.
Group Project
In teams, students are to prepare for a mock hiring presentation consisting of gaining
approval from “council”, preparing a vacancy notice, job description, interview
questions, and 6-month performance evaluation.
Final Examine
Each student will complete a paper on a topic related to either human resources
management. Students will begin preparing for the paper at the beginning of the
semester and are expected to present their paper prior to the completion of the course.
The length of the paper should be approximately 12-15 pages. The paper should provide
an in-depth review of the topic and show evidence of critical thought on the part of the
studentTopic ideas are: trends in human resource management; performance evaluations;
hiring qualified personnel; terminations; labor disputes; employee incentives;
compensation plans; pay equity and drug testing. The student may choose from a
multitude of other topics dealing with, human resource management provided it has prior
approval from the instructor
Student Evaluation:
Class participation and presentations (frequency and quality)
Group project
Essay Papers
Final Paper (Exam)
Grading Scale:
90 – 100
80 – 89
70 – 79
60 – 69
35%
15%
30%
20%
A
B
C
D
Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you
are a student with a documented disability, please seeme as early in the semester as
possible to discuss the necessary accommodations and/or contact the Disability Services
Office at 507-389-2825 or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY)