SYLLABUS
Public Personnel Admin
POL 463/563 – Spring 2010
Instructor:
Tuesday 6 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Rm 210 @ 7700 France Ave
Jeff Bumgarner, Ph.D.
My office:
My phone:
My e-mail:
Morris Hall 207C
(507) 389-1018
jeffrey.bumgarner@mnsu.edu
Office Hrs:
M W F 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Thursday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (by appointment only)
Required Text:
Condrey, S.E. (ed.) (2005). Handbook of Human Resource Management in
Government (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Course Description:
This course explores the development of public personnel management in federal,
state, and local governments. Specific topics include but are not limited to:
compensation, position management, staffing, performance management,
motivation, employee discipline, and workplace relations.
Course Format:
The course will follow a standard lecture format. However, from time to time we
will engage in exercises during class. We may also view an occasional video to
help keep things lively. Finally, a portion of the class will take place online via
D2L and the discussion board.
Discussion Board:
Most weeks, you will find a discussion board question or questions posted on our
D2L course page. The discussions are asynchronous (i.e. they need not take place
at a particular time). During discussion weeks, you are required to post your
response to the question(s) on the discussion board--where everyone in the class
can read it. You are also required to react to at least one other posting (from a
classmate).
In other words, all students in the course are expected to contribute to the online
discussion each week. This is done first by responding to the question, and then at
some point reacting or responding to one or more of your fellow classmates'
responses. For each of the lessons you should post comments at least twice: once
for your own answer and at least once in reaction to others' answers.
Discussion board questions are intended to be thought-provoking with no “right”
answer per se. However, you are encouraged to inject more than unsubstantiated
opinion. Perhaps you’ve read something in the text or elsewhere that would have
bearing on the question. Or perhaps you have a personal experience that is
relevant and can be shared. In any case, you will find it interesting to see “backand-forth” conversations take place over a week’s worth of time.
Your discussion board posts are due within one week of the time that the
discussion questions are posted, but always inclusive one full weekend. Keep in
mind you are encouraged to post more than the minimum number (i.e. a primary
and reactionary posting). An “A” grade for the discussion board will be directly
related to regular and substantive participation.
Exams:
This course will have one midterm exam and one final exam. Each exam is
worth 25% of course grade. Information concerning the exam formats will
be provided in class, but they will likely consist primarily of essays.
Term Paper:
Each student is to write a 2500-word (or more) term paper concerning any topic
of interest to the student, provided it relates in some way to public personnel
administration. If there is any question about the topic you have selected, feel
free to contact me about it and together we can determine the topic's
appropriateness.
The paper should include citations from at least seven (7) distinct scholarly or
professional sources of information (e.g. books, scholarly journals, and
government documents and reports). Internet sources, such as Wikipedia, may be
referenced but do not count toward the seven. Be advised that the problem with
internet sources, where an original source is not cited, is that anyone can say or
represent anything on the internet; in other words, there are no controls to ensure
the information presented is viable.
2
Also be advised, however, that articles and documents which you merely obtained
by downloading them from the internet are acceptable toward the seven
citations. In such cases, the internet is simply serving as a library for you to access
independently existing resources. Those documents and articles can be cited for
what they are with no mention that you obtained them using the internet.
The style of the paper should follow that of the APA style manual.
Your term paper is due in the dropbox by April 27.
Grading:
The grades in the course will be determined by applying the following
proportions:
Midterm Exam………………….. 25%
Final Exam……………………... 25%
Discussion Board. .………………25%
Term Paper ………………………25%
A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=59 and below
Tentatively Assigned Readings:
(Note: additional chapters and/or articles may be assigned)
Jan12 Syllabus / Introductions
Jan19 Personnel Management in Public Agencies (Introduction; Chs. 1 & 4)
Jan26 Job Analysis (Ch. 23)
Feb2
No MSU night classes
Feb9
Compensation (Chs. 26 & 31)
Feb16 Recruitment and Selection (Ch. 5)
Feb23 Promotions / Assessment Centers (Ch. 24)
Mar2 Employee Motivation (Ch. 21)
3
Mar9 Spring Break / No class
Mar16 MIDTERM EXAM
Mar23 Performance Appraisal (Ch. 22)
Mar30 Labor-Management Relations in Public Agencies (Reading TBA)
Apr6 Employee Discipline (Reading TBA)
Apr13 Legal Issues in Personnel Management (Chs. 17 & 19)
Apr20 Risk Management (Reading TBA)
Apr 27 Human Resource Development (Ch. 13)
May4 FINAL EXAM
Make-up Work
Missed exams or assignments cannot be made up without an approved excuse.
No Class on the following Dates:
Due to school breaks, we will not have class on:
Feb 2
Mar 9
Every effort will be made to provide you with advance warning should any other
class periods need to be canceled.
If a class meeting is cancelled, I reserve the right to create and assign an
additional class discussion for the week on D2L.
Absences
I do not grade attendance. Consequently, you need not ask permission to miss
class. However, you are responsible for any material we covered in class. If you
do miss class for any reason (legitimate or not), please consult with other students
about what you missed.
4
Classroom Etiquette
Please maintain good classroom etiquette. During discussions, please feel free to
disagree with me or your fellow classmates. But let’s always be respectful of one
another. Also, during class, please do not read a newspaper or surf the web. You
will be asked to leave if you do.
Academic Integrity:
The academic integrity policy in this class is simple: any cheating on an exam or
other assignment will result in a grade of “F” for the course. Additionally, I
reserve the right to report the cheating to departmental and university officials for
further disciplinary action.
Statement on Disability Services at MSU
MSU provides students with disabilities reasonable accommodation to participate
in educational programs, activities, or services. Students with disabilities
requiring accommodation to participate in class activities or meet course
requirements should first register with the Office of Disability Services, located in
132 Memorial Library, 389-2825, TDD 711, and then contact me as soon as
possible after that.
Regarding the Weather
Presently, I live about two and a half hours west of the Twin Cities. If severe
winter weather materializes, please check our D2L webpage before class to make
sure that I will be making it. Of course, I will make every attempt to get here.
But if roads are simply too dangerous, I will be notifying you of class cancellation
via D2L.
GOOD LUCK ON THE COURSE. I’LL SEE YOU IN CLASS!
5