Faculty Contact Information:
Archie J. Twitchell, DPA
Email: atwitche@cs.com
Tel: 859 699 6356
Fax 859 881 0914 | |
Consultation:
| Available on request at atwitche@cs.com | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Texts and readings used exclusively in this course--
Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Balkin, D.B. & Cardy, R.L. (2004). Managing human resources, (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Kauffman, N. & Massey, C. (2000). Human capital applications using Microsoft Office 2000. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Civil Service Reform Act 1978. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/complcsra.htm
Hatch Act. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm
Pendleton Act of 1883. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=48
Office of Personnel Management Strategic Plan 2002-2007. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from http://www.opm.gov/gpra/opmgpra/sp2002/appendices/statutes.asp
Text used in multiple courses --
American Psychological Association. 2001. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington DC: Author | |
Supplementary Readings:
| All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills. | |
Recommended Journals:
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Course Description:
| Prerequisite: Undergraduate principles of management or permission of the Program Director. Provides students with an understanding of the problems, issues, and opportunities in managing the procurement, development, utilization, and maintenance of an effective, productive, and satisfied work force. | |
Course Goals:
As a required course in the Management Track of the MPA, this course analyzes:
- Basic functions
of HRM, including recruitment and selection, training and development, rewarding and compensating, layoffs and firing employees
- Role HRM
plays in the strategic management and decision making of public, private and nonprofit organizations
- Strategies
used to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of an organizations human resources
- Major theories
that influence the practice of HRM, including motivation, teambuilding, problem solving, decision making, negotiation and conflict management
- Major U.S. public policies
, laws and courts cases that structure the practice of human resource management in the public sector and differentiate it from the private sector
- Current issues
facing HR managers and organizational leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors
- Current best practices
employed by managers in public, private and nonprofit organizations
- Increased importance of the Internet
and other electronic and technological solutions on-going training and development of employees as well as in the planning, implementation and evaluation of HRM | |
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
- Analyze
the conflicting demands on human resource managers and the values that underlie those conflicting demands.
- Apply
theoretical perspectives to practical problems in HRM.
- Investigate
current issues and best practices in HRM
- Utilize
electronic and technological solutions to realize basic HRM activities.
- Utilize
electronic resources to find primary source documents, data, statements on best practices, and research articles related to issues in HRM.
- Develop and present
viable strategies and/or policy recommendations relating to important HR issues. | |
Grading Information:
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Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A = 450-500 points
B = 400-449
C = 350-399
F = 349 and below
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog. Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In summary the requirements for this course are:
Participation----------100 points
Term paper-------------100
Midterm exam-----------100
Final exam-------------100
Projects (two)---------100
Total------------------500 | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participation: You are expected to respond the assignments posted in the Conference in a thoughtful and full manner. A thoughtful response addresses the main thrust of the question(s) posed and is composed of several paragraphs.
The term paper shall address any of the major theories, principles or major challenges of human resource management. You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
The midterm and final examinations are essay type and involve the application of the theories, principles and best practices. The analysis of cases will be part of the examinations.
The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary to successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The questions used for this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam.
Two Projects are required. Each project shall not exceed four double spaced pages of 12 point type. The title page and references are not included in the page limit.
Project one is a critical evaluation of the Pendleton Act and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. These acts are found at:
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=48(Pendleton Act)
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/complcsra.htm
(Civil Service Reform Act)
The task is to summarize the key features of the two acts and the role they played in reforming employment practices in the federal government.
What changes in the management of human resources at the federal level did the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 require? Are they consistent with the principles of the Pendleton Act?
Project two involves an evaluation of the Strategic Plan of the Of Personnel Management found at: http://www.opm.gov/gpra/opmgpra/sp2002/appendices/statutes.asp
Does the Strategic Plan address the major challenges of human resource management as defined in the Gomez-Mejia textbook? Does the Strategic Plan contain action steps to replace the huge number of federal managers eligible to retire between now and 2010- estimated at 75%?
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Course Schedule:
This schedule presents 16 units or modules, with each unit corresponding to a regular three-hour weekday meeting, a half-day on weekends, or a full week of DE.
Initial meeting: Nov 1-7
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject
Establishing communications
It would be most helpful to have volunteers to write papers on three topics that will be supplemental to the text. The three topics scheduled for January are:
1. Networking: what is it and how to do it. The role of networking in career advancement and on annual pay will be addressed. The discussion is planned as part of the session on Jan. 10-16.
2. An examination of the impact of bankruptcy of United and other airlines on their retirement plans. Include the impact on the Pension Guaranty Fund. Discussion on Jan. 24-30.
3. An examination of recent industry trends with regard to health care. Jan. 24-30.
Second meeting: Nov. 8-14
Strategic human resource challenges, Gomez-Mejia ch. 1 including all cases
Third meeting: Nov. 15-21
Managing work flow and job analysis, Gomez-Mejia ch. 2 including all cases
Fourth meeting: Nov. 22-28
Equal opportunity and the legal environment, Gomez-Mejia ch. 3-4,
The changing composition of the population and a comparison of the number of men v. women enrolled in undergraduate and graduate colleges and universities will be reviewed. (www.census.gov).
Fifth meeting: Nov. 29-Dec. 5
Recruiting and selecting employees, Gomez-Mejia ch. 5-6,
Civil Service Reform Act 1978. http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/complcsra.htm
Pendleton Act of 1883. Retrieved January 29, 2004 from http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=48
Project one due
Sixth meeting: Dec. 6-12
Appraising and managing performance, Gomez-Mejia ch. 7
Review of MBO, setting clear objectives and means-ends relationships.
Seventh meeting: Dec. 13-22
Training the workforce, Gomez-Mejia ch. 8
Midterm mailed.
Midterm due 22 Dec.
Eighth meeting: Jan 17-23
Developing careers, Gomez-Mejia ch. 9
Supplemental information: The role of networking in success. A volunteer student will lead the discussion on this topic.
Ninth meeting: Jan. 24-30
Compensation and rewarding performance Gomez-Mejia ch. 10-11
Designing and administering benefits, Gomez-Mejia ch. 12, case 12.2
Also, the impact of bankruptcy of United and other Airlines on their retirement plans.
Examination of recent industry trends with regard to health care.
Tenth meeting: Jan. 31- Feb. 6
Employee rights, relations and discipline, Gomez-Mejia ch. 13-14
Eleventh meeting: Feb. 7-13
Working with organized labor, Gomez-Mejia ch. 15, case 15.4
Twelfth meeting: Feb. 14-20
Final examination mailed
Workplace safety Ch 16
Thirteenth meeting: Feb. 21-27
The international HRM challenge, Gomez-Mejia ch. 17
Final exams due Feb. 20
Fourteenth meeting: Feb. 28-Mar. 6
Summing up, feedback on exams
Papers due, feedback on papers
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Academic Policies:
The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism.
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
| Dr. Twitchell earned his DPA in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He has been involved in military education for several years, and served as both the Program Director for Public Administration and the Academic Director of Graduate Programs at UMUC Europe before transitioning stateside. | |