Faculty Contact Information:
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Consultation:
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Required Texts and Readings:
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Texts used exclusively in this course:
Anderson, J.E. (2000). Public policymaking (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin.
Dye, T.R. (2004). Understanding public policy (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall.
Text used in multiple courses:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington DC: Author.
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Supplementary Readings:
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Each instructor has his or her preferences for supplementary reading material that may be added here. In addition, all graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at www.ed.umuc.edu/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.
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Recommended Journals:
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A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge and pay-per-view academic journals are listed in the UMUC library. The Public Administration Review is the lead journal in the discipline and is especially useful for this course.
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Course Description:
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Prerequisites: Undergraduate economics and American political science or American government, and PUAD 501 or PUAD 502, or permission of the Program Director. Focuses on the analysis of costs and benefits in the selection of public policy choices. Students analyze public policy alternatives, factors, and processes involved in policy development, including the rulemaking that occurs after legislative enactment of public programs.
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Course Goals:
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As a required course in the policy track of the M.P.A., this course develops analytical skills necessary to the study of public policy. Students learn to apply a variety of common theoretical and conceptual approaches to policy development and policy analysis.
In this course we will investigate:
1. How to identify the key actors in the policy creation process.
2. The fundamentals of how the government acts, and why.
3. How to apply models of policy analysis to major areas of contemporary government action.
4. The increasingly complicated relationship between domestic and foreign policy.
5. The methodology of policy evaluation.
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Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze public policies using standard conceptual and theoretical models.
- Evaluate policy options based on various assumptions of policy formulation.
- Investigate the relationships between historical and current policy proposals on the public agenda.
- Utilize electronic and technological solutions to accomplish policy analysis.
- Utilize electronic resources to find primary source documents, data, statements on best practices, and research articles related to policy analysis.
- Develop and present viable policy recommendations or proposals.
- Identify key actors in the policy making process.
- Explain the increasing blur between foreign and domestic policies.
- Recognize the strengths and weaknesses of implementation techniques.
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Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
92-100% =A
80-91% =B
70-79% =C
Below 70% =F
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F 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 in your local Education Center.
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Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level 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 order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
Midterm Examination: 30%
Final Examination: 30%
Papers (2 X 15%) 30%
Participation in Class 10%
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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 12-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner.
Write graduate level papers or case studies: 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. Moreover, all students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with current UMUC-Europe/BSU policy regarding plagiarism, as all class papers are subject to being sent to turnitin.com for authentication.
Instructions for term papers:·
Two papers· 8-10 typed pages, double spaced·
Format: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or other acceptable style manual
First paper
Examples:
Balanced Score Card
German work or business environment
Special interest groups and the affect on government policy
Second paper Topics TBA
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your research in a professional manner. In a face-to-face course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material. In a DE class, this means creating a visual/textual presentation for your instructor and classmates.
Complete one or more written examination(s): 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.
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Course Schedule:
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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.
Module Date Topics AssignmentsAuthor(s)
1 23 Oct 06 Introduction & Overview Policy Analysis
DyeChap 1
Assign first paper: Due module #5
2 6 Nov 06 Models of Politics Dye Chap 2
The Policymaking Process Dye Chap 3
3 13 Nov 06 Criminal Justice Dye Chap 4
Health and Welfare Dye Chap 5
4 20 Nov 06 Education Dye Chap 6
5 27 Nov 06 Economic Policy Dye Chap 7
Tax Policy DyeChap 8
First Paper Due
6 4 Dec 06 Mid-term Examination
7 11 Dec 06 International Trade and Immigration Assign
Dye Chap 9
Second Paper--Due 11th Module
8 18 Dec 06 Environmental Policy Dye Chap 10
Break 23 Dec 06 to 2 Jan 07 Holiday Break
9 2 Jan 07 Civil Rights Chap 11
American Federalism Dye Chap 12
10 8 Jan 07 Defense Policy Chap 13
Homeland Security Dye Chap 14
11 15 Jan 07 Policy Evaluation Chap 15
Second Paper Due
12 22 Jan 07 Final Examination
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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.
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Faculty Bio:
Hello, my name is Bob Mann and I will be your instructor for this course for the next several weeks.
I grew up in the northern Rocky Mountain area where I obtained my education through the undergraduate level. I spent some time in the military: in command of field artillery units, teaching, various staff jobs as a human resource manager, comptroller, special operations, manpower staffing and other odd jobs in several parts of the world. The opportunity become available to join private industry, so for eight years I worked for various companies ranging in size from 4 to 45,000. In private industry the jobs were varied: as an analyst, functional expert, project leader, resource management and human resource manager.
My current full-time job is as an adjunct instructor for UMUC Europe at the undergraduate and graduate level. I have been teaching for over twenty years in the European program.
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