Faculty Contact Information:
Dr. J.E.D. Riggs
PSC 9 Box 3018
APO AE 09123
Email: smartguy53@yahoo.com
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Consultation:
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One-Half Hour before class, and by appointment. Online: 24/7.
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Required Texts and Readings:
Texts used exclusively in this course:
Denhardt, R.B. & Grubbs, J.W. (2003) Public administration: An action
orientation (5th ed.). Belmont, CA : Thomson Wadsworth.
Stillman, R.J. (2005). Public administration: Concepts and cases (8th
ed.). Boston: Houghton Miflin.
Text used in multiple courses:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington D.C.: Author.
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Supplementary Readings:
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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 on the UMUC Library Website. Public Administration Review, the lead journal in the discipline,is especially useful for this course.
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Course Description:
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Prerequisite: Undergraduate American political science or American Government or permission from the Program Director. A survey of the fundamentals of public administration, management strategies and management techniques at the national, state, and local levels.
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Course Goals:
As the introductory course in the M.P.A. program and a prerequisite to the certificate in E-Government, this course introduces and analyzes:
- Discipline and practice of American public administration.
- Role of government in general and public administrators in particular in a democratic society.
- Basic institutions of American government.
- Development of the administrative state.
- Component parts of public administration.
- Current standards and best practices in public sector management.
- Major theories, models, and concepts of public administration.
- Differences between public and private sector management.
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Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze
case material, web sites, public law, and research articles related to public administration
- Investigate
the relationship between historical and current issues in public administration
- Utilize
electronic resources to find primary source documents, data, statements on best practices, and research articles related to issues in public administration
- Develop and present
written and oral arguments, case studies, and/or research papers on current issues in public administration that make reference to and build on factual and expert information.
- Assess emerging difficulties in federal state relations.
- Differentiate between various schools of federalism.
- Identify key elements of public policy design.
- Classify critical methods of policy analysis and evaluation.
- Define the current judicial limitations to governmental power.
- Explain the mechanics of the budgetary process.
- Recognize the methodology of the major schools of budget preparation.
- Summarize the latest trends in public personnel policy.
- Distinguish differences among private and public sector unions.
- Identify the key features of the collective bargaining process.
- Access new E-Government technologies.
- Comprehend the depth and dimensions of governmental ethics.
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Grading Information:
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Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 90%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
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:
Participate in the course -- both online and in the classroom. The actual face-2-face portion of the class will be conducted from January 30 - through February 4 (18:30 -- 21:45 on Tuesday-through-Friday, and Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 -- 16:30).
The first two weeks of the term will be spent in the DE classroom, and will consist of discussions of first four chapters of the Denhardt text. Paricipation in these discussions is mandatory, and will constitute 20% of your total grade.
In addition, you will be given a midterm examination covering all readings in both texts, plus all lectures. This exam will be administered on the Sunday of face-2-face classes. You will also have a final exam, once again, covering material from all readings and lectures, to be administered online (and due by March 10, 2007).
Your final requirement is a policy theme paper, which is discussed in greater detail in the "Descriptions of Course Requirements" section.
The grade breakout is as follows:
DE Class Participation = 20%
Midterm Exam = 30%
Final Exam = 30%
Theme Paper = 20%
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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 14-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 encouraged to familiarize themselves with UMUC-Europe/BSU standards for plagiarism, as all papers are subject to being sent in to turnitin.com for authentication
In addition to participation in all DE discussions and your examinations, all students are required to write an original theme paper discussing a current policy (either one proposed, or one in operation). Your task is to provide an overview of the policy which answers the following questions:
What social/administrative factors contributed to the creation of this policy?
Who are the relevant actors in society and/or government who pushed for this policy?
How is the policy supposed to work? (What are its goals)?
How are those goals measured?
What are the policy's strengths and weaknesses?
This paper is to be written in APA format; double-spaced and no fewer than 15 pages (you may go longer if you desire).
The paper is to be submitted as a Word document in the DE classroom via the Assignment Folder, no later than March 5, 2007.
I would like for each student to get permission first for the topic. Please send to my personal email a project description that contains three pieces of information:
1. The Topic. (Exactly which policy do you wish to study)?
2. The Approach. (Any policy can be studied from multiple vantage points. Which approach will you use)?
3. A sample bibliography of sources you intend to use in this paper.
I would like to have these topic sheets from you by the first day of face-2-face classes.
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Course Schedule:
Before the beginning of classes, students are required to have completed the reading of both texts, and be prepared to participate in vigorous discussions of the reading materials.
The schedule of topics is as follows:
DE Classroom -- first two weeks. A discussion of relevant features from the first 4 chapters of Denhardt. Participation is mandatory.
Face-2-Face Portion:
Tuesday: History of Public Administration, and Modern Developments.
Wednesday: The Political Context of Public Administration.
Thursday: Public Administration and Intergovernmental Relations.
Friday: Public Policy Analysis.
Saturday: Personnel Management in the Public Sector.
Sunday: Planning and Evaluation. (MIDTERM EXAM).
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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:
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Dr. JED Riggs is Collegiate Professor of Public Management with UMUC/BSU. He has taught in the Maryland System since 1993.
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