UMUC-EUROPE GRADUATE PROGRAMS
BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY

MGMT571 Syllabus

Course Title Human Resource Management
Term TERM 4, 2006/2007
Education Center DIST-ED_EUROPE_GRAD
Faculty Member John Riggs - jriggs@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Faculty Contact Information:

J.E.D. Riggs
PSC Box 3018
APO AE 09123

email: smartguy53@yahoo.com

Consultation:

24/7 in the WebTycho classroom.

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 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.

Recommended Journals:

A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge and pay-per-view academic journals are listed in the UMUC library. 

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:
  1. Basic functions of HRM, including recruitment and selection, training and development, rewarding and compensating, layoffs and firing employees
  2. Role HRM plays in the strategic management and decision making of public, private and nonprofit organizations
  3. Strategies used to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of an organizations human resources
  4. Major theories that influence the practice of HRM, including motivation, teambuilding, problem solving, decision making, negotiation and conflict management
  5. 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
  6. Current issues facing HR managers and organizational leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors
  7. Current best practices employed by managers in public, private and nonprofit organizations
  8. 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:
  1. Analyze the conflicting demands on human resource managers and the values that underlie those conflicting demands.
  2. Apply theoretical perspectives to practical problems in HRM.
  3. Investigate current issues and best practices in HRM
  4. Utilize electronic and technological solutions to realize basic HRM activities.
  5. Utilize electronic resources to find primary source documents, data, statements on best practices, and research articles related to issues in HRM.
  6. Develop and present viable strategies and/or policy recommendations relating to important HR issues.

Grading Information:

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 at your local Education Center.

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 classroom discussions             20%
Complete 3 "You Manage It" Case Studies 30%
Midterm Examination 20%
Final Examination 30%

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 strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with UMUC-Europe/BSU policies regarding plagiarism, as all class papers are subject to being sent to turnitin.com for authentication.

Specifically for this course you will be required to complete a midterm exam, a final exam, and three "You Manage It" case studies.
The midterm will fall on the 7th week of the term and will cover all readings, lectures and discussions to date. The Final exam will fall on week 13, and will cover all readings, lectures and discussions since the midterm.

You are also required to complete three case studies. At the end of each chapter are a number of problem scenarios entitled, "You Manage It." Choose three from any assigned chapter in Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5 of your text. You may choose no more than one case study per Part. Answer all questions thoroughly (minus the "Group Project") as an MS Word Document, and submit via the Assignment Folder in your classroom. The first Case Study is due by Week Six of the term; and the remaining two are due by the end of Week Twelve. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Please note: twenty percent of your grade will be determined by classroom participation. Each week's discussion conference will be open for only one week. It is therefore imperative that you make your contributions during the assigned week. In order to earn maximum participation points, you must make original postings and comments on the postings of your classmates.

Course Schedule:

Schedule of Topics and Events.

Week 1.

Introduction to Personnel Management.
NO READINGS.
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Week 2.

Work Flow and Job Analysis.
Readings: chp 2.
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Week 3.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
Readings: chps 3 & 4.
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Week 4.

Recruitment.
Readings: chp 5.
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Week 5.

Outplacement, Downsizing and Separations.
Readings: chp 6.
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Week 6.

Appraisal Systems.
Readings. Chp 7.

First Case Study also due by close of business on Sunday.
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Week 7.

MIDTERM EXAMINATION!
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Week 8.

BREAK WEEK. Enjoy!
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Week 9.

Employee Training and Career Development.
Readings: chps 8 & 9.
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Week 10.

Compensation and Performance.
Readings: chps 10 & 11.
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Week 11.

Benefits and Employee Relations.
Readings: chps. 12 & 13.
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Week 12.

Worker Rights and Collective Bargaining.
Readings: chps. 14 & 15.

Also, final two case studies are due at the end of this week.
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Week 13.

FINAL EXAM. All exams MUST be posted by the end of business on Sunday of this week.

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. JED Riggs is Collegiate Professor of Public Management with Bowie State University. He has taught in the Maryland System since 1993


Last updated by John Riggs: February 16, 2007, 12:49 pm
Find this syllabus linked from the schedule at: http://www.ed.umuc.edu/schedule