Managing Human Resources

PA 725

Fall 2008

Requirements

Required Text:

Riccucci, Norma M. and Katherine C. Naff. 2008.  Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, 6th edition.  Boca Raton: CRC Press

See Class Schedule for other reading assignments.   All will be available online from the class website or on electronic reserve at the library.  To access readings on electronic reserve, you will need a password that I will provide when it is needed.

Assignments:

Style sheets providing greater detail as to the requirements of these assignments will be available early in the semester,

Class participation and exercises (10% of final grade)  As noted in the course objectives, I do not hold you accountable for learning the course material by giving you a written exam. Rather, I expect you to demonstrate your knowledge through participation in class and small group discussions and exercises. If you have to miss a class, I will ask you to complete some or all of the group exercises and case studies on your own and turn them in to me. Occasionally, if time doesn't permit us to complete the group exercises in class, I will ask everyone to write them up on their own. You must turn these in to receive full credit for this part of your grade.

Workforce Planning Paper (25% of final grade):  This assignment is designed to get you thinking about the ways in the nature of work, workers, and work arrangements are changing having impacts on agencies. You will learn Marcov chain analysis as a method of workforce forecasting. The paper is due October 15.

Human Resource Policy Paper (20% of final grade):  This assignment requires you to write a short paper proposing the adoption of a human resource policy in a public sector jurisdiction. It will be based on library research. The paper is due Nov. 5.

Challenges for HRM: A Personnel Professional's View  (25% of final grade). For this assignment, you will be required to arrange an interview with the personnel officer of a local, federal, or state agency or a non-profit organization (with at least 50 employees).  The purpose of the interview is to learn his or her perspective about the greatest challenges and prospects for human resource management over the next 10 years. Your analysis of your interview results will comprise a paper, not to exceed 5 pages and is due on Dec. 10 (hard copy please)

Proposal for a New HR System  (20% of final grade). You will complete this assignment in teams, assigned by me later this semester. For purposes of this assignment, you have been asked by your (hypothetical) jurisdiction's political leadership to provide a proposal for what that jurisdiction's HR system should look like. The final product will  be a 15 minute presentation of your proposal. The presentations will take place on Dec. 17.

Students are expected to attend all classes, be on time for class and stay for the entire length of class unless cleared with the professor in advance due to professional or other responsibilities elsewhere.  Assignments are expected to be completed and to be turned in on time.