• Description
• Objectives
• Required Textbook
• Delivery Of Instruction

• Course Requirements
• Evaluation
• Attendance & Participation
• Policies & Procedures
• Returning Assignments

ABOUT THE COURSE

DESCRIPTION

This course is an introduction to the organization and management of the public sector. The local, state, and federal levels of government are explored. Topics include intergovernmental relations, overview of different levels of government program management, and management of nonprofit agencies. This course is also available on campus.

PREREQUISITES

None

OBJECTIVES

After the completion of this course the student will possess the ability to integrate the theoretical and practical aspects of this course.  The student’s competency level will require a minimum of 70% accuracy and will demonstrate the following skills:

• define public administration;
• describe major functions performed by public administrators;
• summarize the effects of social, economic, political, and technological conditions in the public sector;
• discuss the roll and function of interest groups/lobbyists and political parties in formulating public policy;
• describe the structure of the administrative branch of federal, state, and local governments;
• compare and contrast the shared roles of elected officials and public administration in setting and carrying out public policy;
• explain how government policies affect the direction and rate of economic growth;
• discuss the roll and function of intergovernmental relations in public administration;
• summarize the development of public personnel management, and
• explain the factors that tend to perpetuate or limit its role in public management;
• evaluate the effects of privatization in setting and carrying out public policy;
• discuss the role and function and identify the current trends of planning in public administration;
• summarize the historical trends associated with welfare, crime, and education as related to managing in the public sector; identify the different groups to which public administrators must be responsible, and describe the types of conflicts that occur between these responsibilities; and describe the knowledge, skills, and attitude needed by contemporary public administrators.

REQUIRED TEXT

Public Administration (with InfoTrac), 1st Edition, LeMay, Michael C., Wadsworth (2002)

Other reading materials can be found on the companion web site, the discussion board, and the external links.

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DELIVERY OF INSTRUCTION

This course comes to you through a course management platform named MyCourse 2.1. If you have not worked with MyCourse 2.1 before, it is highly recommended that you pay a virtual visit to their website and take the tour.

At the SAC Online website, you will find tutorials for Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers. You will need one of these browsers to access the instructional material for this course. If you are not sure whether you have the basic knowledge and skills for taking an online course, I recommend that you take this Self Evaluation Test found on said website. To find out more about online learning, you may do so by visiting SAC's Internet Skills Center at this same website. While at the website, it may be a good idea for you to make sure your computer system meets the minimum hardware and software requirements for online courses offered through this College. More information about web-based skills and technical assistance can be found at SAC's Help Desk. Another helpful website is SAC's Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A variety of learning and teaching methods, strategies and techniques will be used to meet the course goals and objectives.  However, the textbook and online readings are the primary means  used to introduce and discuss course concepts, materials, and assignments such as reaction essays, debates, and role playing.  To this end, active such as reaction essays, debates, and role playing.  To this end, attendance and active participation are essential in helping make this a successful learning experience for yourself and fellow classmates. Therefore, you are required to complete the following activities:

Attendance & Participation
In my Online classes, attendance and participation are not the same.

ATTENDANCE:
To be in attendance during a week, you must meet two requirements: (1) You must post at least one message in response to one of your classmate's postings to the discussion questions on the listserv or Discussion Board "threads" once during each week. Dates and times for attendance are based on Central Standard Time (CST); (2) you must post these messages using your mail.accd.edu address or the email address you used to register for this course. More precisely, you miss two (2) weeks of attendance--consecutively or non-consecutively-and I will withdraw you from this course. Attendance is not a graded activity, unlike participation. Meeting the attendance requirements does not ensure a good participation grade.

It should be noted, however, that it is not the instructor's primary responsibility for dropping students. If you choose to drop the course, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the Admissions Office for the complete and correct process.

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PARTICIPATION:
Class participation is a graded part of your course work. You must participate two days each week in class discussions, and quality and content will be taken into account in the grading.

Keep in mind; participation is both a quantitative (2 days) and qualitative (substantive participation) requirement and student performance in this area is assessed just as with any other assignment. Students receive full, partial or no credit, depending upon how well they fulfill these requirements.

Substantive Participation Means?
I suggest that you try to relate your own "real world" experience as much as possible to the readings from our primary textbook, discussion questions and web-based assignments. Most of you have "real world" experience, so if you draw upon these experiences, I am confident we will have a rich and valuable discussion. There are several ways to participate substantively. You can build upon each comment, add examples from your own experience, suggest alternative ways of looking at the issue, point out problems, and at times, constructively disagree. In general, posting textbook answers or messages that simply says, "I agree," is not enough to meet the discussion requirement!

What does this mean?

For the remainder of this course, ask yourself whether the message you are about to post meets the definition of substantive participation. Will it advance the conversation and move it to another level, or is it simply an "I agree" type message that essentially reinforces the points the other person was making? Please note, sometimes it's ok to post an "I agree" message - but don't confuse it with substantively participating!

You might wonder why I don't count your textbook answers to the discussion questions as substantive participation. The rationale here is that posting your answers to an assignment is the equivalent of showing up in class, dropping off your assignment, and leaving. It's only when you engage in dialogue with your classmates that you are truly participating!

In my online classes, all participants are expected to be actively engaged in classroom discussion 2 days each week. Please note that the 2 of 7 requirement for participation is not an "all or nothing" requirement. For example, consider a student who submit a written paper which fails to meet all of the criteria set forth in the writing assignment - perhaps the paper was 1500 words in length instead of the required 1600; perhaps the paper included 3 references instead of the required 5; and so forth. Undoubtedly, I will assign some credit to the paper - not full credit, perhaps, but certainly more than a zero. Likewise, a student who meets the substantive note expectation on fewer than two days during the week can expect to receive partial credit. For the purpose of this course, each week starts on Day 1 (Sunday) at 12:00 A.M. (CST) and ends on Day 7 (Saturday) at 10:30 P.M. (CST).

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EVALUATION

The student is awarded a score in all course work.  The minimum passing score is 70.  The instructor, however, may raise the student’s final score by 10% based on class participation, 100% attendance, and/or extra credit assignments.

Chapter Quizzes:

Chapter(s) quizzes and exams may include ALL the materials presented by the instructor, the textbook, online discussions, videos, and web-activities. The quizzes and exams may include any or all of the following types of questions: objective (matching, true or false, multiple choice, fill-in-the blank), and short-answer essay.  Each student is encouraged to contact the instructor at appropriate times to discuss any problems relating to the course requirements.  The quizzes and exams must be completed by the date posted on them. No late quizzes or exams will be accepted, thus, no credit will be awarded.

All quizzes and exams, including the final exam, will be conducted on-line.

Chapter Homework Assignments:

Read the learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter.  The objectives target the main points in the course and serve as guides in preparing for online discussions, quizzes and exams.  It is suggested that you read each textbook chapter at least twice.  The first time scan for the major objectives.  The second time focus on gaining an understanding of the key concepts and the definitions of  terms associated with labor relations.

Other Assignments

Complete team projects and other web-based activities, as posted online.

Internet Etiquette

Students will be held to standards of conduct similar to those found in the public and private workplaces. You are expected to demonstrate a clear understanding of professional demeanor and to abide by its precepts in all of your electronic interactions with your fellow classmates and with your instructor. If you need help with this requirement, you are encouraged to visit this Netiquette website. If you are familiar with Microsoft's PowerPoint, you can view or download a PowerPoint presentation about e-mail by going to the following Netiquette website.

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FINAL GRADE

Final grades are determined on a percentage basis as follows:

· Chapter Homework……………….....10%

· Chapter Quizzes……………………..10%

· Participation Forums………………...15%

· Web-Based Exercises………………15%

· Chapter Exams...……………………20%

· Final Exam………………………….30%

GRADING SCALE

A = (90-100%)

B  = (89-80%)

C  = (79-70%)

D  = (69-60%)

F  = (59-00%)

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
PBAD 1321

1. PUBLIC   ADMINISTRATION

a. Define Public Administration.
b. Describe the role of politics in Public Administration.
c. Define public purpose and public good.

2. PUBLIC POLICY 

a. Describe the cycle of public administration.
b. Describe the stages of public policy.
c. Describe the tools of implementation.
d. Discuss the role and function of each level of government.

3. BUREAUCRACY

a.  Describe the political dynamics of a bureaucracy.
b. Recognize the formal and informal structure of bureaucracy at all levels of government.
c. Understand the difference between an open and closed organization system.
d. Discuss the formal and informal communication process in a bureaucratic system.

4.  INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS          

a. Recognize federalism and intergovernmental.
b. Define interstate relations and communication relations.
c. Define inter-agencies relations and communication relations.
d. Understand political relations in the federal system.
e. Discuss decision-making in an intergovernmental format.

5.  PUBLIC-PRIVATE RELATIONSHIPS

a.   Discuss the regulatory agencies and their affect in the public and private sector.
b.  Describe the privatization of the public sector.

6.  ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

a. Describe the functions of public executives.
b. Discuss different leadership styles as related to the public sector.
c. Recognize the limits to control of leadership.

7.  HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT           

a. Describe the civil service system in the public sector.
b. Describe the merit system and professional personnel system.
c. Discuss the public employee rights and responsibilities.

8. PUBLIC BUDGETING           

a.  Discuss the public budget formats.
b. Describe the revenue sources in the public sector.
c. Recognize the difference between public sector financing and private sector financing.

9.  EVALUATION

a. Describe the approaches to evaluation in public sector.
b. Recognize the standards for program effectiveness.
c. Identify the procedures for evaluating results and outcomes.

10. ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY

a. Define administrative accountability.
b. Discuss the tools necessary for public accountability.
c. Describe the formal and informal means of accountability.

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The following SCANS Skills will be included in this course:

Acquires and evaluates information (C-11) and organizes and maintains information (C-12).
Foundation skills included are:  reading (F-1), writing (F-2), arithmetic (F-3), mathematics (F-4), listening (F-5), speaking (F-6), creative thinking (F-7), decision making (F-8), problem solving (F-9), reasoning (F-12), responsibility (F-13), self-esteem (F14), sociability (F-15), self-management (F-16), and integrity/honesty (F-17).

SELECTED COLLEGE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:

disABILITY Support Services

Disabled Student’s Services (DSS) provides accommodations modifications, counseling and services to allow equal access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities.  Student support services are offered to disabled students who request assistance at DSS, provide a letter of verification of disability, have an interview with a DSS counselor and enroll at San Antonio College.

Support services and assistance is provided free of charge and in accessible facilities.  Examples of services available to disabled students include:  adapted entrance testing, special registration interpreters for the deaf, note takers mobility assistants, readers, scribes, writers, an adapted computer lab, special orientation, adapted classroom materials, special testing procedures, financial aid guidance, academic and personal counseling, adapted furniture/equipment, and other services/accommodations that are reasonable and can be provided under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

As per Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, if accommodation is needed, contact the Office of disABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES in Room #124 of the Chance Academic Center or call the staff at (210) 733-2347.

Academic Dishonesty Policy

Students may be subject to disciplinary proceedings resulting in an academic penalty or disciplinary penalty for academic dishonesty.  Academic Dishonesty includes but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism and collusion.  For additional information refer to the “Student Code of Conduct” in the San Antonio College Bulletin.

Returning and Retaining Grades and Assignments

Unless otherwise noted, assignments will be graded 5-7 work days (excluding weekends & holidays) after being turned in to the instructor.  After the assignments have been graded, they will be returned within the noted timeframe. Any assignments and tests not returned or claimed by the student will be disposed of by the end of the following semester.  It is the student’s responsibility to retain a copy of all written assignments, exams, and quizzes.

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© L.S. Soliz, Ed.D. and San Antonio College 2004