CRJU 5550 CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY & PLANNING

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1 University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs 1380 Lawrence Street, Suite 500 Campus Box 142 Denver, CO CRJU 5550 CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY & PLANNING Instructor: Office: Phone: Office Hours: Jen Gartner, MPA, JD Lawrence Street Center, Suite 500, Office 500Z (office), (mobile emergencies only please) By appointment (generally available from 8:00 am 3:00 pm) Class: January 17, 2012 May 12, 2012 Online via ecollege Please go to and select the ecollege course login Course Description & Scope This course provides a survey of conceptual and design strategies in criminal justice policy analysis. The logic and rationale of existing criminal justice interventions are critiqued, and techniques for developing new programs and policies are discussed. Selected policy issues in the criminal justice system are utilized to illustrate the application and interpretation of alternative strategies. Course Goals & Objectives By the end of the course, students will understand the policy and planning process in criminal justice organizations. Specifically, students will: 1. Learn the types of laws and the sources of applicable federal and state laws, including case law; 2. Understand the meaning and importance of due process requirements and equal protection guarantees as they apply to governmental agencies, and how they affect policy development; 3. Appreciate the difference between management and leadership; 4. Recognize the steps required for lasting organization change; 5. Understand and appreciate the issues, processes, and dynamics involved in the development and implementation of crime policies; 6. Understand the significance of and relationships between the competing stakeholders in the policy process; 7. Comprehend the basics of budgeting for both policy planning and program implementation and become familiar with the steps required to apply for federal funding; 8. Become familiar with basic legal research; and 9. Enhance critical thinking, research, and oral and written communication skills related to policy development and implementation. rev. 1/11/2012 1

2 Required Texts Welsh, Wayne N. and Philip W. Harris. (2008). Criminal Justice Policy & Planning,3 rd ed. Newark, NJ: Anderson Publishing. (ISBN: ). Smith, Catherine. (2010). Writing Public Policy, 2 nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. (ISBN: ). Additional readings are listed in the online classroom, ecollege. These readings will be available for download or available via an external website. About the Instructor Jen Gartner is the Director of Grants & Contracts for the School of Public Affairs. She is trained as a government contracts attorney and has worked with military and government contractors for many years, first at the law firm of Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius in Washington, DC, and later at the Space Science Institute, a research non-profit and home to the Cassini Imaging Team, in Boulder. Jen has practiced before the US Court of Federal Claims, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the DC Superior Court. She has also worked for the US Sentencing Commission, where she advised judges and prepared teaching documents about the drug sentencing guidelines and briefed the Director of Legislative Affairs on congressional hearings regarding money laundering and drug trafficking. Jen received her BA in Criminal Justice and Political Science from the University of Delaware in 1998 and her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where she served as Senior Managing Editor of the Public Contract Law Journal and as Student Director for the Domestic Violence Advocacy Project. While working as an attorney in Washington, DC, she also obtained an MPA from Norwich University. Jen has been an adjunct professor and lecturer for both the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs and Norwich University s Office of Graduate Programs. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of public administration and criminal justice. Jen has published several articles related to government contracts law, including an article about government contracting under the Homeland Security Act. Although she is a recovering attorney, Jen remains licensed in Maryland and Washington, DC. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Jen is a rabid Ravens fan and keeps a tin of Old Bay seafood seasoning at her desk. She is owned by an extremely cute Aussie Cattle Dog mix, Dodger. rev. 1/11/2012 2

3 University Policies 1. Student Conduct & Discipline. The University has rules and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of its business. Students are responsible for knowing and complying with the rules and regulations that govern student conduct and activities. Please visit the UCD Policies & Guidelines website, for a complete guide to applicable policies and procedures. 2. Academic Integrity. All students are expected to uphold the University s academic honesty code. A student must submit work that represents the student s own original analysis and writing. If a student relies on the research or writing of others, the student must cite those sources. Words or ideas that require citations include, but are not limited to, all hardcopy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly originates from an identifiable source. All students must be sensitive to plagiarism! For each written assignment and for each wiki, the instructor will select a random sample and conduct a plagiarism screening using Google searches, SafeAssign, and other available methods. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person s ideas, strategies, research, and writing. If you use the words or ideas of others without giving proper credit, you are guilty of plagiarism. The following guidelines will help you avoid plagiarism: When writing, use your own words. When you use another person s words, use quotation marks and credit the source with an in-text citation and a proper reference page. Credit the original source even when you have made slight variations to the language. If you are unsure whether to cite or not, err on the side of caution and cite! Please note that submitting an assignment that you wrote for another course, without specific approval by the instructor of the current course, is also a form of plagiarism. The University honor code and related policies is available online at: pline_policies. 3. Use. The University requires all official student correspondence be sent only to a student s UC Denver-assigned address and that faculty and staff consider from students to be official only if it originates from a UC Denver student account. (Beware! If you send s from your personal address, those s may be quarantined by the system and never reach the instructor.) 4. Accommodation for Disability. The University is committed to providing reasonable accommodation and access to programs and services to persons with disabilities. Students who want academic accommodations must register with Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 177 Arts Building, , TTY I will be happy to provide the requested accommodations once you provide me with a copy of DRS s letter. rev. 1/11/2012 3

4 Course Requirements and Policies 1. Schedule. This is an online course via ecollege. Each week begins on Monday at 12:00 am Mountain Time and ends on Sunday at 11:59 pm Mountain Time. The course uses a combination of asynchronous discussions, written assignments, and a position paper. 2. Reading Assignments. All of the readings assigned in the syllabus and any supplemental readings added throughout the semester are mandatory. Students must read the appropriate material prior to the week for which it is assigned and be prepared to discuss the material in the online discussion boards. 3. Discussions. This course includes four (4) graded class discussions. Students must post a substantive initial response to the discussion question by 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Wednesday to avoid losing points. Students must post at least one (1) additional substantive response by 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Sunday. PhD students enrolled in CRJU 5550 must post at least two (2) additional substantive responses. See the Discussion Guidelines and Grading Rubric for details regarding expectations. 4. Written Assignments. This course includes two (2) short written assignments. Students must submit assignments through the dropbox no later than 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Sunday. See the Assignment Guidelines and Grading Rubric for details regarding expectations. 5. California Prison Project. Students will be assigned to represent the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation s Division of Adult Institutions (the prison), Division of Adult Parole Operations, or Division of Rehabilitative Programs. Each student will work to create an appropriate policy or program to reduce overcrowding in California s prison system. See the California Prison Project Guidelines for details regarding expectations. 6. Position Paper/Policy Brief. All students will select a topic relating to a criminal justice agency and prepare a standard position paper (sometimes called a white paper or policy brief ). The paper shall be no less than 4 full pages and no more than 6 full pages, single-spaced, exclusive of references. The paper must be in APA format. PhD students enrolled in CRJU 7550 shall prepare a position paper between no less than 6 full pages and no more than 8 full pages, single-spaced, exclusive of references. See the Position Paper Guidelines for details regarding expectations. 7. Late Work. Students must complete assignments and discussions at the identified times. Only the instructor may grant an extension, and only then for serious extenuating circumstances. In the absence of an extension, the instructor may lower a student s grade for each day the assignment is late. Because of university grading deadlines, there will be no extensions for the final position paper! 8. Important Dates. Students are responsible for knowing all academic calendar dates for the semester. Please see the Registrar s website for the full academic calendar. 9. Technical Requirements. Students are responsible for maintaining or accessing a computer system capable of participating in all aspects of this course. This includes, but is not limited to, running the ecollege software, Real One player, Adobe Reader, and web browsing. rev. 1/11/2012 4

5 10. Respect for Fellow Students. Respect opposing views! There is much to be gained by active, critical debates on opposing viewpoints. Please remain respectful and professional in your discussions and assignments. This includes strict avoidance of sexist, racist, and other derogatory language. Keep in mind that it is difficult to determine tone in written communications. What comes off as a playful jab when spoken verbally can be read as a harsh criticism in or on the discussion board. 11. APA Style. Written assignments and the Policy Analysis Paper must follow APA format. Points will be deducted if you fail to use APA format! See the Student Resources section for information on APA format. Teaching Strategies & Methods of Evaluation Students are responsible for a variety of written assignments and asynchronous group discussions that test their ability to apply the concepts and principles addressed in the course to a variety of factual scenarios that replicate real-world challenges confronted by managers in public organizations. Students will be required to: 1. Synthesize and apply what they have read from the course readings and textbook; 2. Research online resources to supplement the course readings; 3. Identify relevant and material issues and exhibit critical thinking and analysis of the issues and concepts applicable to the issues; and 4. Exhibit clear and effective writing with an appropriately professional tone in all assignments and discussions. Evaluation There are 1000 possible points awarded for the required number of assignments and discussions in this course. A perfect grade with full points will only be given to an assignment or discussion of superior quality that meets all expectations as detailed in the grading rubric (a copy of the rubric is available in the ecollege online classroom). CRJU 5550/7550 Seminar Points Activity Points per Activity # Required Total Points % of Final Grade Discussions % Assignments % California Prison Project (CPP) 50 or % Position Paper % rev. 1/11/2012 5

6 Weekly Topics & Items Due A= Assignment D = Discussion CPP = California Prison Project WEEK DATES TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENT ITEMS DUE 1 1/17 1/22 Intro to Public Policy and Basic Online Legal Research 2 1/23 1/29 Understanding Your Organization: One Piece of the Bureaucratic Pie 3 1/30 2/5 Understanding Your Organization: Authority & Constitutional Law 4 2/6 2/12 Understanding Your Organization: Organizational & Authorizing Environments *Smith, Ch. 1 & 4 *Stolz, Ch. 1 & 2 *Smith, Ch. 2 & 3 *Start reviewing CPP documents *Review California Prison Project documents * Ohio Supermax documents *DiMaggio, The Iron Cage Revisited D1 Successful Policies D2 Ohio Supermax CPP1 About Your Agency 5 2/13 2/19 Creating Public Value *Alford, Making Sense of Public Value *Jackson, Public Sector Added Value *Moore, Defining Public Value *Moore, Strategic Triangle 6 2/20 2/26 Planned & Unplanned Change *Eisenbach, Transformational Leadership *Kotter, Successful Change *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 1 D3 Public Value D4 Leadership A1 Org Change 7 2/27 3/4 Problem Analysis *Ford, Resistance to Change: The Rest of the Story *Welsh & Harris, Ch /5 3/11 Setting Goals & Objectives *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 3 CPP2 - Analysis 9 3/12 3/18 Program & Policy Design *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 4 CPP3 Goals & Objectives 10 3/19 3/25 SPRING BREAK NONE NONE 11 3/26 4/1 Action Planning *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 5 A2 Briefing Memo 12 4/2 4/8 Action Planning: Budgeting & Grant Proposals *Bureau of Justice Statistics, RSAT Grant Announcement *Developing the Budget CPP4 Action Planning rev. 1/11/2012 6

7 13 4/9 4/15 Implementation & Monitoring *Welsh & Harris, Ch /16 4/22 Performance Management: Introduction 15 4/23 4/29 Performance Management: Evaluation 16 4/30 5/6 Performance Management: Reassessment & Review *Balancing Measures Best Practices in Performance Mgmt *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 7 * Leader s Guide to After- Action Reviews *Welsh & Harris, Ch. 8 CPP5 Resource Planning 17 5/7 5/12 FINALS WEEK Position Paper, due 5/10 by 5 pm Because of CU Denver grading deadlines, there will be NO EXTENSIONS on the final paper! rev. 1/11/2012 7