SYLLABUS Human Resources

Transcription

1 SYLLABUS Human Resources BSAD 222 Section A, INSTRUCTOR & CLASS MEETINGS Instructor: Paula Cope, MEd Contact: ( Office Hours: Mondays 1:00-4:00 PM or by appointment Class Meets: Mondays from 4:05-7:05 PM, Kalkin 325 GOALS & OBJECTIVES At the core of every great enterprise are its people. The ways in which people are hired, recognized, managed, and retained can enhance organizational performance and make or break any organization. Employee participation, policies, compensation, culture, and related workforce issues all impact the life cycle of an organization and its people. Understanding that people are an organization s most valuable asset is a critical point of view especially in today s increasingly globalized and competitive business environment. This course is about people in organizations, current trends and practices in human resource management and the impact people and policy decisions have on finance, culture, and success. Course content is derived mostly from contemporary theory, research, and practice in the human resources and management disciplines. Students will be encouraged to use course material to be self-aware and mindful about how they lead and interact with others, and to adopt an ethic of continuous self-improvement in their projects, participation, and interpersonal skills. This course is experiential and interactive. Real case examples will be presented often along with guest speakers and students are encouraged to read the news and stay abreast of changes in the business environment which directly apply to classroom topics. Classes will include experiential exercises, paired discussions, guest speakers, presentations, and case studies. The capstone of experiential learning occurs through students working in teams in which they apply course material to diagnose events in a case involving multiple human resource elements in a complex organizational context. Teams will need to plan and coordinate activities to complete a critical analysis of the events in the case in a manner that demonstrates a deep understanding of course material and the ability to apply it to diagnose employees reactions to events and the practices used by managers, leaders, and policy makers. Students will also be placed in the role of a team leader, drawing on course material to inform team decisions and plans in order to achieve their objectives. This analysis is designed to foster teamwork, 1

2 leadership, critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills. Course materials and topics are geared toward supporting the evolution of teams and strengthening this learning opportunity. COURSE CONTENT Part 1 Human Resources in Management: Rewards and challenges of HR; strategic planning and HR planning; succession planning; and introduction to HR metrics Part 2 Meeting Human Resources Requirements: Equal Employment Opportunity; job analysis, and job design Part 3 Developing Effectiveness in HR: Recruitment and career planning; hiring and selection; training and development; and performance management Part 4 Compensation and Security: Managing Compensation; pay-for-performance; incentives and rewards; employee benefits; and promoting health and safety Part 5 Enhancing Employee-Management Relations: Employee rights and discipline; and labor relations Part 6 Expanding HR s Horizons: International HR management and special topics REQUIRED TEXT Snell, Morris, & Bohlender (2016). Managing Human Resources (17th Edition). New York, Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN # The ISBN for the loose leaf is version: which is available for purchase in the UVM bookstore. If you buy the textbook elsewhere, the hardcover version should be identical to the loose-leaf version in content and pagination. READING ASSIGNMENTS Reading for this class is very important. To get the most out of each class and increase your ability to participate in the discussions, the chapters assigned should be read BEFORE class. Additional articles may be assigned from time to time. Test questions will be drawn from the reading as well as class presentations, guest speakers, and discussion. GRADING Individual Tests 60% Team Presentation 10% Team Project Paper 30% 2

3 Individual Tests: Test 1 (midterm) = 30% and Test 2 (final) = 30%. A week before each test a document will be posted on Blackboard about the format and applicable course content. No make-up exams are given for the final. Team Presentation: A team presentation comprises 10% of the final grade. Half of this grade is based on the team s performance and half is based on each team member s presentation performance. Grading criteria, presentation advice, and guidelines will be posted on Backboard. Team Project Paper: A team project paper comprises 30% of the final course grade. All team members will receive the same base grade, which will then be weighted by each student s Team Member Evaluation Score to account for potentially different contributions among team members. At the end of the semester, students will evaluate the contributions and teamwork behavior of all team members including themselves. Each student s Team Member Evaluation Score is then computed as an average of the self-evaluation and those provided by all other team members. To illustrate this, consider a team project paper that receives a grade of 90%. One team member was a leader of the team and did more than his or her share of the work, which is reflected in this student s Team Member Evaluation Score of 105. In contrast, another student was a slacker who did little work, missed several meetings, and often was the source of conflict, resulting in this student receiving a Team Member Evaluation Score of 80. As a result, for the paper that received a raw grade of 90%, the strong team member receives a grade of 94.5% and the slacker receives 72%. Thus, it behooves each student to contribute meaningfully to the team and to maintain positive working relationships with all team members. Turbo Booster Quizzes: You can beef up your grade by taking quizzes. A two question quiz will be given each week for a total of 10 quizzes. If you are absent without prior notice or late, you get a zero and no makeups will be given. Each question will be worth half a point. You can earn up to 5 total points which will be added to your final grade. If you get 100% on all of your quizzes, you can get an extra point, or 6 total points. Example: A student with a final grade of 82 (B) earning 6 extra points, would now have a final grade of 88 (B+). Percentage to Letter Grades: = A = A = A = B = B = B = C = C = C = D = D = D = F 3

4 Final letter grades are determined by applying the above percentage-to-letter conversions and using normal rounding rules, calculated to two decimal places (e.g., an is a B+ and an is an A-). Out of fairness to all students, the same conversion rules will be applied to all students and no exceptions will be made. ACCESS In keeping with University policy, any student with a documented disability interested in utilizing accommodations should contact ACCESS, the office of Disability Services on campus. ACCESS works with students and faculty to create reasonable and appropriate accommodations via an accommodation letter to professors with suggested accommodations as early as possible each semester. Contact ACCESS: A170 Living/Learning Center; ; [email protected]; or ATTENDANCE To do well in this course students must attend class regularly. Attendance is rewarded in several ways: students will obtain a deeper understanding of the material, the instructor will often explain in class what material will and will not be tested, and all classes will include testable material that is not presented in the textbook. There will be the additional benefit of dialogue, hearing real world case examples from guest speakers, and debating points of interest. In the event of a legitimate absence, students are encouraged to come to office hours to receive the same test-related tips as the rest of the class. Legitimate absences are limited to medical reasons that are accompanied by appropriate documentation and, if discussed with the instructor in advance, athletic obligations, religious holidays, and career opportunities. Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work. Athletic Obligations: Students participating in inter-collegiate athletics should plan their schedules with special care, recognizing the primary importance of all of their University academic responsibilities. Each semester, members of UVM varsity and junior varsity teams are responsible for documenting in writing any conflicts between their planned athletic schedule and the class schedule to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes. Students and instructors should then discuss potential conflicts between course requirements and intercollegiate competitions. When an unavoidable conflict exists, the student and instructor should seek a resolution, which permits the student to address the course requirement and participate in the athletic competition. The instructor has final authority on this matter. 4

5 Career Opportunities: Students who must schedule job interviews and other career related opportunities during class time should inform the instructor in advance in order for the absence to be considered legitimate. Each student is expected to know the UVM policies regarding Student Rights and Responsibilities. Information on all University policies can be found at TEACHING PHILOSOPHY In this course, you are expected to be an active participant in the learning process. This means that you take responsibility for your learning. Part of being an active learner is to seek help about concepts with which you are having trouble: Do not hesitate to me, come to office hours, and to use your classmates as a learning resource. Studying for this class will likely be different than for other classes, so don t wait to ask about some alternative techniques. In the classroom, although I will review many key concepts from the textbook, I will not simply reiterate textbook content. Current articles, headline news, case studies, and other course material will be presented in each class. In the classroom, I aim to link theory and research to the actual practice in organizational settings. A variety of industries will be discussed. We will do this by linking the material to events in real organizations, sharing students own experiences, and using my experiences working in teams and organizations as an employee, leader, and consultant. Experienced-based learning will occur through group discussions of concepts, facilitated reflection, in-class exercises, out-door team building (weather permitting), cases, and team-based assignments. Given that our textbook focuses on US employment law and US cases, I will partner with our international students to broaden our experience and encourage all students to bring relevant materials and topics up for discussion. My overall aim as an instructor is to push you to learn and achieve more than you might on your own. I am not just a disseminator of information; I am a consultant and facilitator, your coach and biggest cheerleader, and will be relentless in helping you make the most of your learning and development as a business leader, employee, and as a person. There s nothing easy about this course because it is about people and people are complicated. It requires hard work to achieve a good grade. Hopefully, you ll find the course enjoyable, rewarding, and applicable to your work no matter where you go or what you do. Studying human resources was an eye-opener for me personally and changed my whole approach to management. ACADEMIC HONESTY The principal objective of the policy on academic honesty is to promote an intellectual climate and support the academic integrity of the University of Vermont. Academic dishonesty or an offense against academic honesty includes acts that may subvert or compromise the integrity of the educational process. Such acts are serious offenses that insult the integrity of the entire academic community. 5

6 Offenses against academic honesty are any acts that would have the effect of unfairly promoting or enhancing one's academic standing within the entire community of learners which includes, but is not limited to, the faculty and students of the University of Vermont. Academic dishonesty includes knowingly permitting or assisting any person in the committing of an act of academic dishonesty. The academic honesty policy distinguishes between minor and major offenses. Offenses purely technical in nature or in which the instructor does not perceive intent to achieve advantage are deemed minor and handled by the instructor. Major offenses are those in which intent to achieve academic advantage is perceived. A full statement of the policy can be found in the Cat's Tale. Each student is responsible for knowing and observing this policy. Plagiarism: Assignments plagiarized in whole or in part from the Internet or published sources automatically receive a grade of 0. Plagiarism includes (a) the verbatim copy of paragraphs, sentences, and parts of sentences, and (b) the use of ideas without giving due credit (i.e., without citing and referencing the source of the idea). If you have questions about what does and does not constitute plagiarism, please ask. CLASSROOM CODE OF CONDUCT I would like us to imagine that we are a company and the rules of conduct, rooted in UVM s policies, will mirror those you should expect to find in the workplace. If you wouldn t do it on the job, please don t do it in class. We start at 8:00 AM because that s real life. Work doesn t start when you show up. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, please don t arrive late. Faculty and students will at all times conduct themselves in a manner that serves to maintain, promote, and enhance the high quality academic environment befitting the University of Vermont. To this end, it is expected that all members of the learning community will adhere to the following guidelines: Faculty and students will attend all regularly scheduled classes, except for those occasions warranting an excused absence under the policy detailed in the catalogue (e.g., religious, athletic, medical). Students and faculty will arrive prepared for class and on time, and they will remain in class until the class is dismissed. Faculty and students will treat all members of the learning community with respect. Toward this end, they will promote academic discourse and the free exchange of ideas by listening with civil attention to the comments made by all individuals. Students and faculty will maintain an appropriate academic climate by refraining from all actions that disrupt the learning environment (e.g., making noise, ostentatiously not paying attention, talking on their cell phones and/or texting, and leaving and reentering the classroom inappropriately). 6

7 SCHEDULE Date Day Topic Readings Aug. 31 Mon Intro to Course & HR as a Key Business Partner Chapters 1 & 2 Sept. 7 Mon Labor Day-NO CLASS Sept. 14 Mon Talent Management: Recruitment, Hiring, Selection, and Career Planning Sept. 21 Mon Training, Development and Performance Management Guest Speaker: Kate McInnis, PhD, Senior Consultant, Cope & Associates, Inc. Sept. 28 Mon Equal Employment Opportunity; Job Analysis, and Job design Guest Speaker: Heather Wright, Esq. Partner with Wright-Jones, LLC Oct. 5 Mon Compensation & Pay-for-Performance Guest Speaker: Frank Sadowski, SPHR, Partner, HR Consulting, Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLC Oct. 12 Mon TEST 1: MIDTERM Presentation Skills; Assignment of Presentation Topics Oct. 19 Mon Employee Benefits Guest Speaker: Tim Cope, Broker, Fleischer Jacobs Group Chapters 5 & 6; Quiz 1 Chapters 7 & 8; Quiz 2 Chapters 3 & 4 and HBR Article, It s Time to Blow Up HR. Quiz 3 Chapters 9 & 10; Quiz 4 Chapter 11; Quiz 5 Oct. 26 Mon Promoting Health & Safety Chapter 12; Quiz 6 Nov. 2 Mon The Importance of Policies & Their Impact on Employees and Employers; Team Project Plan Introduction Guest Speaker: Susan Graham, President & CEO, Interim HR Quiz 7 Nov. 9 Mon Employee Rights and Discipline; Labor Relations, Contracts, At-Will Guest Speaker: Mark Heyman, JD, HR Director, Logic Supply; former Deputy Legal Counsel for the Vermont State Employees Association Nov. 16 Mon PRESENTATIONS Chapters 13 &14; Quiz 8 Nov. 23- Mon THANKSGIVING RECESS 27 Nov. 30 Mon HR in Entrepreneurial Environments; Special Topics; Projects Due Quiz 9 Dec. 7 Mon Contemporary Issues and Global HR Guest Speaker: Gabriella Kaes, Global Human Resources Director, Institute for Sustainable Communities and former Chief of HR for UNESCO in Brazil Dec. 14 Thur Test 2: FINAL EXAM 4:30-7:15 PM Kalkin Room 325 Chapter 15; Quiz 10 7