Syllabus: Environmental Nonprofit and Volunteer Management ENVS 5000 Spring 2015

Transcription

1 Syllabus: Environmental Nonprofit and Volunteer Management ENVS 5000 Spring 2015 Instructor: Mark Brunson, , Office hours: If you are on the Logan campus, you can find me in my office (NR 216) on Mondays between 8 and 9:15 am. But it may be easier to arrange an appointment. And you can always me you should get a response within a day or less. Who should take this course? ENVS 5000 is required for the Environmental Studies and Recreation Resource Management majors, but it can be useful for people majoring in other subjects as well. Most students take it toward the end of their undergraduate career, and that s probably best because it requires a lot of independent work. Why a required course on nonprofit and volunteer management? Traditionally QCNR students prepared for careers in land management agencies. But today s Environmental Studies and RRM students are as likely to seek and find jobs in the private sector or at nonprofits as in state or federal government. As government grows less popular and less affordable, America increasingly turns to nonprofit groups and volunteer assistance to meet a diverse set of needs. This course is designed to introduce you to the activities, legal and political contexts, organizational structures, challenges and opportunities of working with nonprofit and voluntary organizations in support of environmental and recreation goals. How will the course be taught? This is an online course. There will be weekly assignments and expectations, but you can do your work whenever is most convenient for you. Course materials will include readings, short recorded lectures and interviews, and links to videos. There will be regular online discussions and you will be expected to participate meaningfully in those discussions. However, the core activity of the course will require you to act independently, because this is also a Service- Learning course. You will be required to work with an actual nonprofit organization of your choice, so that you can explore the activities of the non- profit and voluntary sector from within. You will regularly report back to me and to the class about your service within your nonprofit, so we can all benefit from each others experiences. What is Service- Learning? Service- Learning is a credit- bearing experience in which students meet a community need, reflect on service activities, gain a richer understanding of course content, and exercise their sense of civic responsibility. Elements of service learning include: Meaningful Service: Meeting a genuine need that is significant and recognized as important by both the participants and the community.

2 Connection to Learning: Based on clear learning goals that require the application of concepts, content, and skills from the course and involves participants in the construction of their own knowledge. Reflection: Process the experience and share it with others through oral or written formats, focusing on o What? What service did I perform?, What happened? What did I learn? o So What? What was the result or benefit of the service rendered? o Now What? What will I do now? How can I continue to serve? Readings and other sources of information The required text is Nonprofit Kit for Dummies, 4 th edition, by Stan Hutton and Frances Phillips. If you ve used a For Dummies book before, you know that they re great at making complicated things clear and emphasizing the practical knowledge people need to go about their daily lives. In other words, they re really for smart people who want to get things done effectively and efficiently. They re also cheaper than a typical college textbook. While most of the readings will be from Hutton & Phillips, a few additional readings will be posted in Canvas or accessed via the Internet. What will I expect of you? Requirements of the course are: o Service: You will be a participant- observer in a nonprofit organization of your choosing, doing volunteer service that fits your interests and/or schedule. You ll need to choose quickly, but there are many options: Cache County alone has more than 300 nonprofits registered with the National Center for Charitable Statistics. o Communication: A brief paper will be due every other week (uploaded to Canvas). Some assignments will be progress reports, and some will ask questions related to specific course topics. In weeks when no written assignment is due, you are expected to participate in an online discussion; some online discussions will ask you to create brief presentations to be uploaded into Canvas using the media tool. Classmates will critique one of those presentations, and you will critique two others presentations. Finally, you will prepare and submit a final written report. o Participation: You should check the ENVS 5000 Canvas site frequently for any messages from your fellow students or me. Sharing your experiences is critical to the collaborative nature of this course. o Responsibility: You will be representing yourself and the university as you work with your NGO. It is your responsibility to understand and abide by the rules and policies of both the university and the NGO. If there are occasions where you feel uncomfortable or unsafe in your surroundings, contact the appropriate official in the NGO and your instructors. o Grading: Your grades will be based on the following: o Engagement (service, participation, responsibility) 20% o Online participation 20% o Biweekly writing assignments 30% o Final report 30%

3 Accommodation for disabilities This university helps disabled students participate fully in its programs, activities and services. If you have a disability that has been documented by USU s Disability Resource Center, you can work with the Center and with me to ensure that you get what you need. Academic integrity and class conduct Students struggle to balance the demands of school, work, and family, so it may be tempting to take advantage of how modern technology makes it easy to claim another person s work as your own. According to USU s Student Code, violations of academic integrity can carry sanctions up to and including giving a student a failing grade for the course ( Don t risk this! Acts that will be considered academic dishonesty in this course are: Substituting for another student, or letting someone else substitute for you, in completing an assignment; Falsifying reports of work done on behalf of an organization; Submitting substantially the same work for an assignment in this class as you turned in for credit in another class; Representing, by paraphrase or direct quotation, the published or unpublished work of another person as one s own without giving full acknowledgment (including phrases lifted from websites.) Using work copied or paraphrased from a publication or website is plagiarism unless the copied work is in quotations and the source is clearly cited. Direct quotations should be used infrequently (typically <1% of a paper); citations should acknowledge the source of an idea or fact, but the writing should be your own. If you need more information about academic integrity and the university Honor Code, or you d like to read the university s policy on this issue, go to Integrity.pdf. Schedule of class activities and assignments Week 1 (Jan. 7-11) Topics: Introduction to course topic, expectations, methods, and instructor. Getting started: finding the right organization; how to introduce yourself to a prospective partner Readings: Be familiar with the course syllabus; Read Academic Service- Learning Guide (posted in Canvas); scan the list of nonprofits and foundations in your county Assignment: Use the media tool in Canvas to record and upload to Discussions a brief introduction of yourself. Week 2 (Jan ) Topics: Introduction to the citizen sector & the concept of social entrepreneurship Readings: Defining Social Entrepreneurship (posted in Canvas) Assignment: Writing assignment - first progress report.

4 Week 3 (Jan ) Topic: Social entrepreneurship in Cache Valley and beyond Readings: Chapter 1 in Hutton & Phillips; also Defining and Scrutinizing the Nonprofit Sector (posted in Canvas) Assignment: Discussion participation share prior experiences with nonprofit groups Week 4 (Jan. 26- Feb. 1) Topic: Starting a nonprofit organization Crafting an effective mission statement Readings: Chapters 2 and 3 in Hutton & Phillips; The Art of Forming a New Nonprofit Assignment: Writing assignment - mission statement exercise Week 5 (Feb. 2-8) Topic: Planning (in this course, and in nonprofit management) Reading: Chapter 7 in Hutton & Phillips Assignment: Discussion participation share your initial experiences in your nonprofit Week 6 (Feb. 9-15) Topic: Working with volunteers Reading: Chapter 9 in Hutton & Phillips Assignment: Writing assignment - second progress report Week 7 (Feb ) Topic: Why people volunteer, and what it means for natural resource managers Reading: Volunteering to Manage Rangeland Weeds (posted in Canvas) Assignment: Discussion participation - volunteer management in your nonprofit Week 8 (Feb. 23- March 1) Topic: Tax- exempt status getting it and keeping it Reading: Chapters 4 and 5 in Hutton & Phillips Assignment: Writing assignment crafting articles of incorporation Week 9 (March 2-8) Topic: Personnel issues boards of directors and paid staff Reading: Chapters 6 and 10 in Hutton & Phillips; Wanted: Strong, Capable Nonprofit Boards (posted in Canvas) Assignment: Discussion participation the ideal board of directors Week 10 (March 9-15) Topic: Spring Break!! (no course participation expected) Week 11 (March 16-22) Topic: Marketing an organization; website design and assessment Reading: Chapter 12 in Hutton & Phillips Assignment: Writing assignment third progress report

5 Week 12 (March 23-29) Topic: Raising money Reading: Chapters 13, 14, 15 and 15 in Hutton & Phillips Assignment: Discussion participation fundraising in your nonprofit Week 13 (March 30- April 5) Topic: Evaluation and transparency Reading: Chapters 8 and 11 in Hutton & Phillips; Charity Rankings Giveth Less than Meets the Eye ( Assignment: Writing assignment evaluating your nonprofit Week 14 (April 6-12) Topic: When nonprofits get into trouble Reading: The State of the Nation s Nonprofits and Ten Ways to Lose Tax- Exempt Status (posted in Canvas) Assignment: Discussion participation create a brief presentation, summarizing key findings about your organization Week 15 (April 13-19) Topic: Trouble- shooting your final reports Reading: None Assignment: View two of your colleagues presentations and offer reactions/suggestions Week 16 (April 20-26) Topic: Social entrepreneurs revisited: a reflection and celebration Reading: None Assignment: Your final project report is due no later than 11:59 pm, Sunday, April 26