PSCI 402 Nonprofit Administration Volunteer Management Syllabus Instructor: Office Hours : By appointment (You can call me Dr. B) Skype: dr.cindybriggs(anytime I am on) Office phone: (214) 509 6321 Email: cindy.briggs@umontana.edu or dr.cindybriggs@gmail.com Important Communication Tips: Emails: The best way to reach me is by sending an email (I check email often). I will answer your email within 24 hours this is usually much quicker. If you send me an email after normal work hours on Friday I may not respond until Monday. This is not definite I often do check emails over the weekend, but I do reserve weekend s to be with my family. Very important: I must assume that you open your email that is registered with the course (your UM email) DAILY, as this is the method I use to communicate with you directly. Skype: Skype is free online service that allows real time communication. You can download the software and then request me as a contact (dr.cindybriggs). When I am available I turn my Skype on and you can feel free to ask questions, or just say hi. Think of it as my open door Please drop me an email with your Skype screen name so I can approve you on my end. Telephone: You may call me at my office number anytime (listed above). Please also send me an email if you have left a message on my office phone. Appointments: Online education can be tough I want to be available to you. So if my office hours are not convenient please just let me know we can make a convenient time for both of us. Mind Reading: Unfortunately my mind reading skills have gotten very rusty over the years therefore, I will not know you need help unless you ASK for help. Remember I cannot see you each week so I cannot see the light bulb over the head or the confusion on your face. Never be embarrassed to ask for help it is why I am here!! Page 1
Course Description: A ten week course intended for students and professionals interested in learning the basics of volunteer management. The course is intended to prepare students to assume roles as volunteer program leaders and managers, or to improve their skills in existing roles with volunteer organizations. The fundamental design of the course is based on learning through critical thought in and about leadership and management roles with volunteers. Expected Study Learning Outcomes: Learning Outcome Assessment 1. Students will understand common terms used within the volunteer management field 2. Students will be able to demonstrate and apply volunteer concepts to real life scenarios 3. Students will demonstrate their mastery of key content areas through the completion of a volunteer action plan. 4. Students will be able to utilize professional research and tools in the field of volunteer management and leadership by applying them to actual scenarios Midterm exam Weekly Student lead discussion Final Project Journal Method of Instruction: Students will use the Moodle system to access lectures, readings, and assignments, and to participate in discussions. Instructor will post lectures, other reading materials and assignments; critique written assignments; and monitor and evaluate discussion postings. Learning units will be posted by Monday morning, and assignments be due the following Sunday unless otherwise noted on the syllabus. Students can expect to receive graded work within one week. I will post the grades within the gradebook section of Moodle. Page 2
About Me I have over 23 years of nonprofit experience. I began my fundraising career in college (by accident!), and I have held various positions within nonprofits including: Executive Director, Chief Development Officer and Public Affairs Director. I have worked for organizations such as: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kentucky Humane Society, Goodwill Industries and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Most recently, I have served as a nonprofit consultant helping organizations succeed in governance and fundraising. I am a college professor for the, UCLA and Collin College. I teach courses in both business (strategic planning, change management, human resource management, etc.) and nonprofit administration including grant writing, nonprofit finance, fundraising, public policy, volunteer management and nonprofit management. I have the opportunity to be a frequent speaker at national conferences, and I am currently continuing research projects on fundraising and nonprofit management. I have a PhD in Organizational Leadership, a Master s of Arts (MA) in Higher Education, a Master s of Public Administration (MPA) with emphasis in nonprofit management, and a Bachelor s of Arts (BA) in Communication/Public Relations. I also obtained the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2006. The CFRE designation is a national certification that involves years of experience, fundraising expertise, and passing a national exam. I live in Allen, Texas (outside of Dallas) with my amazing husband Dr. Scott Briggs, our two daughters: Jordan (4) and Reagan (3), our son Jackson (7 months), and our two dogs. My Philosophy I am somewhat of an old school professor with new school methods! I believe in education. I also believe that you get out of something what you are willing to put into it. I also believe in taking education seriously. I do ask for people to remember that this is college. level course. I also ask that everyone remember that I am the professor and that I expect to be treated with respect (i.e. referring to me as Dr. Briggs) and also with respect in communication, etc. I will promise to also treat you with the utmost respect. The expectations will be that of college students (typically graduate students). You may register for this course as a professional development course, and I do appreciate that, but please remember that the expectations will be the same for everyone. I am tough and I do not make any apologies for this; however, I do tell my students that my goal is always the same and that is for you to leave this course with a better understanding of the material. I also remind my students that while this is an online course, I want you to think of it the same as if you were coming to a class. I hope you will schedule time to work on this course on a regular basis, and that you understand I try to be available as possible to help you. All of you have taken college courses before, so you understand that a professor is not just there to impart knowledge, but to help you learn even more. I want you to learn about volunteer management, but my greater goal is that you learn even more about the nonprofit sector. Graduate Student Requirement Students that are taking this course for graduate credit will be required to do a peer reviewed journal project. This project is explained in detail later in this syllabus. Page 3
Participation Students will be expected to fully engage and participate in this course. While the course is online, and is asynchronous, it is NOT an independent study course. Students should be prepared to post in the discussion board a minimum of three per week with one substantive post (so a minimum total of 3 posts per week but you should try for more). I grade participation on both quantity and quality. The grading rubric can be found at the end of this syllabus. Please note that I believe the discussion board is just as important as any other part of the course. Holiday During this course we may encounter a holiday. With online learning we do not take any time off. The learning unit is posted by Monday morning (usually Sunday evening) and you can plan your week accordingly. There may be assignments due on a holiday, but I try to make it the day before or the day after. It is your responsibility to know the due dates, and to get your work done for that week. Submitting Be sure to format your paper as you would if you were turning it in (name, course, date, etc.) All assignments should be submitted through the learning unit tab. No assignments will be accepted via email. PLEASE NOTE: Absolutely NO late assignments will be accepted during this course without prior approval of Dr. Briggs. References This is a graduate level course; therefore, you will be required to use appropriate references in your work. Please use APA Style Manual when referencing work. We will have assignments to help you understand APA Style, and there is also information in the APA Learning Unit. You only have to do the APA learning unit once; therefore, if you have taken me for a previous course and PASSED the APA learning unit you are exempt. Course time and preparation Students can expect to spend approximately 5 8 hours per week on this course. The goal of the instructor is to have you gain workable knowledge on all main parts of volunteer management. Please note some weeks you will need to spend more time, and some weeks it will be less. I am only giving an average and you will need to determine the appropriate amount time needed for you to accomplish the work. Request for Withdrawal Please see the Extended Learning website for information on withdrawing from courses and on refund policies. It is best to discuss your withdraw with Dr. Briggs prior to completion; however, please note you must follow university policy to complete the withdraw. Course Materials Required: Page 4
Fisher, J. C., & Cole, K. M. (1993). Leadership and Management of Volunteer Programs. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Renz, D. & Herman, R. (2010). The Jossey Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. (3 rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey Bass. (*) American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6 th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (*) Other materials will be posted on Moodle, or web addresses will be provided for internet readings * Please note: The books marked with (*) are required in all four (4) courses I teach at the. You will only need to purchase them once. Grading Intro information/syllabus Quiz = 25 postings (25 pts per week x 10)= 250 Volunteer plan assignments (50 pts x 3) = 150 Course journal (25 for pop review & 100 final review)= 125 APA assignments (10 pts x 5)= 50 Final project = 100 Graduate Students only Peer review journal paper 200 Total possible points= Undergraduate 700/ Graduate 900 Letter grades are based on standard percentages: 90% 100%= A; 80% 89%=B; 70% 79%=C Student with Disabilities Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this online course. To request course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and Disability Services in the accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services website at http://www.umt.edu/dss/ or call 406.243.2243 (Voice/Text). Student Conduct Code The Student Conduct Code, embodying the ideals of academic honesty, integrity, human rights, and responsible citizenship, governs all student conduct at The University of Montana Missoula. You are expected to adhere to this code. It is also expected that each student will help foster a collegial learning environment by sharing his or her experiential and academic knowledge and practices, as well as respectfully listening to the viewpoints of others and following basic netiquette rules. You Page 5
are expected to complete all reading assignments so that you can discuss them intelligently in discussion forums, individual assignments, and small group (collaborative) assignments. Please Note: I try to make this syllabus as complete and correct as possible. I do reserve the right to make any necessary changes. If that happens, I will give ample time and post notes in the announcement section and via email. I do not foresee this needing to happen, but please understand that sometimes circumstances may warrant such action. Page 6
Course Calendar: Volunteer Management PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE CALENDAR IS ONLY A DRAFT. THE OFFICIAL COURSE CALENDAR WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE ONE WEEK PRIOR TO START DATE. Week/ Topic(s) Assignment Assessment Date Week 1 Overview: (10 pts) Introduction to volunteer Contact info/quiz (25 pts) management Aug. 26- Sept. 1 - Chapter 1 (Fisher & Cole) - Chapter 3 (Renz & Herman) -- Learning Unit #1 (Moodle) -- APA Learning Unit (Moodle) Week 2 Sept. 2- Sept. 8 Volunteer Motivations - Contact information/ Syllabus quiz - Download journal/ week #1 assignment -- Chapter 26 (Renz & Herman) --Learning Unit #2 (Moodle) (10 pts) APA assign #1 (10 pts) APA assign #2 (10 pts) - APA assignment #1 & #2 - Journal Week #2 - Graduate student articles due Week 3 Sept. 9- Sept. 15 Determining Organizational Needs - Chapters 2 & 4 (Fisher & Cole) -- Learning Unit #3 (Moodle) (10 pts) Job Descriptions (50 pts) - TWO Volunteer Job Descriptions: one high level/ one mid or lower level - Journal Week #3 Week 4 Volunteer Plan- (10 pts) Page 7
Sept. 16- Sept. 22 What s included? APA assign #3 (10 pts) - Chapters 3 (Fisher & Cole) -- Learning Unit #4 (Moodle) - APA assignment #3 - Journal Week #4 Week 5 Sept. 23- Sept. 29 Recordkeeping Forms -- Learning Unit #5 (Moodle) (10 pts) Volunteer app (50 pts) - Volunteer application -- Journal Week #5 Week 6 Sept. 30- Oct. 6 Recruiting Volunteers - Chapter 5 (Fisher & Cole) -- Learning Unit #6 (Moodle) (10 pts) APA assign #4 (10 pts) APA assign #5 (10 pts) - APA assignment #4 & #5 - Journal Week #6 Week 7 Oct. 7- Oct. 13 Training and Supervising - Chapters 6& 7 (Fisher & Cole) -- Learning Unit #7 (Moodle) (10 pts) - Journal Week #7 Page 8
Week 8 Oct. 14- Oct. 20 Leading and Mentoring -- Learning Unit #8 (Moodle) (10 pts) Graduate student assignment (200 pts) -Graduate Assignment Due - Journal Week #8 Week 9 Oct. 21- Oct. 27 Evaluating Volunteer Program - Chapter 8 (Fisher & Cole) - Chapter 15 (Renz & Herman) -- Learning Unit #9 (Moodle) (10 pts) Evaluation Plan (50 pts) - Evaluation plan due: 1-2 page evaluation plan/chart for program - Journal Week #9 Week 10 Oct. 28- Nov. 1 Special Topics in Volunteer Management - Chapter 9 (Fisher & Cole) -- Learning Unit #10 (Moodle) (10 pts) Final Journal (100 pts) Final Project (100 pts) DUE ON FRIDAY, NOV. 1 - Journal Project due - Final project (volunteer plan) The course runs from Monday, August 27 Friday, November 2. Page 9
Discussion Board Grading Rubric Each week you should post one (1) SUBSTANTIVE post on three (3) separate and these must be within the discussion week (Monday Sunday). This means that there needs to be some meat to your responses. You can see the grading rubric below. I do expect at the graduate level we will have many more posts more in a discussion format. You can earn up to 25 points per week. Content Language Response 0 5 Points 6 14 points 15 20 points 21 25 Points Discussion Discussion Previous level, Previous level, questions not questions are plus plus offers addressed; addressed; incorporates resources resources or resources or readings and related to topic readings not readings are resources into that are not mentioned. mentioned and own found in the relate to topic. experiences. assigned Thought processes are incomplete. Postings contain multiple grammatical errors. Posts are limited (I agree.. etc.) without explanation. Though processes are complete. Postings contain no grammatical errors. Posts are on time and contain extended discussion relevant to topic. Previous level, plus arguments are clear, concise, and cogent; the post is timely and relevant. Previous level, plus responses relate theory to practice or personal application. readings. Previous level, plus incorporates previous learning into relevant topic. Previous level, plus posts are insightful and combine multiple ideas related to the topics. You can only receive the highest level of points if you have posts on 3 separate. Page 10
Example on discussion posts Let s say we are in an organizational leadership course and we are reading the 3 Little Pigs ; ) Example DQ: What did you find interesting about the 3 little pigs and how did you find it related to our topic? Initial response to question I found the story to be very engaging. While it was entertaining it directly related to this week s topic of self motivation. As our text stated, leadership takes the motivation of the leader and the buy in of others (pg. 201) The pigs took on the team approach of leadership by all of them trying to solve the problem together. No one single pig decided to take complete ownership of the situation. Each gave a suggestion and the others bought in. When those suggestions did not work, they moved on to another suggestion. I have found that to be the case in my own organization. We have a boss in our organization who allows us to all express out ideas and then we test them out. This has worked in many occasions, but I have also found that there are times when we could really use one person to take charge and make the decision. I believe in this case the last pig had the best idea and should have tried to have his voice heard earlier. I also found a website that had some great information regarding the pigs leadership style. This site: www.pigleadership.com gave some points on how this type of leadership can be directly linked to any organization (public or private). I have used it several times already in my own work and have found it to be right on target. A response you might give to someone s post (I am just making up since we don t have their post here). Mary, I enjoyed your post but I did have one disagreeing comment. When you said that the wolf was using authoritarian leadership style as described by Lewin (Morgan, 2009), I thought his style was more based on the Williams theory of self motivation. I had the opportunity to study this theory in an organizational behavior course. This theory supports that you must be in charge of people to fully have an authoritarian model. Since the wolf did not have a team of people he supervised wouldn t it be more difficult to assume the authoritarian style? I did find your points convincing and it did make me wonder if there was some relationship between these two styles? Page 11
Graduate Student Requirement Details As graduate students, it is important that you understand what research has been done in this field of study. The purpose of this assignment is that you will take this research and be able to implement it into real world scenarios. It will also allow you the opportunity to use critical thinking skills when analyzing different types of research. You will need to locate two (2) peer reviewed journal articles and provide a 6 9 page paper that compares and contrasts the research that has been done in this area. Peer reviewed are articles that provide some type of research. You can find out if the article falls under this category by looking at the submission page for the journal. Please be sure to ask if you have any questions about articles. Article titles due by: Review due by: TBA TBA Journals: Any are open, but the article should focus on course topics. Good places to search (but not the only): Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Nonprofit Quarterly. What to include/ grading rubric: Area to include Points (Total Possible: 200) Overview of both articles be sure to include 50 the type of research (qualitative/quantitative) Main points/findings of the articles 30 Compare and contrast the articles and how 50 they may impact your organization (or any organization) Your thoughts on additional research that 30 could be done from this study Your overall impressions of the articles and 20 their relevance to the subject matter Use APA style references 20 Page 12