MIS 44091 Fall 2011 Knapp

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY

SEMINAR IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

MIS 44091—FALL 2011—Section #001—Call #21856      

Wednesdays, 6:15-8:55 PM, BSA 117

Instructor:       Dr. Deborah Knapp

Office:              College of Business Administration, BA A424

Telephone:       330.672.1147 (mobile: 330.283.6081)

E-mail:             dknapp1@kent.edu —the best way to get a quick response!

Office Hours:  Weds, 3:00-6:00pm, Thurs, 4:00pm-6:00pm or by appointment

MATERIALS

Case Law and Readings

These documents represent the core issues of the course. Careful reading of the case law and various academic deconstruction of cases is critical to your success in this course.

Course Notes

Other course materials (e.g., lecture outlines and notes, syllabus) will also be available on VISTA (you may access VISTA using your FlashLine account).  A copy of the syllabus can also be found at the Department of Management & Information Systems website at http://#

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to provide current and practical information in the area of employment law as it relates to human resources in organizations. To that end, various cases based on actual organizational situations will be examined and the case law utilized to determine actions required of the organization. Emphasis is placed on techniques and approaches that are currently being applied to solve Employment law problems in business organizations. Through lecture, class discussions, and in depth case law analysis, we shall consider the contribution of employment law management to short- and long-term organizational functioning.  Moreover, as practitioners and researchers in the field of human resource management, a strong familiarity with employment law and the ability to understand the application of various laws that affect human resource development within organizations is critical.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The fundamental purpose of this course is to provide the student with an increased understanding of the content and processes involved in the management of employment law issues.  Upon completion of the course, a student should:

1. Comprehend the principles of various employment laws applicable to HR functioning in organizations as laid down by legislation and interpreted by the courts.

2. Understand the direction of emerging issues in employment law in the coming decade.

3. Understand how to make economic use of legal counsel for their organization.

4. Analyze how understanding various employment laws can mitigate the organization’s exposure to liability.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This class is devoted to ensuring that you learn about employment law and the critical cases that determine compliance. Part of that learning process is required course work: e.g., reading assigned material, completing assignments in and out of class, participating in discussions and activities during class, working with a group of classmates to complete a case/exercise or lead a class discussion, or reflecting on your work and reporting those reflections to me via oral case discussion, one examination, and a final paper.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Exam

One midterm examination is scheduled for the semester. The exam will cover readings, handouts, discussions, guest speakers, and lecture material.  The format of the exam may include multiple choice, matching, and/or short answer essay questions.  The exam will account for 25% of your final grade.

Case Evaluation

In depth analysis of case law is an important element of this course. Each week, students will be assigned a case in which they will lead the discussion. Each case will be assigned to two students (they may or may not work together as they so choose), and three of these dyads will be used per week. These cases will account for 30% of your grade.

Final Paper: In-depth analysis of Supreme Court Case in Employment Law

Teams of three students will research and write a final paper that provides of history of the S.Ct.’s decision (i.e., identifying lower court cases that led to its hearing of the final case). Examples of this type of analysis will be provided by the professor and will account for 35% of your final grade.

Participation

Students will receive credit for class participation, which will account for 5% of your final grade. Attendance is required to earn class participation credit.  Each individual will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of her/his participation during class sessions. To receive an acceptable participation grade you must be consistently knowledgeable concerning all assigned readings and you must actively participate in class discussions.

Internet Assignment

Students will be expected to find and summarize information they find on the World Wide Web that relates to one of the covered course topics. Information may be from sources found using simple internet searches or from internet sites of which you are aware. You will be asked to share your findings with the class by preparing a one- or two- paragraph summary about the site and presenting this information to the class. For the presentation, students will remain seated and the instructor will display students’ websites to the class. Students will describe the sites (e.g., its function, the type of information that can be found on the site, who might use said information, and/or how the information might be used) to the class. Students must also provide a typed copy (hand-written papers will not be accepted under any circumstances) of the one- or two- paragraph summary to the instructor on the day it is presented (be sure to include the web address of the site that you "visit"). The internet assignment is worth 5% of your final grade.

GRADES

Grades will be calculated according to performance on one exam (25%), case evaluation (30%), final paper (35%) participation (5%), and internet assignment (5%).  Final grades will be assigned as follows:

Registration: Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Web for Students) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until Thursday, June 9 (for Summer I) to correct the error with your advising office.  If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered.

Course Withdrawal Deadline: The course withdrawal deadline is Monday, June 27, 2011.

CLASS PROCEDURES

1.      If my office hours are not convenient for you, please feel free to call for an appointment. In addition, the most efficient way to communicate with me is via e-mail. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the electronic messaging capabilities made available to you by the university!

2.      Please tell me about any problems you are having while there is still time to do something about them!

3.      Each student must turn in an original piece of work (copies of the work of others will not be accepted; however, you may work together on your case/exercise assignments).

4.      Exams are to be taken at the scheduled time (this also means you need to be on-time for the exam—more than 20 minutes late is a missed exam). If you miss an exam due to a legitimate reason (e.g., illness, death in the immediate family), a make-up exam will be given (you will be required to provide an official university excuse to be eligible for a make-up exam). If you do not provide a legitimate excuse, no make-up exam will be granted.

5.      Reading assignments are expected to be completed prior to class attendance so that you may participate in class discussion. However, we will not discuss every aspect of the assigned chapters or supplemental material. This does not release the student from the responsibility of knowing the material for examination purposes. Conversely, I may include material in class not covered by the text (you are also responsible for this information).

6.      Attendance at class is expected. If you miss a class, YOU are responsible for obtaining lecture notes and other material from another student. DO NOT ASK TO BORROW MY NOTES! To succeed in this course, you must complete your reading assignments and attend class. Also, please do not e-mail or call me with questions such as “what did I miss?” or “will we be doing a case tonight?”—you need to come to class. If you cannot attend, reread the beginning of #4. Moreover, missed classes will negatively affect your participation grade (it IS possible to receive a failing participation grade). Finally, before you are tempted to ask “What did I miss?” or “What will I miss?” please consider the following (tongue-in-cheek) responses to said query:

o  Nothing. When we realized you weren't here we sat with our hands folded on our desks in silence, for the full two and a half hours.

o  Everything. I gave an exam worth 40 per cent of the grade for this term and assigned some readings due today on which I'm about to hand out a quiz worth 50 per cent.

o  Nothing. None of the content of this course has value or meaning. Take as many days off as you like. Any activities we undertake as a class, I assure you will not matter either to you or me and are without purpose.

o  Everything. A few minutes after we began last time a shaft of light descended and an angel or other heavenly being appeared and revealed to us what each woman or man must do to attain divine wisdom in this life and the hereafter. This is the last time the class will meet before we disperse to bring this good news to all people on earth.

o  Nothing. When you are not present how could something significant occur?

o  Everything. Contained in this classroom is a microcosm of human existence assembled for you to query, examine and ponder. And you weren't here.

7.      Major grammatical or spelling errors on any written work could result in a significant penalty with respect to the grade you receive.  Carefully proof your papers for errors (you may even want to have a friend read your work). Also, try reading your work aloud. Doing so will assist you in quickly identifying awkward phrases and poor sentence structure. Use grammar and spell check!

8.      Do not come late to class in order to complete an internet assignment or finish an exercise/ assignment. If this is the case, the assignment will not be accepted. Moreover, coming to class shortly before dismissal will result in a lower participation grade.

9.      You must use the internet and World Wide Web to communicate with me and receive an acceptable grade. You must update your FlashLine account as this is the e-mail address to which I will be sending all class correspondence.

10.  While I have attempted to create a course that will be both fun and informative, please do not mistake the levity that will characterize much of our class time as an indication that this is not a meaningful and important course or that I don’t take my responsibility as your professor seriously. Occasionally our discussions may veer from a direct path as your fellow students may have questions or interests that may appear to be related only tangentially to the topic being discussed. These discussions are important to our exploration of course content and therefore, I ask that you are respectful of your fellow students’ desire for increased knowledge. Everyone (including me) can benefit from such improvisation.

POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   In addition, it is considered to cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access equal access course content.  If you have documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments.  Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through the Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sds for more information on registration procedures).