MIS 44195/BAD 60095 Spring 2012 Whitmore

Advanced Topics / HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICUM

BAD 60095 / M&IS 44195, Spring 2012

Wednesday 6:35-9:20:  Business Administration Building Room 205

 INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Mark Whitmore

Phone:  330-410-3841 (cell)

E-mail address: mwhitmo4@kent.edu, markwhitmore8@gmail.com

Office hours:   Wed 5-6 or after class by appointment (or other times by appointment)

 TEXT / READINGS

 There is no required text for this course. Students will use a variety of materials throughout the course to complete necessary research. It is possible that some readings will be assigned during the semester; students will be informed about such readings via e-mail or class handouts.

REQUIRED NATIONAL SHRM MEMBERSHIP

 All students are required to purchase a student membership ($35) in the National Society for Human Resource Management. This is an invaluable professional resource that you will find very useful both in this course and in the world of HR work.  Proof of membership (the confirmation e-mail with membership number) must be submitted to the professor by January 25. 

KSU SHRM MEMBERSHIP

All students are expected to join KSU SHRM (no cost).  Meetings occur on Wednesdays at 5:00 pm in room 314 of the Business Building.  You are encouraged to attend meetings, and to participate in Akron SHRM events. KSU SHRM can provide wonderful professional opportunities when students actively participate.

FOCUS/PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

 This course was designed for students with an undergraduate HRM minor or an MBA HRM concentration, to provide a bridge between your HRM coursework and the world of HRM practice.  This course will provide a variety of learning experiences. The goal is that you will gain knowledge and practical experience to prepare you to embark on a career in the HRM profession. Upon completion of this course, students should have much to discuss in a job interview and a useful entry on your resumes.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1.      Students will gain practical experience in designing HR systems and programs that will actually be used by organizations.

2.      Students will develop strong HR research skills, which includes becoming familiar with a variety of online and print HR resources.

3.      Students will develop or improve their consulting skills.

4.      Students will increase their planning, teamwork and communication skills.

5.      Students will improve their presentation skills.

 GRADING

Final grades will be comprised of the following:

            Attendance                                                     5%

            Organization HR work project                       55%

            HR research project/presentation                   15%

            Peer evaluations                                              10%

            Goal/Activity Sheets                                       5%

            Reflection report                                             10%

I will use +/- grades for this course.  Assignment of final grades will most likely be:  92+ A, 90-91 A-, 88-89 B+, 82-87 B, 80-81 B-, 78-79 C+, 72-77 B, 70-71 C-, 68-69 D+, 60-67 D, 0-59 F.  I reserve the right to curve these final grades, up or down, based on overall class performance.

Note: project work expectations for graduate students are higher than for undergraduate students, but and grading components are the same.

 ATTENDANCE

 Because coordination of the various group efforts and communication about deliverables for this project are done during class time, it is imperative that students attend class.   The implications for missing class in this course are greater than they are in most courses because all projects require group work. Because a great deal of work will be accomplished each week in the project teams, your contributions will be missed if you are absent. Absences can have negative implications for others who are depending on your inputs, on meeting timelines throughout the projects, and on the quality of the projects we deliver to the organizations.

 If you must miss class, you must contact me or your group leader before class (by phone, e-mail, in person, etc.).  Your attendance will be excused only if you have a university-approved reason. 

Note: If you have more than 2 excused absences, or if you have any unexcused absences, you will not receive an A in the course. 

GOAL/ACTIVITY SHEETS

Students are expected to complete and turn in prior to the start of class their weekly goal and activity sheets.  Students will turn in the sheets to their group leader who will in turn give them to me.  The sheets should contain the work activity they have completed as related to the project plan and/or the research project based on the assignments they have received from their work group.  Students should make a copy of these goal activity sheets for themselves so that they may be included in their final report.

ORGANIZATIONAL HR WORK PROJECTS

Each team will receive a grade based the quality of the HR Work Project they produce.  The grade will be based on the satisfaction of the client and a rating by the instructor.  In addition to an overall team grade, each team member will be graded based on their individual contribution.  This grade will be based on the evaluation of the instructor, group leader and the timely accomplishment of tasks and milestones as identified in the work groups project plan.  The individual team member’s goals and activity sheets will also be reviewed.    

 HR RESEARCH PROJECT / PRESENTATION

Students will conduct extensive research in each of the areas of Human Resources as identified by the needs of the organization they are working with.  Students will work in their groups  throughout the semester to do in-depth research on their topic area. Students will organize their findings into a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation, with an additional 10 minutes for questions/answers. As part of the presentation, students will share a personal learning gained during the practicum.  Projects will be presented class during the last 2 weeks of classes (April 22 and April 29). All group members will participate in the presentations, and excellent presentation skills will be expected.

 Hand in to the professor at the time of presentation (available to students electronically):

-          PowerPoint presentation (slides 3 to a page)

-          A well-organized list of main points and full set of references

 PEER EVALUATIONS

 Because you will work in self-managed teams throughout the semester, your team peers will be well informed about your performance. Students will fill out evaluation forms and assign grades to all group members. Peer evaluations are one component of multisource feedback integrated into this course; multisource feedback systems are present in many organizations.

REFLECTION REPORT

 Each student will write a report that summarizes their experiences and learning in this course.

The report should be 10-15 pages (double spaced; not counting cover page) and should contain the following sections in paragraph form (please use subheadings!):

·         Your contributions to the projects (20%)

• Your role in your project teams
• Work you did, outputs you created
• Reference sources you used during the project
• What worked well (20%)
• In project organization / management
• in project outputs
• in teamwork (communication, timeliness, initiative, etc.)
• in your performance
• What could have been improved  (20%)
• In project organization / management
• in project outputs
• in teamwork (communication, timeliness, initiative, etc.)
• in your performance
• What you learned about yourself from this project (20%)
• Your personal goals, as specified at the beginning of the course
• How your performance met your specified goals by the end of the course
• Additional insights you gained about your work habits, teamwork, interest in the field of HRM, etc.
• Related goals for your future development
• Goal/Activity sheets (20%)

 Please take time to reflect throughout this course about your role in the group and what it takes to work synergistically and effectively in a group. This report will be as meaningful as you make it; if you put introspective, honest thought into your writing, you will learn from writing it – and it will be more interesting for me to read. Only such reports will earn an A.

 Format: A notebook is required.  Place the report in the front of the notebook, followed by your Goal/Activity sheets in sequential order.  For every goal/activity sheets that is missing, 5 points will be deducted from your grade.  Be sure to use high quality, professional writing, as a portion of your grade will be linked to the quality of your writing.

 Report due date:  April 25, by 9:00 pm (I must receive hard-copy by that time)

COURSE FORMAT

 The format of this course will vary from week to week throughout the course. Class time will be spent doing group work, the focus of which will vary throughout the course. Students will do research outside of class weekly, which will provide the basis for our discussions and work during class. Students will work in self-managed teams throughout the semester.

 Each student should expect to spend a minimum of 5 hours each week outside of class, and more than that to earn an A in the course.  Each week you will leave class with a completed Goal / Activity form, on which you will have outlined your goals and tasks for the week.  Each student is responsible to fill out a form each week, with goals and activities identified prior to leaving class, and the remainder filled in as the week progresses.  Use these forms to track time spent, task progress, important resource information, roadblocks, etc.  Bring completed forms to class each week for discussion (i.e., bring forms for every week to class each week.)

Team Leaders

Team leaders will be selected by their teams at the beginning of the semester.  The team leaders play an essential role in the success of this course.  I can’t be with all teams at once, so they are conduits for information – communication is much more effective among the whole group with the use of team leaders.  There is extra work involved in being a team leader, but it’s a great opportunity and makes a nice entry on your resume!

 Instructor Role

As the instructor I will provide overall structure for the course, as well as intellectual guidance.  For project work I will primarily serve as a catalyst.  That is, you can expect me to function in a manner similar to a manager in a work setting.  I will provide the support necessary to ensure the nature of the project is understood, and I will provide goal clarification and guidance throughout the semester.  I will also explain concepts and procedures as needed. 

However, I will not tell you specifically what to do at each step of the project, nor will I actually do the project.  The output will be what you create.  I’ll continually review what you create and provide feedback, and you will use that feedback as well as your own knowledge and ideas to create project outputs.  I do reserve the right to make final edits where necessary, but the need for this should be minimal.

 How to succeed in this course:

 Please note that both the quality and the quantity of your contributions are critical.  Doing a lot is not sufficient; you must do a lot well.  Similarly, doing a little well is not sufficient; you must do a lot well, on a consistent basis, throughout the course.  Our semester will be much more enjoyable and productive if everyone strives for excellent work. 

If your personal goal is to do less than A quality work (that is, you would be satisfied with a B or a C), that is fine – I don’t expect everyone to want/need an A.  Project work will flow more smoothly if each group member is honest about grade goals with group members so that work can be planned/shared accordingly.   To get an A in the class the project must get the grade of an A.  In other words if the project is graded a B the highest grade a student may receive is a B no matter what their contribution.  However, just because a project gets an A grade does not necessarily mean that each student working on the project will get an A.  Individual contribution to the team will be assessed through professor and peer evaluations and will be factored in to the final grade.

Below is the performance rating scale created by a prior class for their small business project.

Performance Definitions for Grade Assignments

 A FINAL WORD ON INITIATIVE

This class is structured very differently than usual academic courses.  Keep in mind that it is the responsibility of each individual student to make sure s/he is contributing each week throughout the semester.  You will not necessarily be given a specific assignment just for you each week.  Therefore, you must take the initiative to make sure you know what your own contribution will be each week, and make sure that you are consistently contributing to the projects and keeping up with the project schedules. Your Goal/Activity sheets will help you stay on track – use them!

 It is your responsibility to make sure that your ideas are heard throughout the semester, both with respect to project direction and team functioning.  No one can address your needs if you don’t communicate them clearly.  The culture of this class will be very supportive, so you should feel comfortable communicating honestly throughout the semester.  If for any reason you don’t feel supported, please speak to your team leader or to me about this immediately so that we can maintain a functional work environment throughout the semester.

 If you are unsure of what you are to do at any time, it is your responsibility to speak up and find out what needs to be done.  Discuss this first with your team, then with the project leader(s), then with the instructor.   If you find that you are not very busy with this course, you are probably not doing what you should be doing!   Finally, please be timely in your work.  Project schedules will be set, and must be adhered to rather rigidly in order to complete the project during the semester.

 Information from the KSU College of Business Administration

The Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course

 A.     Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.

B.     Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools/Flashfast) 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 Sunday, January 22, 2012 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.

C.     Academic Honesty:  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.  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.

D.     For Spring 2012, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, March 18, 2012.   Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.

E.     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 Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).