LIBR 282-12
Seminar in Library Management
Topic: Human Resources Management
Spring 2014 Greensheet

Dr. Maureen L. Mackenzie
E-mail
Cell: 631-682-0399
Office Hours: I am available to you for phone conferences. Call me or send an e-mail for an appointment

D2L Information: This course will be available beginning January 23rd. You will be enrolled into the site automatically.

Course Description

Application of management theory to specific problems. Readings and discussions of the development of effective strategies for planning and implementing organizational change. Specific content of the course changes each time it is offered. Examples of topics studied include: Advocacy, Conflict Management, Digital Assets Management, Financial Management, Human Resources Management, Leadership, Managing Information Technology, Grant Writing.

Topic: Human Resources Management:
This semester we will focus on Human Resources Management. This course extends the basic knowledge of workforce issues by examining key topics, which include employee rights and discipline, the manager’s role in a non-unionized or unionized environment, organizational safety/health and agency oversight, career development, and high performance work systems. Students are encouraged to continuously refine their management knowledge and leadership skills by combining foresight, insight and oversight.

Course Requirements

Student Evaluation
(based on a 1000 point system)

Online Class Structure
The syllabus outlines the assignments, quizzes and topics to be discussed for each online week. I have made PowerPoint slides available. The slides are provided for your use as you review the text material. Dialogue among students is required. This syllabus is detailed and will answer many of the questions that may emerge throughout the semester. Please follow the directions outlined in this syllabus carefully. This is a graduate-level course and therefore self-management and accountability for individual performance is an expected prerequisite. Grading components and penalties for late submissions are discussed throughout this syllabus. Please refrain from asking for exceptions to these policies. Also, due to the online nature of this class, the class week recognizes dates in which the college is closed to the traditional student. But, there is flexibility for students to plan ahead so that religious and national holidays can be observed while still completing the obligations of the class. All times shown are in Pacific Time (PT).

Discussion Boards – 40% of overall grade
Active participation from all students is essential for a successful and insightful class experience. Class participation will influence your overall grade. The discussion board is our venue for dialogue and debate. There are two categories of discussion board: (1) related to the textbook material, and (2) related to the student research papers. I will monitor the discussion boards, but I will refrain from participating in the discussion -- so as to not limit student debate. I will summarize my comments at the end of each week.

• Chapter/textbook related discussion boards
  There are 5 discussion boards (5% each), labeled 1-5 (25% overall contribution to grade). You are expected to read the text material and to respond to the posted question(s) as well as to post concepts you found interesting and discuss them with your student colleagues. All classmates are expected to engage in answering questions and offering feedback. You are expected to login multiple times through the posting period to participate in the developing discussion. The posting period ends at 3pm (PT) on Wednesday. I will post a grade for each student that reflects his or her participation in the discussion. The grade (0-50 points) reflects both the quality of postings and quantity (active interaction with peers). Once the discussion period has passed, then no further grade contribution is possible. If a student does not participate in a discussion board, then 0 points will be posted for that week.
• Discussion board related to student research papers
  The student papers will be presented to the class in 3 groups (groups A, B, C). I will post the student papers so that they are available to be read. Each student will be expected to read two papers from the weekly group and post questions/comments to each of the authors. You should also create and participate in a discussion with your classmates. You are expected to login multiple times through the week to participate in the developing discussion. Your comments should reflect evidence that you read and understood each paper. Reactions to papers as well as a sharing of experiences will all contribute to a valuable discussion. Commenting solely on the two papers that you read does not sufficiently contribute to the overall discussion of these topics. Each of the three “paper” discussions will contribute 5% to each student’s overall grade (15% overall). The posting period will end on Wednesday @3pm (PT). I will post a grade (0-50 points) for each student that reflects his or her active participation in the discussion of all of the research papers (the grade reflects quality of postings related to each paper). Once the posting period has ended, then no further grade contribution is possible. If a student does not participate, then 0 points will be posted for that week.

Research Paper – 15% of overall grade
Each student will select a topic from the list of pre-approved topics. Students will select a topic during the 1st week of class. Please research the topic fully. Position your research so it includes focus on libraries, information organizations and the larger agencies in which they operate.

Please do not use any textbook or any encyclopedia (including Wikipedia and similar question-answering sites) as sources. Textbooks and encyclopedias are great for getting an overview of a topic, and perhaps for a definition, but they are inadequate as scholarly sources for a graduate paper. I would prefer that you read full articles to broaden your perspective. You can use Wikipedia to gain an understanding of the topic, but allow this free online encyclopedia to “point” you toward published articles and books. Breadth and depth in your selection of sources will provide you a strong foundation upon which to build your research paper. Be aware that TURNITIN.COM (plagiarism software) is enabled for any paper submission.

Your view of the topic may offer a controversial perspective if you wish. The paper should reflect any relevant history surrounding the topic, the current research on the topic, and examples within real-life organizations. Your understanding of the topic and your ability to present an educated opinion is an important component of the research paper.

The paper should reflect your critical analysis, thinking, and writing skills. Please do not cut and paste material from sources. I am interested in hearing your voice, summarization of the material, and expression of critical and valuable ideas and interpretations. The paper must reflect both depth and breadth. You can certainly paraphrase, but please do not overly quote others’ words. If you overuse others’ words, it is difficult to evaluate your assimilation of the knowledge. It is also difficult to evaluate your writing style and skill. Be sure to properly cite the ideas within your paper using the author/date style (rather than footnotes). This means, if you gain knowledge from reading a source, you must attribute the knowledge you gained to the author by citing the source – even if you do not directly quote the material. This is a component of your grade.

Please properly prepare a bibliography of the works cited in the paper (e.g., Chicago Style). It is important that the ideas presented in the paper are tied to their original sources (even when you are not directly quoting). A source should not be listed in the bibliography if it is not cited in the narrative of the paper. The in-text citing of sources should follow the author/date style. The author and year of publication should appear in the narrative of the paper (author/date style) directly following the information used. URLs are not appropriate to cite in-text sources. The bibliographic references should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper (no need for separate page). Online sources must reflect full bibliographic detail and the date last accessed.

The paper should be concise and well written (I recommend editing and re-editing your paper before submitting). Grammar, spelling, formatting, punctuation and citation style are all part of the grade. The paper formatting is to include 12pt Times New Roman font, 1” margins, pagination, single line spacing, a full line space between paragraphs, and a maximum of 4 pages (including the bibliography). Your paper’s title and your name should be included on the top of the 1st page (please do not add a separate cover sheet). Your bibliography can begin immediately following your closing paragraph; no need to start a new page.

Please keep in mind that this paper is worth 15% of your grade. It should reflect appropriate depth and breadth. The grade will be based on the quality, quantity, and range of your selection of sources (20 pts), your ability to deeply research and report on the topic. Ensure an eye toward libraries, information organizations, and the larger agencies in which they operate (20 pts.), your ability to present real-world examples (20 points), your ability to present an educated and literature-supported opinion (20 pts.), your writing style (20 points), spelling, punctuation, grammar (20 points), and formatting (10 pts.), and lastly a well developed and properly formatted bibliography with well cited in-text references to your sources (author/date style) (20 pts). Submit paper on time so that it can be posted for class reading. It is to be posted to www.turnitin.com and sent to me as a word document based on the following schedule:

Late submission
5 points will be deducted if your individual topical paper is submitted after 6pm (PT) on its due date. 10 points will be deducted if the paper is submitted 1 day late. 20 points will be deducted from the earned grade if the paper is submitted 2 days late. 30 points will be deducted if the paper is submitted 3 days late. 40 points will be deducted if the paper is submitted 4 days late. 50 points will be deducted if the paper is submitted 5 days late. 60 points will be deducted from the earned grade if the paper is submitted more than 5 days late. The paper will not be accepted after April 6th. I encourage you to submit your paper early to avoid any problems.

List of Pre-Approved Topics

• Group A:
  Americans with Disabilities Act
  Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act
  Discrimination on the job (include age discrimination)
  The Fair Labor Standards Act (including overtime, non-exempt vs. exempt status, etc.)
  The Family & Medical Leave Act (and pregnancy discrimination)
  Sexual harassment
  Sexism at work
  Employment drug testing
  Illegal immigrants at work
  The history of the EEOC – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Group B:
  Diversity management
  Affirmative Action programs – pros and cons
  Succession planning with leaders of libraries and information organizations
  Effective employee recruitment and selection for libraries and information organizations
  Understanding and preventing workplace violence
  Employee Assistance programs
  Lawful discipline and termination practices
  Creating a healthy work environment
  Retaining talent
  Balancing work and family
• Group C:
  Appraising Employee performance within libraries and information organizations
  Effectively Leading Change in Organizations
  HR Effectiveness/Measurement focused on libraries and information organizations
  Privacy issues at work
  Compensation management or Executive compensation for library/information organization leaders
  A brief history of union development in the United States
  Management’s role w/in a unionized environment OR How to maintain non-union status
  How does the global environment influence HR management, especially for information organizations?
  Manager communication, its influence on employee attitude & performance within information organizations
  Recruiting, hiring and managing employees internationally with special focus on information organizations

Quizzes #1-6 – 25% of overall grade:

• Quiz #1 (5%=50 points) will assess the student’s understanding and knowledge of the basic material pertaining to Human Resource Management. A foundation of basic knowledge is needed before graduate level topics can be explored. I have compiled a set of 68 of PowerPoint slides that provide an overview of the essential material that is offered at the undergraduate level that pertains to human resource management. If you have prior knowledge, then this will be a simple review with much of the material appearing very familiar. If you do not have prior knowledge, then please focus on the material in the slides. Please read CHAPTER 1, “The Challenge of Human Resource Management.” The 68-slide PowerPoint package, titled, LECTURE MATERIAL-BASIC KNOWLEDGE SLIDES, presents all of the material that I want you to be familiar with before we move on to the graduate-level topics. When you are comfortable with the basic material, please take quiz #1 (5% of overall grade).
  • Quiz #1 has 25 multiple-choice questions. THIS IS A TIMED QUIZ. Once you start the quiz, you should complete it within one attempt. You have exactly 50 minutes to complete 25 questions. You will be shown one question at a time. You will not be permitted to backtrack. Quiz #1 will be available to you on Sunday, February 2nd, and must be completed on or before 3pm (PT) on Wednesday, February 5th, 2014.
• Quizzes 2-6 Each quiz contributes 4% [40 points] to your grade and directly assesses the materials (text and PowerPoint slides) that are tied to each of the topics covered in this course. Quizzes 2-6 will post on Sunday and must be completed by 3pm (PT) on Wednesday. If you want to ensure that you are focusing your energy wisely, review the learning outcomes at the start of each chapter. The 1st page of each chapter states, “After studying this chapter, you should be able to…” Also, the discussion board provides a venue for dialogue prior to taking each quiz.
  
  All quizzes are TIMED and include 20 multiple-choice questions. You have 40 minutes to complete each quiz. You will be shown one question at a time. The questions are presented in a random order; you will not be permitted to backtrack. The quizzes require preparation. You have 2 minutes per question. That allows the student to review well prepared notes to confirm an answer. It does not provide enough time to begin looking up answers in the textbook. The quizzes are constructed to assess the student’s understanding of the material.
  
  The quizzes must be taken within the defined dates, after which the quiz will no longer be available. The quizzes will self-grade with the score being posted to the grade book. If a student chooses not to take a quiz, then 0 points will be awarded.
  
  

  Quiz	1st date the quiz is available @1pm (PT):	Must be completed by 3pm (PT) on:
  Quiz #1 (5%)	Sunday, 2/2/14 (Basic Knowledge slides and chapter 1)	Wednesday, 2/5/14
  Quiz #2 (4%)	Sunday, 2/16/14 (Chapter 3)	Wednesday, 2/19/14
  Quiz #3 (4%)	Sunday, 3/9/14 (Chapter 5)	Wednesday, 3/12/14
  Quiz #4 (4%)	Sunday, 3/30/14 (Chapter 12)	Wednesday, 4/2/14
  Quiz #5 (4%)	Sunday, 4/27/14 (Chapters 13 & 14)	Wednesday, 4/30/14
  Quiz #6 (4%)	Sunday, 5/4/14 (Chapter 16)	Wednesday, 5/7/14

Final Exam – 20% of overall grade
The final exam is a cumulative essay exam. It is presented in two parts (Parts I & II). Part I contributes 100 points to the grade and consists of 4 essay questions. The student will have 2 hours to complete part I. Part II contributes 100 points to the grade and consists of 1 case study. The student will have 1 hour to complete part II. Overall, the final exam will contribute 20% (200 pts) to the overall grade. You will be expected to demonstrate your broad and deep understanding of the issues, influences and possible solutions to managing human resources. You must demonstrate the learning outcomes as described earlier in this syllabus. Both sections of the final exam will become available on Friday, May 9, 2014 @ NOON (PT) and must be completed on or before Sunday, May 11th, 2014 at NOON (PT). There is no requirement as to the order in which you take the parts of the final exam. The only requirement is that BOTH parts are completed by NOON (PT) on Sunday, May 11th. I encourage all students to take the exam as early as possible to avoid last minute computer and personal complications that may cause you to do poorly on, or miss, the exam. I cannot extend the exam date or time.

Course Calendar

Please follow the weekly course plan

Plagiarism and Cheating
Will not be tolerated.
Academic Integrity is essential to the mission of San José State University. As such, students are expected to perform their own work (except when collaboration is expressly permitted by the course instructor). When practiced, academic integrity ensures that all students are fairly graded. Cheating, however, undermines the educational process and will not be tolerated. Cheating demonstrates a lack of respect for oneself, fellow students and the course instructor. The policy on academic integrity can be found at: http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/Students/Student_Academic_Integrity_Process/

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

LIBR 200, LIBR 204. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the grant-seeking process.
2. Conduct research to locate sources of grant funding, analyze grantmaker guidelines, and assess whether potential funding sources match an organization and a specific project.
3. Describe funder perspectives and know how to communicate effectively with prospective grantmakers.
4. Write persuasive material that clearly articulates purpose, responds to the needs of an audience, uses the appropriate voice and tone, and builds stakeholder support.
5. Analyze an organization's grant-seeking practices, identify areas of potential improvement, and prioritize grant-seeking opportunities.
6. Assess specific library needs and future service development, identifying appropriate projects for grant funding.
7. Develop a competitive grant proposal, including budgets, implementation plans, and evaluation criteria.
8. Discuss social information tools from an overarching and strategic perspective, and explain how they fit into competitive and other intelligence work.
9. Use social tools for information collection and supplementing of traditional competitive intelligence tools.
10. Use social tools from a competitive intelligence standpoint, and understand the specific implementations of these tools.
11. Describe how competitive intelligence communities are using these tools for professional purposes.
12. Demonstrate the ability to conduct competitive work using social tools.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 282 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Snell, S. A., & Bohlander, G. W. (2013). Managing human resources. Cengage. Available through Amazon: 1111532826

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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