LIBR 282-11
Seminar in Library Management
Spring 2015 Greensheet

Dr. Maureen L. Mackenzie
E-mail
Other contact information: Please feel free to call me on my cellphone: 631-682-0399
Office location: I am available for phone conferences.  I also can set up a "Go To Meeting," if you wish to have an online meeting with me.
Office Hours: Call anytime for an appointment.

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 22nd, 12:01am PST unless you are taking an intensive or a one unit or two unit class that starts on a different day. In that case the class will open at 12:01am PST on the first day that the class meets.

You will be enrolled into the Canvas 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.

This one credit course provides the informaton professional with a focused introduction into the role of the Human Resource Manager and his or her influences upon the success of an organization.  Skill building is an outcome of this course.  The student will gain an understanding of how to create a job description, how to prepare to interview for qualified candidates, and understand how to separate or terminate an employee from the organization.  The student will also explore an emering issue that the Human Resource Manager will be responsible to manage for the organization.

Course Requirements

Grading: Student evaluation is based on a 1000 point system

Assignments

Participation - 10% of overall grade: This one credit course offers the student sources that emerge from video clips, recorded lectures, articles, slide presentations, etc. The learning takes place when the student engages the material. It is expected that the student will read, listen to, and review, all the material that is discussed in the syllabus. The student’s active engagement with the material within this course defines the student’s participation. The participation grade contributes 10% (100 points) to the overall semester grade.

Quizes #1 and #2 - 10% of overall grade (each quiz contributes 5%): There are two multiple-choice quizzes. These quizzes emerge from a model of low-stakes testing. Each quiz contributes only 5% toward your overall grade, but will provide an indicator to the student and to the professor that you understand the essential elements of the topic being explored. Plus they offer a level of repetition of exposure to the concepts. Each quiz is TIMED QUIZ. Once you start the quiz, you should complete it within one attempt. You have exactly 20 minutes to complete 10 questions. You will be shown one question at a time. 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 within the PPT or my lecture. 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 does not take a quiz, then 0 points will be awarded.

The schedule:

Job Description - 20% of overall grade: Interview a person who currently holds a job. I am less interested in what type of job and more interested in your ability to gather information and to use the information to analyze the job and to create a job description with the job specifications. I suggest a job that is within the realm of your professional life and interests. Research an appropriate format for the job description (including the job specifications). This assignment contributes 0-200 points to your overall grade. The written job description (including all job specifications) is due by 5pm, on Saturday, April 11^th, 2015.

The document should clearly articulate:

• A job title and a summary statement of the job.
• The statement of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the job to be performed.
• What are the essential functions of the job?
• Clearly articulate a list of job specifications: skills, education, experience, etc.
• Make clear what you will expect from the candidate as relates to the knowledge, skills, and the abilities of the person who will ultimately perform the job.

Late submission: 20 points will be deducted if your job description is submitted after 5pm (PT) on its due date (4/11).  50 points will be deducted if your paper is submitted 1 day late (4/12).  75 points will be deducted from the earned grade if the paper is submitted 2 days late (4/13).  The job description will not be accepted after April 13th.  I encourage you to create your job description early to avoid any problems.

Schedule of Interview Questions - 20% of overall: You are now experienced in analyzing a job and creating a job description, which includes the specific job specifications. Now you are ready to interview candidates to fill the position. Please create a schedule of interview questions. They should be carefully focused on hiring a candidate that meets all of the requirements as outlined in your job description. Ensure that the questions gain the needed knowledge related to the job functions and the job specifications. Include behavioral descriptive interview questions. Also, please include comments on how you will start the interview, make the candidate comfortable, and close the interview.   Please submit the written comments and the schedule of interview questions by 5pm (PST) Friday, April 17^th, 2014. This assignment contributes 0-200 points to your overall grade.

Late submission: 20 points will be deducted if your schedule of interview questions is submitted after 5pm (PT) on its due date (4/17).  50 points will be deducted if your paper is submitted 1 day late (4/18).  75 points will be deducted from the earned grade if the paper is submitted 2 days late (4/19).  The job description will not be accepted after April 19th.  I encourage you to create your schedule of interview questions early to avoid any problems.

Discussion Board - 20% of overall: Active participation from all students is essential for a successful and insightful class experience.   Class participation will influence your overall grade. We will have one on-line class discussion focused on separating/terminating employees. The Discussion forum is our venue for dialogue and debate. I will monitor the discussion, but I will refrain from participating in the discussion -- so as to not limit student debate. I will summarize my comments after the discussion period.

You are expected to login multiple times through the week to participate in the developing discussion. Your initial response to the discussion question must be posted by Tues, April 21^st. Along with answering the discussion question, you should be reading your colleagues comments and participating in a discussion to further explore the topic. Your comments should reflect evidence that you engaged the material on this topic. This discussion forum will end at 5pm on Fri, April 24^th. This discussion contributes 200 pts to each student’s overall grade (20% of grade).

Final Research Paper - Executive Summary - 20% of overall: Each student will select a topic that is a relevant topic within the field of Human Resource Management. I have provided a list of suggested topics below, but please feel free to select another topic if you feel it is worthy of your research focus.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 this research executive summary.

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 3 pages (including the bibliography). Your paper’s title and your name should be included on the top of the 1^st 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.

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. BE AWARE that TURNITIN.com (plagiarism software) is enabled for any paper submissions.

Please properly prepare a bibliography of the works cited in the paper. 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.

Please keep in mind that this paper is worth 20% 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 (30 pts.), your ability to present real-world examples (20 points), your ability to present an educated and literature-supported opinion (30 pts.), your writing style (30 points), spelling, punctuation, grammar (30 points), and formatting (20 pts.), and lastly a well developed and properly formatted bibliography with well cited in-text references to your sources (author/date style) (20 pts).

Late submission: 20 points will be deducted if your research paper/executive summary is submitted after 9am (PT) on its due date.  50 points will be deducted if your paper is submitted after 12noon on its due date, 4/27. 75 points will be deducted if the paper is submitted 1 day late (4/28).  100 points will be deducted from the earned grade if the paper is submitted 2 days late (4/29).  The paper will not be accepted after April 29th.  I encourage you to submit your paper early to avoid any problems.

Suggested Topics:

• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act
• Discrimination on the job (include age discrimination)
• Sexual harassment
• Sexism at work
• Employment drug testing
• 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
• Privacy issues at work

Course Calendar
Please follow this weekly course plan

Prior to the start of class: Please carefully review the syllabus and the course requirements. Please go to the discussion board to introduce yourself to me and to your classmates.  Then, identify a person who has a job, which is willing to be interviewed by you (see assignment titled, “job description.”). Begin to explore articles that focus on the emerging issues that Human Resource Managers must focus on in today’s litigious and diverse workplace culture. Prepare to hit the ground running. This is a one credit course that requires your energy and attention. Welcome to LIBR282-11

Week 1: Monday 3/30- Sunday 4/5
During this first week, the student will be introduced to the world of Human Resource  Management.

The student will be expected to:

1. Review: the presentation slides “Into to HRM” and the recorded lecture.
2. Watch the you-tube: http://youtu.be/29A-W-Prxos
3. Read: Singh, V.P. 2008. Human resource management back to the basics. Journal of Marketing and Communications, January-April, 3(3), 69-71.
4. Begin to consider what HRM process or emerging issue you wish to research
5. Take quiz #1. Quiz 1 will post on Friday morning, 4/3 and must be completed by 5pm (PT) on Sunday, April 5^th, 2015. [Contributes 5% to your grade]

Week 2: Monday 4/6- Saturday 4/11
During this second week, the student will explore the HR Role associated with job analysis. The student will specifically focus on the creation of a job description with its related job requirements/specifications. The student will be expected to:

1. Review: presentation slides “Building a job description” & the recorded lecture
2. Watch the you-tube: http://youtu.be/jsHC15xh43A
3. Read the following:
   
   1. Job descriptions done right: Start with a clean sheet of paper. Insights from TheHRSpecialist.com. Compliance Corner. Minnesota Employment Law, Sept. 2014, p. 4.
   2. Writing job descriptions: An 8-question checklist.” TheHRSpecialist.com. Dec. 2013, p. 6. c. Castellano, Stephanie. 2014. What’s in a job? Intelligence, Training and Development, January, p. 14.
4. Interview a person with a job. Develop a job description. See the details for this assignment within the syllabus. The written job description (including all job specifications) is due by 5pm, on Saturday, April 11^th, 2015. [Contributes 20% to your grade]

Week 3: Mon 4/13- Sun 4/19
During this third week, the student will explore employee selection, with specific focus on interviewing candidates for a job. The student will be expected to:

1. Review the presentation slides, “Employee Selection & Interviewing,” and recorded lecture
2. Watch the you-tube: http://youtu.be/2kNIlIrocrU
3. Read the following:
   
   1. How to ask sensitive questions. 2014. Communication Briefings, October, p2. URL: www.CommunicationBriefings.com
   2. Joyce, Marguerite P. 2008. Interviewing techniques used in selected organizations today. Business Communication Quarterly, 71(3), 376-380.
   3. Forte, Jay. 2011. Talent-based interviewing: The 5 best questions. TheHRSpecialist.com. Nov., p.7
4. Create a schedule of interview questions. Include comments on how you will start the interview, make the candidate comfortable, and close the interview. The schedule of interview questions should be focused on hiring a candidate for the job description you created last week. Ensure that the questions gain the needed knowledge related to the job functions and the job specifications. Include behavioral descriptive interview questions. Please submit the written comments and the schedule of interview questions by 5pm (PST) Friday, April 17^th, 2015. [Contributes 20% to the overall grade.]
5. Take quiz #2. Quiz #2 will focus on the material discussed in weeks 2 & 3. Quiz #2 will post on Friday morning, 4/17 and must be completed by 5pm (PT) on Sunday, April 19^th, 2015. [Contributes 5% to your grade]

Week 4: Mon 4/20- Friday 4/24
During this fourth week, the student will focus on the issues surrounding terminating an employee. We will explore employee discipline. The student will be expected to:

1. Review the presentation slide, “Separating an Employee from the Organization,” and the recorded lecture
2. Watch the You-tube: http://youtu.be/zbd7SDJMMak
3. Read the following:
   1. Berger, Norman L., and Brian H. Kleiner. 1990. Terminating employees legally. American Business Review, January, pp. 82-87.
   2. Van Bogaert, Dan, and Arthur Gross-Schaefer. 2005. Terminating the employee-employer relationship: Ethical & legal challenges. Employee Relations Law Journal, 31(1), pp. 49-66.
   3. DePree, Chauncey M. and Rebecca K. Jude. 2007. Ten practical suggestions for Terminating an employee. The CPA Journal, August, pp. 62-63.
4. Participate in the discussion focused on employee termination. Your initial response to the discussion question must be posted by Tuesday, April 21^st. The discussion forum will end at 5pm on Friday, April 24^th, 2015.
5. Final: Sat, 4/24 – Sunday 4/26    The student will submit a concise and well written executive summary that explores a crucial issue that will demand the attention of the Human Resource Manager within an organization. The paper must be submitted by 9am on Sunday, April 26th, 2015. The details of the assignment a

Required Course Material

• Berger, Norman L. and Brian H. Kleiner. 1990. Terminating employees legally. American Business Review, January, pp. 82-87.
• Castellano, Stephanie. 2014. What’s in a job? Intelligence, Training & Development, January, p. 14.
• DePree, Chauncey M. and Rebecca K. Jude. 2007. Ten practical suggestions for Terminating an employee. The CPA Journal, August, pp. 62-63.
• Forte, Jay. 2011. Talent-based interviewing: The 5 best questions. TheHRSpecialist.com. Nov., p. 7
• How to ask sensitive questions. 2014. Communication Briefings, October, p2. URL: www.CommunicationBriefings.com
• Job descriptions done right: Start with a clean sheet of paper. Insights from TheHRSpecialist.com. Compliance Corner. Minnesota Employment Law, Sept. 2014, p. 4.
• Joyce, Marguerite P. 2008. Interviewing techniques used in selected organizations today. Business Communication Quarterly, 71(3), 376-380.
• Singh, V.P. 2008. Human resource management back to the basics. Journal of Marketing and Communications, January-April, 3(3), 69-71.
• Van Bogaert, Dan, and Arthur Gross-Schaefer. 2005. Terminating the employee-employer relationship: Ethical & legal challenges. Employee Relations Law Journal, 31(1), pp. 49-66
• Writing job descriptions: An 8-question checklist.” TheHRSpecialist.com. Dec. 2013, p. 6.

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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. Write a job description.
2. Prepare a set of interview questions relevant to a specific job description.
3. Recall, recognize and define knowledge associated with managing human resources.
4. Understand the complexity of separating/terminating an employee from the organization.
5. Identify and describe an relevant or emerging issue within the field of Human Resource Management.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

LIBR 282 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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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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