Public Personnel Management
                                              Prepared for the Virtual College at FHSU by Arthur L. Morin
                                                                    Office: Rarick Hall 315
                                                                    (785) 628-4467, -4425
                                                                    amorin@fhsu.edu

Without a doubt, the "people" part of an organization is the most important part.  This course focuses specifically on the management of personnel.   The most important part of the course will be the development of a portfolio of forms which you should be able to use as templates when carrying out the 'personnel' responsibilities of an agency.  The three books we will be using for the class are:

    Richard C. Kearney (with David G. Carnevale), 2001, Labor Relations in the Public Sector, 3rd Edition, New York and Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
   Reginald Shareef. 2000. Organizational Theory, New Pay, and Public Sector Transformations  Facilitating Strategic Change in Political Environments. University Press of America. ISBN: 0-7618-1850-2.  See also Edward E. Lawler III. 2000. Rewarding Excellence: Pay Strategies for the New Economy. Jossey-Bass.
    Patton, Witt, Lovrich, and Fredericksen, 2002, Human Resource Management  The Public Service Perspective, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.  Or Norma M. Riccucci, Katherine C. Naff, Jay M. Shafritz, and David H. Rosenbloom. 2007. Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, 6th edition. Taylor & Francis Group: Auerbach Publications. ISBN: 978-0-8493-8519-3

Recommended but not required:

    Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Dave UIrich. 2000. The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance. Harvard Business School.
    ICMA. 2004. Human Resource Managemetn in Local Government: An Essential Guide, Second Edition. ICMA. ISBN: 0-87326-144-5

Grading scheme: 90%-100% of the total = A; 83%-89.99% of the total = B;
                          73%-82.99% of the total = C; 63%-72.99% of the total = D

You will be required to join the 'virtual discussion group' (VDG).  The VDG is a listserv that will allow each student to communicate with all members of the VDG by sending just one message.  You are encouraged to use the VDG to discuss readings, assignments, questions, complaints, etc.  A possible 1,000 points can be earned by participated in the VDG, but you need to participate at least twice a week to earn those 1,000 points.

Graduate students will be expected to write a 20-page research paper with at least 20 sources, not more than half of which can come from the Internet.  The research paper can be about any topic related to personnel, broadly defined.  If you are taking this class in the summer, it is expected that you will complete the research paper after summer school is over. About the paper: Make sure to use quote marks when quoting and make sure not to plagiarize; otherwise the paper will receive the grade of zero.  Cite all sources listed in your "References," include all sources cited in the paper in your "References."  Whenever you include material from one of your sources, even when paraphrasing or summarizing, provide a citation.  You may use any of three citation techniques: in-text, foot-note, or end-note.  Please feel free to consult with me often about the research paper.  The research paper will be worth 9,000 points.  PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING ARE SUFFICIENT GROUNDS FOR RECEIVING A FAILING GRADE IN THE COURSE. For FHSU's policy on Academic Honesty, click here.

Class itinerary

Read Patton et al, chapter 1
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1. Worth 100 points.
    Government Retirement and Benefits, Inc. - site for training personnelists

Read Patton et al, ch 2
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 100 points.
    Civil Service Commission of the Philippines
    The comparable site for Ireland
    The comparable site for the United Kingdom
    The comparable site for Mauritius
    The World Bank Group's Administrative and Civil Service Reform

Read Patton et al, ch 3
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 300 points.
    U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
    Federal Labor Relations Authority
    U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Read Patton et al, ch 4
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #2.  Worth 100 points.
    Public Service Research Foundation's web site on "Little Hatch Acts" (revised 1-22-03)
    Vedder Price is a law firm that practices in the area of the Constitutional rights for public employees
    So also is Bredhoff & Kaiser
    " Hatch Act for Federal Employees" (added 2-17-03)

Read Patton et al, ch 5
    Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 100 points.
           Create a fictional public or non-profit agency and write up its
                        affirmative action policy (for your portfolio). Worth 300 points.
     American Association for Affirmative Action (added 1-23-03)
     In Motion's website providing links pertaining to affirmative action (added 1-23-03)
     "Ten Myths About Affirmative Action" (added 1-23-03)
      University of Colorado's website relating to affirmative action (added 1-23-03)

Read Kearney and Carnevale
    Assignments: turn in a one-page outline for each chapter.  That means you will turn in
                        eleven one-page outlines.  Each outline is worth 100 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 6
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #2.  Worth 300 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 7 - see also page 229
    Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 300 points.
           Develop the following templates (worth 300 points each):
                            template for job analysis
                            template for job classification
                            template for job description
                            template for job evaluation (all for your portfolio)
                        Make sure to get the relevant material from me before you begin developing these templates.

Read Patton et al, ch 8
    Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #4.  Worth 50 points.
            Develop the following templates (worth 300 points each):
                            template for recruitment
                            template for selection (for your portfolio)
                        Make sure to get the relevant material from me before you begin developing these templates.

Read Patton et al, ch 9
    Assignment: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #2.  Worth 100 points.

Read Shareef
    Assignment: Turn in a one-page summary outline of each chapter.  Each outline is worth 100 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 10
   Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #2.  Worth 100 points.
           Develop a template that lists at least ten ways (to
                       reward an employee) that are not listed on p. 271 (for your portfolio)
                       Worth 100 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 11 but skip the article by Berman, West, and Wang - except for the first paragraph in the "Framework" section (on page 298)
   Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 500 points.
           Develop a template for evaluating job performance (for your portfolio)
                        Worth 300 points.
                        Make sure to get the relevant material from me before you begin developing this template.
                        You will also receive some explanation of part of this material (the spreadsheet part).
                     Write an essay in which you consider:
                        1) the pros and cons of rewarding employees on the basis of
                            a) merit
                                i) personal performance
                                ii) team performance
                            b) skill or competency
                            c) knowledge
                            e) training
                            f) seniority
                            g) comportment with organizational culture
                         2) whether there is some way to combine some or all of these
                             approaches in such a way that you
                             a) preserve horizontal and vertical equity
                             b) pay employees neither too much nor too little
                             c) motivate excellence and encourage improvement
                         Worth 700 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 12
   Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 300 points.
           Develop a template in which you write up your approach
                       to "ethics training" for your imaginary organization
                       (for your portfolio). Worth 300 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 13
   Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 300 points.
           Develop a template in which you write up your philosophy
                        of how employees should be corrected and the process and
                        reasons to use in firing an employee (for your portfolio).
                        Worth 300 points.

Read Patton et al, ch 14 but skip the article by Zeckhauser and Viscusi

 Read Patton et al, ch 15
    Assignments: Complete "Experiential Exercises" #1.  Worth 300 points.

Additional assignments:
    Case Three (on pages 416 and 417).  Worth 1,000 points.
    Case Eight (on pages 424-428).  Worth 1,000 points.

Final exam, worth 500 points.  You are an administrator faced with a terrible dilemma.  You really hate the fact that a bureaucracy can create such a powerful environment that it actually changes someone's personality.  You are dismayed by how often in bureaucratic settings people are treated like things. Yet you have a responsibility to make sure that your organization runs smoothly.  Where do you draw the line between thinking of workers as people and thinking of workers as organizational resources?

Calendar of Due Dates

Patton et al ch 1 EE#1  100             Jan 25
Patton et al ch 2 EE#1  100             Jan 25
Patton et al ch 3 EE #1 300             Jan 25
Patton et al ch 4 EE #2 100             Jan 25
Patton et al ch 5 EE #1 100             Feb 1
affirmative action template 300             Feb 1
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 1 100             Feb 1
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 2 100             Feb 1
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 3 100             Feb 8
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 4 100             Feb 8
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 5 100             Feb 8
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 6 100             Feb 15
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 7 100             Feb 15
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 8 100             Feb 15
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 9 100             Feb 22
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 10 100             Feb 22
outline of Kearney and Carnevale ch 11 100             Feb 22
Patton et al ch 6 EE #2 300             Mar 1
Patton et al ch 7 EE #1 300             Mar 1
job analysis template 300             Mar 1
job classification template 300             Mar 8
job description template 300             Mar 8
job evaluation template 300             Mar 8
Patton et al ch 8 EE #4 50             Mar 15
recruitment template 300             Mar 15
selection template 300             Mar 15
Patton et al ch 9 EE #2 100             Mar 29
outline of Shareef ch 1 100             Mar 29
outline of Shareef ch 2 100             Mar 29
outline of Shareef ch 3 100             Apr 5
outline of Shareef ch 4 100             Apr 5
outline of Shareef ch 5 100             Apr 5
outline of Shareef ch 6 100             Apr 12
outline of Shareef ch 7 100             Apr 12
Patton et al ch 10 EE #2 100             Apr 12
reward template 100             Apr 19
Patton et al ch 11 EE #1 500             Apr 19
performance evaluation template 300             Apr 19
essay on rewarding employees 700             Apr 26
Patton et al ch 12 EE #1 300             Apr 26
ethics template 300             Apr 26
Patton et al ch 13 EE #1 300             May 3
template for correcting, firing employees 300             May 3
Patton et al ch 15 EE #1 300             May 3
Case 3, Patton et al, pp 416 & 417 1000             May 10
Case 8, Patton et al, pp 424-428 1000             May 10
Participation in VDG 1000
final exam 500             May 14
        TOTAL 12050
Grad students: research paper 9000             May 10
      TOTAL 21050
 
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