Dr. Brett S. Sharp, Assistant Professor, has been a practicing public administrator for over fourteen years. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a B.S. in Political Science/Public Affairs with a minor in Religious Studies from Oklahoma State University. He is currently the Associate Director of the Oklahoma Policy Research Center at UCO. He is the immediate past president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Office Hours:  MWF 9:00-10:00 AM and MW 5:00-5:45 PM (and by appointment)

Office:  LAR 102-J

Email: bsharp@ucok.edu

Telephone:  (405) 974-5526

Fax: (405) 974-3823

Web Site:  http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/political/faculty/sharp/index.html 

Classroom:  LAR 124

This course is designed to provide the student with a grounding in politics, public administration, and policy making in the arena of higher education. Student should gain an understanding of the evolution of higher education in the American setting, various approaches to a theory of educational policy and administration, issues in higher education reform, and new directions in higher education management.

Student will read a series of books related to higher education policy, reform, and administration and analyze them through a political perspective culminating in a review essay. The instructor will help guide the readings by meeting with the student at various times in the semester.

Birnbaum, Robert. (1988). How Colleges Work: The Cybernetics of Academic Organization and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. (253 pp.). [Available from Instructor]

Boyer, Ernest L. (1997). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. CT: John Wiley & Sons Group. (160 pp.). [Available from Instructor]

Ford, Peter, Goodyear, Peter, Darby Jonathan, Graves Joyce, Lewis, Roger, and Heseltine, Richard. (1996). Managing Change: A Learning Environment Architecture. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, Inc. (161 pp.)

McManis, Gerald, and Harvey, James. (1978). Planning, Management, and Evaluation Systems in Higher Education. New York: Ireland Educational Corporation. (98 pp.)

Sims, Serbrenia J. and Sims, Ronald R. (1995). Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Is It Working? Why or Why Not? Wesport, CT: Greenwood Publishing (224 pp.)

Waggaman, John S. (1992). Strategies and Consequences: Managing the Costs in Higher Education. Washington, DC: George Washington University, Graduate School of Education. (130 pp.)

Based upon the Oklahoma Regents’ Statement on Course Workload and Homework [OSRHE II-2-34], a college student should expect to spend 3 hours, on average, on outside work for each hour spent in class. The message the Oklahoma Regents are trying to communicate is that if you have a full time job (30-40 hours) you should not simultaneously expect to maintain a full-time academic schedule (15 hours). If you expect to do well, expect to put in the time!

The University of Central Oklahoma complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Students with disabilities who need special accommodations should make their requests by contacting the coordinator of Disability Support Services at 974-2459. Their office is located in the Administration Building, Room 211. Students should also notify the instructor of special accommodations needs by the end of the first week of class.

As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity. The Political Science Department expects that its students will conduct themselves honestly. This means, above all, that students submit for credit work that is the product of their own efforts. Principles of academic integrity require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit, and that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable conduct in the course of their academic work.

The examples and definitions given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic honesty and integrity is judged. The list is merely illustrative of some of the more common infractions. It is not intended to be exhaustive. Any question a student has about what constitutes inappropriate behavior should be directed towards their instructor. The rule of thumb to follow is: If in doubt, ASK!

Plagiarism - Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes not only the exact use of another’s words, word for word, but also the paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly, or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility. In case of doubt, give a citation of the author you are using. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is plagiarism. A plagiarized paper will result in a failing grade on the work in question, and perhaps, for the entire course.

Cheating on Examinations - Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or "crib sheets" during an examination (unless receiving instructor approval), or sharing information with another student either during or after an examination.

Falsification - It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or to fabricate information in an academic exercise or assignment (e.g. false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data).

Multiple Submissions - It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the instructor to whom the material is being submitted the second time.