Dr. Brett S. Sharp, Assistant Professor, has considerable professional and administrative experience in both state and local government. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Science 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 conducting policy analysis and other research. He is an active member of the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals and is a past president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Contact Time: Monday Through Friday 8:00-8:10 AM (and by appointment)

Office: Liberal Arts Bldg 102-J (in Political Science suite)

Email: bsharp@ucok.edu

Telephone: (405) 974-5526 (with voice mail)

Fax: (405) 974-3823

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

Introduces the study of public administration by exploring the role of a bureaucracy in a democracy, applying management and organizational theory to the public setting, and illustrating the work life of a public administrator through various simulations and case studies. Particular focus will be on the concepts and problems of public administration with emphasis on the development of organizations, management of human resources, ethical practice, emerging professionalism, and oversight of governmental budgeting and finance.

Students will attend lectures which will orient them to basic concepts and information concerning public administration. Students are responsible, through self-study and reading assignments, to learn relevant public administration concepts and applications. This class is designed for active student participation including several case studies and in-class simulations. Classroom questions and discussion are strongly encouraged. Students will also write an article review (2-3 pages) related to public administration as well as a short research paper (6-7 pages) over a public administration issue of their choice (with instructor’s approval). The student is responsible for retaining backup copies of all homework assignments turned in. The student should also be aware that some flexibility is retained in the syllabus to accommodate invited speakers and other learning opportunities. Students should also regularly check the professor’s web site for any class announcements.

Shaftritz, Jay M. and Russell, E. W. (2003). Introducing Public Administration (3^rd Ed.). New York: Longman. [Required]

Scott, Gregory M. & Garrison, Stephen M. (2002). The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. [Recommended]

  Instructor will determine course grades

     90 -100 = A

     80 - 89 = B

     70 - 79 = C

     60 - 69 = D

       0 - 59 = F

     Article Review        10%

     Class Participation    5%

     Group Presentation 10%

     Research Paper      25%

     Midterm Exam       20%

     Final Exam            30%

Attendance has its privileges. Class attendance is an important part of succeeding in this class and is expected of all students. Class time provides an opportunity for you to ask questions, clarify issues, and deepen your understanding of the concepts covered in the text. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any notes, assignments, and schedule changes made on that day. If you come in late, you are responsible for seeing that the attendance record is correct.

For purposes of this exercise, the class will be broken up into 4-6 teams. Class time will be available for completion of this project, but considerable outside work is also expected.

The Caine Mutiny, the movie based on a Herman Wouk’s novel, will serve as a simulated public administration setting for your group to analyze in terms of organizational culture, motivation theory, and especially leadership theory. In narrative form, prepare a 4-6 page research report/essay in which your group intellectually responds to the management issues raised in the movie. In addition, your group will give a 15-minute presentation to the rest of the class. Lecture notes and Chapter 9 of your text should be especially helpful in your analysis. When analyzing the movie, address the following theories and concepts:

Feel free to incorporate outside sources include those from the World Wide Web. Creativity, imagination, and humor would be very welcome. The essay report will be due on Thursday, July 15.

Your group’s presentation will also be given on Thursday, July 15. Feel free to use audiovisual materials in your presentation. A VCR/TV and overhead projector will be available for your use. If you need additional resources (e.g computer for PowerPoint presentation, DVD player, etc.) please inform the instructor a day or two before the class period so that equipment can be reserved. Although not required, it might be beneficial to distribute handouts to your classmates. Your final product will serve as a point of discussion with the rest of the class.

The project will be graded on the following criteria: demonstrated teamwork (obvious collaboration, transitions, fun); content (coverage of materials presented in class and in the text, quality of content, preparation); analysis; organization (good introduction, understandability, conclusion); creativity (uniqueness of ideas, interest, humor); and format (grammar, length, presentation, class discussion).

Each student will select an article of interest from a refereed journal, professional periodical related to public administration (for example, Public Administration Review, American Review of Public Administration, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Public Management, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Public Personnel Management, Governing, Public Administration Quarterly) or credible news source (for example, New York Times, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Newseek, etc.) and prepare a 2-3 page summary and analysis of the contents. Students will present highlights of their article in class. These article reviews should also include 2-3 questions to be posed to the rest of the class in order to stimulate class discussion. These assignments are due on Thursday, July 22. For additional information see Chapter 8 of The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual.

Each student will write a 6-7 page, double-spaced paper for this course. You will choose as your topic some issue that directly relates to contemporary public administration. While you must cite sufficient references to make your paper convincing, this assignment requires a minimum of five references from refereed journals and/or professional periodicals. Students should follow an accepted style convention such as outlined in the recommended textbook by Scott and Garrison, The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual (Chicago/Turabian) or other major style conventions such as APA, MLA, etc. The first draft of the research paper (title page with topic, introduction, and preliminary list of references) is due at the beginning of class, Monday, July 19 and the final version is due Friday, July 23. Papers will be graded on topic selection, format, grammar, style, research documentation, research quality, content delivery, and analysis. Please refer to the discussion of plagiarism in the Academic Integrity Statement attached to the syllabus as well as pages 145-148 in The Political Science Student Writers Manual.

There will be two exams during the semester. The first exam will be comprised of multiple choice and/or essay questions. The final exam will be comprehensive and may include essay, short answer, and/or multiple choice questions. Make up examinations will not be offered except for documented emergencies. In case of school cancellation due to weather or other reasons during the scheduled time for the final exam, university policy will be followed in the assigning of grades, which in the past has included the professor’s best judgment to what the student has earned up until that point. Therefore, it is in your best interest not to depend upon the final exam to make up for previously poor grades.

Extra credit assignments, if any, will be announced in class and offered to all students. A maximum amount of 5 percentage points of the total grade will be allowed for extra credit if offered.

Based upon the Oklahoma Regents’ Statement on Course Workload and Homework [OSRHE 11-2-34], 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 communicating is that if you have a full-time job (30-40 hours) you should not at the same time maintain a full-time academic schedule. If you expect to do well, plan to put in the time!

The University of Central Oklahoma complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990. Students with disabilities who need special accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Coordinator of Disability Support Services, Ms. Kimberly Fields at (405) 974-2549. The DSS Office is located in the Nigh University Center, Room 415. Students should also notify the instructor of special accommodation needs by the end of the first week of class.

Cheating = Failure (please refer to attached Academic Integrity Statement). Cheating is unacceptable conduct and will result in an automatic grade of "F" for the course, and be reported to Academic Affairs. Students are required to do all of the work for this class on their own. Copying answers to exercises or examinations from anyone constitutes cheating. Allowing another student to copy one’s answers will be treated as cheating. Consulting with the instructor about any assignment does not constitute cheating and is encouraged.

The Political Science Department of the University of Central Oklahoma is asking all students taking political science courses to read the following Academic Integrity Statement. Our purpose in doing so is to ensure that all our students are aware of what is improper academic behavior.

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.