Dr. Brett S. Sharp, Assistant Professor, has considerable professional and administrative experience in both government and business. 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. Dr. Sharp is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Society for Human Resource Management. He is currently the Associate Director of the Oklahoma Policy Research Center at UCO and immediate past president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Office Hours: MWF 900-11:00 AM and Wed 6:30-7:30 PM (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

This course introduces students to leadership in organizations. The evolution of leadership theory is traced from its early mythological orientations to cutting edge applications. This class assumes that students can develop additional capacity for taking on future leadership roles. Service obligations and ethical implications are emphasized throughout the course. The nature of the relationship between leaders and followers within a cultural context will be explored.

Leadership theory and practice are integrated through a variety of classroom experiences and simulations. Students will attend lectures orienting them to basic concepts and information concerning the foundations of modern leadership theory. Students are responsible, through self-study, readings, group projects, and writing assignments to learn relevant concepts and applications related to the study of leadership theory. This class is designed for active student participation. Classroom questions and discussion are strongly encouraged. The student is responsible for retaining backup copies of all homework assignments turned in and returned. The student should also be aware that some flexibility is retained in the syllabus to accommodate invited speakers, video segments of current leadership issues, service activities, and other learning opportunities.

Nahavandi, Afsaneh. (2003).The Art and Science of Leadership (3^rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. [Required]

Heller, Robert. (1999). Learning to Lead (Effective Leadership). New York: DK Publishing. [Required]

Denhardt, Janet V. and Denhardt, Robert B. (2003). The New Public Service.  Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. [Required]

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

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 concepts, and deepen your understanding of the concepts covered in the text. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any notes, assignments, and changes in the schedule that were made on that day. If you come in late, you are responsible for seeing that the attendance record is correct. Class attendance may affect marginal grades. Above and beyond the expected class attendance, students are required to complete the readings as assigned (see course schedule) prior to the beginning of the class period. Demonstrated mastery of the assigned readings through class discussion is necessary to earn full participation points. Extent of involvement in various self-assessment exercises and in-class case simulations will be incorporated into assigning participation points.

Each student will select a notable person who exhibits great leadership qualities and prepare a 2-3 page biographical sketch. The student will briefly outline the selected leader’s contributions to followers—and overall society if applicable. A realistic appraisal of the leader’s weaknesses should be mentioned. These biographical sketches should end with 2-3 questions to be posed to the rest of the class in order to stimulate class discussion. The biographical sketch will be presented to the class according to the schedule arranged with the instructor. A superior effort will connect this exemplary leader to concepts discussed in class. Students will be allowed up to fifteen minutes for their presentation and subsequent class discussion.

For purposes of this exercise, the class will be broken up into 3-4 teams. Some class time will be available for completion of this project, but considerable outside work is expected. A movie identified by the instructor with input from the class will serve as a simulated leadership study for your group to analyze in terms of leadership theory. In narrative form, prepare a 4-6 page research report/essay in which your group intellectually responds to the leadership issues raised in the movie. In addition, your group will give a 15-minute presentation to the rest of the class. Lecture notes and your texts should be especially helpful in your analysis. When analyzing the movie, address the following theories and concepts:

        Informal Leaders v. Formal Leaders

        Leadership Styles

        Leadership Personality

        Micromanagement

        Contingency Approaches Leadership v. Management

        Transactional Approaches

        Transformational Leadership

        Other Leadership Types

        Accountability

        Role of Charisma and Credibility

        Moral Leadership

Feel free to incorporate outside sources including those from the World Wide Web. Creativity, imagination, and humor are very welcome. The essay report is due Wednesday, March 26. Your group’s presentation will also be given on Wednesday, March 26. Feel free to use audiovisual materials in your presentation. A VCR/TV and overhead projector will be available for your use. Although not required, it might be beneficial to distribute handouts to your classmates. Your final product will serve as a point of discussion for 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).

Write a 5-7 page, double-spaced typewritten report over the Denhardts’ book, The New Public Service. Your report should be in the form of an essay which includes a concise summary and more extensive analysis of the book. As part of your analysis, answer the following questions within the text of your report:

1. What is the purpose of this book and its central thesis (philosophy or perspective)?

2. Does the book achieve its goals?

3. What is the method or approach used by the authors to reach their conclusions? Is the approach clearly specified

    so that its validity can be determined?

4. Are the conclusions credible?

5. What are the implications for practicing leaders?

6. What are the primary strengths and weaknesses of the book?

7. Would you recommend this book to someone interested in leadership in the public sector? Why or why not?

For guidance on this project, students should read relevant sections of the recommended textbook by Scott and Garrison, The Political Science Student Writers Manual. The final draft of the research paper is due at the beginning of class, Friday, May 2. Papers will be graded on topic selection, format, grammar, citation convention, style, content delivery, summary, 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. Both will be comprised of essay, completion, listing, and/or multiple choice questions. Make-up exams will not be permitted except for document emergencies and even then, an alternate form of the test is likely to be used. The final exam will be comprehensive.

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 should make their requests by contacting the coordinator of Disability Support Services, Kimberly Fields at 974-2549. The 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.