[THIS SYLLABUS IS IMPORTANT—PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY]

LEAD 2213 (25991): Theories of Leadership

University of Central Oklahoma: Spring 2008

INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Brett S. Sharp, Associate Professor, is Director of Leadership Studies at UCO. He 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 has been certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the Society for Human Resource Management. He has won numerous awards for teaching and scholarship. He is a graduate of both the FBI Citizens’ Academy and the Educator’s Leadership Academy.

            Contact Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 8:30-9:00 AM and Wed 7:00-7:30 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              Classroom: LAR 120

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

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

TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING EXPERIENCES:

Leadership theory and practice are integrated through a variety of classroom experiences, case studies, games, 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, games, 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. Some significant work for this course will take place outside the classroom and outside scheduled class hours. Do not assume that the professor is “in the loop” on other school activities (e.g. PLC, LOT, Emerging Leaders, etc.), so please bring significant schedule conflicts to his attention.

TEXTS

            Greene, Robert. (1998). The 48 Laws of Power. New York: Penguin Books. [Required]

            Note: Students must have access to a chess set and a deck of playing cards.

Course Schedule - Spring 2008

EVALUATION METHODS AND GRADING

            Instructor will determine course grades      Grading components include: 

            using the following scale:                                         Class Participation/Class Exercises                10%

                            90 -100        =         A                                 Pretest                                                              5%

                            80 - 89        =         B                                 In Class Case Study/Group Presentation        10%

                            70 - 79        =         C                                 Social Capital Exercise & Essay                    10%

                            60 - 69        =         D                                 Midterm Exam                                               20%

                              0 - 59        =         F                                 Book Review and Presentation                       15%

                                                                                                Final Exam                                                     30%

CLASS PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE/EXERCISES

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, increase exposure to class materials, and deepen your understanding of the concepts covered in the text. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any notes (from other, hopefully generous students), 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. Students not willing to devote sufficient time to reading the assigned texts should drop the course. Extent of involvement in various self-assessment exercises, in-class case simulations, games, and possible quizzes will be incorporated into assigning participation points. As part of earning this course, each student will be required to demonstrate mastery of the rules of chess and poker (5-card stud).

IN-CLASS CASE STUDY/GROUP PRESENTATION

For purposes of this exercise, the class will be broken up into five (5) teams. Some class time will be available for completion of this project, but considerable outside work is expected. A movie identified by the instructor will serve as a simulated leadership study for your group to analyze in terms of leadership theory. In narrative form, prepare a 3-4 page research report/essay in which your group intellectually responds to the leadership issues raised in the movie. In addition, your group will give an 8-minute presentation to the rest of the class. The time limit will be strictly enforced. Lecture notes and your texts should be especially helpful in your analysis. When analyzing the movie, address it using concepts covered in class and the laws of power covered in the text

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 Friday, March 28. Your group’s presentation will also be given on Friday, March 28. Feel free to use audiovisual materials in your presentation. A VCR/TV and overhead projector will be available for your use. Other equipment such as computer with projector may be available through a reservation made by your instructor. Please inform him by email well in advance of any equipment requests. 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); & format (grammar, length, presentation, class discussion).

SOCIAL CAPITAL EXERCISE

Read the list of 100 Things You Can Do to Increase Social Capital as linked in the professor’s web site (see address above). Select one of these activities that you do not normally do on a regular basis and do it sometime before or during Spring Break. Write a 2-3 page report in which you outline the details and significance of this activity. Papers will be graded on activity selection, format, grammar, style, content delivery, analysis, and general quality. For purposes of this exercise, you may team up with other members of this class, but the paper should represent your own personal response to this activity. This paper is due the Monday after Spring Break (March 24).

BOOK REVIEW AND PRESENTATION

Groups of 6-7 students each will visit one or more of the following resources to select a leadership book to review: the UCO Chambers Library, UCO Leadership Library, Edmond Downtown Library, University Bookstore, or other source. The students will submit their selected title to the professor for approval. Subsequently, each student will read his or her selected book and independently prepare a 4-5 page written review of its contents. You should summarize the major points of the book and evaluate it so that others who might be interested in the topic can determine whether or not the book would be beneficial for them to read. You should begin with an interesting introduction that provides an overview of the author and the book. You should then briefly summarize the major parts of the book identifying the major points. Finally, you should critically evaluate the book by pointing out its strengths and weaknesses and conclude with your recommendation about whether or not the book is worth reading. Each student will then partner with other members of his or her group to provide a presentation on their selected book(s) to the rest of the class. Early in the semester, the professor will distribute a schedule for these leadership presentations. From the beginning of this assignment, this small team of students should coordinate their selection so that they are covering either (1) the same book or (2) different books that essentially cover the same topic, or (3) different books covering different aspects of leadership by the same author. The presentations should be at least 30 minutes in length (including class discussion). Book review presentations that do not take full advantage of the time allowed will have points deducted. The purpose of these presentations is to provide the framework for continued class discussion. Presenters are expected to stimulate and lead these discussions (with some help from the instructor). Presenters should find it helpful to come prepared with several potential questions to ask their classmates. A superior effort will connect the selected book to concepts discussed in class and presented in the textbook. Comparisons and contrasts with other leaders would also be beneficial. Students will be allowed most of the class period for their presentation and subsequent class discussion. Feel free to use audiovisual materials in your presentation. A VCR/DVD/TV, overhead projector, and LCD PowerPoint projector will be available for your use. The individual student’s written book review is due the same day as the team presentation is scheduled. Two (2) copies of your book review must be submitted. One will be graded and returned to you. The other will be filed at the Leadership Library for others to use when considering what books to read.

EXAMINATIONS

There will be three exams during the semester. The first exam (pretest) will be comprised of ten multiple choice questions covering the preface and first two chapters of the Robert Greene book. This test is designed to allow the student to become acquainted with the testing format for the midterm and final exams before the stakes get too high. Both the midterm and final exams will be comprised of essay, completion, listing, and/or multiple choice questions. Make-up exams will not be permitted except for documented emergencies and even then, an alternate form of the test is likely to be used. Make-up exams will not be curved. The final exam will be comprehensive. It may include a question requiring the student to list in order and match with its corresponding number, the complete 48 laws of power. There will be no study guides except this syllabus and classroom discussions.

EXTRA CREDIT

A full percentage point toward the final grade will be offered for students participating in the Student Symposium. Other extra credit assignments 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.

 ACADEMIC HONESTY

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.

Turnitin.com Plagiarism Syllabus Statement: UCO subscribes to the Turnitin.com plagiarism prevention service. Students agree that by taking this course, all required assignments may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com restricted access reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such assignments.

Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com website. Turnitin.com is just one of various plagiarism prevention tools and methods which may be utilized by your faculty instructor during the terms of the semesters. In the UCO Student Handbook, there is a process for contesting any plagiarism allegations against you.

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.

Academic Integrity Statement

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!

Definitions and Examples

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.

Leadership Book Presentation Schedule