HUMPHREYS COLLEGE

6650 Inglewood Ave. , Stockton , CA 95207

ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

Course Outline Winter Quarter 2006

CATALOG NUMBER:  ADM 290

CREDIT:  4 UNITS

INSTRUCTOR:  Assistant Professor Jim DeCosta                  Office: Room 218

Email address: jdecosta@humphreys.edu   Phone: 478-0800 ext 303

Web Site: /faculty/jdecosta

Office hours:  Current Schedule, and by appointment.

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES RELEVANT TO THIS COURSE OFFERING

Administrative Skills

Proficiency in composing business documents, telephone and interpersonal skills, and office procedures create the groundwork on which to continue building office and communication skills.  The ability to communicate, coach, lead, resolve conflicts and motivate employees from any culture and background keeps the office moving forward.  Progressive requirements in the upper-level classes such as identifying creative solutions or alternative and implementing them bring the students training in management perspectives.

Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills

The ability to think through issues and analyze situations for efficient and effective problem resolution is invaluable.  Practice in analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation and evaluation increase ability to think critically.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

ADM 290 Special Topics, 4 units

Prerequisite: ADM 120, ADM 121, ADM 134, ADM 141 or approval of the academic chair.

This course will be designed to encompass specific topics and/or problems in the management not addressed by the core courses listed.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is a complete instructional set in Microsoft Excel 2003 from introductory to expert concepts.  In these nine projects, you will learn basic through advanced skills, including building, editing, and formatting worksheets, charts, analyze lists data, use what-if analysis and pivot tables, enhance charts and worksheets, exchange data with other programs, incorporate Web information, and finally, how to gain control over your work and work with programming in Excel. Basic experience with the Windows Operating system is assumed. After completing this course, you will have covered all the skills necessary to pass the MOUS (Microsoft Office User Specialist) Exam to become certified in Excel 2003 at the core and expert levels.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The student will acquire introductory through advanced instruction on Microsoft Office Word 2003. Topics include creating and editing a Word document, creating a research paper, creating a resume using a wizard and a cover letter with a table, creating Web pages using Word, creating a document with a table, chart, and watermark, generating form letters, mailing labels, and directories, creating a professional newsletter, using Word’s collaboration tools, creating an online form, working with macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), working with a master document, an index, a table of contents, and XML, and linking an Excel worksheet and charting its data in Word.  Students will successfully complete the skill sets associated with the Microsoft Office User Specialist Certifications at both the User and Expert Levels.

PREREQUISITE:

Successful completion of ADM120 with a C or better, upper division standing or approval of instructor.

WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM: Students will focus on the following writing skills and objectives:

  • Writing short concise academic analyses.
  • Writing within the confines of academic format (MLA or APA).
  • Writing critical analyses of peer online reports of academic material.

HOURS OF INSTRUCTION: Asynchronous Online

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION/COURSE CONTENT:

This Online Lecture Courses is composed of four components

1. Lecture - Online lectures may be written or audio summaries of the learning objectives for the week or module and these lectures are considered required reading and are to be considered relevant material for required quizzes and or tests. Occasionally the instructor may elect to provide a multi-media presentation based on a PowerPoint presentation, or an AVI file that can be played in Microsoft Media Player, or perhaps converted into a Flash multi-media file, in which case your Browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Netscape) will need to have the Flash plug-in installed (See Introduction to Online Courses). In many instances your instructor will provide links to content appropriate to the lessons under study and will identify these materials as required reading or simply as supplemental reading material in order to help clarify the main reading assignment or to provide an alternative view to the conceptual material under study.

2. Discussion Forum/Email - Discussion forums and email take the place of the teacher-student and student-student interactions that normally take place in a lecture classroom. The forum provides the student the opportunity to respond to the course materials and concepts being presented during the course of a lesson. Unlike a classroom situation, the online environment allows you, the student, time to think about your response and contribute your own personal understanding of the question or concept to the class a whole. In a typical classroom setting, instructors often pose questions to the class and frequently it is only a very few students who answer and based on the few the instructor will assume that he/she is getting the point across or will undertake another track to frame the concept in another manner in order to help facilitate understanding. Online, you will have time to reflect and compose a short, concise answer to the question, or to frame a question of your own.

The discussion forum serves as the central hub for what has come to be known as an e-community and here at Humphreys College our forums are designed to be e-learning communities. Online communities are groups in which students learn from instructors as well as from other students and where instructors learn from their students as well. This participation and discovery process as students explore the course content and share their insights is one of the major cornerstones of online communities and learning specifically. Be sure to read the posts of your peers and instructors often as their perceptions of the course content will aid you in grounding your own understanding of the concepts being introduced.

Your instructor will grade your participation in these forums and may require that you respond once, twice, three, or four times in every forum. Your instructor may have separate forums, some that are graded and some that are not depending on the subject or the instructional method the instructor has deemed most beneficial for the transmission of the concepts for that particular course. The Rubric that is used for this course is as follows:

1-4 points:

- Posted main topic information.

- Replied to one other student posting.

- No depth of presentation, no research base, opinion only.

- Information posted only one time or several posts at one time.

- Comments were barely related to main discussion question and/or other student posting.

- No constructive comments to help class discussion.

- All posts made within 24 hours of assignment due date

5 - 9 points:

- Posted main topic information and one response on same day.

- Several posts, but all on same day

- Time between posting indicated student had read and considered substantial number of student postings before responding.

- Replied to other student postings and provided relevant responses and constructive feedback to the student.

- Enhanced quality of discussion (i.e. illustrated a point with examples, suggested new perspectives on issues, asked questions that helped further discussion, cited current news events etc).

- Time between posting indicated student had read and considered substantial number of student postings before responding.

- Referenced other research, gave examples, and evoked follow-up responses from other students.

10 Points:

- Demonstrated leadership in discussions.

- Posted regularly during the week.

- Replied to main topic. Substantially enhanced quality of discussion (i.e. illustrated a point with examples, suggested new perspectives on issues, asked questions that helped further discussion, cited current news events etc.)

- Replied to several other student postings on a regular basis and provided relevant responses and constructive feedback to the student posting.

- Time between posting indicated student had read and considered substantial number of student postings before responding.

- Referenced other research, gave examples, and evoked follow-up responses from other students.

This is a link to a short tutorial on what a forum looks like and how to respond to a post.

3. Quizzes - Online quizzes are usually short true/false or multiple choice examinations designed to assess your ability to retain the weeks or modules content. The quizzes may be timed, which helps ensure the instructor that you are actually accessing your memory to obtain the answers and not just finding them in the reading materials that you may have printed out, or they may not be timed because the instructor may be asking more difficult questions in which the primary objective is to get you to read for comprehension and to contemplate what you have read and perhaps extrapolate the concepts covered into a new and unique situation. In either case, your performance on these quizzes will make up a portion of your final grade in the course.

4. Essays and Term Papers - These articles of assessment should be exactly what you have found up to this point in your college experience here at Humphreys College . Of course the weight of these written assignments vary from course to course and Professor to Professor, but in general these papers are designed to demonstrate your understanding of the course content and display that understanding by composing a paper of varying length and written in either MLA or APA style. Humphreys College recognizes the importance of communications skills throughout all majors and therefore it is typical that a major component of your grade will be these written assignments when they are required. Online these papers are deposited into the Moodle online system as Word files. You can see a short Flash Tutorial on submitting documents (files) through the Moodle interface if this is your first online course.

How to be successful in this online lecture course

Suggestions: What “To Do” and “When”

  • Log into the course and visit the current weeks discussion forum – Respond to the Instructors Post
  • 24 to 48 hours later go back to the discussion forum, read your classmates contributions and respond to one or more of those posts
  • View/Pay Attention to the Lecture/Demonstration – Print a copy for study
  • Visit the Required Readings – Print them out for study and personal notes
  • Go online and review the new posts (instructor and students) responding as appropriate with your newly acquired knowledge from the lecture and reading materials
  • Study for the Quiz – Take the quiz before the next week or module begins – No make-ups will be made available as Moodle will lock you out should you miss an exam date.
  • Print out mid-term and final instructions as soon as they become available
  • Participate in the online discussion forum often, being sure to ground your responses in the lecture and reading materials except when the discussion is soliciting your opinions before relevant reading material has been presented.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS:

1. No textbooks are required for this course.  The only materials are those hardware and software requirements stated in the online instructions for Humphreys College .

PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism is not condoned or excused.  Term papers, research reports and essays are expected to be the individual work of the student.  References and sources of information should be identified and accurately documented within the body of any written work.  Citations should conform to either the MLA or APA style.  Violation of the honor code or plagiarism is cause for dismissal.

STUDENT SERVICES:  Reading, writing, researching, and math tutorial services are available from the Libraries Student Service Center .  The Computer Labs are open on the main campus from 1-6 p.m. daily and the Library has workstations available during all business hours.

BASIS OF EVALUATION:

Forums

Quizzes

Mid-Term Paper

Final Paper

Total

100 pts.

90 pts.

50 pts.

60 pts.

300 pts

Grading

Letter Grade

Percentage

Points

A

90-100

270-300

B

80-89

240-269

C

70-79

210-239

D

60-69

180-209

F

0-59

0-179

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Posting in the discussion forums is the equivalent to attendance in this online course.

LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY:

 

There is no late assignment policy, all dates are final, Moodle will accept no late discussion forum posts, nor will access be available for quizzes beyond the posted open test times.  Mid-Term essay may be turned in up to one week after the due date for a 20% reduction in grade.  The Final paper will not be accepted late, if for some reason your final paper is not received on the due date and the student has completed all course work up till that time, an incomplete will be given by the instructor and the student will have five additional weeks to submit the late paper for grading.

CLASS SCHEDULE:

The schedule for this online class is mapped out in the weekly schedule below.  Frequent online access is expected routine behavior throughout each week of the quarter.  Links to required reading that appear in the syllabus may change due to unavailability when the instructional week begins, so the instructor may substitute alternative links and or add supplemental material as deemed necessary.

Week

Content

Assignments

1

Leadership Definitions

Forum discussion on what is leadership from a personal perspective.  Due by 1-10-06 (10 pts.)

2

Major Leadership Theories
Great Man
Trait Theories
Behavioral Theories
Participative


Required Reading :

Leadership Theories – Changing Minds Org.

Forum discussion: First Four Major Theories

Due by 1-17-06 (10 pts.)

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

3

Major Leadership Theories
Situational
Contingency
Transactional
Transformational

Required Reading :

Leadership Theories – Changing Minds Org.

Forum discussion: Second Four Major Theories – Due by 1-24-06 (10 pts.)

Quiz: Major Learning Theories – Due by 1-24-06 (10 pts.)

4

Leadership Styles
Task Leaders
Socio-Emotional Leaders
Autocratic vs. Participative Leaders

Transactional vs. Transformational

Required Reading :

Leadership Styles – Richard W. Scholl

Forum discussion: Leadership Style – Due by 1-31-06 (10pts.)

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

Additional Readings

LIVING ALOFT: Human Requirements for Extended Spaceflight - NASA

Bates – Interactive Process Analysis

5

Leadership Styles - Analysis

Required Reading :

Donald Trump Bio and Quotations

Ten Top Leaders Tell Their Story

Forum discussion: What if a Leader was well schooled in all the theories of leadership and leadership styles.  Could they enhance their ability to lead or would they be better off staying to techniques and a style that they are comfortable with? – Due by 2-7-06 (10 pts.)

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

6

Leading Through Change

Required Reading :

Doug Wesley (Leading Your Organization Through Change)

Dr. Ken Blanchard (The Ten Minute Manager)

Forum discussion: Describe the type of Leader that you believe would be best in a changing environment. – Due by 2-14-06 (10 pts.)

Supplemental Reading :
Cameron Fisher

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

7

Front Line Leadership – Carrying the vision

Required Reading :

Cathy Perme

Warren Bennis

Forum discussion: Where are leaders found? How do you recognize leaders?  Can followers be leaders? If so how? – Due by 2-21-06 (10 pts.)

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

Mid-Term Paper Due by 2-21-06 (50 pts.)

8

Coping with Change

Required Reading :

Transitional Psychology – Draw Parallels

Leading the Workplace Within

Sharon Mosenkis

Forum discussion: (10 pts.) Due by 2-28-06

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

9

Motivating Employees Through Change

Required Reading :

Basics About Employee Motivation

JoAnna Brandi

Stever Robbins

Forum discussion: (10 pts.) Due by 3-7-06

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

10

Leadership in a nutshell

Required Reading :

The Laws of Leadership
Grassroots Leadership – Ford Motors

Forum discussion: (10 pts.) Due by 3-14-06

Quiz on Required Reading (10 pts.)

11

Final Paper Due 3-21-06 (60 pts.)