Political Science 778N ("Non Profit Administration")

Political Science 778N:
"Non-Profit Administration"

(Spring, 2012)

Meetings: Thursdays (6:10 - 8:40)

Instructors: Mark E. Tompkins

Office:   328 Gambrell Hall
              USC -- Columbia

E-mail:   tompkins.mark@sc.edu

Anita Floyd

United Way of the Midlands

E-mail: afloyd@uway.org

Office Hours:        Tuesdays (2:15 - 4:15)
Wednesdays (9:00 - 11:00)
                                Thursdays (2:15 - 4:15)
                                Also Available by Appointment

Course Objectives:

NASPAA, through its Nonprofit Management Section, recommends a series of competencies for work in the nonprofit arena. Our course objectives are based on these.
Students should:
✓ Be able to describe the history, values, ethics and philosophies of nonprofit organizations, both nationally and in this community -- and be able to critically evaluate these features of a nonprofit organization that they have studied;
✓ Understand the current legal frameworks for operating a nonprofit organization and the process of forming an incorporated nonprofit organization in South Carolina;
✓ Understand and explain the fundamental principles and concepts of fiscal management, revenue generation, fundraising, and the ethical imperative of being a good steward of the financial resources of the nonprofit sector
✓ Identify and explain the leadership challenges of the sector related to the strategic management of the organization, which requires integrating the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of the board of directors, the executive director, the employees, the volunteers, and all stakeholders in meeting the mission of the organization.
✓ Identify and explain the human resource and volunteer management principles necessary to manage a nonprofit organization’s core services and functions.
✓ Identify and explain the standards for accountability, performance measurement, program evaluation and the appropriate techniques for the utilization of both quantitative and qualitative methods to measure the performance of nonprofit organizations.

Description of
Course Conduct:

Regular classes will include a mix of lectures on the day's topics, and discussion. Participants will be expected to play an active role in the class discussions. Classes will incorporate a mix of scholarship, professional materials, and practical experience (often drawn from this community) -- everyone is expected to engage with this material at all three levels.
Each student will be asked to establish a partnership with an approved not-for-profit or nonprofit agency (the instructors will assist students in making these arrangements as is indicated) -- this partnership will serve as a key resource for class discussions and for course assignments.
The concluding exercise in the course will be student presentations of their assessment of their partner agencies.

Evaluation
of Student
Performance:

There will be three sets of written materials that will be evaluated in the course:
Students will prepare four short essays, based on their investigation of the partnership agency -- each essay will focus on an assigned feature of the agency's work. (Each essay will be worth 15% of the overall grade, so they will be worth 45% in all.)
There will be an examination (based on an unfolding study guide) near the conclusion of the course (it will be worth 25% of the overall grade.)
There will be a formal presentation of each student's analysis of their partnership agency in class, and a written report of this analysis. (This will be worth 35% of the final grade.)
Note: the weights reported are relative, so the overall weighted average of your assignments will determine your final grade.
The instructor's reserve the right to improve a student's grade, based on improvement in the semester, exceptional contributions to class discussion, or exemplary work on the assignments.

Course Resources:

We will use two books extensively in readings and class work. They are
The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Third Edition, (John-Wiley and Sons, c2010), cited in the assignments as The Handbook....
The Nature of the Nonprofit Sector, Second Edition, J. Steven Ott and Lisa A. Dicke, eds,, (Westview Press, c2012), cited in the assignments as The Nature of the Nonprofit Sector.
There will be several others readings, which will be made available in the course documents folder on the Blackboard site.

Link to Course Reading Assignments


Please Note:	In class: cell phones, pagers and other devices should be silenced. You should avoid other activities that disrupt the class (eating, phone calls, etc.) You are expected monitor the e-mail account that you provide to me and the class schedule, which will be maintained on this public web site. You are responsible for anything posted once it has been available for five days. Assignments are due at the date and time noted. Electronic submissions of work must be made through "Safe Assignment" in Blackboard and are not completed until you have received a confirmation. The only exceptions to due dates involve a prior, explicit agreement made with me. If emergencies arise, they should be brought to my attention as soon as possible. I reserve the right to penalize late material as I find appropriate. Students are expected to do their own work; Plagiarism is unacceptable and will be penalized as I find appropriate. Your conduct should be governed by the Carolina Creed (available here) and the associated University of South Carolina honor code (available here); if it is not, I reserve the right to apply appropriate sanctions.
Document URL: http://people.cas.sc.edu/tompkins/Spring2012/POLI778N.Syllabus.html
Published on January 12, 2012. Maintained by Professor Tompkins; Contact Professor Tompkins by e-mail at: tompkins.mark@sc.edu. © Copyrighted 1995-2012. All Rights Reserved.