Syllabus: Human Resource Management (Undergraduate)

Choice Learning Project: This project puts control in your hands: you get to pick the topic and you get to pick the project You will pick a chapter in our textbook to complete your project on; projects will not encompass the whole chapter, but will help elucidate one topic in that chapter. Your project will be due by the last day we cover the chapter in class. No more than 3 students can present on a specific chapter. Choice learning projects have both a written and a presentation component (5-10 minutes). See Blackboard for more information on project options. You will be required to provide information on your project topic (the video clips or articles you will be referencing, for example) to your classmates BEFORE your presentation so that they can be prepared and engage with you in class. These projects will be graded on relevance, the quality of your writing, the quality of your presentations, and class engagement. This is your opportunity to apply the concepts you are learning and to demonstrate that you can recognize these issues outside of the classroom. Have fun, but take it seriously! Some CLP’s may have to be presented virtually. Please discuss with me whether you plan to present in person or online.

Case Analyses: Periodically throughout the semester, cases will be assigned for analysis. Your individual case analyses will be worth up to 10% towards your final grade. These will be assigned as homework, and we will discuss the cases in class after they have been turned in. These are individual assignments, not group work. Thus, you should complete these on your own and any outside research should be cited appropriately. Failure to do so will be considered academic dishonesty and treated accordingly. There will be 7 cases assigned; you only need to complete 5 of them. If you score poorly on one, you can do another to improve your case grade. Late work will not be accepted without prior arrangement with me.

Excel Assignments: Each chapter in our textbook has a data analytics extension using Excel. This will help you understand how HR managers use analytics and help build your technology competency. There will be 8 Excel assignments; you only need to complete 5 of them. If you score poorly on one, you can do another to improve your overall Excel grade, which is 10% of your grade in the class. Late work will not be accepted without prior arrangement with me.

Tests: There will be 3 tests over the course of the semester: one on Ch. 1-8, one on Ch. 9-16, and a cumulative final. Each exam will consist of true-false and multiple choice questions and short-answer/essay. Any material in the readings or presented in class (including class activities, not just the PowerPoint slides) may appear on an exam. If you take all exams, your lowest exam score will be dropped, so that your course grade is based on your two highest exam scores. If you are unable to take an exam during its scheduled time, then that exam will count as the one that you drop. Each exam is the property of the professor and should not be removed from the building. Exams will be given on Respondus Monitor, so a webcam and Respondus-compatible computer is required for this course.

Team Project: The OH Department of Health is asking us to investigate DEI-related topics for their employees and selection system. More info about the organization and their goals for health equity: https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our programs/health-equity. Each team will provide a report and a presentation at the end of the semester. Details on the specific topics they want us to investigate and the final deliverables will be available by our first meeting on September 12. It is possible that different teams will have different topics to explore. You will evaluate your teammates and yourself; these evaluations may impact your team project score and your participation score.

Participation: Attendance is required, but attending class alone does not equate to participation. Student participation in class is highly valued and rewarded. For class participation, you are expected to participate in class discussions and class exercises, come prepared throughout the semester, and be a responsible member of your project group. As with exams, students do not have the opportunity to make-up exercises/cases conducted during class sessions that they miss, and no late assignments will be accepted. Please note that 15% of your grade is dependent on your attendance and active participation in the class, as an individual and in groups. Do not come to see me the week before the semester is over and ask if there is anything you can do to raise your participation grade. You need to consistently participate throughout the semester. Students will be asked to complete homework assignments or responses to questions for key articles or exercises, and there will be in-class quizzes that will also impact your participation score. No make-up quizzes will be given. If you miss class or are late to class and miss the quiz, you will receive a 0. Blatant rudeness or other types of antisocial behavior will result in reduced points for the participation aspect of your grade. You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional and respectful manner, both towards the professor as well as toward your fellow classmates. Your contributions to your team and team project will also be considered in your participation grade.

POLICIES

• Assigned Readings: Students are expected to have completed the assigned reading before the class in which the topic is covered.
• Attendance: I will take attendance, whether you are physically in class or attending virtually. Attendance is required and failing to attend class will negatively impact your participation grade. Students do not have the opportunity to make-up exercises/cases conducted during class sessions that they miss unless the absence is for a required university event, severe illness, or other excused reason. Due to the uncertainty that COVID-19 presents, extended absences may be necessary due to either illness or quarantine. Please work with the Student Life office to report your individual situation. If you will be absent and want to make up work, contact me BEFORE CLASS to make arrangements. No advance notice, no make-up work
• Availability: In addition to regular office hours and scheduled appointments, you can expect me to respond to your e-mail messages within 24 hours during weekdays unless there is a compelling reason for a longer delay. If you have an urgent need, please set a meeting with me. If you haven’t heard from me after two days, a follow-up email is appropriate. Include in your email the class you are in and the topic/assignment you are writing about. Suggested openings include, “Dear Dr. Sockbeson,” “Professor Sockbeson:”, or “Dr. Sock:”. “Hey,” “Yo,” or the absence of a greeting are not acceptable for professional correspondence. Use punctuation and proper capitalization and spelling. You are also expected to respond to emails promptly. Check your email often.
• Make-Up Exams: Make-up exams will be given for only for those missed for required university activities or documented emergency (e.g., you are in the hospital, death of a family member). If you miss for another reason, the missed exam will be the dropped grade and you will need to take the final or receive a 0. Exams are generally multiple-choice and true-false, with some short answer or short essay, but makeup exams may be essay exams instead.
• Please plan to bring your laptop and headphones to class. Wait for instruction to take them out.
• Professional Conduct: You are expected to take class seriously, come prepared, and treat your classmates and professor with respect. This includes not leaving in the middle of class, not arriving late, not holding side conversations while the professor or classmates are talking, etc. We will strive to create a psychologically safe environment where we can civilly disagree without attacking one another.
• Late Work: Late work is generally not accepted; assignments are due when they are due. If extenuating circumstances come up (severe illness, death of a family member), notify me BEFORE the assignment is due that your work will be late. There is always a grading penalty for turning in work late, generally 10% per day. Work that is turned in late without explanation/discussion with me will receive a 0.
• Social Loafing: Often when we work in teams, not all team members contribute their share. In order to avoid this problem, there is a “vote the loafer off the island” rule. If your team is having trouble with someone not attending meetings or doing his or her fair share, then tell me about it in writing at least two weeks before the project is due. I will try to mediate. If the problem persists, then you may vote to remove the person from your team. In this case, the person will not receive credit for the team project. He or she will be asked to complete an individual project for this aspect of the course grade.
• Academic Honesty: See the policies at the end of the syllabus. All students are considered to be honest and ethical until proven otherwise. Ethical behavior is extremely important for tomorrow’s managers and must be fine-tuned in college. Students will adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards. All work submitted will be the result of each individual’s, or in the case of a group project, each group’s, own efforts only. Any act of academic misconduct in this course will result in an F (or 0) for the assignment involved. Multiple instances may result in failure of the course. To see examples of what counts as academic misconduct, as well as the university-level consequences for academic misconduct, look to JU’s policy at www.ju.edu/academicintegrity.
• Citations: We will use APA format in this class for all papers and posts which cite outside sources.
• Updated Syllabus: This syllabus is a living document. Changes may be made during the semester. An up-to-date syllabus will be posted on Blackboard, and changes will be announced in class.

Please refer to the PDF version of the syllabus for any further details such as the schedule of readings and assignments.