Eckerd College Prof. Lisa A. Sahulka, MPA
Leadership and Administrative Dynamics Work: 727.547.5651
Fall 2011 Cell: 727.642.5737
M 5:35 pm – 10:35 pm E-Mail: lsahulka@jwbpinellas.org
Course Description
This course explores human services and government leadership in the context of providing services, directing staff, agency organization, strategic planning, outcomes measurement and fiscal/technology processes.
Instructor information: Lisa Sahulka has worked at JWB for fourteen years and is the Director of three departments, Contract Management, Finance and Research. These areas are primarily focused on program development, implementation, monitoring, accountability and measuring efficacy. Prior to JWB, Lisa worked for CARE, Covenant House and the Jacob Riis Settlement House. Her international experience includes work at Casa Alianza in Antigua, Guatemala and The International English Schools in London, UK. She currently is an adjunct professor at Eckerd College.
Lisa graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in Public Administration.
Required Texts and Articles
Judith A. Lewis, Thomas R. Packard and Michael D. Lewis, Management of Human Services Programs (CA.: Thomson Brooks/Cole 2007).
Library Articles: All journal articles in this syllabus are available on the website http://lsahulka.typepad.com/blog/.
Course Requirements: Students are required to attend all classes and to read the scheduled readings before each session. NOTE: One grade is automatically deducted from any student who has 3 or more unexcused absences. Students who do not attend presentations during the last two classes will forfeit one grade.
Students will be required to write a one page memo for each class reviewing one of the articles available on the website. I encourage blogging on the website to create a virtual marketplace of ideas within the class setting. Theses memos, attendance, class participation, blogging and the final presentation will be considered in calculation of the final grade. I have posted several examples of exemplary memos on the website.
As part of the class, leaders from the non-profit and government community will speak to the class on a variety of topics. Vigorous dialogue is encouraged as part of this process.
Presentation: Each student will complete and submit the following materials: A 10-15 page report on a human services or government agency of your choice; a Power Point presentation outlining the material in the report; and materials such as brochures, organization charts; and other visual supports to the paper and the presentation. (I am available to assist in making necessary connections with staff of agencies in Pinellas County.) The report should detail the leadership style, organization structure, strategic plan, budget, outcome measurement tools and governing board structure of the selected non-profit. Identify the agency’s strengths and weaknesses, external threats and opportunities, collaborative approaches to service delivery and other elements that define the organization. Critically consider, through staff interviews, consistent and inconsistent messages you hear as you collect your data. Alternately, the report may also present the start-up of a new organization that you design. The same elements as detailed above should be discussed.
Office Hours:
I am available as follows:
During working hours: please contact my secretary Ann Kovarik at 727.547.5651. She will either connect you if I am available or arrange a time for me to return your call. My email address at work is lsahulka@jwbpinellas.org. Please make certain to put ECKERD STUDENT in the subject line. I am also available for meetings during the week as needed.
First class
Introduction and course requirements
Discussion items: Facing the Challenges of Management
* The role of government and human services agencies in the community.
* What is a public good?
* Developing a marketplace of ideas.
* Leadership defined.
* Leadership in modern agencies.
* Power.
* Leadership trait questionnaire.
* Directions on memo writing.
* In class memo writing
Please read Chapters 1 and 2 in Management of Human Services Programs. Please also read Amazing Grace and A Theory of Justice posted on Typepad.
Second Class
Discussion items: Stakeholders
* Who are we serving? Discussion of Kozol excerpt.
* Review of data from Kids Count and the Children’s Defense Fund.
* Analysis of local data (Asset Mapping).
* Needs Assessment
* Who are you? Myers Briggs exercise.
* Three ways brains create meaning.
* In class memo writing.
Please read Chapter 4 in Management of Human Services Programs. Please also read on Typepad: Questioning Some Prevailing Assumptions, Managerial Control, The Social Structure of a work group and The concept of formal organization.
Third Class
Discussion items:
* Review of Organizational Theories
o Bureaucracy, Scientific Management, Classical Theories in modern organizations
o Human Relations Approach, Open Systems, Contemporary Developments
o Human Resources Approach, The Excellence Movement, Contingency Theories
* In class memo writing.
* Discussion on the Typepad materials.
Please read Chapter 6 in Management of Human Services Programs. Please also read on Typepad: Maslow, Teaching Smart People to Learn, Building Learning Organizations and The Role of the Supervisor.
Fourth Class
Discussion items:
* Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland, Expectancy, Rewards and other theories of motivation.
* Discussion on teaching smart people and learning organizations.
* The many, many challenges of supervision.
* In class memo writing.
Please read Chapter 11 in Management of Human Services Programs. Please also read on Typepad: Enron, Adults Only, Op Ed piece, Harlem Children’s Zone, Covenant House, Executive Pay, Leadership Dilemmas, Leadership on the Line, Transformational Leadership.
Fifth Class
Discussion items:
* The ethics of leadership.
* When doing good turns bad.
* The dynamics of leadership.
* Developing a culture, mission and values for an organization.
* Change and the people who hate it.
* Strategic Planning
* In class memo writing.
* Review progress on required report.
Please read on Typepad: Defining Public Value, Reinventing Government. We will listen to the David Cameron speech in class.
Sixth Class
Discussion items:
* The role of modern government.
* Privatization and the cure for the common cold.
* Taxes, externalities and the nature of the social compact.
* In class memo writing.
* Review progress on required report.
Please read Chapter 9 & 10 in Management of Human Services Programs. Please read/review on Typepad: Balance Scorecard, Results Oriented Government and Displaying Data. We will listen to the Social Sharing speech in class.
Seventh Class
Discussion items:
* Can you measure human behavior change?
* The importance of displaying data for staff and public consumption.
* Good leaders create mental models for staff to follow.
* How technology is rapidly changing what we know about clients.
* Predicting future behavior and prevention.
* Review progress on required report.
Please be fully prepared to present your final paper during the eighth class. Please note that brevity is a virtue. Also, remember that part of your grade entails the vigorous questioning of your classmates on their presentation materials.
Honor Code
All students are expected to uphold the Eckerd College honor code:
“On my honor, as an Eckerd College student, I pledge not to lie, cheat, or steal, nor to tolerate these behaviors in others.”
You are required to write “pledged” on every assignment to indicate your work is consistent with the Honor Code.
Hurricane Instructions
If for any reason, Eckerd College is evacuated, students who leave campus for stays overnight or longer should bring their texts, notes and syllabus so that they are ready to continue their course work. In such an event, check your Eckerd e-mail from your off-campus location and continue with the course work according to the syllabus.
Specific hurricane instructions for our class:
1) Emergency Contact Information: On the first day of class, each student must submit to me the following emergency contact information: address, phone number, cell phone, alternate email address. In addition, in the event of a decision to evacuate, the emergency contact information form posted on the Eckerd College Intranet (http//:intranet.eckerd.edu) must be filled out by all students.
2) Books: For all evacuations (no matter how short or long in duration), you must take your text books and continue your course work outlined in the syllabus.
3) During evacuations, please continue to read the course materials as outlined in the syllabus. Please submit memos to me and correspond regarding questions or concerns. Typepad will allow us to have a virtual marketplace of ideas in terms of blog comments and following the Power Point presentations.
4) Communication with me: The primary method to communicate with me during a hurricane evacuation is through email at lsahulka@jwbpinellas.org or cell: 727-642-5737. Please note, as part of my role at JWB, I am a Disaster Recovery Leadership director for the human services response to a disaster. I may not be able to respond to you immediately when I am on duty.
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