URBS 230 —Community
Leadership and Service Learning
Term: Summer, 2008
Instructor: Tony Filipovitch, 106 Morris Hall, 507-389-5035, 507-388-2264 (home)
Office Hours: While I do not keep regular office hours during the summer, I would be happy to meet with you (call ahead for an appointment). I also check my e-mail daily (usually several times during the day), and have an answering machine on both my home and office phone.
There is no reason to flounder around, unsure of what “he wants” or confused about what you are doing; and even if everything is going fine with the coursework, there is more to learning than completing the assignments. I encourage you to visit me, in person or at a distance by phone or e-mail, many times during the course.
Text:
Krile, James F. 2006. The Community Leadership Handbook. St Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to provide you with a comprehensive overview of community leadership in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, both through classroom work and through service learning. You will look at the principles and practices for managing community groups, and at the ethical and civic responsibilities of a democratic society. What makes this course unique is the students’ involvement with the community and its leaders. This course requires a high level of student involvement—volunteering, attending meetings, interviewing, working with both student and community teams, etc.
By the end of the term you will be able to:
1. Define and recognize leadership within the voluntary sector and compare/contrast this sector with the public and private sectors;
2. Understand and describe the significance/development of mission, leadership, resources, marketing, decision-making, and people development in institutional (public, private, nonprofit) settings;
3. Apply the criteria of civic and ethical values to behavior in public settings;
4. Demonstrate skill in fostering citizenship, representative government, collaboration, citizen participation, and citizen self-government;
5. Apply your knowledge and skills directly in community leadership.
In addition to the specific course outcomes, there are three additional outcomes that are common to most, if not all, courses at MSU:
1. Develop your creative and critical thinking powers in addressing problems and opportunities;
2. Develop personal communication skills, both oral and (especially in this course) written;
3. Improve your ability to work and interact with others in a team approach.
Assignments:
This is a “service learning” course which
requires approximately 30 hours of volunteer activity in
the community. It is also a
“writing intensive” course, which means that you will be expected
to do a fair bit of writing and to edit and rewrite what you have
written.
1. Class
Discussion:
Since we do not meet as a class, the closest thing we have to this is the discussion lists on D2L. I will pose questions to start the discussion, and I will monitor (but may or may not respond) the discussion. Each student must post at least one detailed reflection for each of the 4 topics for the course, and at least one response to another student’s posting. It is important that you post your responses with enough time for your classmates to reply within the time allotted for each unit; do not get behind in your discussion work. For full credit, you must use examples, details, and credible support for your position, and refer to relevant readings (your text, at a minimum) using standard citation format (you cannot provide credible support without citing what others have written!). You will receive partial credit if you do not provide support for your responses. While I will not track whether or not you read all of the postings, I strongly encourage it. You have as much to learn from each other as from me.
There is an etiquette to online discussion. I want you to engage in open, frank dialogue; but I also expect you to be respectful of each other. Comments that are harmful, abusive, offensive, or vulgar will not be tolerated. If I sense any problems, I will intervene. Should you feel intimidated or not respected, please contact me so we can consider how to proceed. A few hints:
· Re-read your messages before you send them—once it is sent, you are committed.
· Never assume that an e-mail is confidential; they are easily copied and forwarded to others.
· Also, be careful with humor; absent body language and other contextual clues, it can easily be misinterpreted.
2. Service
Learning:
This course is structured so that you have the opportunity to learn about community leadership (as a concept, as a skill, and as a value) both in the classroom and “on the ground.” You are required to spend a significant amount of time (minimum 30 hours) as a volunteer for a community-serving organization (in return, the amount of “classtime” is reduced compared to other courses). While there, you will have the opportunity to be of service, and to observe how those around you serve and lead.
3. Writing
Assignments:
This is a writing intensive class.
Writing affords you the opportunity to practice and convey what you have
learned including higher-order
thinking (analysis, synthesis and evaluation). There are six different writing projects,
which will give you the opportunity to practice writing for different audiences
and different purposes. All writing
assignments must be submitted electronically, using Microsoft Word. You will be assigned to a “writing
group,” and you are expected to respond to each others’
writing. The author will then revise the
text and submit it to me. In writing
your projects, I expect you to refer to other people’s ideas and to
footnote your sources. You may use any
standard style manual (Harbrace,
Each of the six assignments is discussed in greater depth at their associated links. In brief, the assignments are:
1.
Free
Write: Write a personal response
reflecting on the tasks ahead.
2.
Values of
Democracy: Write an editorial
suitable for a local newspaper (this is a useful skill for a community leader
to have)
3.
Community
Context for Democratic Action:
4.
Building a
Healthy Community:
5.
Leadership
in a Community Context: Tell an
interesting story about how someone or some organization did something that
made a difference to a community in
6.
Service
Learning Report: Write a reflective
essay addressing the question, “What did your service learning experience
teach you about community leadership?”
For a full description of each of these assignments, see the corresponding links on the Course Calendar.
Course Calendar
|
Week of |
Topic |
|
Notes |
Assignment |
|
5/19 |
|
|
||
|
5/26 |
Civic & Ethical Values |
Three Core Competencies (1-20) |
Democracy & Disagreement; Getting Past No; “Why I Am No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal” |
|
|
6/2 |
Writing Project 1 |
|
Arthur C. Clarke, “Death and the Senator” |
|
|
6/9 |
Institutional Setting |
Tools for Framing Ideas (21-78) |
||
|
6/16 |
Writing Project 2 |
|
Michel de la Montaigne, “Of Custom” |
|
|
6/23 |
Civic Engagement |
Tools for Social Capital (79-130) |
||
|
6/30 |
Writing Project 3 |
|
Marcus Tullius Cicero, “On the Commonwealth” |
|
|
7/7 |
Leadership |
Tools for Mobilizing (131-184) & Facilitating Groups (185-192) |
||
|
7/14 |
Writing Project 4 |
|
William Shakespeare, Henry V |
|
|
7/21 |
Writing Project 5 (Service
Learning Report ) & course evaluation (behind the
“Surveys” tab on D2L) |
|||
Instructional Methodology and Teaching Strategies:
My teaching style in this course is based on an "adult-centered" model which assumes that you are active participants, each responsible for your own learning, and I am a facilitator and resource who helps you advance your project. My goal for myself as a teacher is to "take you someplace you would never before have gone alone."
Instructional Management System & Communication
Protocols:
· The course will use D2L as the instructional management system. Discussion lists, assignments, grade rosters, and other course management issues will be handled through that site.
· The software for this course will be PC-based Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer, or compatibles. I prefer to receive e-mail and course submissions to my e-mail address (not to D2L), and I can only open Microsoft Word or text files (if you are using, say, WordPerfect, make sure to send any files to me in .txt or .rtf format).
· I will communicate with you using your official MSU e-mail address; if this is not your preferred e-mail provider, make sure you have set your MSU e-mail account to forward to your preferred address (instructions are available from the help desk at help@mnsu.edu or 507-389-6654).
· I generally will reply to e-mails within 48 hours (give me an additional 24 hours over the weekends), unless I have notified the class through D2L that I expect to be away from my computer (e.g., when I am attending a national conference). If you do not hear from me within that time, please resend your question or comment as it may have been lost.
· The library has a document delivery service, and can send books or other publications that circulate (i.e., no items from the reserve or reference collection) to you if you are an online student. Information is available at http://www.lib.mnsu.edu/lib/ILL/docdel.html Remember, it will take some time for items to arrive by mail (and even longer if they have to be ordered from another library), so give yourself enough lead time if you plan to use this service. The library also has a good link for other services offered for distance learning students. If you are having trouble finding appropriate articles for the course, you can get help from the University’s reference librarians.
Are You Ready for an Online Course?
There are a number of websites that can help you decide whether or not an online course is for you (for example, Minnesota Online or Athabascan University). For starters, you should consider the following questions:
- Will you be able to devote 6-8 hours per week for this course (even if you are traveling, are ill, or have family emergencies)? And do you have the support of family and friends to put aside this amount of time and effort? It is easy to think that the work for an online class can be “fit in” to whatever time comes open during the week. Often, when students end up dropping the class it is because they simply did not budget enough time in their week to do the work required.
- Are you comfortable with time management and working independently with only final deadlines to guide you? Online learning shifts much more of the burden for scheduling and planning to the student. You won’t have the advantage of regular class meeting times to discipline your work habits. If you are not also an on-campus student, you might not have the advantage of running into your classmates around the campus where you can “check in” on progress and solve little problems. If this is a challenge for you, check out http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm
- Are you comfortable working primarily in a text-based format, which means reading well, writing well and having the ability to follow written directions? While I will try to provide as many opportunities as possible for using the entire range of learning styles, online learning does favor students who learn by reading.
- Do you have the skills to communicate through the Internet, including
- checking your e-mail daily (http://www.mnsu.edu/its/userid )
- using e-mail or the phone to get your questions answered,
- interacting with your classmates through the Internet?
- Do you have the technical skills to use an online environment, including
- producing, saving, and uploading documents
- doing research using the Web (http://www.lib.mnsu.edu/lib/services.html )
- using the “Track Changes” feature of Microsoft Word (if you don’t know this one, look it up using Word’s “Help” assistant)?
Course Expectations:
1. Attendance & Class Participation:
It is your responsibility to post your responses in a timely fashion, interact with your mentors, and engage in online class activities. I expect all the work for each week to be posted by 6PM on Thursday of the week listed in the Course Calendar. If there is an emergency which requires you to be away from your computer, please contact me immediately. I will give partial credit for assignments that come in during the next time period; assignments posted after that will not earn course credit unless there is a prior agreement. You are paying for this class—make sure to get your “money’s worth.” Most importantly, this is an excellent foundation of knowledge for future activities, and it is a chance for you to learn, teach, and grow with others.
Loss of computer connection or network services are not an excuse for not getting work submitted on time (if you lose your connection, go to another location to do your work—a public library, the computer center on campus, a friend’s computer, etc.) You can get help with technical problems from the MSUM computer help desk at help@mnsu.edu or go the 3rd floor of the Library.
2. Grading:
5 discussions @ 6 pts. 30
“Free Write” project 10
5 writing projects @ 12 pts. 60
The final grade may be based on a curve, but students can
expect at least an A if they achieve 90, a B with 80, etc.
3. Other Matters:
All assignments are due on the assigned date. Partial credit may be given for assignments
that are less than one week late, unless other arrangements have been made in advance.
Written reports are expected to be free of grammatical, spelling, and content
errors. They should be submitted in typewritten, standard formats (APA,
MLA, URSI Style Sheets). You must familiarize yourself with the
University’s Academic
Honesty Policy. I encourage you to
draw on the ideas of others—but you must also identify when you do so
(you gain “brownie
points” for citing the work of others!).
Plagiarism is a serious breach of academic behavior and will result in
an F for the course.
I will help you in whatever manner humanly possible. However, once the semester is over, there is not a great deal I can do. If there is something that you don’t understand, are having problems with, or need help on, please get in touch with me as early as possible.
Every attempt will be made to accommodate students with disabilities. If you area student with a documented disability, please contact me as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disability Services Office at 507-389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).
Bibliography
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© 2002 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 26 April 2008