NPL 473  Advanced Workshop in Nonprofit Leadership


Term:  Fall, 2008

Instructor:     Tony Filipovitch, 106d Morris Hall, 507-389-5035 (office), 507-388-2264 (home)

Office Hours:  My office hours are posted here.  I am available in my office at those times (or other times by 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:

Herman, Robert D. 2004.  The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 2nd Edition.  San FranciscoJossey-Bass. (This is the last semester this will be the required text for this course, although it will continue to be the text for NPL 673)

Course Overview:

This workshop is designed to be the cumulative experience in the undergraduate certificate in nonprofit leadership.  It will bring together the experience, education, and personal depth you have in the third sector.  This will ensure a comprehensive array of knowledge, designed to prepare you to serve as leaders within the community and, specifically, nonprofit agencies.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will demonstrate competency in knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to function in the following areas:

·        Managing Operations

·        Gathering Resources

·        Fiscal Management

·        People Management

For details, click here

Requirements:

In order to effectively address the competency areas, this course will combine (online) classroom and field projects.  Students are expected to actively participate and contribute positively to the learning process.

1. Readings:

Students are required to read and understand the chapter(s) assigned at the beginning of each topic. There will not be any tests or quizzes over the material in the readings; rather, you will demonstrate how well you have understood the readings through your weekly essays.

2. Weekly Essay & Class Discussion:

Since we do not meet as a class, the closest thing we have to this is the Discussion tab on D2L.  I will pose a question to start out the discussion, and each student must

·        Report on a professional journal article related to the discussion question,

·        Respond reflectively to the discussion question, and

·        Respond to at least one posting by a classmate to the discussion question.

For more information, click here.

3. Service Learning:

Each student will identify a nonprofit organization with which to volunteer over the course of the semester.  For more information, click here

4. Exercises

Throughout the course, I will assign exercises, sometimes to each of you individually, sometimes to all of you as a group, to give you the opportunity to practice the skills that you are learning about.  Each exercise will contain its own instructions and deadlines.

 

Course Calendar

Date Due

Topic (Chapters in Handbook)

Exercises

8/28

Introduction

Introduce yourself on discussion board

 

Managing Operations

 

9/4

12.  Marketing for Nonprofit Managers

 

9/11

   i.   Needs Assessment

 

9/18

14.  Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nonprofit Organizations & 16.  Outcome Assessment and Program Evaluation

Prove it!

9/25

21.  Risk Management

 

 

Gathering Resources

 

10/2

15.  Managing the Challenges of Government Contracts & “Dark Side to Government Support

 

10/9

17.  Designing & Managing the Fundraising Program

 

10/16

18.  Enterprise Strategies for Generating Revenue & “Managing in For-Profits’ Shadow

Save the Theater

 

Financial Management

 

10/23

19.  Financial Accounting & Financial Management & Tony’s Powerpoint

Financial Accounting

10/30

20.  Management Accounting

Managerial Accounting

11/6

 ii.   Investment Decisions

 

 

People Management

 

11/13

13.  Designing and Managing Volunteer Programs &

22  Keeping the Community Involved:  Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers

Managing Volunteers

11/20

23.  Finding the Ones You Want, Keeping the Ones You Need

Who Speaks?

11/26

24.  Total Rewards Programs in Nonprofit Organizations

 

12/4

25.  Principles of Training for Volunteers and Employees

 

12/10

Finals—all projects completed by 12/8; service learning report due & course evaluation (behind “Surveys” tab on D2L) due12/10

 

 

 

Course Expectations:

Are You Ready for an Online Course?

Online learning is different from face-to-face.  The mix of skills is different, and sometimes students who do well in face-to-face classes do not do well online.  Click here for more information.

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 the date 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 ACC, 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. 

Grading:

There are 100 points for the course, divided as follows:

            1) Weekly essays & discussions (12@5 pts.)      60

            3) Exercises/Case Studies (6@5 pts.)                 30

            3) Final paper—report on service learning           10

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.

Other Matters:

All assignments (including discussion) 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 qualified students with disabilities.  If you area student with a documented disability, please contact us 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).

 

Finally, before the first class please post a message to the “Introductions” discussion board on D2L.  Please introduce yourself in the posting, let us know what your goals are in this course, and any special experiences/skills/interests you will be bringing to the group.

 

Bibliography

There are a number of interesting and useful books and articles that might help you dig deeper into the issues raised in this course.  The link above takes you to a list of some of my favorites.  


MSU

© 2003 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 25 April 2008