Human Resources
Management
MGT 3513, Spring
2021
Mondays &
Wednesdays, 7:30-8:45 pm
- "Blended"
Hybrid Course Delivery = weekly Zoom meetings and biweekly
readings/lectures delivered online.
Chapter Assignments due at "normal" class meeting times, i.e., 7:30 Mondays & Wednesdays. - Lectures for each chapter will be available on specific dates in the calendar below (click on links to Power Point PPTX files that have video lectures embedded).
- Zoom video
conference 7:30 Mondays starting January 25th.
|
Instructor |
Craig
J. Russell, Ph.D. |
|
Office |
7C Adams
Hall |
|
Office hours |
By
appointment |
|
Text |
Noe,
R. Human Resource
Management. 11th edition
McGraw-Hill.
|
Overview of
Learning Objectives
This
course is designed to help future managers understand and
use human resource management systems. Your career
success as managers will hinge to a large part on how well
you get work accomplished through other people. HR
systems are the first step in making that happen!
Students will be exposed to subject matter drawn from
labor economics, psychology, and the law which guide
modern human resource management systems. A partial list
of HR practices covered include employment legislation and
regulations, job analysis, recruiting, selection,
compensation administration, labor relations, and training
and development. Dr. Noe, author of the textbook,
offers learning objectives at the beginning of each
chapter that Dr. Russell will give greater or lesser
emphasis to when covering slides in class.
"Blended" Course
Delivery Format
I will send out invitations to Zoom meetings for every
7:30 pm Monday class. We will likely spend ~ 45-60
minutes in our first class meeting going over the
"housekeeping" items related to course management and
reviewing generally the substantive topics delivered in
the course. I will try to capture video mpg files
of all Zoom class meetings and make them available
through my web site (i.e., one Zoom creates the mpg file
I will send everyone an email notification that the
course outline calendar {below} has been updated to show
a link to the mpg file on the dates of the class periods
they occurred). I tried a number of variations in
"blended/hybrid/online" course delivery in 2020 and will
continue to experiment with alternate methods in 2021 -
one goal I am going to strive for this semester is to
achieve a pace or "cadence" that approximates the pace
at which students would normally go through the material
if we were still meeting in person. So, the
afternoons of each class meeting that we would
"normally" be starting a chapter (if we were still
meeting in person), Power Point PPTX files for the
chapter we would normally be starting in that class
period will become available through the online course
outline (I suggest you bookmark our course outline in
your browser for the duration of the course). For
example, on Wednesday afternoon, January 27th, of the
first week of class, I will update the course outline so
that the "Chapter 2" listed in the calendar below will
have link students can click on to download the
PowerPoint PPTX file for Chapter 2. On the
afternoon of Wednesday, February 3rd, I will update
"Chapter 3" on the calendar below so it contains a link
to the Chapter 3 Power Point PPTX file. In this
way your chapter reading assignments and the Power Point
PPTX lecture files will occur in tandem throughout the
semester. Download and open the PPTX files on your
personal computer to see 1) the substantive content of
each PowerPoint slide and 2) a video of me in the lower
right corner of the slide delivering the lecture
associated with that slide. Because the reading
assignment for that chapter will be due in the Connect
system on that same date, students should be in a
position to learn the most about the material covered in
that chapter.
All of our Monday Zoom class meetings will address
questions students might have about the material
assigned for the prior week, any "housekeeping" items
that might come up, and review midterm exam
performance. I will send out sample short answer
essay questions before our Monday Zoom meetings over
material covered in the prior week that I have used in
the past exams as something to talk about if students
don't have specific questions about the prior week's
material.
Please know that all of this is very much in flux, i.e.,
while normally courses I teach rarely modified after
they start, Covid-19 has changed that. When OU
converted to "online" class delivery after 2020 spring
break, I attended two Zoom instructional courses and
tried to create video lectures. It worked twice,
creating mpg video files from my lectures within an hour
of my completing them. Unfortunately, the third
lecture occurred 3 days before our second midterm.
In this instance Zoom took six (6) days to "process" and
create the MPG file, and I had to quickly find a
different technology and recreate the lecture. I
am still waiting for Zoom to get back to my request for
support (OU IT did not know what was wrong
either). Rather than being at the mercy of Zoom
and its inability to create lecture videos in a timely
manner, I found an alternative in PowerPoint
(Microsoft's PowerPoint software has been around much
longer and is much more robust).
Of course, nothing is perfect. The downside of
embedding videos of my lectures in PowerPoint is that
the resulting files are very large (~ 4X larger than the
MPG files Zoom would have created). This is
not a problem for me since I house them on my personal
Dropbox account which has a very large capacity.
Experience last year suggests students may run into two
problems. First, students will need to have enough
storage capacity on their devices to hold the files (I
don't recommend trying to "stream" the files from the
Dropbox folder . . . band width requirements typically
are too high). Hopefully most of you have devices
with USB ports, which will permit use of inexpensive USB
drives to store the PowerPoint files (8gig USB drives
are available for < $10 at most big box stores and
online). If you encounter storage problems, please
let me know and I will see what solutions might be
available. The second problems students have
experienced is in downloading the files. You do
need access to a good internet connection, and obviously
the faster the better. A slow internet connection
will work as long as it is "good," i.e., you can be
assured of no dropped connection during the
download. Taking your laptop to a pubic library or
coffee house will likely work, though speeds vary with
the number of users present at any given time.
Finally, note that Mac users often run into problems
downloading the files. I am totally ignorant of
all things "Mac," and cannot begin to know what
problem(s) cause this. I will provide a handout I
put together on request explaining a possible alternate
way to download the PPTX files if you run into problems.
Sign-up for Online Content
We will use the
McGraw-Hill “Connect” system to help student
comprehension. The
"Connect" online content will supplement the
text, requiring each student to further their
understanding of the chapter concepts through evaluations
spaced between readings within each chapter. Assignments
will be posted for each chapter with dates by which they
must be completed.
How you purchase access to the online McGraw-Hill
text book is described on the OU Canvas system. Any problems or
questions with the online system should be directed
towards McGraw-Hill's tech support team.
Tech.
Support:
1-800-331-5094
Add/Drop Deadline
If you are currently not enrolled in this
course, you need to add it by the appropriate deadline.
If you want
to drop the course without penalty, you may do so by the
appropriate date. For these and other deadlines,
including receipt of an automatic grade of “W”, please
consult OU’s Schedule of Classes or check with the Price
College Graduate Programs Office.
Incomplete Grade
A grade of I (for
incomplete) will not be given under normal
circumstances. Not performing well in class or being out
of town during a test are inadequate reasons for
requesting or granting an incomplete. Only
circumstances beyond your control—such as an
illness—that will need to be documented may warrant a
grade of an “I”.
Honor Code
All students enrolled in this
class are expected to abide by all aspects of OU’s
Honor Code. The
two basic tenets of this Code are:- Students will behave honorably,
ethically, and responsibly in all academic
matters both inside the classroom and in outside work
related to their courses.
- Students who are aware of academic misconduct in any form will report the violation to the instructor or other school representative. Students who are aware of academic misconduct and who fail to report the violation are considered to be guilty of academic misconduct themselves.
Civility
Behaving
“honorably, ethically, and responsibly” means that everyone
in class deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. Such conduct means
that all interactions related to this course need to be
civil, and without prejudice or rancor.
Being civil includes:
- Not browsing the web,
checking e-mail or texting when in class
- Not talking with your neighbor
constantly when class is in session
- Not reading newspapers, magazines
or other books
- Not being late to class or
leaving early
- Not eating or drinking in class
- Not sleeping in class
If you want to engage in these
activities, please do so outside class. If you are found
to repeatedly engage in these activities, you will be
asked to leave the class.
Attendance
Students are expected to
attend classes regularly. If you have a
specific reason for not being able to attend class,
let me know ahead of time and provide any relevant
information and documentation. If there are
unforeseen circumstances beyond your control, an
occasional absence may be overlooked. Repeated
unexcused absences (say more than twice) will likely lead to
severely lower grades on the exams. The
official OU attendance policy for our current
Covid-19 crisis is as follows:
A temporary university policy has been established to protect the OU community by ensuring that students who are ill or required to isolate feel encouraged to remain at home. Missing a class session or other class activity due to illness or isolation will not result in a penalty for the absence, and the student will not be asked to provide formal documentation from a healthcare provider to excuse the absence. This policy is based on all students and faculty adhering to the principles of integrity, honesty, and concern for others.
Students who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, including cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle pain, headache, chills, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea or who have been in close contact with others who have symptoms should:
- Remain at home to protect others
- Ensure that any needed screening has been conducted (COVID-19 Screening and Reporting Tool) and any needed treatment obtained
- Contact the instructor prior to absence or inability to participate, if possible, and provide an honest report of the reason for which you cannot attend class or complete a course activity
- Continue to complete coursework to the extent possible, using Canvas, zoom, and other online tools
- Submit assignments electronically to the extent possible and as directed by the instructor
- Communicate with the instructor to arrange modifications to deadlines or work requirements or reschedule exams or other important course activities, when it is necessary
.
Reasonable Accommodation
Any student in this course
who has a disability that may prevent the full
demonstration of his or her abilities should contact me
personally as soon as possible so we can discuss
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation
and facilitate your educational opportunities.
Additional information is available at: http://www.ou.edu/content/drc/accommodations/norman-accommodations.html
Religious Holidays
It is the policy of the
University to excuse the absences of students that
result from religious observances and to provide without
penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and
additional required classwork that may fall on religious
holidays.
Title IX Resources
Grades:
Grades will be based on student
performance on three exams and performance on the online
Connect assignments. Due to our online course delivery
system, exams will be all short answer essay. Students
will be required to select and answer five (5) essay
questions from a set of ten (10) or more. Students
will have to answer at least 1 of 2-3 questions drawn from
each chapter. Students who answer six (6) questions
will have scores on the highest five answers counted toward
their exam grade. Evidence suggests doing an extra
essay on each exam helps, as most students cannot accurately
estimate how many points they are likely to earn with their
answers (i.e., they aren't able to accurately choose which
five essay questions they could earn the most points from).
Midterm exams will be distributed in a Microsoft Word
document file by email at 7:30pm (the normal course starting
time) on the dates specified in the course calendar below,
while the final will be distributed at the time/date OU
specified as the final exam period for the course (also
specified in the calendar below). Students should
write their answers to each essay question immediately below
the questions in this document and return it promptly 2
hours after receiving it (of course, saving a copy
yourself).. This means completed midterm exams must be
received by 9:30pm on the evenings they are distributed, and
2 hours after the final exam start time during final exam
week.
Final letter grades will be based on student performance on
the three examinations and online Connect assignments (each
will receive equal weight, or contribute 25% to the
students' final grades). I will discuss exactly how
letter grades are arrived at following the 1st
midterm. I do not use a 90-80-70-60 scale. After
each of the first two exams I going through an exercise I
call the "how I would assign final grades if someone held a
gun to my head and said 'assign final grades based only on
scores earned so far.'" In this way students will know
1) exactly where they stand in the course after each exam
and 2) the process I will use to arrive at the final course
grade after the final exams are graded.
Any student in this course who has a disability that may
prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her
abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible
so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full
participation and facilitate your educational
opportunities.
PowerPoint Files:
PowerPoint files will be available through links embedded in the course outline, and I will be creating them from scratch each week for this course.Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities.
Masking
As outlined by the University of Oklahoma¹s Chief COVID Officer, until further notice, employees, students, and visitors of the OU community will be mandated to wear masks (1.) when they are inside University facilities and vehicles and (2.) when they are outdoors on campus and social distancing of at least six feet is not possible. For the well-being of the entire university community it is important that everyone demonstrate the appropriate health and safety behaviors outlined in the University Mandatory Masking Policy (https://www.ou.edu/coronavirus/masking-policy). As this mandate includes all campus classrooms, please make sure you are wearing your mask while in class. If you do not have a mask or forgot yours, see the professor for available masks. If you have an exemption from the Mandatory Masking Policy, please see the professor to make accommodations before class begins. If and where possible, please make your professor aware of your exemption and/or accommodation prior to arriving in class.
If a student is unable or unwilling to wear a mask and has not made an accommodation request through the ADRC, they will be instructed to exit the classroom.
Course Calendar
|
Date |
Topic |
|
|
1/25, 27 |
Overview,
Strategic HR |
|
| 2/1, 3, 8 |
Regulatory/Legal compliance | Chapter
3 AI Defense |
|
2/10, 15 |
Job
Analysis |
|
|
2/17, 22, 24 |
Planning
& Recruiting |
|
|
3/1 |
|
|
|
3/3, 8, 10 |
Selection
& Placement |
Chapter
6, Part 1 |
|
3/15,
17 |
Training |
|
|
3/22,
24 |
Performance
Management |
|
| 3/29,
31 |
Employee
Development |
Chapter 9 |
|
4/5 |
|
|
| 4/7, 12,
14 |
Employee Retention and Turnover | Chapter 10 |
|
4/19,
21 |
Compensation
|
|
|
4/26,
28 |
Benefits
|
|
| 5/3, 5 |
Pay for
Performance |
|
|
Scheduled
|
May 10, 2021, 10:30am - 12:30pm
|
Craig J. Russell, Ph.D.
Professor
Michael Price College of Business
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73019-0450
(405) 821-4155 (cell)
(405) 325-7688 FAX
cruss@ou.edu