PSC 487 – Grant Writing



PSCI 405

Nonprofit Administration: Advocacy and Public Policy

Syllabus

Spring 2017

Instructor: Dr. Cindy Briggs, CFRE Office Hours (online):

(You can call me Dr. B) By appointment online/phone or

Office phone: (214) 483-1602 Skype: dr.cindybriggs (anytime I am on)

Email: cindy.briggs@umontana.edu or dr.cindybriggs@

Course Description:

A ten- week online graduate-level course intended for students and professionals interested in learning the concepts related to nonprofit advocacy and public policy. The course will examine how policy influences nonprofits as well as how nonprofits impact policy. It will address the role of nonprofit organizations in the public policy process including advocacy strategies and techniques and examine in turn how laws shape nonprofit involvement in that process.

Expected Study Learning Outcomes:

|Course Objectives |

|Students will understand common terms used within advocacy and public policy |

|Students will understand the legality of advocacy and lobbying |

|Students will understand and be able to apply the legislative process to an advocacy campaign |

|Students will have a working knowledge of how nonprofits shape public policy through advocacy |

|Students will be able to develop an advocacy campaign including a lobbying component |

Method of Instruction:

Students will use the Moodle system to access lectures, readings, and assignments, and to participate in discussions. Instructor will post lectures, other reading materials and assignments; critique written assignments; and monitor and evaluate discussion postings.

Learning units will be online at the beginning of the course; however, there are times I will add something new at the start of the week. Please be sure to view the module during the scheduled week, and watch for due dates. Students can expect to receive graded work within one week. I will post the grades within the gradebook section of Moodle.

When I return work it will be through the gradebook. Please note if you choose to submit work early, I will grade it after the scheduled due date. You will be able to see a document submitted by the instructor and you will want to click that open to see my comments.

My Philosophy

I believe in education. I also believe that you get out of something what you are willing to put into it. This course is a college-level course. The expectations will be that of college students (typically graduate students). You may register for this course as a professional development course, and I do appreciate that, but please remember that the expectations will be the same for everyone. I am tough and I do not make any apologies for this; however, I do tell my students that my goal is always the same and that is for you to leave this course with a better understanding of the material. I also remind my students that while this is an online course, I want you to think of it the same as if you were coming to a class. I hope you will schedule time to work on this course on a regular basis, and that you understand I try to be available as possible to help you. All of you have taken college courses before, so you understand that a professor is not just there to impart knowledge, but to help you learn even more. I want you to learn about advocacy & public policy, but my greater goal is that you learn even more about the nonprofit sector.

Weekly Journal

During this course each student will be expected to keep a weekly journal. The journal is provided to you during week #1. This journal will be due as part of your final project (see details at the end of this syllabus). Do not wait until the end of the course to start this process. It is imperative that you make this part of your weekly work. The purpose of this journal is so you will have key concepts from the course in one place. It is a great document to keep in your nonprofit career. I do reserve the right to do “pop” reviews of the journal.

Each week you should follow the journal instructions. You will be writing topics such as:

- What new ideas did I learn through the lecture, readings, outside research

- How can I incorporate this information into my current nonprofit (or how would I incorporate it into a future position)

- What specific quotes, ideas, articles would I want to have for future reference

- Were there any differing points of view presented, and if so do you have a stand either way

Graduate Student Requirement

Students who are taking this course for graduate credit will also be required to do an analysis of two separate PEER REVIEWED journal articles. This assignment will be in-depth article reviews (5-8 pages). You can find details for this requirement at the end of this syllabus. The due date for this assignment is: March 20, 2016 (articles titles due: February 14, 2016).

Participation

Students will be expected to fully engage and participate in this course. While the course is online, and is asynchronous, students should be prepared to post in the discussion board. At a minimum you should do the reply and then a response to a classmate. Remember… this is just a different format of the classroom. This is not an independent study or correspondence course! The grading rubric for posts and an example can be found at the end of this syllabus.

Submitting Assignments

Be sure to format your paper as you would if you were turning it in (name, course, date, etc.) I reserve the right to not grade papers that do not meet the course requirements. All assignments should be submitted through the learning unit tab. No assignments will be accepted via email.

References

This is a college level course; therefore, you will be required to use appropriate references in your work. Please use the APA Style Manual when referencing work. There is an APA help folder located in the course.

Course time and preparation

Students can expect to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week on this course. The goal of the instructor is to have you gain workable knowledge on all main parts of advocacy and public policy.

PLEASE NOTE: Absolutely NO late assignments will be accepted during this course. This is a graduate level course and you will be expected to uphold professional requirements. Therefore; in this course I will not accept late work for any reason. Technology issues will not be accepted as a reason for late assignments. If you have any questions, make sure you ask prior to an assignment being due.

Course Materials

Required:

1) Avner, Marica (2002). The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations: Shaping Public Policy at the State and Local Levels. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Foundation. ISBN# 0-940069-26-1. (This book can be ordered from: -- put Briggs/UM in code box)

2) Berry, Jeffrey M. with David F Arons (2005) A Voice for Nonprofits. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution. ISBN# 0-8157-0912-9.

3) American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. ISBN #1-4338-0562-6.

Suggested but not required:

1. Managing and Measuring Social Enterprises by Rob Paton (available on , etc)

2. Nonprofit Management, by Michael J. Worth (available on and others)

3. The Public Sector, by Jan-Erik Lane (available on and others)

▪ Other materials will be posted on Moodle, or web addresses will be provided for internet readings

Withdraw

Please see the University of Montana Extended Learning website for information on withdrawing from courses and on refund policies.

Student with Disabilities

Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this online course. To request course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and Disability Services in the accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services website at or call 406.243.2243 (Voice/Text).

Student Conduct Code

The Student Conduct Code, embodying the ideals of academic honesty, integrity, human rights, and responsible citizenship, governs all student conduct at The University of Montana-Missoula. You are expected to adhere to this code. It is also expected that each student will help foster a collegial learning environment by sharing his or her experiential and academic knowledge and practices, as well as respectfully listening to the viewpoints of others and following basic netiquette rules. You are expected to complete all reading assignments so that you can discuss them intelligently in discussion forums, individual assignments, and small group (collaborative) assignments.

Course Calendar: Winter 2013

|Week |Topic(s) |Assignment(s) |Due Date(s) |

|#1: |Introduction to Course and Online |Post contact information via the online system |DQ #1: 1-30-16 |

| |Learning |Discussion board responses |Contact info: 1-30-16 |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 1 (Berry) | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#2: |Legislative Process |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 2-6-17 |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 6 (Berry) | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

| | | | |

|#3: |Advocacy 101 |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 2-13-17 |

| | |Grad Students- Article names (2) due to Dr. Briggs | |

| | | |Grad Article titles: |

| | |Readings: |2-13-17 |

| | |Chapter 1 (Avner) | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#4: |Advocacy 101 Part 2 |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 2-20-17 |

| | |ASSIGNMENT: 1-2 page paper on any advocacy campaign |Assignment: 2-20-17 |

| | |Locate any advocacy program via web or in person. | |

| | |Give overview of the program | |

| | |What did you like/dislike | |

| | |What can you learn from it | |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#5: |Lobbying- The Basics |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 2-27-17 |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 2(Avner) | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#6: |Lobbying Plans |1. Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 3-6-17 |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 3 (Avner) | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#7: |Legal issues affecting public |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 3-13-17 |

| |policy plans | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 4 (Avner) | |

| | |Chapter 7 (Berry) | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#8: |Mobilizing & Grassroots Advocacy |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 3-20-17 |

| | |Grad Students: Article review due | |

| | | |Grad Student: |

| | |Readings: |Article Review: 3-20-17 |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#9: |Communication |Discussion board responses |DQ #1: 3-27-17 |

| | | | |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |All posted in learning unit | |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |Weekly journal entry | |

|#10: |Wrap Up Topics |Discussion board responses |NOTE DAY CHANGES! |

| | |Final project due | |

| | | |DQ #1: 3-31-17 |

| | |Readings: | |

| | |Chapter 3 (Avner) |Final Project: 4-1-17 |

| | | | |

| | |Reminder: | |

| | |The course ends on FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017 | |

Discussion Board Grading Rubric

Each week you should post two (2) SUBSTANTIVE posts and these must be within the discussion week (Monday- Sunday). You will post an initial reply to the question and a response to a classmate. This means that there needs to be some “meat” to your responses. You can see the grading rubric below. I do expect at the graduate level we will have many more posts—more in a discussion format. You can earn up to 25 points per week.

| |0-5 Points |6-9 points |10-12 points |13-15 Points |

|Content |Discussion questions not |Discussion questions are |Previous level, plus |Previous level, plus |

| |addressed; resources or |addressed; resources or |incorporates readings and |offers resources related |

| |readings not mentioned. |readings are mentioned and|resources into own |to topic that are not |

| | |relate to topic. |experiences. |found in the assigned |

| | | | |readings. |

|Language |Thought processes are |Though processes are |Previous level, plus |Previous level, plus |

| |incomplete. Postings |complete. Postings contain|arguments are clear, |incorporates previous |

| |contain multiple |no grammatical errors. |concise, and cogent; the |learning into relevant |

| |grammatical errors. | |post is timely and |topic. |

| | | |relevant. | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| |0-3 pts |4-5 pts |6-8 pts |9-10 pts |

|Response |Posts are limited (I |Posts are on time and |Previous level, plus |Previous level, plus posts|

| |agree.. etc.) without |contain extended |responses relate theory to|are insightful and combine|

| |explanation. |discussion relevant to |practice or personal |multiple ideas related to |

| | |topic. |application. |the topics. |

Example on discussion posts

Let’s say we are in an organizational leadership course and we are reading the 3 Little Pigs ;-)

Example DQ:

What did you find interesting about the 3 little pigs and how did you find it related to our topic?

Initial response to question

I found the story to be very engaging. While it was entertaining it directly related to this week’s topic of self-motivation. As our text stated, “leadership takes the motivation of the leader and the buy-in of others (pg. 201)” The pigs took on the team approach of leadership by all of them trying to solve the problem together. No one single pig decided to take complete ownership of the situation. Each gave a suggestion and the others bought in. When those suggestions did not work, they moved on to another suggestion. I have found that to be the case in my own organization. We have a boss in our organization who allows us to all express out ideas and then we test them out. This has worked in many occasions, but I have also found that there are times when we could really use one person to take charge and make the decision. I believe in this case the last pig had the best idea and should have tried to have his voice heard earlier.

I also found a website that had some great information regarding the pigs leadership style. This site: gave some points on how this type of leadership can be directly linked to any organization (public or private). I have used it several times already in my own work and have found it to be right on target.

A response you might give to someone’s post (I am just making up since we don’t have their post here).

Mary,

I enjoyed your post but I did have one disagreeing comment. When you said that the wolf was using authoritarian leadership style as described by Lewin (Morgan, 2009), I thought his style was more based on the Williams theory of self-motivation. I had the opportunity to study this theory in an organizational behavior course. This theory supports that you must be “in charge of people” to fully have an authoritarian model. Since the wolf did not have a team of people he supervised- wouldn’t it be more difficult to assume the authoritarian style? I did find your points convincing and it did make me wonder if there was some relationship between these two styles?

Graduate Student Requirement Details

As graduate students, it is important that you understand what research has been done in this field of study. The purpose of this assignment is that you will take this research and be able to implement it into real-world scenarios. It will also allow you the opportunity to use critical thinking skills when analyzing different types of research.

You will need to locate two (2) peer-reviewed journal articles and provide a 5-8 page paper that compares and contrasts the research that has been done in this area. You may want to have an article on advocacy and another on public policy.

Peer-reviewed are articles that provide some type of research. You can find out if the article falls under this category by looking at the submission page for the journal. Please be sure to ask if you have any questions about articles.

Article titles due by: February 14

Review due by: March 20

Journals: Any are open, but the article should focus on course topics.

Good places to search (but not the only): Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Nonprofit Quarterly.

What to include/ grading rubric:

|Area to include |Points (Total Possible: 150) |

|Overview of both articles- be sure to include the type of |45 |

|research (qualitative/quantitative) | |

|Main points/findings of the articles |25 |

|Compare and contrast the articles and how they may impact your |50 |

|organization (or any organization) | |

|Your thoughts on additional research that could be done from this|10 |

|study | |

|Your overall impressions of the articles and their relevance to |10 |

|the subject matter | |

|Use APA style references |10 |

Final Project Details

Final Project Due: Friday, April 1, 2016 (not an April Fool’s Joke ;-)

The final project for this course will include two major components. Here is what will be included in the final---

1) Your weekly journal as described earlier in the syllabus

2) A PowerPoint presentation (10 slide min.) that you would give to a board of directors with the steps of how to begin and sustain an advocacy campaign within the organization.

a. You can choose to do audio over your slides and not provide notes

b. If you do not choose to do audio—you will need detailed notes to go with your slides.

You will submit your final to two (2) separate links in the final week. If you have problems loading your PowerPoint- you can feel free to load it to YouTube and just send the link.

Think of the final as a portfolio type project. The final consists of all of these pieces and will be graded as follows:

|Item |Points Possible |

|Weekly journal |100 |

| | |

|Is it complete? | |

|Was there thought put into the postings? | |

|Did the student use critical thinking skills? | |

|PowerPoint Presentation |150 |

| | |

|Minimum number of slides met? | |

|Was there audio or detailed notes provided? | |

|Did the presentation convey correct information? | |

|Was the presentation directed at a board of director level? | |

|Was the presentation well organized? | |

|Was the presentation free of typos and grammatical errors? | |

|(Note: you will want to be sure to follow APA style with references, etc. Also, grammar, spelling, | |

|and organization will count) | |

| | |

| | |

|TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS |250 |

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[pic]Important Communication Tips:

Emails:

• The best way to reach me is by sending an email (I check email often).

• I will answer your email within 24 hours—this is usually much quicker.

• If you send me an email after normal work hours on Friday I may not respond until Monday. This is not definite- I often do check emails over the weekend, but I do reserve weekend’s to be with my family.

• Very important: I must assume that you open your email that is registered with the course (your UM email) regularly, as this is the method I use to communicate with you directly.

Skype:

• Skype is free online service that allows real time communication. You can download the software and then request me as a contact (dr.cindybriggs). When I am available—I turn my Skype “on” and you can feel free to ask questions, or just say hi. Think of it as my “open door”

Telephone:

• You may call me at my office number (listed above).

• Please also send me an email if you have left a message on my office phone.

Appointments:

• Online education can be tough—I want to be available to you. Please use my Skype option whenever necessary or write me with a time that is convenient.

[pic]Grading

• Introduction assignment (contact info, 25 pt.)

• Moodle responses (25 points possible per week):250 points

• Advocacy paper (100 points)

• Final Project: 250 points possible

• Graduate Student Article analysis: 150 possible points (grad students ONLY)

Points possible: 625 (undergrad)/775 (graduate student)

Course grades will be based on university scale (90-100%= A, 80-89%= B, etc.)

[pic]Please Note:

I do try to make this syllabus as complete and correct as possible. I do reserve the right to make any necessary changes. If that happens, I will give ample time and post notes in the announcement section and via email. I do not foresee this needing to happen, but please understand that sometimes circumstances may warrant such action.

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