Public Affairs 4010: Public Affairs Decision Making

The course contributes to Glenn College learning goals and objectives related to foundational knowledge in public affairs; competencies in management, leadership, and policy analysis; and developing an appreciation for multiple perspectives in public affairs. In particular, the course contributes to the following program learning objectives at an advanced level:

• Students can describe and explain public sector policy making and administrative processes.
• Students can recognize and interpret human behavior—individual, group, and organizational—in the context of the public and nonprofit sectors.
• Students can analyze and navigate different behavioral situations in the public and/or nonprofit sectors.
• Students have an appreciation for the diversity and interdisciplinary nature of public affairs.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the normative elements of a decision including public values;
• Construct decision models to evaluate decision alternatives;
• Identify common heuristics and biases used in decision making; and
• Apply approaches to improve decision making in the public and nonprofit sectors.

A textbook may be required for this course. Please check your instructor's syllabus for details.

There are five groups of graded components: (1) attendance and class participation, (2) “practice and reflect” assignments, (3) application assignments, (4) a group case study presentation, and (5) a behavioral insights paper.

• Attendance, Workshops, and Class Participation, 20%
• Practice and Reflect Assignments (3 @5% each), 15%
• Application Assignments (3 @10% each), 30%
• Case Study Facilitation (Small Group), 10%
• Behavioral Insights Paper,  25%
  (Draft 5%)
  (Final 20%)

We will be using CamenCanvas and/or TopHat in most class sessions to take attendance and facilitate participation, so you must register your email address with TopHat and come prepared to participate using CarmenCanvas and TopHat during class.

Class attendance is worth 5% of your final grade.
Class attendance will be tracked through TopHat and calculated as a percentage of the total class sessions for the semester. Students are expected to attend every class session, but two unexcused absences are permitted without penalty. If you arrive late to class or forget to log your class attendance, all you need to do is email Dr. Shero to get the credit in TopHat. Please reach out if there are extenuating circumstances that will require you to miss you class.

Individual participation and workshop participation are worth 15% of your final grade. 
Individual participation grades will be primarily assessed using in-class TopHat submissions. Many classes (but not all) will involve some individual participation assignment. Each participation assignment will be equally weighted and graded on completion, and as such your score for the semester will be the percentage of participation assignments completed. If you are absent during a class in which a participation assignment is given, you may contact Dr. Shero within a week of your absence to make up the assignment for a maximum grade of 75%. If the absence is excused in advance or there are consequential mitigating circumstances associated with the absence (e.g., illness, family emergency, religious observance, military duty), please contact Dr. Shero to discuss an alternative arrangement—either to excuse or to make up the participation score (depending).

Workshop participation is assessed based on your group’s workshop submission to CarmenCanvas (one submission per small group). There are five workshop sessions planned for the semester (see the detailed course schedule on pages 12-16 of this syllabus for the workshop dates) and all workshops are equally weighted. If you are absent during a workshop session, your grade will be a zero for that session unless there are consequential mitigating circumstances or another type of excused absence (e.g., illness, family emergency, religious observance, military duty). For these excused absences, please contact Dr. Shero to discuss an alternative arrangement to make up the workshop material and receive full credit.

The Practice and Reflect assignments are generally short responses (e.g., 250-300 words) or quantitative exercises designed to enhance your learning and mastery of the lecture material.
Unless otherwise specified, these assignments should be completed individually and not as a group. Practice and Reflect assignments will be made available on CarmenCanvas
approximately one week before they are due and should be turned in on CarmenCanvas by the designated deadline. A general grading rubric for these assignments will be provided.
 

The Application Assignments provide an opportunity for you to think more about the topics we cover and consider their real-world relevance. Application Assignments must be your own work; unless otherwise specified, the application assignments are to be completed individually and not as a group. Application Assignments will be made available on CarmenCanvas approximately one week before they are due and should be turned in on CarmenCanvas by the designated deadline. A general grading rubric for application assignments will be provided.

Together with your small group, you will be assigned to facilitate the presentation of a case study. Your group’s class presentation should last about 25 minutes, including a description of the case application and discussion. You are encouraged to incorporate supplemental materials in your presentation relevant to the case in addition to the assigned reading provided in the syllabus. A detailed grading rubric will be provided. Case study facilitation will take place during section 2 of the course. The course schedule currently plans for 7 case studies, however, this may change depending on the size of the classroom and breadth of the class’s policy interests. The number of case studies and groups will be decided by Session 4 (January 22, 2024) and the syllabus will be updated accordingly.  

The behavioral insights paper applies the content from the course to a specific decision context identified by each student. The paper is divided into three parts that roughly correspond to the three sections of the course: (1) describe the decision context, (2) identify behavioral limitations to decision-making in this context, and (3) propose an intervention to improve decisions in this context. One draft of the paper, incorporating the first two parts, will be turned in earlier in the semester. The final paper is due during exam week instead of a final exam. For the final paper, it is expected that you will revise your draft paper (responsive to Dr. Shero’s feedback) and add Part 3. The paper should be approximately 2,000-2,500 words, not including figures, tables, and references (but longer papers will not be penalized for length alone). A detailed grading rubric for the paper will be discussed and provided.