Dr. Eicher-CattFall 2005
CAS 250 – Small Group Communication1
SecureCorps Service Learning Initiative
“… Experience arouses curiosity, strengthens initiative,
and sets up desires and purposes that are sufficiently
intense to carry a person over dead places in the future…
every experience is a moving force…..” John Dewey (1938)
SYLLABUS
CAS 250 – Small Group Communication
SecureCorps Service Learning Initiative
PennsylvaniaStateUniversity, York
Professor:Dr. Deborah Eicher-CattOffice Phone:771-4158
Office:ISTC, Room 223E-mail:
Office Hours:
Required Texts:
1. Eicher-Catt, D. SecureCorps Resourcebook—includes additional course readings/materials (exercises, cases, etc.) that are compatible with FEMA.
2. Young, K., Wood, J., Phillips, G. & D. Pedersen, 2001, Group Discussion: A Practical Guide to Participation and Leadership, 3rd edition, Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Recommended Text:
3. Fink, S., 2002, Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable,Lincoln, NE: An Authors Guild Press.
Required Resources/Further Reading:
4. Articles from The Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
5. Access to ANGEL – PSU’s on-line course management system (you need an active PSU account)
6. Access to United Way of YorkCounty’s SecureCorps web and intranet site
7. Additional Readings, as needed.
Course Description. Traditionally, this is a business skills-based course in the areas of group discussion, problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork. Your venue for learning these communication skills this semester will be the areas ofemergency preparedness and crisis management. As an enrolled student you will work on SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTSwith SecureCorps Recruits; students, like yourself, who are enlisted in the state and federally funded Program calledAmeriCorps. The SecureCorps Program is specifically designed to enhance emergency preparedness and crisis management in local communities around the country. Here in York, SecureCorps Recruits are working with VOAD (Volunteer Agencies Active in Disasters) members in the area. The SecureCorps Program is sponsored locally by the United Way of YorkCounty. You will be closely working with the United Way this semester “in the field”
General Course Objectives.
This course is specifically designed to expose you to small group (team) experiences within emergency preparedness and crisis management contexts. As your professor, I aim to:
- Provide you with an understanding of the basic principles of communication particularly relevant within small group (team) contexts—group discussion, problem-solving, leadership, and self-directed team work;
- Help you develop a perspective toward leadership and team work which requires an increased awareness of the influence you have on a group’s productivity as well as the influences a group has on you;
- Help you develop critical thinking skills through group discussion and reflective problem solving within the contexts of emergency preparedness, crisis management, and disaster response planning;
- Help you develop skills oforal communication in self-directed business teams throughparticipant-observation and feedback on group dynamics, participation in service learning team activities, group presentations, and training in volunteer management and emergency preparedness;
- Provide you with opportunities to increase your knowledge concerning the ways you can, as future business leaders and/or concerned citizensbe more civic-minded and engaged in worthwhile community projects;
- Offer you insights into the nature of community-service professions, both profit and non-profit;
- Offer you opportunities to develop professional networks in the York community in preparation to enter the local job force.
Basic Course Design.
This is a SERVICE LEARNING COURSE. This course requires that you spend “service time” outside of class working on a Service Team, on problem-based projects within the York community that are relevant to emergency preparedness and management. Although the County of York is currently ahead of other Pennsylvania Counties on coordination of emergency management efforts, much work is still to be done to guarantee quick, well-coordinated natural or technological disaster planning and/or response at a community-wide level. During your service time through the SecureCorps Program, you will be expected to make necessary community contacts, conduct meetings with agencies when appropriate, do research, writing, and public speaking. As a self-directed team, you will produce a final, professional emergency management/planning document for a client agency (or group of agencies). You need to have your own transportation to accomplish these goals.
The course is designed in such a way as to maximize your service learningopportunities within the context of the SecureCorps Program. Because of theintegrative nature of this course with SecureCorps, you will not be able to complete the course without performing service learning activities. Some of the time you spend on this course outside of class (approximately 32 hours) will be spent working with Service Teams in the “field,” servicing actual York area agencies and organizations that need assistance in disaster response and emergency management planning. You will be trained in emergency preparedness, by qualified staff of the United Way SecureCorps Program. After completion of training, you will receive an official Certificate. As your professor, I am here to expose you to the essential communication skills necessary for effective and appropriate team productivity, conduct skill-based exercises in the areas of communication and emergency management, offer you resources and constructive feedback on your progress, supervise your progress, and evaluate all your assignments, both graded and non-graded (see below).
Together, these experiences will allow you to practice what you are learning about group discussion, problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork in the real world, where you, as a future business leader/manager and/or concerned citizen, can make a real difference, in an area of Yorkcommunity development that drastically needs your help. Your fieldwork in disaster response organizations will familiarize you with a realm of community service that may be less visible than other service arenas but which is still vitally important. The inter-organizational nature of disaster response and emergency management will acquaint you with the complex interdependencies between community agencies and between private and public sector parties typical of modern urban communities. Although lectures, guest speakers, and emergency preparedness training will be part of the in-class time we spend together, collective class discussions and “briefings” of your progress and experiences will also be highly encouraged. Class time will be allotted for various team exercises and task group assignments tailored to give you opportunities to experience and learn about crisis management and to reflect upon your experiential learning both individually and as a self-directed team.
Specific Course Components
1. All students enrolled in CAS 250 for Fall 2005 semester arerequired to put in at least 32 hours of service-learning time over the course of the semester—outside of class--- through the SecureCorps Programadministered through the United Way. These 32 hours average to be about 2 hours a week for the 16 weeks of the semester—considerably less than the 9 hours of outside study time per week that is typically prescribed for your success in a given college-level course.You will be assigned to Service Teams, working with at least one current SecureCorps Member Recruit. Every effort will be made to match work and school schedules when possible. You will sign a contract with the United Way specifying what your Service Team intends to provide in terms of deliverables (agency analysis, research on emergency preparedness, business contingency or emergency plans, etc.). I will collect bi-weekly activity logs, verified by a member of the United Way staff, as a way to monitor your completed service hours.Gross failure to participate in service learning activities will trigger a required conference between you, me, and the staff at the United Way, or, more drastic, a “firing” of you by your Service Team members (see Team Member Dismissal Policy below.) For students who fail to meet the 32 hour service requirement, points will be deducted from your final grade at the rate of 15 pointsper hourfor each hour of missed service time. There is no extra credit for accumulating more than the required 32 hours.
Specific Course Components (cont’d)
2. You will complete several non-graded INDIVIDUAL activities/tasks. These consist of:
a) Bi-weekly Service Learning Activity Logs. You are required to complete a bi-weekly service activity log, have it verified and signed by a United Way SecureCorps staff member, and turn it in on the date due. You will use these logs to help produce your final paper/portfolio on your service learning. Failure to complete these when due will result in a two percent (2%) deduction for each late activity log from your final paper/portfolio grade.
b) Bi-weekly Journals/Reflections of Experiences in the “Field.” You are required to write bi-weekly one-page, single-spaced type-written journal entries—describing, analyzing, and reflecting upon what you are doing and
learning through your SecureCorps/VOAD experiences. These journals/reflections will be due on the same days as your bi-weekly service activity logs. Journal writing prompts, that tie together course readings and content with experiential learning, will be provided by me for each of these writings. These journal reflections will be deposited in drop boxes using our ANGEL course site. You will use these journals/reflections to help produce your final paper/portfolio on your service learning. Failure to complete these when due will result in a two percent (2%) deduction for each late journal/reflection from your final paper/portfolio grade.
c) Periodic Peer Evaluations. Several times throughout the semester, you will be asked to complete peer evaluations on your Team members and submit them to me for review. These evaluations will ask you to rate your team members’ work and service relative to the work of other members in the group. These peer evaluations will be deposited in drop boxes using our ANGEL course web site.
3. Students will complete threegradedINDIVIDUAL activities/tasks. These tasks consist of:
a) Group Discussion Facilitator. Class time will be devoted to learning effective and appropriate small group (team) discussion techniques. You will be responsible for facilitating a 30-minute discussion on a portion of an assigned article derived from The Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management. You will learn to give and receive constructive feedback on your developing facilitating/group discussion skills. Your performance will be evaluated based upon your level of preparation, success in stimulating and facilitating discussion by all team participants, level of organization, and self and peer evaluations. This graded activity constitutes about 4% of your overall grade.
b) Final Reflection Paper/Portfolio on Your Team Process and Contributions. Using your bi-weekly service learning activity logs and bi-weekly journals/reflections of your experiences in the field, you will complete a final individual paper/portfolio that includes two sections: one that analyzes your Team communication processes and one that assesses your personal contributions to the success of your Service Team’s Final Professional Project. Documentation of your contributions is required. This graded task constitutes about 21% of your overall grade.
c) Comprehensive Final Examination. This examination will cover all the readings for the course and will in an objective and short answer format. This graded task constitutes about 17% of your overall grade.
4. Students will complete threegradedGROUP/TEAMservice learning activities/tasks. These consist of:
a) Service Team Final Professional Project—Written and Oral Reports. Service Teams will engage in various projects/assignments as deemed necessary by the SecureCorps staff at the United Way of YorkCounty. (You will sign Service Learning Contracts with the United Way SecureCorps Program outlining your team responsibilities and duties for the semester.)At the end of the semester, each Service Team will produce a final, professionally-written report and/or team product (e.g., a business contingency or emergency preparedness plan, an agency flyer that announces available emergency services, a risk-assessment document for an agency, etc.). In addition, Service Teams will give an oral report on their semester effortsin a campus-wide forum in December 2005, where relevant community agencies will also be invited to attend.
As part of this experiential learning Project, Teams are required to meet for one-two hours bi-weekly with their Service Team members at the United Way Volunteer Center. On alternating weeks, Teams are expected to work individually, in pairs or groups in the “field” for at least two-three hours, engaged in activities with local York area
Specific Course Components (cont’d)
agencies, personnel, etc. to meet youroverall Professional Project objectives and goals. Together, these graded team tasks constitute 42% of your overall grade.
b) Participant-ObservationReport of VOAD Team Meeting. Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) is a local group of Yorkcommunity agenciesthat work closely with SecureCorps Recruits on emergency preparedness efforts. You will also be randomly assigned to VOAD teams that deal with such issues as: 1) food/shelter needs, 2) mental and spiritual care, 3) spontaneous volunteers/in-kind donations, 4) EMS (emergency management services) outreach, 5) business outreach, and 6) communications. Your VOAD student team isrequired to attend one VOAD team meeting during the semester, participate in their discussion, and conduct participant-observations of their small group communication, problem-solving and decision-making methods, leadership, and meeting facilitation techniques. These participant-observations will be conducted during the months of October and November.
Subsequently, your studentVOAD teams will meet to discuss your observations and prepare a final written observation report that, based upon your increasing knowledge of effective and appropriate communication styles, will not only summarize your observations but make recommendations for possible improvements to ensure future success and collaboration of the VOAD team. These Reports will be deposited in drop boxes using our ANGEL course web site. The OL (Official Liaison), AL (Alternate Liaison), or the Recorder of your VOAD Team is responsible for depositing this on ANGEL. This graded team task constitutes 8% of your overall grade.
(After review of teams’ observation reports and my own, I will schedule a follow-up meeting with the VOAD teams individually to provide feedback on their small group communication strengths and weaknesses.)
c) Service Team Community Presentation. Each Service Team will make at least a thirty-40 minute informational or persuasive presentation to a local York area community agency or organization as deemed appropriate by your respective Professional Projects and/or the staff of the SecureCorps Program. The purpose of these team presentations will be to inform community groups about SecureCorps/VOAD collaborative efforts or to persuade student groups to become AmeriCorps or SecureCorps recruits. All members of the Service Team must participate in the actual presentation. I will attend each one of these and other students from PSU-York are also invited. My evaluation of this team presentation will be based upon content of information/arguments, audience adaptation, delivery skills, organization, and professionalism. These presentations will be scheduled during the months of October and November. This graded task constitutes 8% of your overall grade.
5. Students will complete non-gradedTEAM Process Reports. These consist of:
a) Intermediate Service Team Project Report – Response to the Charge,
b) Intermediate Service Team Project Report – Fact Finding,
c) Intermediate Service Team Project Report – Criteria and Limitations,
d) Intermediate Service Team Project Report – Solutions,
e) Miscellaneous Team Communication Reports as needed.
On designated dates throughout the semester, your team will deposit Project Reports inANGEL drop boxes at our class web-site.The OL (Official Liaison), AL (Alternate Liaison), and/or the Recorder is responsible for depositing these on ANGEL on time. Failure to complete these team Project Reports when due will result in a two percent (2%) deductionfrom your final Team Professional Project grade each time they are late.
(Assignment sheets for each of these will be distributed to Service Teams at the appropriate time.)
Grading
Point Value % of Grade
Individual Activities/Tasks (worth 42% of total grade)
- Group Discussion Facilitator 25 4
- Final Reflection Paper/Portfolio 125 21
- Comprehensive Final Examination 100 17
Team Activities/Tasks (worth 58% of total grade)
- Service Team Final Professional Project
(Written Report) 200 34
(Oral Report) 50 8
- Participant-Observation Report (VOAD) 50 8
- Service Team Community Presentation 50 8
Total Points 600 100%
Final Grades will be allocated according to a standard 90/80/70/60 grading scale.
Note: At the end of the semester, SecureCorps Program staff at the United Way, either Melissa Siwiec or Heather Goebeler, will complete an official evaluation on your contributions on a form that I will provide. I will share these with you by semester’s last day.
Note: Extra Credit. If you turn in at least ten (10) completed individual or team activities, exercises, and case studies included in your SecureCorps Resourcebook, you can receive up to 25 extra credit points (depending upon their accuracy and how well they are done).
Class Policies/Procedures
Attendance/Tardiness Policy
Classroom exercises, team meetings and presentations both in and outside of class cannot be “reconstructed” for your convenience if you do not attend. If you miss class or a meeting, your team and service learning experience is compromised. In addition, your potential contributions to the SecureCorps Program affiliated agencies and reputation of PSU-York students within the community may be diminished.Your team members and the United Waywill come to rely on you! Your active participation as a self-directed team member is essential for your success in this class. Remember, attendance at team meetings is one of the criteria by which your team members will evaluate your contributions, and will be reflected in your final grade. Your team will have the power to penalize you for absences or failure to do assigned team service in addition to the penalties that you receive for missing too many classes. (See Team Member Dismissal Policy below.)