University of Alaska Southeast ~ Master of Public Administration

PADM 616: Leadership for Public Administrators

Spring 2022 ~ Thursday 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:

Access to Instructor:**
Instructor: Cathy LeCompte, MNPL
Call or Text: 907-617-0735
Email: calecompte@alaska.edu
Office Hours: As needed by appointment via email request or text message; during the
week expect a response to email, texts, and phone messages within 24 hours – on the
weekend it may be up to 48 hours before a response is made.

Access to Class:
This course is accessible to students regardless of their location using the following
technology:
 LIVE CLASS MEETINGS via Zoom. Access the virtual classroom at the link in the Zoom
Classroom on the Blackboard site or this link: https://alaska.zoom.us/j/7131093522
Meeting ID: 713 109 3522
 TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS: Successful participation in the course depends on
access to the internet, a current and active preferred email account and video camera
with the ability to communicate built in.
 ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION will occur in the Blackboard course site; use it to
submit assignments and communicate with each other asynchronously between live
class sessions;

UAS Online Helpdesk:

Toll Free Number 877-465-6400
Local Juneau Number 907-796-6400
E-Mail helpdesk@uas.alaska.edu

Course Reading:
Perry, J. L. (Ed.). (2010). The Jossey-Bass Reader on Nonprofit and Public Leadership. San
Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (select chapters per syllabus)

Van Wart, M., (2017). Leadership in Public Organizations: An Introduction. 3rd Ed. New York,
NY: Routledge: A Taylor & Francis Group.

Other articles, chapters and videos distributed and assigned throughout the term;

1|P a g e 21 September 2023

COURSE DESCRIPTION, LEARNING OUTCOMES & OBJECTIVES:

Course Description:
In today’s dynamic public sector environment, it is more important than ever that
professionals working in government, higher education and not for profit organizations
identify as well-informed members of a network of public sector leaders, knowledgeable
and skilled in personal and organizational leadership.

This course will provide students an opportunity for discussion on the principles of
personal and organizational leadership theory and the application to the environment;
course activities will provide for a deeper understanding of their personal leadership
philosophy, the development of leadership ability and skills applicable to individual
practice as a leader and how to bring leadership into practice in their public sector
organizations. While theories are discussed to provide a foundation for learning, the
emphasis of this course is to provide students with highly practical leadership tools which
they can quickly take back to any work environment and apply to real world challenges.

Students will learn how to think and will demonstrate leadership level communication
skills especially the ability to be reflective in learning, succinct in writing, articulate in oral
communication and skilled in providing meaningful feedback to the ideas of others.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course students will:

 Identify various leadership theories that have evolved over time and examine their
application in public sector leadership practice today. (How is leadership theory applied
in the contemporary public sector environment?)
 Compare and contrast leadership and management actions and behaviors and how it
aligns with public sector administrative theory for effectiveness in the public sector
context. (How does leadership vs management work in the public sector?)
 Identify personal values, assumptions, and beliefs that influence personal leadership
development and identify and assess personal leadership characteristics/traits,
skills/abilities. (What is my personal leadership profile?)
 Identify behavior, traits or skills needed for effective change leadership and crisis
management in the public sector. (What does good leadership look like?)
 Understand how to enact organizational leadership practices and identify
characteristics and skills needed to motivate others to effectively set direction, create
alignment and build commitment toward a common organizational outcome. (How do I
bring leadership to my organization?)
 Compare and contrast models of planning and describe their application in public
sector organizations and the role of the public sector leader in planning. (How do I
bring leadership to my organization?)
 Understand collaboration and collaborative leadership skills; reflect upon the
challenges associated with interagency collaboration and strategize ways in which to
encourage collaboration across agencies and sectors. (How do I bring leadership to my
organization?)

2|P a g e 21 September 2023

COURSE EXPECTATIONS, ACTIVITIES & EVALUATION:

Instructional Methodologies:
Learning in this course is a collaborative enterprise. Students will learn from the
discussions, readings, cases, assignments, exercises, and the instructor, and it is expected
that students will learn from one another.

Proper preparation enables successful participation in the class and class participation is
an important component of student performance and is essential to collaborative learning.
It is the responsibility of all to come to class prepared to discuss the topics of the week and
to respond to each other promptly and respectfully.

The student contribution to the learning environment is more than just participation in
class discussion. Two necessary elements of the contribution to the learning community
are a) attendance, since students cannot contribute if not present, b) professionalism
during class.

Attendance:
Often an absence is unavoidable and, in that case, please notify the instructor of the
absence prior to the start of class. If an absence is planned, notify the instructor prior to
the absence before the missed class.

In the event of an absence, planned or unplanned, prior to the next class session, students
will listen to the recorded class session that was missed and complete an asynchronous
assignment on the Discussion Board forum titled “Missed Class Session”.

The ASYNCHRONOUS assignment to be completed within the week of the absence is:
 Title the post with your last name and date of class missed, i.e. LeCompte 01.11.22
 Identify three (3) things learned in the class, two (2) things of particular interest
and why, and one (1) question remaining from the lesson.

Professionalism:
Professionalism includes having the proper equipment, preparation, and attention. A web
camera in addition to other communication software and hardware is necessary for full
participation. Students are expected to give their full attention to the class. The camera
should be on during the opening and closing of the class session and when presenting or
reporting out on small group discussion outcomes. Students have the option to turn off
their camera during class presentations by instructor.

Multitasking during class is unprofessional and results in failure to meet your

responsibilities to fellow learners.

Course Activities:

3|P a g e 21 September 2023

The following activities are designed for students to practice, master and demonstrate
learning:

1. IN CLASS DISCUSSION AND EXERCISES: It is expected that you will learn from one
another through in-class discussions and activities. A component of the overall grade is
tied to the contribution made to the learning community. The quality of participation is
more important than the quantity. Offer ideas, substantiating them with facts from a
case, course materials, or small group discussion outcomes, or simply from prior
experience and intuition. Importantly, pay attention to what others say and make
positive contributions that advance the discussion by presenting new ideas or insights,
or by building on another’s’ comments, or by presenting a counterpoint to others’
comments in a respectful way.

If there is anything that may interfere with the ability to contribute on an ongoing basis,
please discuss it with the instructor sooner rather than later to develop a strategy for
deepening the comfort and performance in class participation.

2. DISCUSSION BOARD CONVERSATIONS: Asynchronous discussion forums between live

class meetings or as a replacement to live class meetings may be used occasionally as a
follow up to live session discussions or to develop new ideas for discussion in the live
sessions. Minimum posts for gradebook alerts are generally set to three posts, less
than that will not trigger the gradebook and a zero will be assigned; overall content is
assessed on both initial posts and responses.

3. WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: Written assignments will give students an opportunity to

make their own meaning of the lessons and case studies or to reflect on their personal
learning.

SHORT ESSAY WRITING FORMAT GUIDELINES:

 Papers are to be no longer than three pages of content (cover page not necessary)
but APA reference page must be included (but doesn’t count as a content page).
 Pages beyond three will not be considered in the scoring and could be detrimental
to the overall score.
 Written in 12-point San Serif font with 1.5 spacing between lines.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL WRITING GUIDELINES:

 Journal entries are to be entered directly into the Journal application – no
attachments; this is an informal writing exercise shared directly with the instructor.

MID TERM WRITING EXERCISES

 Informal writing in response to specific exercises and directives; written to
complete a worksheet with short paragraph responses.

4. ORAL PRESENTATIONS: Two different styles of structured oral presentations may be

assigned as follows:

4|P a g e 21 September 2023

  IMPLICATIONS: The purpose of the implications short report is to allow students to
stay current with the periodicals of the trade and be aware of the current events in
higher education and higher education leadership and to succinctly share the
analysis and implications of the chosen topic. The implications short reports will be
based on articles in current periodicals and will be shared with fellow learners for
their awareness. Duration about 5-8 minutes and presented without power point
slides.

 FINAL GROUP TEACH-BACK: Part of the final of this course is a GROUP presentation.
Work groups for this project will be assigned mid-term. The purpose of the group
assignment is to bring together all your learning from the course to “teach back” key
concepts to the class. The group will select and focus on a BROAD leadership
scenario or challenge (real or hypothetical) and each member will select a different
strategy and/or tool to apply to the challenge.
o Total time allocated for the entire group presentation is 20 minutes + 5
minutes for Q&A.
o Each member of the team must participate equitably and contribute to the
broad leadership scenario or challenge during the presentation and the team
must stay within the time limit.
o Each member of the team is to submit the entire GROUP power point, as a
PDF, in the link provided to trigger the grade book score.

Approach to Grading
While grades are a necessary tool given the educational models we have adopted, they are
not the end goals of this class. They are at best a representation of attempts to codify for
our systems of accountability that some level of learning has taken place. The focus in
grading is on whether or not you achieve the learning outcomes through completion of the
class activities and participation. The actual grade for the course is based on your ability to
communicate familiarity with the concepts in writing, speaking, practical application,
attendance, and participation. This class starts with the assumption that all students are
capable and plan to earn the highest grade for the course that reflects their work and
involvement in the activities and subject matter. However, in the event that learners do not
fully meet this expectation, other grades will be assigned according to this grade scale:

GRADING CRITERIA ASSIGNMENT POINTS

A 255 230 Discussion Board 1 @ 5 / 4@15 65
B 229 204 Writing – Journal/Short Essay 3@ 20 40
C 203 179 PLP – Exercises 3@ 10 PLP 1@ 20 50
D 178 153 Final – Group Presentation 80
F Below 152 Final – Journal 20

5|P a g e 21 September 2023

COURSE POLICIES:

Late Assignment Policy:

All written assignments must be completed and handed in on the required date by the
prescribed time. Accommodations for late submissions can be made if discussed and
approved in advance. See the course plan for the due dates for all assignments. It is your
responsibility to stay on top of these deadlines; if changes are made or you are genuinely
confused please ask for clarification.

Course Changes Policy:

The instructor reserves the right to alter information in the course plan as needed to
accurately reflect the course coverage and to enhance the learning outcomes of the course.
When or if changes are necessary, they will be announced in advance and students will
have appropriate time to make adjustments. Any anticipated changes will be discussed
with the class for input and as a part of the decision making process; however, final
decisions about changes are the responsibility of the instructor.

Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy:

The American Heritage Dictionary says that to plagiarize is to take, steal, or use the writings
or ideas of another as if they were one's own. If your name is on a paper, then your readers
assume the ideas and expressions in it are yours if you have not quoted a source and given
credit to it. If you paraphrase someone else's idea—i.e., you put the idea into your own
words rather than quote it—you still must give credit to the source of that idea if the idea is
new to you. In all colleges and universities, plagiarism is a serious academic offense and is
usually rewarded with an "F." However, asking someone for advice and help is not
plagiarism. All writers can profit from outside advice and help, and the faculty encourages
you to seek out others to act as editors of your work. Remember that an editor does not
write your paper or invent its major ideas. Unless those ideas are yours, you must give
credit to your sources – in all writing using APA style.

6|P a g e 21 September 2023