Calumet College of St. Joseph

SYLLABUS FOR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE

 

 

 

Term:  Summer, 2003 

Course Number: LEA 580, Group 1

Instructor:   Dr. David Plebanski

Office:  Room 500A

Office Phone:  219-473-4274

E-mail: dplebanski@ccsj.edu

Beeper: 312-204-1815

 

Office Hours: Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 12 noon

                         Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

                         Friday 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. 

Course Time:  Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

 

Course Description:

 

This course functions as a cumulative assessment process as students complete the requirements for the degree.  In this course students will demonstrate the ability to integrate the theory and skills developed in the graduate program in a simulation exercise and a research paper.

 

 

Statement of Plagiarism:

If an instructor or other Calumet College of St. Joseph personnel find that a student has plagiarized or been involved in another form of academic dishonesty, the instructor or other personnel may elect to bring the matter up for judicial review. The maximum penalty for any form of academic dishonesty is dismissal from the College. The procedures for judicial review are listed under the section of CCSJ handbook that addresses student grievances.   

 

Calumet College of St. Joseph adheres to citation guidelines as prescribed by the particular discipline (i.e., MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian.).  All of these guidelines are available in the Calumet College of St. Joseph library or bookstore.  These texts outline how to cite references from a variety of sources, including electronic media.

 

Withdrawal from Classes Policy:

Before the last day of class, students may withdraw from a course in which they are registered with permission from the faculty member conducting the course. A written request detailing the reason(s) for the withdrawal must be filed with the Program Director. Written request for withdrawal must be received by the Program Director by the last day of classes prior to the final examination dates specified in the syllabus. Written requests may be mailed to the Program director or faxed to the College fax number 219-473-4259. Students are to make note of the refund schedule when withdrawing from courses. The request is forwarded to the faculty member, who makes the final determination to accept or deny the request. If the request is honored, the student will receive notification of official withdrawal; if denied, the notification will indicate why the withdrawal is disallowed. Note: Graduate Students should consult the Graduate Student Handbook for information on withdrawals.

 

 

An official withdrawal is recorded as a "W" grade on the student's transcript. Dropping a

course without written permission automatically incurs an "F" grade for the course (see

Refund Schedule).

 

Class Policy for Assignments:  All assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of the class period on the day that they are due. Late assignments are accepted, but one-half grade deduction may be assessed.    

 

Course Objectives: The goal of this course is not limited to demonstrated mastery of knowledge in the field.  The focus of this course is on demonstrated mastery of the ability to use the knowledge and skills that define the profession to function in the profession of law enforcement administrator.  This course will focus on mastery of the following competencies:

 

Law Enforcement Administrators need to be able to:

 

  1. Demonstrate a high level of comfort with their own leadership roles;
  2. Demonstrate mastery of basic leadership skills;
  3. Encourage indigenous group leadership, where appropriate; 
  4. Manage change effectively;
  5. Conduct promotional hearings;
  6. Conduct hiring interviews;
  7. Demonstrate that they value the importance of on-going professional training for improving the performance of all police personnel.
  8. Application of appropriate research methods.

 

The final phase of the Law Enforcement Administration Program is experienced either in the Capstone Experience Course or in the completion of the Master’s Thesis.  While the thesis option is focused on original research, both of these final steps provide students with an opportunity to integrate both the foundation skills and one or more of the areas of specialized knowledge and skills.  The Capstone Experience will include assessment of the student’s ability to demonstrate effective use of communication skills, awareness of the importance of cultural diversity, application of appropriate research methods and effective use of information and computer technology.

 

 

Law Enforcement Administrators will be able to develop mechanisms within the police agency that are designed to enable the administrator to develop a valid written measure for promotion and demonstrate effective oral interview techniques.  Administrators will learn that just relying on job performance skills of police officers are not the only indicators in the promotional process.  Leadership skills, administrative skills and interpersonal skills are strong assets needed for supervisory personnel.

 

Assessment

 

Competency Area                Objective                                Assessment Tools

Understand Various Valid Written Measures in the Promotional Process.

 

 

Students will demonstrate the ability to explain the structure and development of promotional exams.

Case Study

 

Review Structural Analysis  “Pros and Cons” of Written

Examinations.

 

Knowledge of Promotional Hearings and Hiring Interviews.

Students Can Demonstrate and Develop Concepts Relative to Oral Interview Techniques.

 

Case Study and Simulation Exercise

 

 

 

 

Cognizance of Group Leadership Skills and Comfort Levels with Leadership Roles. 

Students will Demonstrate Insight into the Relationship between Leadership Skills and their Roles in the Management of the Promotional Process.

Case Study

 

Through the Completion of a Simulation Exercise Students will:

  • Display basic leadership skills
  • Encourage indigenous group leadership

 

 

 

Formulating a Research Paper.

Students will be able to Integrate appropriate Research Methods and Foundation Skills, within an Area of Specialized Knowledge.

Written Research Paper

 

Oral Presentation of the Paper

 

 

 Class Policies, Papers and Evaluation

Students are expected to read all assigned materials before class and come to class prepared to discuss their contents.  Students will write and present a research paper of at least 25 pages relative to issues relating to law enforcement. Students will also demonstrate and be evaluated on their leadership, communication, organizational and interaction skills in a video taped simulated oral interview exercise.

 

 

 

Evaluation of Taped Simulated Exercise

Performance Indicators

              Comments

          Score

Appearance

 

 

 

Verbal Fluency

 

 

 

Listening Comprehension

 

 

 

Attitude

 

 

 

Decision Making Process

 

 

 

 

The evaluation for the simulated oral interview exercise is as follows.  Each of the student’s performance indicators will be assessed a 1 – 5 rating, except the decision-making process indicator, which will be rated from 1 – 10.

 

 

Assessment

 

Research paper                                                50%

Presentation of Research Paper                     10%

Evaluations of simulated exercises                                30%

Attendance and participation                          10% 

 

 

Grading Scale

 

A:100-93                A-:92-90                B+89-87                  B:86-83                   B-:82-80                C+:79-77

C:76-73                   C-:72-70                D+:66-63                D:66-63                   D-:62-60                F:59 & below    

 

 

Format for Written Assignments: Students will adhere to the American Psychological Association Guidelines (APA) style for all papers.

 

Class Policy on Attendance: Attendance is a serious matter when a student even misses one session due to the accelerated format of the program.  If the student misses more than one session, the student may be administratively withdrawn from the module.  It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor when a class will be missed. The instructor and the Graduate Program Director will have the final say in the withdrawal of a student from a course.    

 

 

Course Outline

 

Week One

 

Course introduction - review of syllabus and the course outline.  Plus understanding the latent structure of job performance and the validity of assessment centers relative to promotional exams.

 

Case Studies on employee’s attitudes and behaviors.

Plus court decisions involving performance appraisals. 

 

 

Week Two

 

               

Avenues to procuring a good interview process, and a practitioner based analysis of interviewer job expertise as contextual factors in situational interviews.

 

Negligent hiring and negligent retention of police employees.

 

 

 

Week Three

 

Video Taped simulated interview exercises.

 

 

Week Four

 

Video taped simulated interview exercises.

 

 

 

Week Five

 

Presentation of research papers

 

Week Six

 

Presentation of research papers