SYLLABUS FOR
PPA 500 – PROJECT SEMINAR
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
Fall 2004
Coordinating Professor: Rob Wassmer
E-Mail:rwassme@csus.edu
Home Page: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr
Office: Room 3037, Tahoe Hall
Office Phone: (916) 278 - 6304
Office Hours: Wednesday, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.; and by appointment if necessary
Facilitating Professors: Cristy Jensen, Mary Kirlin, Nancy Shulock, and Bob Waste
Contact each individually for office availability
Course Held: Thursday, 6:00 – 8:50 p.m., Tahoe 1002
Required Reading Material:
(1) CSUS Guide For Thesis Format, Latest Edition, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, CSUS, available free on web at http://www.csus.edu/gradstudies/forms/Thesis.pdf ;
(2) Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article; 1986, Howard S. Becker, Chicago Press; available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com ;
(3) A Pocket Style Manual, 2000, Diana Hacker, Third Edition, Bedford Books; available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com (many PPA students have already purchased this for an earlier class);
(4) A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, Eugene Bardach, Chatam House; available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com ; also available free at http://www.puaf.umd.edu/courses/puaf790/bardach.pdf (many PPA students have already purchased this for an earlier class) ;
(5) The Policy Analyst’s Handbook: Rational Problem Solving in a Political World, 2003, Lewis G. Irwin, M.E. Sharpe; available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Amazon.Com.
Suggested Reading Material (if doing a literature based analysis of alternatives):
Writing Literature Reviews, 2004, Second Edition, Jose Galvin, Pyrczak Publishing; available for purchase at bookstore or on web at Pyrczak Publishing.
I would strongly recommend that all readings be purchased in the summer before classes begin and you get a head start on readings and assignment. When a reading assignment for a particular class meeting is given, the text should be brought to the class meeting.
Internet Access:
Access to the Internet is also required for this class. If you do not have it at work or home, access is provided to students at the university library. Some of the links given here require the use of a Sac Link account to access.
Objective:
This course provides faculty and peer guidance in preparation of material to satisfy the Master’s project requirement. This includes clarification of general program expectations, familiarization with research resources, presentation of models of effective policy and administrative analytical reports, and provision of basic support in a structured environment of feedback.
Method:
Each class session will include interactive work sessions involving students reporting on progress and problem solving with peer feedback and consultation. Students are required to complete all assignments and consult with their project committee throughout the semester.
I would estimate that besides the 3 hours of classroom time required each week, this course will require an additional minimum of 10 hours a week of work outside of the classroom. This amount is likely to grow larger in the final weeks of the semester.
Prerequisite:
To enroll in this course you must have completion of all but one of the courses in the Public Policy and Administration Program [PPA 200, 205, 207, 210, 220A, 220B, 230, 240 (or 240A and 240B if appropriate), plus two electives] with at least a B- in each course and an average grade of B or better in all. Accordingly, students cannot enroll in PPA 500 until their last semester of course work and are no longer allowed to take more than one course (other than an internship course) in addition to PPA 500. It is also necessary to have advanced to candidacy before enrolling in PPA 500. The department chair is authorized to modify these restrictions (but not the advancement to candidacy mandate, which is a University requirement) in exceptional circumstances.
PPA 500B:
There is no longer a formal second semester of PPA 500. Students will now need to take PPA 500 (in the manner presented here) a second time if they fail to complete an acceptable Master’s project in one semester or within the break following the semester.
Primary and Secondary Advisors:
All students are required by the first (preferred) or second (mandatory) meeting to have developed a thesis question and named primary and secondary advisors who have agreed to supervise and assist in the completion of the assignments required for this class. A form for this purpose, which must be turned into Acting Chair Wassmer, is included at end of this syllabus. A primary advisor can be drawn from Professors Ceja, Gerth Hodson, Jensen, Kirlin, Lascher, Moulds, Shulock, Wassmer, and Waste. A secondary advisor can be chosen from among this same group, part-time PPA instructors Detwiller and Booher, and other part and full-time professors and instructors at CSUS. I suggest you work on developing your thesis question and lining up your advisors in the summer preceding the class. We intend to have primary advisor roles divided up equally among PPA professors and thus it is essential that you secure the permission of your desired advisors early. If a primary advisor already has their share of thesis supervision they will suggest another PPA professor that you should contact.
You should be in weekly contact with your primary advisor throughout the semester. All the assignments listed here are to be given to them on the due dates given. Your advisor will get comments back to you by the next week’s meeting. Individual arrangements should be made with your secondary advisor on the specific amount of contact to occur during the semester, but all assignments should also be shared with that person and a meeting with the secondary advisor should occur at least once a month. Remember that both your primary and secondary advisors must sign off on your final product. It is essential that they be both be “kept in the loop” throughout the semester.
Research Partner:
Each student will be paired with another who will serve as a partner in the quest to finish the thesis. Besides their primary and secondary advisors, this partner will serve as a sounding board, confidant, and a third set of eyes to read all that is written. This is meant to be a reciprocal relationship where your help will be equally rewarded by the help of another. Please secure this person’s signature also on the sheet attached to syllabus.
Format of Class Meetings:
This course will meet a total of 14 times from 6 to 8:50 p.m. on Thursday nights throughout the fall semester. It is essential that you attend all class meetings. Most meetings have reading assignments that should be completed before class meeting (preferably well before; i.e., this summer if possible). This is absolutely not a lecture-based course. The format of most classes will be one hour of student-based discussion on how the reading assignments generally apply to thesis projects. The remaining two hours will be devoted to discussion on specific concerns that students have at the current stage of their work. All students are required to participate in these discussions and should come prepared to class each week with a summary of progress in the previous week, and questions/concerns that need to be addressed. Expect to be called on each week to make such a report.
Schedule:
The following schedule lists the major topics covered each week and the assigned reading that accompanies them, as well as an assignment that is due that week. A list will be forthcoming of professors who will be leading each class after the first four weeks. The professors in the classroom each week will only act as facilitators of student-based discussions. They will not collect assignments. These are to be turned into your primary and secondary (if they request) advisors. I reserve the right to make minor changes and additions to the following schedule.
Note that while specific assignments are listed throughout the semester, past the first two the order and number may be modified with the consent of the primary thesis advisor. We recognize that particular students may have needs that are best met by modifying the general pattern set forth for completion of the master’s project.
Session 1 - September 2 (Professor Wassmer)
Background and Goals
Memo on New Culminating Project Guidelines
Irwin Chapter 1 (The Scientific Method, Social Science, and Policy Analysis)
Format and Style
Review of Department Human Subjects guidelines
Becker Chapter 1 (Freshman English for Graduate Students)
Becker Chapter 5 (Learning to Write as a Professional)
Hacker APA Papers (pp. 142 -165)
Define Your Problem
Becker Chapter 2 (Persona and Authority)
Irwin Chapter 2 (Defining the Problem)
Bardach Introduction and Part I (Preface and pp. 1 -7, Define the Problem)
Bardach Appendix A (Things Governments Do)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 97)
Session 2 - September 9 (Professor Wassmer)
Assignment Due: Thesis Question, Advisors’ and Research Partner’s Signatures Sheet
Thesis and Report Examples
Legates: The Region is the Frontier
Price-Stogsdill: Should the California Legislature Redefine the Meaning on Blight?
Larger Context and Background
Bardach Part I (pp. 7 -12, Assemble Some Evidence)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 98)
Bardach Part II (pp. 47 – 69, Gathering Data for Policy Research)
Becker Chapter 3 (One Right Way)
Becker Chapter 8 (Terrorized By the Literature)
Session 3 - September 16 (Professor Wassmer)
Assignment Due: One-page memo defining your problem and explaining why it is important, who is affected, and the general scope of issue
Writing Review
O’Hare (JPAM, 2004, v. 23, #2), “Rhetoric: Memo to My Students”
Hacker Clarity and Grammar (pp. 1 - 48)
Becker Chapter 4 (Editing By Ear)
Political and Legal Environment
Birman (JPAM, 2003, v. 22, #2), “Education Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation”
Hill (JPAM, 2003, v. 22, #2), “Non-Partisan Analysis in a Partisan World”
Session 4 - September 23 (Professor Wassmer)
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 1 (Define the Problem)
Selecting Criteria
Bardach Part I (pp. 19-26, Select the Criteria)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 99)
Bardach (JPAM, 2003, v. 22, #4), “Creating Compendia of Best Practice”
Session 5 - September 30
Proposing Alternatives
Bardach (JPAM, 2002, v. 21, #1), “Educating the Client”
Nelson (JPAM, 2002, v. 21, #1), “Many ways of Educating the Client”
Breedlove (JPAM, 2002, v. 21, #1), “Continuing Education of a Policy Salesman”
Becker Chapter 6 (Risk)
Irwin Chapter 3 (Generating Potential Courses of Action)
Bardach Part I (pp. 12-18, Construct the Alternatives)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 98)
Session 6 – October 7
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 2 (Environment)
Methods of Analysis
Bardach Part III (pp. 71-82, Smart Best Practices)
Bardach Part I (pp. 27-36, Project the Outcomes)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 100)
Irwin Chapter 4 (Cost-Benefit Analysis)
Session 7 – October 14
Assignment Due: One-page memo defining your criteria and alternatives
Confront Tradeoffs
Bardach Part I (pp. 37-39, Confront the Tradeoffs)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 101)
Irwin Chapter 5 (Multi-Attribute Analysis)
Session 8 – October 21
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 3 (Alternatives)
Decide
Bardach Part I (pp. 40-46, Decide and Tell Your Story)
Bardach Appendix B (p. 101)
rwin Chapter 6 (Articulating the Recommendation)
Session 9 – October 28
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 4 (Criteria)
Implementation
Irwin Chapter 7 (Implementation and Beyond)
Session 10 – November 4
Finishing Up
Becker Chapter 7 (Getting It Out the Door)
Becker Chapter 10 (A Final Word)
Session 11 – November 11
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 5 (Analysis of Alternatives)
Session 12 – November 18
Assignment Due: Draft of Section 6 (Recommendations and Conclusions)
Session 13 – December 2
Assignment Due: 10 minute PowerPoint Presentation
Session 14 – December 9
December 10 - Master’s Project Due in Graduate Office
SUGGESTED SIX-SECTION OUTLINE FOR PPA PROJECT
Below is one way to think about the organization of Master's project in a six-section format. You should work out the specific format of your thesis with your principal advisor. Five to ten pages are the suggested lengths for each section.
Section 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM
Section 2: ENVIRONMENT
Section 3: ALTERNATIVES
Section 4: CRITERIA
Section 5: ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES
Section 6: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSIONS
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PPA 500 Fall 2004 Thesis Question, Advisors’ and Research Partner’s Signatures Absolutely Due September 9 (preferred due date is September 2) |
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