Valdosta State University
College of Arts & Sciences
Political Science Department
Doctor of Public Administration Program
Fall 2011 Syllabus
Gerald A. Merwin Jr., Ph.D.	E-mail: gamerwin@valdosta.edu
Work: (229) 253-2874	Facsimile: (229) 293-6075
1060 Nevins Hall	http://www.valdosta.edu/pa/
Leigh R. Swicord, DPA	E-mail: lrswicord@valdosta.edu

Course Description: (3 hours credit)

A systematic approach to program evaluation in government and nonprofit organizations is the primary focus of this course. Topics will include theories, research, and practice related to program evaluation. The skills learned from this course will assist the practitioner in determining the effectiveness of new or existing programs in organizations. The summary and communication of results to constituent groups will be a key part of the reporting process.

Course Site: http://www.valdosta.edu/~gamerwin/pa/classes/padm9050/. The course is offered fully online in BlazeVIEW. 

Required Readings

• Rossi, Peter H., Lipsey, Mark W., & Freeman, Howard E. (2003). Evaluation: A Systematic Approach, 7th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. (ISBN: 9780761908944)
• Ingraham, Patricia W., Joyce, Philip G., & Donahue, Amy Kneedler (2003). Government Performance: Why Management Matters. Baltimore: Johns-Hopkins University Press. (ISBN: 978080187228-0)
• Herr, Kathryn G. & Anderson, Gary L. (2005). The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. (ISBN: 9780761929918)
• VSU Graduate School Thesis & Dissertation Pages: http://www.valdosta.edu/gradschool/TDInformationPage.shtml; http://www.valdosta.edu/gradschool/HelpfulHints.shtml

Suggested Reading

• Rudestam, Kjell Erik, & Newton, Rae R. (2007). Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (ISBN: 9781412916790)

Valdosta State University complies fully with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you believe that you are covered under this act, and if you have need for special arrangements to allow you to meet the requirements of this course, please contact the personnel at the VSU Access Office for Students with Disabilities. Also, please discuss this with the instructor (via e-mail) at the time of the first class. You may contact the office at www.valdosta.edu/access/ or at 229-245-2498 (voice) or 229-219-1348 (tty).

Expected Outcomes: Participants will demonstrate skills associated with the program evaluation process by planning, implementing, and evaluating a project. Each person will develop both written and oral reports and deliver a summary presentation. Students completing this course will do the following tasks:

• Explain program evaluation and provide information about the basic process.
• Discuss the importance of program evaluation in relation to justification of programs and management decision making.
• Describe the options in terms of possible methods of evaluating a program under different circumstances.
• Present a proposal to a review group outlining the project and method of evaluation.
• Conduct a project that involves planning and implementing a simple change activity and evaluate the outcome.
• Summarize the project results and provide a written report and deliver an oral report to the class. This might be through video or other means of asynchronous delivery.

General Policies

Incomplete Policy: Students must file a request to be considered for an Incomplete Grade. See the Detailed Policy and Process on the VSU site at: http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/RequestforIncomplete.shtml. A grade of incomplete (grade I) will only be assigned in cases in which the student had a lengthy illness or an unexpected obligation such as extended military service or jury duty. The grade of I will not be assigned because the student is not satisfied with a low grade. It will only be assigned in cases in which the student could not complete a substantial part of the course work due to factors beyond the student's control.

Academic Honesty and/or Misconduct: Plagiarism is prohibited, and may result in a failing grade for the assignment or for the course, and in extreme cases suspension or dismissal from the program. All assignments must be the original work of the student. If any items are submitted that are not the original work of the student, a failing grade for the assignment and the course will be given.

Be sure to access and read all of the information linked from our class site and from these pages:

Academic Honesty at VSU

http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/AcademicHonestyatVSU.shtml

The importance of Academic Honesty in a University Community

http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/TheImportanceofAcademicHonestyinaUniversityCommunity.shtml

Academic Honesty Policies and Procedures at VSU

http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/AcademicHonestyPoliciesandProcedures.shtml

Note: The links above are provided on our class Web site to make it easier for students to review the important information on Academic Honesty.

SafeAssign

Use of SafeAssign: This class is covered under the University policies and procedures that include implementing SafeAssign, a plagiarism prevention software, as needed. Students will have the opportunity to submit their written work and have an originality report prepared by SafeAssign before turning in assignments. SafeAssign will match student papers against a number of databases and provide an originality report; this originality report will identify sections of a student's paper that match with other sources. These matches may be correctly cited quotes, summaries, and paraphrases, or they may be matches that are not correctly documented; the SafeAssign report will give students a chance to correct any errors before submitting the final paper.

By taking this course, you agree that all required course work may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to SafeAssign, a tool within BlazeVIEW.  For more information see SafeAssign for Students (http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/SafeAssignforStudents.shtml).

Submit a SafeAssignment

Follow these steps to submit to a SafeAssignment:

1. From a content area within a course, select the SafeAssignment and click View/Complete.
2. The Upload SafeAssignment page will appear.
3. Complete the page using the table below as a guide and click Submit.

Field	Description
Name	Displays the tile of the SafeAssignment.
Instructions	Displays the instructions for the SafeAssignment.
Comments	Enter any comments for the Instructor in this field.
File to Attach	Click Browse to locate a file to upload as a SafeAssignment.
Global Reference Database	You have the option to volunteer your paper to the Global Database that will allow other papers from other institutions to be checked against yours to protect the originality of your work across institutions.

Course Requirements

Research Paper: The primary task or assignment for this course is a research paper that will report the outcome of the program evaluation project. The project can be a simple change activity and will include evaluation of the outcome.

Project Proposal & Presentation: A research proposal will be submitted outlining the project and the planned methods and activities. Each student will also do a presentation to the group outlining the methods and expected outcomes.

Discussions: A key component of this course will be frequent discussions of the projects. Each student will provide a summary of the status of the project and open the floor for discussion and feedback. These discussions may take on a variety of different formats including threaded discussions, participating in live Wimba sessions, or viewing archived Wimba sessions and providing written feedback to fellow students. Students will discuss the research projects and share comments. It is very possible that the suggestions from others will help solve problems or come up with alternative approaches to a challenge.

Project Results Presentation: Presentation of the project results will give each person a chance to go over the justification for the project, review the process and methods, give an overview of the outcome, and receive input from classmates. At the end of your research you should describe what the next steps might be in relation to the policy issue. You might also suggest things you would do differently if you had to do this project again or if you did a similar project. Each student will do the project presentation to the class using a PowerPoint.

Project Submission

All project files and assignments will be submitted as attachments to E-mail and formatted as outlined below unless another format is negotiated with the instructor. These files will follow the formatting and file naming conventions listed and explained below:

• Text documents will be formatted as either Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat *(PDF) documents.
• Data files (if needed) will be Excel files (for spreadsheet data) or Access files (if database information is required).
• Presentations will be PowerPoint files unless specific arrangements are made with the instructor.
• Project File Names: for the proposal, use "proposal.doc" as the project name; for the research paper reporting on the project, use "report.doc" for the file name.
• Ownership of files: to indicate your ownership of submissions, use your first and last names with an underscore *(_) between the parts. For example: gerald_merwin_proposal.doc and gerald_merwin_report.doc
• Questions: Please ask questions if any part of this information is unclear.

Evaluation & Grading Policies

	Projects/Assignments	Values
1	Participation in Discussions	30
2	Project Proposal & Presentation	20
3	Research Paper	30
4	Presentation of Project Results	10
5	Overall Concept and Planning of Project	10
		100

Schedule & Topics

Unit 1 Course Introduction and Introduction to Program Evaluation Unit 2 Which Evaluation Method is Right for Your Program? Unit 3 Getting Started with Program Evaluation Unit 4 Does the Organization Need a Program? Unit 5 Putting Program Evaluation to Work Unit 6 Evaluation During Program Implementation Unit 7 Data Collection for Program Evaluation Unit 8 Evaluation of the Program after Completion Unit 9 Other Program Evaluation Methods Unit 10 Dealing with Results Unit 11 Efficiency as a Variable Unit 12 External Factors in Program Evaluation Unit 13 Review & Evaluation of Projects Unit 14 Project Presentations Unit 15 Course Wrap-Up