At the completion of the course, students will:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of how the human resource function fits as part of the strategic management process within a health services organization.
2. Discuss various processes, including legal and regulatory, used to maintain a positive employer-employee relationship in health care organizations.
3. Develop strategies to recruit, screen, hire staff, and retain employees in the health care environment
4. Understand and apply the principles and practices for managing employee performance.
5. Develop, implement and evaluate strategies to support the professional growth of employees in health care settings.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of labor relations and the laws and practices that are relevant to health services.
Note: an assignment schedule and the available points for each assignment is provided later in the syllabus.
Class discussion
Discussions are opened as the semester progresses. These discussions are focused on application of the course content through discussion questions, problems, and/or brief case studies (Case studies that will be included in the discussions are identified in the Schedule section of this syllabus), as well as the exploration of current events relevant to the course. Students also are encouraged to initiate topics. Students are encouraged to post both comments and questions and treat the discussion as a discussion that might occur in a classroom. For example, you might add something from work that is relevant to the course, or comment on a current event like a change in Medicare policy a current public health issue. All students are expected to contribute to this discussion at least once per week for all but the last three weeks of the semester, but this is a minimum requirement to ensure you do not receive zero points. The total points are assigned at the end of the semester.
Homework assignments
Students are assigned four homework sets of problems, questions and/or case studies to be completed individually on the dates noted in the schedule. Problems, questions or cases from course materials and outside sources are assigned and posted on WebCT. Assignments must be completed on the posted due date unless otherwise noted. Discussion questions are cumulative and may require information assigned previously. Part of your grade is determined by how well you integrate course content into the assignments.
You are expected to complete all homework assignments on your own. You are on the honor system; however, students who are found to be working together may lose some or all of the points for the assignment. Please note that a score of zero on a single assignment may be sufficient to result in a C or lower grade for the course. A grade of C or D in the course will require the student to retake the course. Any student who receives a C and/or D in two or more courses, or a grade of F in one course is removed from the MHA program.
Research Paper.
Students will be expected to prepare a 10-15-page research paper on a subject relevant to the class. This paper must be distinct from your file paper unless approved by the instructor. A minimum of 10 peer-reviewed research articles must be cited using the APA style (See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ for good information on APA style and a lot of other valuable suggestions on how to write). Use of the research databases available through the MSU Library is encouraged and an easy way to find good research articles. In general, you cannot find the types of articles that meet the course requirements without using the library databases.
Final Exam.
A=90-100 %
B=80-89 %
C=70-79 %
F=69% or less