HD/WSt 320-01, Resource Management & Problem Solving

Fall 2009

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Instructor Information:

Teresa Ashford
McClaskey Building, Room 227
Phone: 360-546-9718
Fax: 360-546-9076
Office Hours: M, W, 12:00-1:00 p.m., or by appointment
Email: ashford@vancouver.wsu.edu
Home page: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/adjunct/ashford/ashford.html

Course Information:

Schedule:

Monday, Wednesday , 2:50 - 4:05 p..m.

Location:

Undergraduate Classroom Building , Room 125

Description:

This is a three-credit upper-division course focusing on understanding how families manage their financial, material, human, and environmental resources. The course is intended to help students gain new perspectives on how individuals and families make decisions about what they like, need, want, and how they might go about getting what they want and need. Theory about decision making in a family context will be used to help students when they work with families (and individuals) in social service and employment settings.

Course Objectives:

Students participating in this course will:

  • Identify different approaches/theories of management.
  • Assess the range of resources available to individuals and families.
  • Identify and analyze different types of problems and a variety of approaches to problem solving.
  • Identify and analyze personal and professional management problems, decisions, and actions, and offer potential methods of problem solving.

Prerequisites and Other Notes:

Six hours of social science.

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Required Texts and Other Materials:

Required Text:

Moore, T. J., & Assay, S. M. (2008) Family resource management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Important Web Links:

APA (American Psychological Association) is most frequently used to cite sources within the social sciences. Important web links are as follows:

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Classroom Requirements:

Disability Accommodation:

Accommodations may be available if you need them in order to fully participate in this class because of a disability. Accommodations may take some time to implement so it is critical that you contact Disability Services as soon as possible.  All accommodations must be approved through Disability Services, located in the Student Resource Center on the Lower Level of Student Services Center (360) 546-9138.

Inclement Weather:

When students have questions about classes being held during inclement weather, please contact the faculty support for the department.  Faculty support will have information regarding class closures and will post that information on their voice mail messages.  For Human Development, use the faculty support telephone number listed:  Lynda Dezellem, 360/546-9721.  In case of class cancellation campus-wide, please check local media, the WSU Vancouver web page and/or http://www.flashalert.net/.  Individual class cancellations may be made at the discretion of the instructor.  Each individual is expected to make the best decision for her or his personal circumstances, taking safety into account.

Student Conduct and Academic Dishonesty:

Per the WSU Vancouver Student Handbook, students are, "Expected to show due respect for ... the rights of others". Students should be familiar with the Washington State University standards of conduct. The following web site for the WSU Vancouver Student Handbook provides information on student conduct and the academic integrity process: www.vancouver.wsu.edu/ss/handbook/conduct.html.

Academic Integrity:

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of the university and will be strongly enforced in this course.  Any student found in violation of the academic integrity policy will be given an “F” for the assignment and/or the course (based on instructor’s discretion) and will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.  For additional information about WSU’s Academic Integrity policy/procedures please contact (360) 546-9573.

Important Dates and Deadlines:

Students are encouraged to refer to the academic calendar often to be aware of critical deadlines throughout the semester.  The academic calendar can be found at www.registrar.wsu.edu/Registrar/Apps/AcadCal.ASPX.  Questions regarding the academic calendar can be directed to the Office of Student Affairs in VSSC 100 or call 360-546-9559.

Electronic Mail:

All students are required to be on e-mail to further communication between students and the instructor and to communicate through Angel.  As of May 2009, all students are required to use a WSU Vancouver email address. Email will no longer be sent to non-WSU email accounts, nor will it be forwarded.  You can sign up for your WSU Vancouver email account by going to my.wsu.edu. If you have any questions during this process please contact the helpdesk in Pullman at email.wsu.edu or by phone at 509-335-4357.

Emergency Notification System:

WSU has made an emergency notification system available for faculty, students and staff. Please register at myWSU with emergency contact information (cell, email, text, etc). You may have been prompted to complete emergency contact information when registering for classes on RONet. In the event of a Building Evacuation, a map at each classroom entrance shows the evacuation point for each building. Please refer to it. Finally, in case of class cancellation campus-wide, please check local media, the WSU Vancouver web page and/or http://www.flashalert.net/. Individual class cancellations may be made at the discretion of the instructor. Each individual is expected to make the best decision for her or his personal circumstances, taking safety into account.  Safety plan web site - http://safetyplan.vancouver.wsu.edu/.

Procedure for Submitting and Retrieving Papers and Assignments:

The Human Development Department maintains a student drop box for students submitting assignments to Human Development faculty. Students use the student drop box on the second floor of the McClaskey Building. Directions are located on the top of the box. The box is checked several times daily and the contents distributed according to the faculty name you have placed on the envelope. DO NOT submit assignments by putting them in the file cabinet. The file cabinet is used only for returning graded assignments to students and for students to pick up copies of non-graded class materials such as class notes, etc. All graded material will be returned in an envelope with each student’s name and the course number on the outside and placed in alphabetical files by LAST name. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT A COPY OF ALL ASSIGNMENTS TURNED IN BE SAVED ELECTRONICALLY AND THAT YOU ALSO KEEP A PAPER (HARD) COPY. All student papers will be maintained in the HD file cabinet for six weeks following the posting of grades at the end of each semester. At the end of six weeks, all papers, tests, etc. will be shredded.

Late Assignments:

All assignments will be considered LATE (a loss of 10% of the overall earned score per day late) if they are not received by the START OF CLASS on the date specified on the syllabus. All assignments may be faxed; please put the instructor’s name on your fax cover page.

A Note About Plagiarism and Cheating (Adapted from University of Iowa) :

Plagiarism and Cheating are serious offenses that may be penalized severely. You are plagiarizing or cheating if you:
- present someone else's words or ideas as your own, in writing or in speaking
- present ideas without citing the source
- paraphrase without crediting the source
- use direct quotes with no quotation marks
- use direct quotes without footnotes or other textual citation of the source
- present work in a group project that is not your own or the work of the group
- submit the same paper for credit in more than one course without discussing this option with the instructors involved
- submit material written by someone else as your own (this includes purchasing a term or research paper)
- submit a paper or assignment for which you have received so much help that it is no longer your own work
- do not do an equal part of the work on a group project
- copy someone else's exam or graded homework
- purposefully allow another student to copy your work or submit work you have written as his/her own

Missing Exams:

Students who are (or plan on being) absent when an exam is given will only be permitted to make up the exam if contact is made IN ADVANCE of the absence. It is then expected that we will work together to make a plan regarding the timely completion of said exam. I am MUCH more likely to be flexible and understanding when advance notice is given outside of class, via an office visit, a phone call, or email.

Student Responsibilities:

  • Record and keep all of your completed assignments in the event of a grade discrepancy.
  • Review and abide by the classroom conduct information sheet.
  • Be prepared to turn in all assignments at the beginning of class.
  • Check Angel Learning frequently (at least TWICE a week at minimum) for course
    updates/changes.
  • Ask plenty of questions!

Extra Credit:

It is not to be assumed that extra credit will be offered within this course. We will see how the semester plays out, and I will make a decision based upon group performance and overall need. Don't hold your breath.

Grade Appeals:

All grade appeals must be submitted to the instructor by e-mail within five working days after the return of the assignment.  The appeal should describe in detail what your concerns are, state how many points you feel should be added to the grade, and provide justification for the grade change.  Appeals will be evaluated as much on the justification in the appeal as on the original assignment.  Grades will not be changed based on verbal appeals.  Final course grades must be appealed within 5 working days after receipt of the grade.

Other Class Policies:

  • If an assignment is emailed to the instructor, it is the student’s responsibility to confirm receipt. If the student does not receive a “confirmation email” from the instructor, the student is to assume the instructor did not receive said assignment.
  • If severe, inclement weather and/or school cancellation occurs during the week of final examinations (as occurred Fall semester 2008), the instructor reserves the right to take the average of the first three exam scores to represent the student’s final exam score.
  • I am always available to answer students’ questions, however, it is my policy to not answer any questions the day of an assignment or exam due date. This means that you should start planning ahead for completing these assignments/exams so that you can ensure you have enough time to ask questions as needed.

Required Assignments:

Exams

Four exams will be given in class; three midterms and one final exam. Exams will be worth 50 points each. Exams will be comprised of multiple-choice, true/false, matching, and short responses. A study guide will be provided generally one week in advance of the exam.

In-class Assignments

There will be 75 points of in-class work that will NOT be announced. These may include small group exercises, pop quizzes, in-class writing, and/or short essays. You will be given time to complete these assignments in class. In-class assignments MAY NOT be made up, however, your lowest earned in-class assignment score will be dropped at the end of the semester and replaced with a perfect score.

Take-home Assignments

There will be four take-home assignments worth 25 points each offered during the course of the semester. Students have the option of picking which THREE take-home assignments they would like to complete. The three assignments will account for 75 points worth of take-home work within the context of this course. These exercises will be announced in advance in class (and also through Angel). After the assignment is announced, you will have at least one week for completion and submission.

Media Analysis

The purpose of this assignment is to make students more aware of how the media (more specifically, advertising) influences individual and family resource management.  This assignment is worth 100 points total. More information will be forthcoming as the semester progresses.

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Grading:

Requirement Summary :

Assignment Points Total Points Grade Percentage
Exams
4 @ 50
200
44%
Media Analysis
1 @ 100
100
22%
Take-home Assignments
3@ 25
75
17%
In-class Assignments
Total of 75
75
17%

Grading Scale:

The standard Human Development grading scale:

Grade Percent
A 100-94
A- 93-90
B+ 89-87
B 86-83
B- 82-80
C+ 79-77
C 76-73
C- 72-70
D+ 69-67
D 66-60
F 59 or below

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Schedule:

Tentative Course Outline

Week Date Readings/Assignments
1 Aug 24 Introduction
  Aug 26 The Complexity of Managing Family Resources
Chapter 1
2 Aug 31

Understanding Families
Chapter 2

  Sept 2 The Management Process
Chapter 3
3 Sept 7 NO CLASS - University Holiday
  Sept 9 The Management Process, continued
4 Sept 14 NO CLASS MEETING
  Sept 16 Categorization of Needs
Chapter 4
5 Sept 21 Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors
Chapter 5
  Sept 23 Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors, continued
6 Sept 28 EXAM #1
  Sept 30 Identification of Family Resources
Chapter 6
7 Oct 5 Identification of Family Resources, continued
  Oct 7 Families Within the Economic Environment
Chapter 7
8 Oct 12 The Impact of Society on Family Decisions
Chapter 8
  Oct 14 The Impact of Society on Family Decisions, continued
9 Oct 19 EXAM #2
  Oct 21 Managing the Future
Chapter 9
10 Oct 26 Managing the Future, continued
  Oct 28 Communication Within the Decision-making Process
Chapter 10
11 Nov 2 Communication Within the Decision-making Process, continued
  Nov 4 The Individual Within Family Decision Making
Chapter 11
12 Nov 9 The Individual Within Family Decision Making, continued
  Nov 11 NO CLASS - University Holiday
13 Nov 16 EXAM #3
  Nov 18 Making it Happen
Chapter 12
  Nov 23-27 NO SCHOOL ALL WEEK
14 Nov 30 Defining Success
Chapter 13
Media Analysis Due
  Dec 2 Defining Success, continued
15 Dec 7 Current and Future Challenges
Chapter 14
  Dec 9 Current and Future Challenges, continued
  Finals Week
Dec 14-18 		Final Exam Date: TBA

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Useful Links:

You may find some useful information at web sites listed on the department resources page.