Minnesota State University

Urban Management Process - URSI 601

Spring 2004

This syllabus is subject to change without notice. Contact the professor for most recent changes.

Instructor:                  Dr. J.E. Cherrington-Cucore (Dr. “J”)               Morris Hall 106

Office Phone:             (507)389-5031    Fax: -6377 (mark to Attn: Dr. Cherrington-URSI)

email: janet.cherrington@mnsu.edu     web address*: www.intech.mnsu.edu/cherrington

office hours:               see  my web site under “Office Hours”

Texts:   (required)     

Banovetz, James M., Drew A. Dolan, John W. Swain (editors).
Managing Small Cities and Counties (Washington DC:ICMA, 1994)  ISBN 0-87326-093-7

Hall, Jay, Jerry B. Harvey, Martha S. Williams, Styles of Management Inventory (Woodlands, TX: Teleometrics, 2000)

Berman, West, Bonczek(eds.) Ethics Edge (Washington DC:ICMA, 1998) ISBN 0-87326-161-5)

Copy Shop: (required)  Class packet for URSI 601 (available at Morris Hall copy shop).

Course Purpose:  The purpose of this course is to provide a broad survey of local government operations useful to public sector administrators and department heads.   Aspects of local

government addressed will be:  MN local government organization, legal authority and policy-making; council-staff relations; personnel and budgeting management.  Overall this course will provide you with an overview of local government management practices, processes, and issues.  Additionally, it will assist you in analyzing your management style currently—or your tendencies as a future manager—under a variety of conditions.

Students with Disabilities:

Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities.  If you are a student with a documented disability, please see me as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations and/or contact the Disability Services Office at (507) 389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY)

Learning Outcomes:  Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

·        understand the broader local government perspectives of budgeting and finance, personnel and labor relations, communication, citizen participation and intergovernmental relations.

 

·        articulate approaches to building better communities-- specifically, planning (land use, long-range, strategic) and economic development and--more generally, public works, leisure and human services.

 

·        articulate the legal structure of community government and the sources and limits of its authority and specific legislative forms, e.g., ordinances/resolutions and contracts/franchise agreements.

 

·        identify the roles of the city manager, administrator, clerk, and other department heads.

 

·        understand management-behavior styles and where you fit in these as a manager.

 

·        articulate different ways that communities can deliver public safety services while fulfilling the overall responsibility of protecting the public.

 

·        relate how ethics shape and define the nature of public professions, state-of-the art ethics management practices and emerging ethical issues.

 

·        identify and define the challenges of community government today, in the future, and the professionalism of community leadership.