Syllabus for Sociology 328: Agencies

A Jeanne Site
Syllabus for Agencies, Administrative Law, and Public Discourse

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: July 29, 1999
Faculty on the Site.

This page is under construction for Fall 1999. June 30, 1999.
Sociology 328-01
Time: T-Th !:00 - 2:15 p.m.
Room: SBS G 122
Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq.
Course requires computer literacy.

Goals: This course was originally designed as part of the paralegal studies program to cover administrative law. We no longer have that program. However, many jobs are still available to those who understand agency operation and administration, and there is no legal certification for paralegals, so that competent knowledge of the subject matter might still find you a job if you're interested in the opportunities that agencies provide for providing essential communication between clients and those who would govern them.
Because many of you are interested in the "helping" aspects of jobs that agencies afford, I have altered somewhat the composition of the course since last I taught it. The approach through administrative law is good, for it helps you to see the position and the power of administrative agencies throughout the infrastructure. But there will be an additional emphasis on "capture" of the agency for the private agenda of a special interest group or professional bureaucracy. And, finally, we will add a field component of what practice with an agency is "really" like.
Required text:

Schuck, Peter H. Foundations of Administrative Law. Oxford University Press, 1994. This is NOT a law book. It is a reader, by some of the best known writers in the field on topics that influence the administration of agencies and their role in our infrastructure. It is not easy to read. BUT, since I have put lecture notes for each reading on the site, if you will read them and the discussion questions first, you will find that you can read through the text much faster and not stumble over obscure writing. This is an impressive book, if you will think about it enough to be able to discuss it. The last time I taught this course a lawyer asked one of my students, who was appearing in court, if she could read the book. She answered, "Well, yes, it's my text. We talk about it in class." "Good," said the lawyer, "You're going to meet with the judge next week. Bring that book."

Recommended text:

Dowdall, Babbie and Halley, Adventures in Criminal Justice Research. Pine Forge Press, 1997. Latest edition.
This is a practical guide to the use of SPSS, which I strongly recommend for those of you who want the security for yourselves of being able to understand research jargon and simple statistical analysis.

Requirements and Grading:

Mastery of Computer for Accessing Resources and Submitting Required Work
You must exhibit computer literacy to the extent that you can

Send e-mail, individually or in groups.
Receive and respond to e-mail from an address that you or someone else will regularly check for you.
Access information from the Dear Habermas site, which includes

Access the site on the monitor.
Use the navigation table, the What's New button, and the mirror sites.
Access multiple sites and multiple programs, so you can take notes in a word processing program while reading a web document, switching back and forth by using the program buttons on the taskbar.
Access an URL on the Internet.
Cut, copy, and paste in order to copy any portion of a document to another document, without rekeying it.

You may always work in cooperative groups. That means that, if you do the substantive work, but choose not to actively use the computer, that is acceptable. However, in order to receive better than a C grade you must be able to substantiate that you can minimally navigate the site and send and pick up e-mail.You may use any computer for that, Mac or PC, at home, at work, at school. Such minimal literacy is today essential for a university degree.

Mastery of Basic Concepts
There are lecture notes and a set of questions for each reading in the course. You must submit fifteen (15) sets, your choice, distributed evenly over the entire set of lecture notes.. Your answers should be short. Try for 25 words or less. Since these questions are answered from at least one perspective in the lecture notes, you will be expected to check your answer for accuracy against those notes. These are required exercises. I will record that you have submitted them. But I will not grade them. Completion of the required set of fifteen exercises will earn a grade of C in the course.
About quoting from the lecture notes.
It would be better to put the answers in your own words. This is easiest to do if you read the lecture notes first, then discuss the questions in class and with your collaborative group, then answer on your own. Trust me, you will not recall my exact words if you do that.
If you have had bad experiences with testing, you may feel uncomfortable trying to describe the concept in your own words. If that is so. Say so. Then quote what you need to. BUT use quotation marks. Don't forget that the lecture notes are in my words, and you must not use them without acknowledging that.
Use the collaborative group to help you get away from quoting. Make it a learning goal to cut down your dependence on quoting. Make it a learning goal to help someone else practice putting explanations in their own words.
Basic Measure of Learning
This must include some way to substantiate that you have attained the computer literacy required. This could be a detailed statement that lets me recognize that you have in fact mastered the techniques involved. Or it could be a demonstration. Or some other measure you discover.
It must also include some learning goals that you set for yourself. There are examples in Forms to Guide Us and in How to Measure Learning. Share measurement ideas with your collaborative group.
Have too tight a schedule for a group? Communicate by e-mail.
Since the completion of the basic concepts requirement will give you a C, this component goes toward raising that grade to a B or an A. How much do you have to do? Well, how good would a term paper have to be? That's where creativity and genuine effort come into play. And this component gives you a chance to tell me what you've learned, what you've accomplished, so you're that authenticating your learning becomes interactive. You have something to say about it.
Field Component and Optional Process Text
For those of you who would like to take a practical approach to the opportunities that agencies offer, this last component will allow you to define a field work experience that will let you develop some familiarity with an agency or agencies of your choice. This component is not intended to replace the other components. But it can suffice to raise your grade to a B or an A.
Another option is the process text, the kind of publication we do on Dear Habermas. If there is a sub-topic you would like to pursue, you could locate sources on the Web and in the library, and annotate those sources with brief descriptions, so that others might benefit from your in-depth study. This also could suffice to raise your grade to a B or an A.
Principles of Cooperative Learning

Office:
SBS B326
310-243-3831
Office Hours: I teach from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. each M-Th. And I start at 11:30 a.m. We'll set office hours somewhere in there that works for all of us.