Year Two
Year One
Year Two
- 700.302 Theories of Personality
- 700.470 Community Development
- 700.341 Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
- 700.310 Management of Information Systems
- 700.502 Developmental Psychology
- 700.301 The Economics of Social Issues
- 700.530 Special Topics in Leadership
- 700.505 The Constitution, Society, and Leadership
- 700.312 Management: Power and Influence
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700.302 Theories of Personality
Knowing how people mature, draw conclusions, and motivate themselves can be invaluable to leaders. In recent years, contemporary personality psychology has advanced the practical tools available to assist in managing groups, solving problems, and achieving goals. Students interpret individual and group action in certain situations by focusing on four conceptual frameworks: (1) motivation (goals, intentions, defense mechanisms); (2) cognition (self-concept, beliefs, values, attitudes, opinions); (3) traits and temperament (biological predispositions, introversion, extraversion, energy level, character); and (4) social context (culture, class, gender, ethnicity). Case studies and examples from students’ organizations are used throughout the course.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.470 Community Development
Residents in urban, suburban, and rural areas are assuming greater control over the destiny of their neighborhood. The nature of suburbia is changing. The boundaries between jurisdictions in metropolitan regions are disappearing. Amid these changes, the core mission of American public safety remains the same - to serve people and, ultimately, sustain the viability of neighborhoods and communities. Through discussion, guest speakers, and exposure to a variety of neighborhood situations, students view community development as a discipline. They analyze the physical, social, and human capital in neighborhoods and how they influence progress, stability, and deterioration. Students draw on concepts such as planning, capacity building, mobilization, advocacy, and financial leveraging to solve neighborhood and community concerns. They focus on the role and responsibility of leaders to guide their organizations and units to affect positive change in neighborhoods.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.341 Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Effective problem solving requires more than off-the-shelf approaches and “how to” processes. People look to their leaders to think and act creatively when faced with complex problems and critical issues. Creative thinking – like analytical, strategic, and other types of thought – can be learned and nurtured. Through discussion, class projects, and exercises, students identify and overcome obstacles to creative thinking, cultivate their own creative thought process, and learn how to encourage creative thinking in others.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.310 Management of Information Systems
Information systems have changed the way government, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses conduct their activities. Through case studies, lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities, students explore the rapidly changing world of information systems. Focus will be on systems, networking, value and cost, the Internet, information security, the law, and the future. This course is conducted in a computer lab.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.502 Developmental Psychology
Knowing how people develop, from conception to death, aids in understanding how they respond to those around them, their environment, and other significant influences. Students consider the “life span” approach to the study of human development as they delve into milestones of maturation in childhood, adolescence, midlife, and old age; gender and psychosexual issues; and the impact of human trauma, loss, and victimization. Popular media, long-held beliefs, major theories, and scientific research play a role in student discussion and debate on the importance of role models, relationships, morals, goals, culture, and psychological hardiness.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.301 The Economics of Social Issues
Local, national, and international economic factors have always influenced the course of business, government, and the nonprofit community. Understanding these factors can aid leaders in forecasting, budgeting, innovating, and managing more effectively. Students critique economic articles and case studies, conduct cost and benefit analyses, and relate concepts such as market analysis, scarcity, supply and demand, and fiscal fluctuation to their daily functions and organization. Through readings, class discussion, and exercises, students explore international monetary and market systems and their effect on goods, trade, employment, and community development.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.530 Special Topics in Leadership
With little or no notice, major and minor events can change the course of action for a leader. Whether the tragedy of September 11, an unanticipated work slowdown, a heinous crime, or a reduction in an overtime budget, leaders must respond with rapid, logical, sound solutions. Some events, such as the protests and riots of the late 1960s, the application of digital and microwave technology, and dramatic increases in federal funding, can change a profession – as occurred with American public safety. Others have short-term affects, if managed well. Students probe a myriad of events that shaped and continue to shape the nation’s communities. Through readings, discussion, and group activities, they scrutinize how leaders reacted to significant events and issues. Students respond to current events that emerge during the tenure of the course. This course includes a field experience.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.505 The Constitution, Society, and Leadership
Organizations and communities expect their leaders to act justly and develop, promote, and follow the rules by which all the members are expected to operate. In the United States, the most important and influential model for setting forth such parameters is the Constitution, the nation’s supreme law. How it is interpreted and applied influences issues such as privacy, intrusion, hiring, whistle blowing, trade, education, and environmental safety. Students embrace the Constitution, as written and intended, and use this knowledge to dissect its many judicial, legislative, and political interpretations. Students consider morality, philosophy, national crises, and more, as they discuss and debate how the Constitution has been used to better society and as a tool to foster self-serving interests.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
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700.312 Management: Power and Influence
Power and influence are important means to accomplishing a defined end, whether it is a product or service. When power and influence are applied properly, positive outcomes result. When they are abused, organizations and people are confined and success is restrained. Students scrutinize various sources of power and the social, economic, and cultural conditions that create them. They call upon their own experiences to discuss individual, group, and organizational power. Students investigate historic events in which people of great power quickly became powerless and those of modest influence grew to become world leaders. Through readings, class discussion, and group projects, they probe their own “sphere of influence” and how it may be tapped to achieve desired goals.
Notes: This course is only available to students enrolled in Division of Public Safety Leadership programs. (3 credits)
