EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND SERVICES
HRM
515.341 CRN 60230
SUMMER
2010
a unit of
Dr. Barbara Lyon, SPHR
I. COURSE OVERVIEW
Employee Benefits and Services
(EBS) examines the legal, social, and technical issues surrounding current
trends in employee benefit programs. Group health, disability and life
insurance, retirement planning, time-off (leave), wellness programs and other
benefits and services will be addressed. Emphasis is placed on program
administration implementation and evaluation.
II. COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of the Employee
Benefits and Services course, each student will be able to demonstrate the
following knowledge and skills competencies:
A. Strategic Human Resource Management: Knowledge of
strategic management concepts (strategy development, macro/micro-economics, HRM
law, leadership, ethics, legal, social and organizational considerations, etc.) related to designing and implementing
effective and efficient employee benefits and services programs.
· Skill in communicating theoretical concepts and current operational issues related to compensation management, including economic, legal, social and organizational considerations.
· Skill in conducting literature reviews related to specific topics.
B.
Indirect
Compensation: Knowledge of total employee
benefits and service concepts related to designing and implementing effective
compensation and benefit practices.
·
Skill
in using the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and other
governmental Web sites.
·
Skill
in utilizing non-governmental organization Web sites
·
Skill
in analyzing benefits information.
III. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSrecommended only;
not required.
This course
will rely extensively on Internet resources.
Martocchio, J. J. (2006). Employee
benefits: A primer for human resource professionals (2nd
ed.).
IV. COURSE REQUIREMENTS and STRUCTURE
A. Individual Participation: Remember that class participation is
difficult, at best, without class attendance, so make every effort to attend
each class session. Although attendance
is highly encouraged, we recognize that not all students are able to attend
each class session. In such cases, where extended absence is required, contact
the professor or program secretary with information as soon as possible. It is not necessary, however, to call
when you are going to be late or absent, unless your absence will be for more
than one class period. It is the
responsibility of each student to submit assignments and become aware of other
activities missed during absences. To
ensure students have opportunities to discuss issues and complete in-class
assignments, however, regular participation is expected.
Note #1: In accordance with
university policy, each faculty member has the responsibility and authority to
determine whether make-up work can be done because of absences. Although Dr. Lyon will generally accept
make-up assignments up to one week late during the first two weeks only, no
individual additional extra credit activities will be granted.
Note #2: It is the policy of
Note #3: In rare, emergency
cases, students may qualify for an incomplete grade, which is recorded as a K
on the grade report and transcript.
Requests for incomplete grades must be made according to university
policy and approved by the instructor prior to the final week of classes. All requirements must be completed by the end
of the next long semester or the K automatically changed to an F.
Note #4: If you discover that
you need to drop this class, you must go to the Records Office and ask for the
necessary paperwork. Professors cannot drop students; this is always
the responsibility of the student. The records office will provide a deadline
for which the form must be returned, completed and signed. Once you return the
signed form to the records office and wait 24 hours, you must go into Duck Trax
and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. If you are still enrolled,
FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately. You are to attend class until
the procedure is complete to avoid penalty for absence. Should you miss the
deadline or fail to follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course.
Note #5: Students who began at
Tarleton as of September 1, 1998, may only drop six classes during their entire
undergraduate program. The last day to
drop a course with no record this semester is published in the Tarleton State University Catalog on the
Academic Calendar page(s).
B. Assignments: This class is supported by Internet (Web)
requirements; students must have access
to the Internet to complete course requirements. Various Web-based and in-class
assignments will be given throughout the semester, in accordance with this
syllabus and as presented in class. Students are expected to become familiar
with reading materials, Web information, and other assignments prior to
scheduled discussion periods. (See
section VI for details.)
C. Written Work: Unless otherwise
indicated, all outside written work must be typed double-spaced on white 8-1/2
x 11 paper, using black ink. Students are required to use the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (APA), (5th ed. Or 6th) as
the primary reference as they prepare their formal work for submission. Most
written work will be submitted for grading with a cover sheet (including title
of work, student name, university, course and section number, professor, date,
etc.) and stapled at the upper left-hand corner. Items submitted are expected to be of
graduate quality, language and depth and in APA
format. Points will be deducted for
poor grammar, spelling and appearance.
NOTE #1:
All 5-point assignments are exempt from the cover page requirement.
NOTE #2:
No plastic folders will be used, except in such cases as specifically
necessary to support course objectives.
NOTE #3:
Items containing more than three errors may be returned for correction
and resubmission. The highest grade that
will be assigned to a resubmission is a C.
D.
Research Activity/Annotated Bibliography:
Students, working individually or in teams of two, will deliver a timed, oral
presentation on an appropriate topic. Topics will be approved by the professor
and students will be assigned specific dates, according to the Course
Outline (see last page).
Presentations will be conducted in a professional manner (including
appropriate dress) and will range in time from 12 to 15 minutes. Each
student must speak during a major portion (e.g. not fewer than four minutes) of
the presentation. Further, use of visual
aids is encouraged. Students who require
use of projection equipment must have their software virus checked in room
D-100 prior to their presentation.
To support the class presentation, students are
encouraged to coordinate a guest speaker, Web demonstration, film presentation
or other (equivalent) support activity for the topic assigned. The support
speaker/activity must cover directly-related material and be approved by the
professor in advance. Depending on the nature of the activity, 10 to 30
minute will be made available for this purpose.
The briefing will be
scored by all students in attendance for the presentation and the professor;
one-half of the grade will be determined by the average score generated by the
student assessments and half will be determined by professor. Students will
receive up to 10 assignment points for rating their peers.
On the day scheduled in section VI of this
syllabus, each team (or individual student) will submit an annotated
bibliography with a minimum of 15 books, magazines and/or journal references on
their topic. At least ten of the sources are to be no more than two years old.
In addition to writing style, intellectual rigor will be assessed by the
variety, depth and professional nature of the sources cited (i.e., professional
magazines and journals will score higher than general interest sources and
unsupported Internet items). A one-page
summary/abstract will also be included.
NOTE #1: A
minimum of 15 appropriate references will support a grade of "C" or
less; a minimum of 20 references is required for a "B" and at least
25 references are required for an "A." Not more than 50% of the sources counted for
grading will be from the Internet. (This
does not include items from electronic databases and full-text
articles.)
·
To improve
intellectual rigor, students are encouraged to use a variety of sources,
including journals, magazines, books, etc. for this assignment. (Check with Dr. Lyon or the university
library director if you need further clarification on this issue.)
·
Emphasis must be
placed on current topics that directly affect the human resource management
employee benefits and services arena, so several of the references used should
be dated within the last 18 months. (At
least 10 of the sources are to be no more than two years old.)
·
At least one
identified reference must provide the legal and/or theoretical
framework to support key points made in the body of the research and
presentation.
·
The course text,
if appropriately cited, will be counted in the number of references for
credit.
·
Not more than two MS, HRM program textbooks
will be counted in the total number of references for credit.
NOTE
#2: In addition to usual requirements
for academic grammar and format, including use of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (5th or 6th ed.),
students will use appropriate terminology and syntax to produce work rivaling
professional quality.
·
Students
are encouraged to arrange appointments to review clean draft copies with Dr.
Lyon; appointments for this activity will be accepted only through week four
of this eight-week course.)
·
Dr.
Lyon will grade each annotated bibliography as a required assignment. Graded annotated bibliography assignments
will be returned to students before the end of the semester.
E. Comprehensive Exam: There will be one, comprehensive, exam during
the semester. The exam may be comprised of various cognitive/objective, short
answer and case study items. The exam
will reflect the independent work of students.
(Teamwork will not be
permitted on the final exam.)
F. Library
Services: Information literacy focuses on research skills
that prepare individuals to live and work in an information-centered
society. Librarians will work with
students in the development of critical reasoning, ethical use of information,
and the appropriate use of secondary research techniques including: exploring
information resources such as library collections and services, identifying
sources, such as subject databases and scholarly journals, executing effective
search strategies, retrieving, recording, and citing relevant results
correctly, and interpreting search results and deciding whether to expand the
search. Library Resources are outlined and accessed through the web page: http://www.tarleton.edu/centraltexas/departments/library/
G. Grade Computation: Students earn their final course grades by
effectively completing scheduled assignments; no individual extra credit
assignments are given. To satisfactorily pass this course, students must
complete each of the primary items listed below; failure to submit appropriate
documents for grading in each category may result in a failing
grade. Final grades will be calculated
as follows:
Exam
..
..[116 pts] ...
.45% A
= 100.0% 90.0%
Assignments
.[90 pts]
...35% B
= 89.0% 80.0%
Annotated
Bibliography..[38
pts]
..15% C
= 79.0% - 70.0%
Presentation
.[12
pts]
...... 5% F = below 70%
[256 pts] 100%
H. Requests for Incomplete Grades: Except in emergency or other extreme
circumstances, any request for incomplete grade in this course must be approved
by the professor prior to the last week of classes. Where possible, requests should be submitted
in written form and must include an address and/or telephone number where the
student may be contacted throughout the following semester.
I. Academic
Integrity: All students are expected to maintain the highest standards of
academic integrity in the preparation of all work and in examinations. Always
give credit when credit is due: plagiarism, collusion and cheating will not be
tolerated. It is absolutely essential
that reference citations be made within written work and oral presentations,
including audio-visual aids!
J. Changes to Syllabus: A syllabus serves as an instructional and
study planning document for both faculty and students. Although every effort will be taken to
complete the semester according to the syllabus, it may become necessary to
make certain changes to better facilitate the academic environment. In such an event, changes will be announced in
class and students will receive written notice within one week of the change
decision. Changes may be made within the
last two weeks of the semester only in exceptional circumstances.
V. COURSE AND
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
