Course Syllabus

Spring 2024 | SWK-2070-VO02 - Social Justice & Public Policy

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Melissa Holmes
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Philip Crossman

Course Description

In this course, students develop an understanding of social justice as a perspective for understanding and assessing public policy. Students explore how public policy is developed and the relationship between social service professionals and the policy making process. This foundation is used to better understand avenues for advocacy in public policy and social justice platforms. Prerequisites: Introduction to Research Methods and one of the following courses: Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Early Childhood Education, Introduction to Substance Abuse, Human Growth & Development, or Introduction to Human Services.

Essential Objectives

1. Explore the concepts of oppression and social justice, including how they are experienced and practiced.
2. Analyze the role and functions of personal and professional ethical standards in human services.
3. Explore the relationship between social justice issues and the public policy agenda and how they are influenced by public opinion and legal, political, economic, and historic trends.
4. Explore the use of research in public policy development.
5. Analyze public policy using specific assessment techniques.
6. Explore and practice opportunities for participation in the public policy process.
7. Identify personal values, motivations, skills, and interests as they relate to policy-making and long-term career goals within a desired field.
8. Explore and create personal, professional, and leadership strategies that take into consideration a long-term career goal within one's desired field.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a no cost textbook or resource class. ***

SWK-2070-VO02 Link to Textbooks/Resources Information for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

Teaching Methods/Learning Activities

• Active Participation in Discussion Boards
• Voice recorded lectures, hearing impaired availability.
• Mini-quizzes-no large tests as I feel nothing is learned from memorization.
• Mid-term-You will write your first basic Public Policy
• Readings from the Washington Post and other trade journals and magazines
• We will be using a strengths-based exercise in class; this will help you to develop areas that you excel at and those you have not developed fully.
• We will be exploring your bias and personality traits as they apply to your work and personal environments
• Guest Researcher and Publisher, Nick Zaiac from Washington, DC will be advising on research and source materials for this course.
• Your final will be a formal Big P Policy written with an eye to submission or for publication.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

How My Class is Presented to You:

My online courses are asynchronously presented. We do not do Zoom; I will use Audio recorded power point lectures. I spend a great deal of time recording and change them up every semester. I think I could have a new degree in audio recording. All my classes open by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday of each new week. My sage advice, always take a quick ten minutes on Tuesdays to open the weekly module and look at the requirements and deadlines for the week. It will save you many questions and headaches going forward.

Discussion Board Deadlines and Attendance:

I will post a discussion board every week (unless I give you a break on that), you are expected to post your original post by Friday nights by 11:59 pm. You will need to respond to three classmates for full attendance credit for the week. Let me reiterate, your attendance is based on the discussion board. Your attendance grade for the week is based your written, main comment work up to 85 points, and three comments to others, worth 5 points for each comment. As, you can see, I take this seriously. You will be marked absent if you do not participate in discussion. Three absent days will equate to a need to discuss if you have attended enough of the course to pass the class.

Learning Fun and Being a Human:

Above all, I like to live life to the fullest and have fun. I try to be kind and understanding, life gets in the way of school. I am always just an email or call away if you find yourself in a bind. Communication is key. I will return the favor. If my life goes sideways, I will write to all of you, and let you know if I might need more time to respond to your work. Let’s keep the pathways of communication open! Learning should be engaging, and fun and meaningful that is my goal. I look forward to our journey together!

Missing & Late Work Policy

All late work will receive -10 points right off the top. That being said, Late work will only be accepted up to one week after the due date. If you should have an extraordinary issue that dictates an assignment being more than a week late, you must contact me right away. If I do not hear from you, I will place a zero if your work is more than a week late, and the zero cannot be altered.

In discussion boards, you will also lose -10 points for posting late, and you will lose -15 because posting late means that you are speaking to an empty room, and your classmates will not be going back and looking at your words. So late postings cost you -25 points on the discussion board. The other issue is the discussion board is how I measure attendance, so you will be considered absent for that week as well. You have three absences, it does not matter if it is for illness, vacation, or a rest week for your mental health. I do not need to know why you are out, it is your business. After three absences, we will be in contact with your advisor to see if you can successfully stay in the course. That is a CCV guideline for all classes. In my opinion, being late on discussion boards is the costliest to your grade and your attendance.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity