Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Personnel Management (Online)

INDS 6410-70I

Course: INDS 6410-70I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: INDS
CRN: 32506

Course Description

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to supervise and manage employees. Topics include how to set performance expectations, motivate and coach for performance improvement, comply with HR rules/regulations, and incorporate staff needs into the budget process. (As Needed) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Master of Interdisciplinary Studies students only

Required Texts


1. Paul Falcone, The First Time Manager, HR


2. Adam Rosenthal, Managing Employees Without Fear

Learning Outcomes


By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Identify the mission, scope, and functionality of human resources in general and in your organization.
  2. Describe the challenges and liabilities involved in balancing employee, organizational, political, governmental, legal, and contractual requirements when managing human resource matters.
  3. Explain the critical role of all managers in effectively fostering employee engagement and productivity in the workplace.
  4. Practice human resource-related skills, methods, and processes to enhance the effectiveness of management and leadership skills, as well as professional interactions in the workplace.

Course Requirements

Assignment Information


Written Work: All assignments for this class should conform to APA 6th edition style. Graded assignments are not eligible for revision and regrading. Please include a cover page with the title and date of the assignment (as listed in the syllabus), your institutional affiliation (i.e., Southern Utah University, the title of the course, name of the professor, your name, and the date. 


You are advised to seek feedback on your papers before you turn them into me. This is a service the SUU Graduate Writing Center will provide for you if you plan ahead. 

1- Introduction - 25 points      


Please spend a fair amount of time becoming acquainted with your colleagues in this class. It is very important that together we become a learning community over the next several weeks. Make your classmates part of your life as you offer and receive learning by not only introducing yourself, but discussing your expectations for the course.  To earn your Introduction points, be sure to say hello to at least 1/3 of your classmates and begin to develop a collegial relationship.

2- Discussions - 200 points     


There are 8 discussions and each is worth 25 points each. 


To qualify for full credit for a week’s discussion, please make 1 substantive "original" posting to be at least 300 words each. Make a minimum of 3 substantive replies to classmates to be at least 100 words each. Each original posting should have at least one embedded citation (APA-formatted) from the respective week's assigned content, and accompanying reference at the bottom.  You may also use Kaltura and submit original comment as long as you include reference material.


The discussion posts should demonstrate you have thoughtfully considered the week's content and be reflective in nature.  It allows you to explore the readings further, in a way that is meaningful to your own experience or career path.  Demonstrate that you have read the texts critically and given much thought to what you have read.  For starters, demonstrate how the text impacted you, and draw application to the real world of the nonprofit sector.  In other words, interpret and apply some aspect of the text that you find interesting and significant.  Also, your personal application of the principles taught and the response to your classmates will be considered as part of your grade.  You have until the last day of each lesson to complete the respective discussion.


Your final discussion (in Week 8) will be a reflective interactive discussion on the course and whether it met the expectations you identified in your introduction discussion in Week 1.  This is your opportunity to discuss what you liked and didn’t like about the course, how you feel that it will benefit you in the future, and the most important things that you learned in the course.  

3- Assignments - 775 points


All assignments for this class should conform to APA 6th edition style.  Assignments generally come in two categories: papers or projects.  Purdue University produces a very nice APA online guide.

Please include a cover page with the title and date of the assignment (as listed in the syllabus), your institutional affiliation (i.e. Southern Utah University), the title of the course, name of the professor, your name and the date.  


Graded assignments are not eligible for revision and regrading.  Thus, you are strongly encouraged and advised to seek feedback on your papers before you turn them in to me.  This is a service that the SUU Graduate Writing Center can provide for you if you plan ahead.

4- HR Interview - 100 points


You will conduct an interview with an HR executive or manager (senior level, if possible). The paper should be no more than five (5) pages in length excluding the cover page.  This assignment is due at the end of Week 2, Module 3.  

5- Manager Interview - 100 points


Conduct an interview with a manager who supervises employees and conducts employee evaluations, hiring, and compensation functions.  The paper should be no more than five (5) pages in length excluding the cover page.  This assignment is due at the end of Week 3, Module 4.  

6- Research Paper - 400 points total


This paper has two major components.  The first is research, and the second is a case study.  You will choose a topic and an organization in your field to research.  The paper will be formatted with a topic introduction, literature overview, discussion of the topic, introduction to the organization, discussion on how the chosen topic works within the organization, and a reflection.  For example, if you are looking at a particular HR law, you will provide an introduction of the law, provide a history of how it came to be and how it currently affects organizations, briefly discuss the case law and any other applicable literature, introduce your organization and discuss how this law influences the policies, procedures and daily function of the HR office and supervisors, and finally provide a reflection on the future of the law and why it is important for leaders to understand the implications of the law.  the paper should be no more than 10 pages in length (excluding the cover page and references/citation page), and should include no less than ten (7) sources and five (5) peer-reviewed citations.


This is a scaffolded assignment.  You will be required to turn in the following:

  • Topic Proposal - 25 points:  You will turn in your topic proposal, including the organization that you wish to examine by the end of Week 1.
  • Research Paper Outline and Literature Review w/Annotated Bibliography - 100 points:  The outline will help you organize your paper and should introduce your literature and the main points that will be covered in your paper.  This will be due at the end of Week 2.  
  • Research Paper Draft - 25 points:  You will submit a draft by the end of Week 5.  I will provide feedback to you for consideration prior to turning in the final paper.  
  • Peer Review (25 points):  You will be required to obtain feedback from the SUU Graduate Writing Center prior to turning in your final draft, or from another student in the class.  You may submit the same with your final draft.
  • Final Research Paper - 200 points:  Your final paper, and SUU Graduate Writing Center feedback are all due at the end of Week 6.

7- Personnel Management in the News - 140 points


Once per week you will find a current event that goes along with the reading, and present a brief overview of how it relates to core content we have learned.   

8- Course Evaluations - 25 points 


As professors, we not only evaluate your work, but provide you with an opportunity to evaluate and assess our instruction, courses and provide us with valuable feedback on student success and course improvement.  Each student who completes the course evaluation at the end of this course will receive 25 points. 

Course Outline

Modules

1. Management Intro: Leadership/The Past and Future of Work
2. Pre-hiring, Hiring, Onboarding
3. Legal Ramifications of Management I: Reviews, Leave of Absence, Compliance
4. Legal Ramifications of Management II: Discipline & Discrimination
5. Strategic Human Resource Management 
6. Current Trends in Human Resource Management I - Remote Work & AI
7.  Current Trends II & Final Project 

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Policy: Due dates for every assignment are provided in Canvas. Unless otherwise stated, assignments are due on those days. However, I recognize that sometimes "life happens". In these instances, you may notify me, as soon as possible and before the due date, that an assignment will be late. You do not need to provide me with a reason: simply email me. If I am notified in advance, we can work out a date for an extension.

Attendance Policy

As this is an online asynchronous course, there is no required attendance. 

Course Fees

There are no course fees

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.