We will accomplish the course objectives with the following course requirements:
- Virtual Student Participation/Discussions
- Case Study Assignments
- Journal Responses to the Readings & Class Discussion
- Group Presentations
- An “Emerging Issues in IGR” project & paper
- MPA Portfolio (competency) tab for this course
This course will give you a grounding in the history and most relevant issues relating to how governments at different levels interact in the United States. We will primarily be working through the readings in the O’Toole & Christensen edited volume: American Intergovernmental Relations: Foundational concepts, Legal aspects, Political aspects, Fiscal aspects, Administrative aspects, and Emerging Issues & Challenges. We will devote roughly 2 weeks to working through the readings in each section. At the end of each section, a group of you will provide us with a presentation/project that gives us an overview and highlight of that section (Group Presentations).
I plan to record a short lecture on each module that highlights the points I found most interesting and ties together the readings into the main topic of the section. If all goes well, you will be able to post a response video with your own insights and/or comments on mine. The goal is to make the course as interactive as possible while still retaining the flexibility of an asynchronous model. Watch for announcements as these develop!
Assignments and Grading Distribution
Assignment | Points | Percentage of Total
Participation/Discussion Including Introduction Post | 10%
Journal Replies for completion | 10%
Group Presentations | 15%
Case Study Assignments | 40%
Emerging Issues Presentation | 10%
Emerging Issues Paper | 10%
Competency Portfolio | 5%
Totals | 100%
Participation/Discussion: 10% of your grade.
This includes attending the orientation meeting (or meeting with me individually), introducing yourself in the Discussion Board for Week 1 and participating in occasional Zoom discussions where our groups will be presenting and we will have online discussions. There may be other opportunities that arise, such as guest speakers that are invited, but those will be shared with you as soon as they are scheduled. Keep in mind that I understand that we are all busy and you may not be able to participate in everything, but by having a lot of opportunities you should be able to participate enough to get all the points even if you have many other commitments.
Journal Replies on the Readings: 10% of your grade.
At the end of each section you will have a journal entry to complete that is based upon the readings for that section. This should not be generated by AI, although you can use AI to help you summarize the materials. This is the final step where you write and highlight key points that stood out to you in the readings, questions you want answered, providing examples of this topic from your own experience, and other ways to demonstrate critical thinking based on the readings merged with your background knowledge. Be creative and dig deep here! You will get out of this what you put into it.
Group Presentations: 15% of your grade.
You will join one of five groups, in which you will work with your group members to prepare a presentation for the class, it can be on Zoom in a synchronous meeting, or you can create a video to be shared separately with the class for that week. Your group responsibility will be to read that section's readings with a "fine tooth comb," and present a creative and compelling presentation that helps to break down that section, discuss how significant external and internal relationships are to the success of the organizations involved, and share examples of barriers to effective intergovernmental relationships within this context, as well as strategies to overcome those barriers. The group will provide at least one hands-on example of this "section" as well to apply the concepts to the class and propel the class discussion. The group presentation should be approximately 10 minutes long. (Sign Up Worksheet for Groups is found in the Course Shell).
The timeline of these group presentations are below to help you think on which group you would like to join. Presentations will be in the last week of that section.
Group # | Week to Present | Book sections covered
Group 1* | Week 3 | Part I: Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations
Group 2 | Week 5 | Part II: LEGAL aspects of IGR
Group 3 | Week 7 | Part III: POLITICAL aspects of IGR
Group 4 | Week 9 | Part IV: FISCAL aspects of IGR
Group 5 | Week 11 | Part V: ADMINISTRATIVE aspects of IGR
*(Dr. Handley is part of your group to help set the tone)
Case Study Assignments: 40% of your grade. (There are 5 Case Studies, each one worth 8%)
Within each section and module of our course (adhering with the 5 "Parts" in our IGR Text, students will be given a case study prompt to work on to help demonstrate the knowledge and application of that particular section of the course. Each case study (one for each Part) will be worth 8% of the grade. Each of these case study formats will be slightly different to help us engage, exercise decision-making strategies, and use your creativity within the modules. More details will be provided in the specific assignments.
"Emerging Issues in IGR" Paper & Presentation: 20% of your grade.
This paper and presentation will be completed alone or with one partner. The Emerging Issues component is what makes up Part VI of our text, and you can choose one of these chapters to do your project on, or you can choose your own "Emerging Issue" in IGR. These will be projects that you complete and submit as your final project and paper for the class at the end of the term. More details will be provided in the assignment. Students should notify the professor if they plan to work with a partner or alone, and also what their "Emerging Issue" is by the midterm date of the semester. Note the AI policy below for guidance on this project.
Portfolio Tab and Competency Discussion: 5% of your grade.
This class should show up in your MPA Portfolio as one of your elective classes. Completion of this assignment includes sharing the link to your Portfolio and the tab for this class where you answer the discussion questions and have at 2 artifacts included from this class that are accessible.
Note: As a disclaimer, I reserve the right to make adjustments to assignments
or the schedule depending on course participation and student understanding of the topics we are covering. There will be no exams or quizzes unless I become convinced that the readings are not being read. If that happens, I might add quiz points as part of your participation.