Saint Francis University

MHRM Course Descriptions

 

Required Courses

MHRM 510 - Labor Law

 

This course explores the complicated relationships between management and laboras defined in labor law. It emphasizes the rights and responsibilities of labor  unions in bargaining for wages, hours of work and the conditions under which  work is performed. The course also presents the corresponding rights and responsibilities of management in negotiating and administering the labor contract.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know the purpose and essential elements of the National Labor Relations(Wagner) Act, Taft-Hartley Act, Landrum-Griffin Act and the role of theNational Labor Relations Board.

2. Know the conditions under which an election can be held to have a unionrepresent eligible employees as their collective bargaining agent.

3. Know the legal environment in which a labor agreement is negotiated and the duties an employer has in negotiating such an agreement.

4. Know how a labor agreement is implemented and modified.

5. Know what legal restrictions are placed on unions.

6. Know the rights an employee has as a member of the union.

7. Know the major procedural steps in decertifying a union and removing it as the collective bargaining agent.

MHRM 512 - Employment Law

This course addresses the increasingly more important and complicated role thatlaw and regulation play in defining the responsibilities of employers towards their employees. It frames the legal context in which policies and practices pertaining torecruitment, selection, placement, evaluation, discipline and discharge are draftedand implemented.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know the concept of illegal discrimination in all matters of employment.

2. Know the key provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 asamended in 1972 and in 1991.

3. Know the essential elements of the following as each applies to employment rights of employees:

• Executive Orders 11246 (amended by EO 11375) and 11478.
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Vocation Rehabilitation Act
• Vietnam-era Veterans Readjustment Act
• Pregnancy Discrimination in Employment Act
• Immigration Reform and Control Act
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• Uniform Guidelines in Employee Selection Procedures
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act

4. Know how to identify illegal statements in recruiting and job posting announcements, illegal questions in job interviews and illegal records maintained in employee files

5. Know how to identify incidents of sexual harassment in terms of both quid pro quo and hostile work environment behaviors; know how to respond to these situations as both a supervisor receiving a complaint and as a victim filing a complaint.

6. Know how to impose progressive discipline on an employee and how to terminate an employee for misconduct and for poor job performance, whether or not the Employment At Will Doctrine applies, as it does in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

MHRM 513 - Staffing:  Recruitment, Selection and Retention

This course addresses the key issues of 1) defining employee skills and manning levels needed by an organization to compete successfully, 2) identifying effective and efficient sources of talent and accessing those sources to obtain qualified job applicants, 3) screening and qualifying applicants for positions, and 4) extending offers of employment, coordinating acceptances and orienting new employees to the organization and the work unit.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of this course, students will - 

1. Know how to determine the required staffing levels, associated costs and key employee skills required by an organization to fulfill its mission and compete in the marketplace.

2. Understand the demographics that affect an organization's ability to attract and retain staff and how the dynamics of a diverse workplace affect an organization's ability to recruit and retain competent staff.

3. Know the most effective sources and techniques for recruiting the best-qualified candidates for positions in an organization.

4. Know how to conduct job analysis, develop job descriptions and conduct a behavior-based interview to select qualified candidates for positions in an organization.

5. Know how to utilize pre-employment testing and background investigations to assist in selecting the most appropriate candidates for positions in an organization.

6. Understand the strategic importance of retention, the major courses of voluntary turnover, and methods to improve retention of competent people. 

7. Understand the reasons why an organization may need to reduce its workforce and be able to design an effective workforce reduction strategy.

8. Understand the key issues that make international recruiting a strategic issues in an organization.

MRHM 515 - Benefits

PREREQUISITE: MHRM 521 - Human Resource Management

This course identifies the components of an employee benefit program, the various types of benefit programs and the factors that are causing changes in benefit programs. The course also explains procedures for designing and administering benefit programs for exempt and non-exempt employees.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know the essential elements of information under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) as they affect the design and administration of employee benefit programs.

2. Know the components of benefit programs to include Social Security provisions, health and welfare plans, defined benefit and defined contributions plans, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, short and long term disability insurance, death benefits, COBRA, HIPAA, benefit funding and other voluntary benefits.

3. Know the "non-traditional" and designer benefit offering, e.g. cafeteria plans, employers use to attract and retain employees.

4. Know the reasons for rising health care costs and how to manage those costs; know how to develop a long term benefit strategy; and know how to evaluate benefit outsourcing options.

MHRM 521 - Human Resource Management

This is an introductory course that defines the body of knowledge and the distinct areas of practice that comprise the field of human resource management and industrial relations. It also frames the context in which the more specialized courses in the curriculum address various policy and practice issues particular to their respective functional areas.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know the role of the HRM function in a work organization.

2. Know the major areas of practice that comprise the HRM function.

3. Know the meaning of HR as "strategic partner" and the social, political and economic forces that have created this role expectation for the function.

4. Know the role that employment and labor law have played in defining the direction and rate of growth of HRM policy and practice in organizations.

5. Know the ethical dimensions to policy issues in matters like downsizing, comparable worth, outsourcing, bumping (unions) and employment-at-will.

MHRM 525 - Performance Management

PREREQUISITES: MHRM 521 - Human Resource Management

This course examines the process by which people's performance is rated and rewarded.  The course also address performance problems and the procedures to follow in imposing discipline when circumstances warrant it.  The course emphasizes "best practice" to follow in enhancing both the skills and motivation to perform well and to adapt to the changing demands and conditions that define performance requirements in the workplace.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know how to design a performance evaluation system to set performance expectations, provide feedback on performance and rate performance behaviors and results.

2. Know how to use coaching and feedback to improve or strengthen performance.

3. Know how to reward employees for performance and potential.

4. Know how job assignments can develop competencies needed for changing job requirements and for advancement opportunities.

5. Know when and how to impose discipline for acts of willful misconduct and gross negligence; know how to develop a remedial action plan for an employee on disciplinary probation; know when and how to terminate an employee for poor performance and misconduct.

MHRM 532 - Compensation

PREREQUISITE: MHRM 521 - Human Resource Management

This course identifies and analyzes the factors including applicable laws and regulations that affect compensation policies and practices in organizations. It also explains the processes for designing and implementing a pay system that is aligned with an organization's business strategy.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will

1. Know how compensation policies and practices reflect and support recruitment and retention efforts, employee communication, business strategies, individual and group goal attainment and overall job satisfaction.

2. Know the characteristics of base, differential, incentive, executive and special pay as elements of compensation programs.

3. Know the process of job analysis and its role in determining the monetary value of different jobs.

4. Know the distinctions among job evaluation methods to include compensable factors, ranking, classification/grading, factor comparison, point and the Guide Chart-Profile (Hay) Method.

5. Know the ways to design both an individual and team-based pay structure using external and internal sources of information and concepts such as competency-based pay and goal-contingent or "at risk" pay.

MHRM 544 - Contemporary Issues in HRM

This course provides a flexible format for treating in depth topics that are mentioned in other courses but not fully discussed. Because each topic does not require a full semester to present, topics are collected and sequenced into a course that spans fourteen weeks.

This course’s format and focus vary with the topic presented. Topics can include: Family and Medical Leave Act, Training, Workers’ Compensation, OSHA regulations, etc.

MHRM 550 - Strategic Human Resource Management

This course will primarily discuss the problems that today's businesses face and the effective solutions that HR can bring to bear.  The role of the HR as being a proactive business partner who can enable productive change in the work environment will be explored in detail.  Fundamentally, the course will discuss:  shaping business strategy, developing HR strategy, leading change, aligning HR processes, assessing HR metrics and operational performance, ethical issues in HRM and global perspectives in HRM.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will

1. To know the meaning of HR as "strategic partner" and the social, political and economic forces that created this role expectation for the function.

2. To understand the key business management concepts.

3. To learn value-added HR roles and responsibilities that drive results in the organization.

4. To explore the concepts of leadership, values, organizational culture and ethics.

Elective Courses

MHRM 520 - Collective Bargaining

PREREQUISITE: MHRM 510 - Labor Law

This course includes discussion on national labor policy and collective bargaining, bargaining processes and techniques; the labor agreement including standard contract provisions, grievance procedures, mediation, and arbitration; economic consequences of collective bargaining.

MHRM 523 - Current HRM Research

This course requires students to research an HRM topic in depth and to report findings, conclusions and recommendations in a paper. The course teaches the discipline of formulating a research question, completing a research design, conducting the research and writing the final paper.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course, students will -

1. Know how to formulate a research question having both theoretical and practical significance.

2. Know how to complete a research design that relies on secondary sources of information for findings.

3. Know how to identify and access professional literature in the HRM field

4. Know how to write a comprehensive paper that requires use of research-based information to support conclusions and recommendations.

MHRM 529 - Leadership

This course will put the role of the leader under a microscope.  It will examine what it means to lead in times of constant change, increased expectations, events beyond the leader's control.  Key concepts will be explored such as the roles of leadership, the principles of leadership, the difference between leading and managing, the importance of values and vision, etc.  The specific behavioral skills of highly effective leaders will be examined along with different leadership styles.  The challenges of leading in unusual situations such as with virtual teams, self-directed work teams, crises, etc. will be explored.  Topics include: power and influence, decision making, group dynamics, conflict, interpersonal skills, character, motivation and rewards, followership, change, organizational culture and their implications for human resources policy.

MHRM 547 - Alternative Dispute Resolution

PREREQUISITE: MHRM 510 - Labor Law

This course surveys the legal foundation for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and examines various dispute resolution processes such as arbitration, mediation, negotiation and various hybrids thereof in private and judicial settings.  The course examines the conditions under which particular forms are most effective and why some forms should be rejected to avoid legal and employee acceptance problems. Particular emphasis on skill development and practical application will be made to enhance the overall value of the course.

MHRM 599 - Internship

PREREQUISITE: MHRM 521 - Human Resource Management and MHRM 512 - Employment Law.  Special permission is needed from the program director.

Students work with the human resource department in organizations approved by the program director to investigate policy and practice issues affecting organizational performance.  Students must be able to work with the sponsoring organization a minimum of ten hours a week for fourteen consecutive weeks. The sponsoring organization may not be the student's employer.  To receive academic credit for the internship, students must complete a 20-25 page paper that conforms to project specifications and learning objectives set in advance by the program director and the sponsoring organization.

HIST 400.1 - History of American Labor

A systematic study of the history and problems of the American Labor Movement against the background of the economic and social development of the United "States.  Present-day industrial relations are made meaningful in terms of the forces which shape them.