RS540 - Agency Funding and Development

 

Canyon College

Rehabilitation Administration and Health Administration Programs

 

Syllabus

RS540 Agency Funding and Development

This course is intended for administrators and managers of rehabilitation programs, agencies and departments in various service settings. Program development and funding through grantseeking and proposal writing will be covered, as well as the relationships involved in working with governing boards. While many grant and funding opportunities are available for not-for-profit agencies, the processes and techniques covered in this course are equally applicable for for-profit enterprises and administrators within government agencies. Program directors, program developers, administrators and managers will benefit from this course.

Your instructor welcomes you to this course! Please print and save this information!

Dale Mueller, EdD, RN, NHA Contact http://www.love2learn.com office 909.920.5854 fax 909.920.6046

Course Description | Overview | Course Objectives | Weekly Assignment Objectives
Course Policies | Grades | Required Text | Contact Instructor

I. Course Description

This course is intended to introduce the graduate student to grantseeking and proposal writing as a means to sustain or develop projects and activities that fulfill or enhance the service intent of the organization. The function, authority, and responsibility of governing boards, as well as the relationship between executive staff and the board will also be explored.

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II. Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe key characteristics, functions, responsibilities, and accountabilities of governing boards
• Examine ways to communicate ongoing formative and summative appraisals of organizational programs, as well as needs for new programs.
• Demonstrate grant seeking skills as applied to a selected program, need, or organization
• Complete a letter of intent for a selected funding opportunity
• Examine components of needs statements and needs analyses
• Apply appropriate objectives, methods, activities and timelines to a selected funding opportunity endeavor
• Prepare components of requested proposal sections including budget and assessment tools regarding a selected funding opportunity

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III. Overview

This course is intended to acquaint the organization administrator with ways to meet the requirements of sustained funding for organizational and programmatic viability. Working with boards is an integral part of the administrator's responsibility, as this relationship establishes overall direction and accountability. Being knowledgeable or proficient in seeking and obtaining sources of funding from foundations and other entities is a significant responsibility of any organization executive or administrator. This course will acquaint the student with the process of seeking funding and proposal writing in relation to identified organization needs and board direction.

While the language "Nonprofit Board" or not-for-profit organization charter may appear in readings or assignments throughout this course, the principles, strategies, and activities covered in the course activities are equally applicable to funding seeking processes regardless of type of organization.

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IV. Textbook

Required textbooks:

Houle, C. (1989). Governing boards: Their nature and nurture. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN Number 0787909165.
Burke, J. & Prater, C.A. (2000). I'll grant you that. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Reed Elsevier. ISBN Number 0325001979.
 
Supplemental (not required) textbook:
Carlson, M. (1995). Winning grants step by step. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN Number 0787901180

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V. Weekly Assignment Objectives

Upon successful completion of Week 1 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Describe common motivations and compositions of governing boards
• Explore the structure and processes involved in grant seeking and proposal writing
• Explore potential organizational program opportunities for grant funding

Upon successful completion of Week 2 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Describe common structure and accountabilities of governing boards
• Identify an organizational program opportunity for grant funding
• Apply strategic assessment processes to opportunity definition and selection

Upon successful completion of Week 3 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Describe common operations and relationships of governing boards
• Apply grant seeking and selection methodologies

Upon successful completion of Week 4 assignments, the student should be able to: 

• Produce a Concept Paper or Letter of Intent
• Organize a grantwriting endeavor regarding a selected project or opportunity

Upon successful completion of Week 5 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Complete an Introduction, Needs Statement and Goals and Objectives using data and illustrations as appropriate
• Complete formative and summative evaluation tools or checklists

Upon successful completion of Week 6 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Complete a budget and budget justification
• Discuss resources that need to be obtained or subcontracted

Upon successful completion of Week 7 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Complete a submission summary
• Discuss presentation of your grant application packet for board approval
• Prepare attachments and appendices

Upon successful completion of Week 8 assignments, the student should be able to:

• Assess grant application packet using submittal checklists
• Apply workbook guidelines to a completed mock or actual grant submittal package
• Summarize key success points in grants procurement and package preparation

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VI. Course Policies

On-Line Participation. Since this course is offered over the Internet, which allows students to participate at "any time, any where," it is important to plan your time carefully. Students are expected to pace themselves to access assignments, prepare their work and necessary research, and submit assignments to the instructor by the established due dates. Students are expected to make use of local resources as well as required readings.

Course Week and Due Dates. Generally, Monday is the first of the course week, and Sunday is the last day of the course week. Assignments scheduled for completion during a class week should be sent to the instructor via email or fax by end of the day Sunday, determined by your own time zone. If a student is sending assignments through the postal service, please make prior arrangements with instructor, as there is no postal delivery on Sunday. Given that this is a graduate level course, and that some community contact and independent research is necessary to fulfill assignments, some flexibility regarding due dates may be granted by mutual agreement between student and instructor.

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Submitting Assignments - Instructions.

Students may submit work in MSWord (any version) or Excel (any version) or HTML and send as an email note or file attachment. If you use another word processing program (such as Works), please save as an .rtf file.

Formats for files received other than those specified here that your instructor cannot open using MSWord or a Word converter program for PC or Macintosh will be returned to you for reprocessing, and will be considered late. Any questions on formatting of your file attachment documents, please Email your instructor with any questions now and we can find a format that will work for your particular needs. Thanks in advance on this matter.

Please include name, reply address, title of assignment, title of course, and date submitted on the document itself, in addition to the email text. Please indicate "RS 540" in the subject line of your email.

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Late Assignment Penalties. Weekly assignments must be received by the instructor not later than Sunday midnight (your time zone) of the week assigned. Students who anticipate that their schedule may cause assignments to be out of compliance are advised to contact instructor at least one week in advance, as an extension may be permitted with prior mutual agreement. Instructor discretion regarding point penalties for any late work will be considered final.

Absentee Policy. While this course is designed to be completed through independent study, "attendance" is recorded through assignment submissions in a timely manner to the instructor's email address (or via post or fax). However, please note that any student who has not participated (completed assignments) for 14 consecutive days without prior discussion with the instructor regarding such absence shall be recommended for administrative withdrawal. The school shall make recommendations to the instructor as to what action will be taken.

Academic Honesty. Canyon College policies are in effect. All work must be your own. Presenting as one's own the words, ideas, or expression of another in any form is cheating through plagiarism, and will not be tolerated.

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VII. Grading

Assignments will be graded based on completeness, correctness and timeliness of submissions.

Given that graduate courses are designed to support development of competencies and integration of theory
with practical applications, the following criteria will be used by your instructor to assign both midterm and
final letter grades based on assignments in aggregate. Please note that with few exceptions, there are no
letter or point grades for weekly assignments, as the learner's work is assessed in aggregate based on
demonstrated achievements toward the course objectives.

 

Categories for assessment by the instructor of the graduate student's work are as follows:

 

UNDERSTANDING
Content of readings and other assigned source materials should be reflected by critical analysis
and synthesis of ideas in work submitted. Intellectual depth of understanding also applies, by
evidence of advancing the course objectives within the student's breadth of knowledge.

APPLICATION
Examples and discussion of course content as assigned to real-life situations, including critique or
conclusion.

CLARITY OF EXPRESSION
Written work should be presented in a scholarly manner, with evidence of logic and coherence,
including introduction and conclusion as appropriate. Mechanics of writing, such as spelling,
grammar, and citations should also be evident.

RESEARCH and SUPPORTING MATERIAL
Examples or evidence as requested should match the level of the assignment, level of inquiry, and
depth of investigative endeavor as requested.

 

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following definitions:

 

A = Excellent
Work that may be described as superior, excellent, or outstanding. The student demonstrates
accuracy, depth of understanding and illustration, and provides original thought and analysis
beyond the basic textbook information requested in the assignment.

 

B = Very Good
Demonstrates high level of competence relative to the assessment criteria, but falls short of the
consistent excellence required for A/Excellent category. The B/Very Good category allows for
some minor weaknesses in presentation but the content is effectively demonstrated.

 

C = Satisfactory
Demonstrates the information requested in the assignment, but less completely than B/Very Good
work. The major points are expressed, but less complete topic development, and minimal original
thought and analysis. Work that contains significant issues with spelling or grammar may fit this
category even though development of ideas are of higher levels of synthesis.

 

D = Flawed
Information digresses and is not adequately focused. Persistent work of D/Flawed level may
indicate the student is not ready for graduate level work.

 

Midterm and Final Weeks.
The Midterm grade is determined by aggregate point performance of work submitted for assignments
designated in weeks 1-4.

 

The Final point allocation is determined through aggregate performance on assignments submitted for all weeks of the course.

 

Final Letter Grade.
Letter grades will be assigned at the conclusion of the eight weeks based on cumulative points achieved
over the entirety of the eight week course. The grading scale based on 100 possible points is as follows:

A = 95 - 100 %
A- = 90 - 94.5 %
B+ = 86 - 89.5 %
B = 83 - 85.5 %
B- = 80 - 82.5 %
C+ = 76 - 79.5 %
C = 73 - 75.5 %
C- = 70 - 72.5 %
D = 60 % to 69.5 %
F = below 60 %

 

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