Community Human Services (Coursework Sample)

Community Human services
Name
Institution
Tutor
1.0 Introduction
Born in Venezuela, I moved to the USA with my parents when I was nine years old. I began to learn English as my second language before enrolling to primary school. I chose to pursue my degree at Empire State College because I believed it would give me the skills I need in Human resource management. Over the past 20 years, I have worked in the not-for- profit sector as a job developer. My work entailed hunting jobs for unemployed people. I recently quit my job to work with unemployed and homeless veterans.
My career goal is to graduate with a Human Resources Concentration from the Empire State College. This concentration will give me the much-needed skills in managing human resources. I have vast experience in dealing with human resources. However, I still need to advance my knowledge because of the dynamic nature of the business environment.
2.0 Educational Planning
Educational planning begins with a student filling in all the worksheets assigned during orientation. The aim of this plan is to prepare an individualized degree program to be used as a guide at the college. Culbertson (2010) outlines the factors that a student should put into consideration during educational planning. First on the list is career objective. Different students have various career goals hence the need to individualize the plan. For instance, if a student intends to concentrate on Human Resource management, they should design a concentration that relates to the subject. The students should also consider the availability of the courses that contribute to their chosen career path.
During educational planning my main objective was to obtain a degree in Human Resources concentration. I took it upon myself to select a relevant course that will have a positive impact on my career goals. As a primary rule in most colleges, new students undergo online orientation to enable them adapt to the mode of learning in their new environment (Orientation, 2015). It is during the online counselling session that I familiarized myself with the services, courses and programs offered at the Empire State College. I was able to obtain information regarding the online registration procedures and placement results. I had already made up my mind regarding a degree in Human Resource Management. However, I was still in doubts about what my most preferred concentration would be. At the beginning of my degree program, I did not know what my exact strengths and weaknesses were. I studied all courses with equal vigor giving bias to none at all. After achieving several learning outcomes, I still had an unclear idea about the type of concentration I would like for my degree program. Below is the list of completed learning outcomes that influenced my decision to choose a concentration in Community Human Services.
Not-for-profit Management
The purpose of this course is to provide students with knowledge and skills about managing a Not-For-Profit organization. The subject entails aspects of management such as human resources, leadership and motivation. The motivation theories such as Equity and Maslow’s give insight on the importance of having a motivated workforce. Stacey Adam’s Equity theory of motivation specifies the aspects of the job that might improve the motivation of an employee (Lindner, 2000). When the amount of employee input (Experience, skills) is equivalent to the amount of output (allowances, promotions), the motivation of the worker is likely to go up. Employees feel demotivated and disgruntled when the amount of inputs far outweigh the outputs derived from the job. The course also talks about the advantages of being a good leader over being a good manager.
The learning activities in this course involved analyzing case studies, written assignments, discussions, contributions, a term paper and reading a book by Peter. F. Drucker called ‘Effectively Managing Nonprofit Organizations’. Reading the book contributed to my decision of concentrating on Community Human Services. The book talks about Not-for-profit organizations in light of their operations, chain of command and management. Worth noting is Drucker’s (2006) emphasis on the need to change the mode of management from the old hierarchal system to the modern way of doing things. The modern Not-for-profit organization is a team environment. A good manager ought to be a good team player instead of a good "boss”. The book also provides case studies of past managers who were able to turn around poorly performing organizations into notable entities.
The book gave me insight on the operations of a not-for-profit organization thus complementing my interest in concentrating on community human services. The case studies and emphasis on the team environment are in line with what I believe makes a good manager. While working with unemployed and homeless veterans, I believed that it was through teamwork that such an organization could run smoothly. Reading the book reaffirmed my position hence the decision to my concentration.
The Learning Organization
This course talks about the need for learning in organizations. With the change in environment for both profit and not-for-profit comes the need to train employees. Smith (2012) writes that organization learning is very important in human resource management. Emerging trends such as new pieces of legislation, government policies, social trends and religious extremism are some of the issues that organizational learning should focus on. Smith (2012) illustrates two types of organizational learning- on the job training and outside the job training. On- the-job training comprises of coaching, mentoring, supervision and directing. This form of training usually applies to new employees or seasoned employees who need training on emerging trends of the job. The second kind of learning does not take place at the work environment. It entails learning through seminars, conferences and job simulations (smith 2002). This kind of training is usually important when imparting new skills such as dealing with terrorism, enforcing the Equality Act and leadership skills.
The learning activities of this course were- reading periodicals and books and maintaining an interactive journal throughout the learning process. The books assigned to the students included one by Bridges. W- Managing transitions. The book talks about how managers can survive a transition period. Both profit and non- profit organizations are undergoing transition due to the emerging trends I mentioned. Bridges (2009) recommends the keys to surviving a transition period- communication, holding regular meetings before change, selling the problem and identifying what is at stake.
The book influenced my concentration selection because I learnt about the new problems facing non-profit organizations. Stringent measures are now in place to control the funding and spending of these organizations. In some countries, governments have terminated funding for some non-profits citing links to terrorism activities. The book taught me how to handle such situations if I ever managed an organization that faced a similar transition problem. I learnt that the most credible way to deal with such a situation is communication. For instance, if the funding of a non-profit is terminated, a good leader will inform all those that are likely to be affected. A bad leader on the other hand, will keep the knowledge hidden until when things go south (Lunenburg, 2010).
Consultation
Before enrolling for this degree, I consulted widely to find out which degree was best for my career goal. I did extensive research on the available options, their pros and cons, cost and availability.
The first person to consult was my colleague and mentor while working with the unemployed and homeless veterans. Mr. Sheffield had been in the industry for over 30 years. During my arrival at the organization, he received and showed me around. Our meeting was the beginning of a professional relationship that would later culminate into friendship. When I told him about my plans of going back to college to obtain a degree, he suggested that I choose a course that deals with managing organizations. Since I had a passion of helping the needy people of the society, he also suggested that I concentrate on something that involved helping fellow humans or acts of charity. His advice had a great impact during my enrollment process. It is true that I usually had a feeling of being good at helping people, but no one ever pointed out that to me.
The second source was college catalogues, websites and their respective customer care services. I accessed the websites of numerous city colleges to have a look at what courses they offered. Looking at the Empire State College website, I saw many degree programs that dealt with management. However, the Human Resource Management degree program caught my eye because of the concentrations that came with it. The course units such as labor management and the learning organization attracted me to the course. I also consulted the customer care services of each college to make inquiries about their learning schedule (Khan, 2015).
3.0 How did you design your concentration?
Consulting
I designed my concentration based on my career goal- working in an organization that helps people who are in need. I read the college’s guidelines to create a concentration that best suits my needs. According to esc.edu (2015) the first thing a student should consider before starting the degree planning process is to reflect on their goals and carry out an open assessment of what it takes to achieve them. As part of the planning process, a student is advised to consult with a mentor or professionals in the area of specialization that they aspire to venture into. It is in ...