Tonie Hilligoss

Sociology 375 Online Syllabus

Posted by Tonie Hilligoss, 6/12/07 at 6:46:50 PM.

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Course Description:
This is a project-based class in which your time will be dedicated to learning and applying the basic principles of community development to an issue you find personally and/or professionally compelling. Participants in the class will regularly interact on discussion boards to identify and discuss strategies to best address those issues, culminating in a final project. There are no tests or quizzes, but there are weekly assignments, which will be refined to produce a final paper.

We are all so heavily bombarded with news of local and global problems that it's hard to believe we can do anything about it. Yet, in actual and virtual communities throughout the world, millions of people are proving that positive change is not just possible; it is an everyday occurrence. Effective change requires knowing how to mobilize community members in ways that are rewarding to them, and this class is designed to introduce you to those skills.

Community Development is a broad, interdisciplinary approach to bringing community members together to collectively solve common problems. Traditionally, the emphasis has been on geographically defined communities in which people live, and a great deal of community development continues to take place in those settings. However, as instant communication has become possible, we have become aware that we are also members of a larger global community. That realization has broadened the scope of our understanding of community development, which now encompasses efforts to effect change through collaboration with community members in both immediate and distant locations. It incorporates the concepts of community organizing and, most recently, social entrepreneurship, which is a uniquely innovative approach to solving social problems. We will study how each of these strategies can be applied to the social problems found in communities, but each student will have the freedom to apply the intervention(s) of their choice to their project. Projects can be linked to existing programs, such as Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services (http://www.sfbs.org), or they can be new ideas that you would like help in implementing (see http://linkagetoeducation.org to learn about a highly successful program started by one individual with a vision and the determination to act on it). An international example of that can be found at http://www.kiva.org, a microlending program serving people in developing countries from the office of a young couple in San Francisco (see video by going to http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/video_index.html).

The Careless Society, by John McKnight, pointed out the failings of institutional efforts to address social problems without meaningfully including community members as part of the solution. In the years since it was published (1995), individuals, local organizations, and government agencies that understand the importance of community involvement have developed entirely new approaches to solving what used to be considered insurmountable problems. This class is devoted to studying how they do it, and how you can apply those and other strategies to your projects. A class is scheduled to be offered in the future with an emphasis on implementation and sustainability for those students who would like to develop their projects further. However, SOC 375 is a stand-alone three-unit course.

Introduction to Community Development is a project-based class in which each student will select a project that will be the focus of their assignment. Some will select one within their local community, while others may focus on someplace else in the world; some will build their project around a new idea, while others may expand on their current work to develop new and innovative approaches. All projects will require comparable amounts of time.

This is a distance education class, so students are only required to meet once during the semester for the orientation. All other work will be completed either outside of class or online within the Blackboard course management system. Basic computer skills (the ability to use a word processing program and e-mail, and the ability to access the Internet) are necessary to succeed in this class. However, nothing beyond that is required because Blackboard provides the structure for the class. Online course materials are interwoven with the reading and discussion board assignments in such a way as to maximize the benefit to the student. This, of course, requires that you carefully complete the assigned reading, fully participate in the interactive forums created by discussion boards, and submit the project-related assignments by the stated deadlines.

Selecting an issue that interests you will probably not be a problem, but identifying a way to begin addressing it may seem challenging. The discussion board assignments have been designed to help in that process by providing a forum so the rest of us can provide feedback. Projects can take a wide variety of approaches to solving the problems found in communities, only a few of which are addressed in the websites cited above. Not all projects need to be web-based, and some of the more ambitious projects may be only partially completed by the end of the semester. However, all projects must demonstrate substantial progress so that you can learn about the process of understanding and responding to the issue you select.

Service-Learning:
This is also a service-learning course in which we will explore issues related to community development through a reflective process on discussion boards. Service-learning is a nationally recognized teaching strategy that uses real world experience to teach course content, so the project focus of this class lends itself to it. Service-learning is an experiential approach to education that integrates service to others with guided reflection and a deep exploration of the issues being studied. Students in service-learning classes generally work in the surrounding community at places like hospitals and homeless shelters, but geographical limitations are not applicable to this class. We're going to apply the model within and beyond our immediate communities and, in the process, we're going to discover new ways to explore the material and respond to it. In addition to being an experiential approach to education, it is an activist and reflective approach. By selecting a specific issue that interests you and developing a way to address it to meet an objective that you will identify, you will make a difference to the people affected by that issue.

Course Activities:
I. Attend the orientation session at the following time and place:

II. Visit the class website by Monday of each week and follow the instructions for that week. Weekly materials are generally posted on Sunday.

III. Read the assigned pages in the textbooks, Community Organizing and Development, 4th edition, by Rubin and Rubin, published by Allyn and Bacon, 2008 (available at the SCC College Store) and Building Communities from the Inside Out by Kretzmann and McKnight, 1993 (available from ACTA Publications for $25 at actapublications@aol.com or 800-397-2282). There is a copy of each book on two-hour reserve at the Learning Resource Center.

IV. Follow the instructions in the Assignments section each week (located under the Assignments button on the far left side of the home page). (DO NOT rely solely on the discussion board instructions).

V. Respond to other student or instructor posts each time there is a discussion board assignment, and submit your responses to the weekly discussion board (accessed via the Communication button on the home page) by 11:59pm on the following Tuesday. Responses must add depth to the discussion to receive credit, so it is essential to read the other posts first in order to avoid repeating what has already been posted. All responses must adhere to the guidelines regarding intellectual discourse, which are located in the Orientation section under Course Information. It is essential that you read and follow those guidelines.

VI. Read all submissions from other students and the instructor, and respond to all questions that address your posts.

VII. Complete the website quiz that will be available in the Assignments section at the beginning of the semester. This will help you understand how the class is organized. It is due by midnight, January 31st.

VIII. Submit a final project, which includes the paper and journal, in accordance with the instructions in the Project/Paper/Journal Guidelines page in the Assignments section.

Course Objectives:
To successfully meet the requirements of this course, students must complete all assigned activities. Required work consists of the orientation, assignments that will be posted in the Assignments section, academic interaction on the discussion boards, the website quiz, and a final project, paper, and journal. You will work on the latter throughout the semester through posts to the discussion boards and weekly journal entries that you will prepare for submission at the end of the semester. Students are also expected to complete all reading assignments and read everything that is posted to the assigned discussion boards. I often ask for additional feedback and other students sometimes ask questions, so it is essential to read all the posts and respond when appropriate. The thoughtful completion of these activities is required to achieve the following objectives:

1) develop the skills to analyze community problems and propose strategies to apply solutions;

2) develop a working understanding of the relationship between community development, community organizing, and social entrepreneurship;

3) learn how to evaluate and map individual, organizational, and institutional community assets;

4) develop the skills to incorporate relevant knowledge from field research;

5) learn strategies for developing funding proposals;

6) develop the ability to generate ideas for community development in collaboration with community members;

7) learn how to critique sustainability plans.

Students are expected to be active learners and to be responsible for ensuring the quality of your own academic experience. Any questions which arise should be asked either in class on the discussion boards or outside of it via e-mail (personal questions only, to protect confidentiality). Questions regarding matters directly related to course content should be posted to the discussion boards, and they must be asked in order to avoid confusion as the semester progresses. Students are always responsible for their own learning, but it is even more important in online classes that students remain actively engaged in the class from beginning to end.

Credit is only given for substantive responses that contribute to the discussion and that do not repeat what has already been posted. Complimenting someone on their post or restating what has already been written will not earn credit, while responding to the content with insightful comments will.

Course Topics by Week:

1. Social Change and the Role of Community Development

2. Community Development as a Sociological Adventure

3. Social Activism and Asset-Based Community Development

4. Lessons from the History of Organizing for Social Change

5. Models of Social Change

6. Activists, Organizers, and Social Entrepreneurs

7. Empowering Individuals

8. Developing Social Capital and Building Community Capacity

9. The Intersection of Social Change Organizations and Local Institutions

10. Social Mobilization

11. The Power of Coalitions

12. Community Economic Development and Social Production

13. Action Research and the Role of Evaluation in Sustaining Social Change

14. The Dynamics of Implementation and Sustainability

15 & 16. Final Projects

For those of you wishing to use the electronic library resources at SCC, they can be accessed through SCC Library's LOIS WebPac, the college's Web-based library catalog. Follow the links from the SCC Webpage by clicking on Library, then LOIS or Other Library Catalogs. That will provide access to both the library catalog and several full text periodical databases. Passwords are available at no cost to students, faculty and staff through the Learning Resource Center, and are required for the databases when connections are made from off campus.

Online technical help is available by e-mailing scconline@go.losrios.edu.

Instructor - Tonie Hilligoss
I've taught in the Sociology and Administration of Justice Departments at Sacramento City College since 1977 and have an applied background as a probation officer, a clinical social worker, and a community activist. I earned my B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from UC Santa Barbara, and I have a Master's Degree in Social Work from San Diego State University and a Master of Arts in Sociology from UC Davis. I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and manage a non-commercial certified tree farm with my family.

I was introduced to the concept of community development in high school when I began working with children in a settlement house, and I quickly developed a passion for collaborating with others to find new ways to address community problems. I initially focused on the individual level, but later realized the importance of systemic change. Since that time, I've had the opportunity to gain experience as a community activist on both the micro and macro levels. I began as an original staff member of one of the first child abuse demonstration centers in the nation and later initiated, wrote grant proposals for, and directed several programs in the areas of social services, economic development, public safety, rural education, and higher education. I've seen first-hand what people can do when they develop the necessary skills and, with feedback from several colleagues, I created this class to help expand the growing network of people who are dedicated to making this a better world.

I am convinced of the need for all of us to become lifelong learners and believe that online education makes that goal achievable for people whose work or other circumstances make it difficult for them to take traditional classes. I am also a strong advocate of experiential education, particularly service-learning, because I believe that people learn best when they are actively involved in applying what they learn.

I can be reached via e-mail at thilligoss@mac.com or at the following physical address:

My phone number is (916) 558-2602, and my office is located in RHS 272 (Rodda Hall South) on the Sacramento City College campus.

Methods of Instruction:
This is an online course that is taught via the Internet. Lessons consist of online lectures, reading assignments, interactive discussions about community development issues and strategies, and the class projects that will address them. Class discussions will take place on topic-specific discussion boards.

This entire class revolves around your projects. The weekly discussion board assignments are designed to give you a broader understanding of the community development process so that you will be better prepared to work on those projects. That requires completing the reading assignments (books and lectures), posting your discussion board assignments, reading everyone's posts and responding as often as you have something to offer (which should usually be at least four times a week), working on your project, and making weekly journal entries about your experiences and observations. I would also advise pasting the paper and journal questions in the Project Guidelines document into a draft file on your desktop, pasting in the assignments that you post, and making notes based on the responses from others that you can later incorporate into your paper. That will provide you with a strong foundation for your final paper that can be easily added to and edited at the end of the semester.

The purpose of the journal is to allow students to think about the issues they're working on and examine their feelings about what they are experiencing and learning. Some of what you will learn in this class will be through the process of introspection. The journal is designed to be a catalyst for that, so feel free to approach it with no restrictions. There's no specified length, and the journal entries don't have to be tied to the assignment. The only requirements are that you make weekly entries and periodically review the questions in the Project Guidelines document to make sure that you can answer them in the final paper.

All assignments will be due electronically by 11:59pm on the Saturday following the date they are assigned, with the exception of responses to other students, which are due by 11:59pm on the following Tuesday, i.e. 3 days later. Directions for student activities will be posted in the Assignments section each week, and it is essential that you begin each week by reading the weekly instructions in the Assignments section. Students will be expected to check the Announcements page a minimum of three times a week (although it is advisable to check it daily for the first two weeks). Announcements are only posted as needed, but checking them often should ensure that you receive the information you will need. All announcements will be dated.

Student Requirements:
It is expected that each student will spend a minimum of nine (9) hours per week on this class. This includes time spent online as well as time spent reading the textbooks, participating on the discussion boards, working on your project and, beginning in Week 3, keeping a weekly journal of your observations and thoughts related to the problem you are addressing and the project activities you are engaged in. Additional information is available in the Project/Paper/Journal – Guidelines and Due Dates document, which is located in the Assignments section of the course website. The project can be something you select specifically for this class, or it can be related to the work you do outside of the class. Students who are employed by social change organizations that encourage their employees to develop creative approaches to their work are welcome to pursue those activities within this class. It's a great opportunity to get feedback while educating the rest of us about the issues you are addressing.

Students will be responsible for all assigned reading. Although there are two books (totaling slightly over $100), not all chapters will be assigned this semester. Some will be assigned to students who choose to take the optional follow-up class that will more deeply explore issues related to implementation and sustainability. Excessive absences (which means missing a combination of four assignments and/or responses) are grounds for being dropped.

Grades will be determined by a point system at the end of the semester, which will ensure that your grade will be based on your own effort and competence. Each person completing sufficient points will receive the corresponding grade, and a curve will be established at the end of the semester. As indicated below, the emphasis in this class is on discussion board assignments and the project, which includes the paper and journal. This is a project-based class, so grades will be based on an electronic portfolio of project-related materials, with discussion board posts contributing to the final paper grade. At the end of the semester, points will be deducted for late assignments, missed assignments, those that are not revised when I request it, and the failure to regularly participate in the weekly discussions. Points will be added for exceptionally good assignments and responses to other students, and additional credit will be given to students whose final papers reflect that suggestions for improvement were integrated into the project.

Please note that this class is a Safe Zone, which means that discrimination, jokes, or derogatory statements that target race, religion, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, language, age, etc. will not be tolerated.

Final grades will be based on the following (all of which are required to pass the class):

Orientation Session - 10 points - Evaluated on the basis of attendance or, for those students who cannot attend, satisfaction of other arrangements made with me prior to January 22nd.

Discussion Board assignments - Evaluated on a point basis each week (up to 10 points), incorporated into the Project/Paper/Journal score; original scores can be raised by responding to suggestions before midnight each Tuesday following the due date.

Discussion Board responses - Evaluated on a point basis each week (up to 10 points), incorporated into the Project/Paper/Journal score. This is an interactive class in which students provide feedback to one another as you would if you were working in a community-based organization. An average of four substantive responses to other students or the instructor are required each week (i.e. there may be more or less in some weeks, but they need to average out to four per week). Additional responses are counted as extra credit, up to a maximum of 25 points for the semester.

Website Quiz - 20 points (due by midnight, January 31st)

Final Project/Paper/Journal - 350 points (due by midnight, May 16th)

Total = 380 points

Optional Extra Credit (discussion board response points beyond an average of four substantive posts per week, for a maximum of 25 points):

Extra credit can be used to raise a grade a maximum of one letter grade but will only be applied when students have earned at least a "D" in the class, i.e. extra credit cannot be used to transform a failing grade into a passing grade. Extra credit responses may be posted to the weekly discussion boards and are due each week by 11:59pm on the Tuesday night after the Saturday due date, unless stated otherwise in the Assignments section. Late submissions will not receive any credit.

Questions regarding grades and other matters not related to specific assignments should be e-mailed to Tonie Hilligoss at thilligoss@mac.com for purposes of confidentiality, or you can call me at (916) 558-2602. Leave a message if I am not available, and I will return your call at the first opportunity. I am not always immediately available, but I will contact you as soon as I can. I check my voicemail frequently, so please leave a message at 558-2602 if there is an urgent need to do so. Please repeat your name and phone number. I cannot return calls to numbers that are not recorded clearly enough to understand.

Students are advised to familiarize themselves with the Los Rios regulations that stipulate the process for dropping students for unacceptable behavior. Very few students behave in a manner that requires their use, but we have been asked to make sure everyone is familiar with them. I have added a link to the District’s Standards of Conduct (http://www.losrios.edu/legal/Regulations/R-2000/R-2441.htm) here and near the end of the Student Requirements section in the online syllabus.

Important Information Regarding Waste Reduction:

All staff and students are expected to participate in SCC's waste reduction program. Please reduce the amount of paper you use, reuse resources whenever possible, and always recycle the appropriate materials in the blue receptacles. We have a beautiful campus. Please help us keep it that way.

Sacramento City College
3835 Freeport Blvd * Sacramento * CA * 95822
This page was last updated: Monday, December 29, 2008 at 11:02:56 AM