Diversity Project -
Each student will be responsible for completing a culminating project for the course that involves the studying, assessing, reflecting and critiquing of a diversity policy within a chosen government or public-sector organization (municipality, state agency, university, non-profit). As a part of this project, students must find a policies/procedures manual, read it, research elements pertaining to the community and consider issues discussed throughout the course - recruitment, retention, selection, disciplining/rewarding, performance, etc. - in an effort to analyze the effectiveness and meaningfulness of these policies. In order to accomplish this, students must complete a paper and presentation relating to the policies and procedures that impact issues of diversity within the community.
It is important to note that diversity is often unable to be summarized through a single policy and actions speak louder than written words. Thus, the student must dig deeper into the actions made by the organization to address diversity from a mentality, not simply compliance.
The choice of organization is not restricted to the area. It is encouraged to research organizations around the United States, especially if students have close contacts in other communities around the US.
Issues that should drive the research include the presence of a policy, the efforts of recruitment that the organization undertakes, statements and actions reflecting on the awareness of benefits of diversity within the community, employment data, etc.
A key factor will be identifying the relevant community for comparison - a local government should reflect their local community, but a university's staff may strive to be representative of the student body, or the state it represents.
All of these may or may not be accessible from the organization's website and documentation. If additional documents are needed, it is strongly recommended that the student reach out to local officials and individuals with firsthand knowledge of these communities and cite these sources appropriately.
These creative presentations are to be submitted in a Discussion Board post during Module 14 and will enable students to see other types of organizations and compare efforts of diversity, as well as provide feedback to their fellow students.
The second part of the project is a 7-10 page, APA format paper that produces a sound narrative related to the community and the various aspects of human resource management detailed throughout the course and in supplemental readings.