One exam, the final, will be given in this class. This exam will be worth 20% of the final grade. A study guide will be provided to students at least two weeks prior to the date of the final. While this study guide will assist students in preparing for the exam, it will not include all elements. Additional information will be taken from the texts, class notes, and lectures.

Legislative Notebook

Following are the requirements for the legislative notebook:

A.  Each student will follow one human service bill through the state or federal legislature during the spring session. Note: Due to the impeachment hearings, activity on pending Federal legislation may be stalled for up to a month. Unless the situation changes within the next few weeks, students should focus on a state bill.

B. The bill should be one that has been introduced in the legislature or is being developed by a group that plans to try to get it introduced.

C. The bill must be related to the needs of a vulnerable population group (e.g., persons with disabilities, elderly individuals, children, those in poverty)

D. Students may work in small groups (no more than three) for this exercise, but each student must maintain his/her own notebook. Should the student include any information that is attained by another student, s/he must clearly state this.

E.  Students may take any position on the bill, but must consider social work ethics and values in their stance.

F.  It is important for students to begin working on this exercise very soon after the beginning of the semester!

G.  Legislative activities should include:

1. An interview or interviews with a representative of the group sponsoring or advocating for the bill. What is the group? Why are they sponsoring the legislation? Why has this particular bill been developed to deal with the issue? How does the group assume this policy will effect specific vulnerable groups? What tactics has the group taken to build a coalition to pass the legislation? What are the primary barriers to passage?
2. Obtain a copy of the legislation. Read through it and find any supporting documentation you need to make a decision regarding whether you should support the bill or not.
3. Visit at least one congressional representative regarding the bill. You can make a trip to Springfield or visit with the representative when s/he is in the area. Definitely make plans early!!! These are busy people, and the longer you wait, the less likely you will be able to make the contact. Do not visit as a "class project," but rather as a constituent who is interested in this specific legislation. Prior to meeting with the individual(s), make sure that you have done your homework, and have a very good rationale for supporting or opposing the legislation.
4. Follow up your visit with a well constructed letter to your legislator concerning your position on the bill, and thanking him/her for your visit.
5. Students will find that reading a daily newspaper, the Handbook of Illinois Government, or the Illinois Blue Book extremely helpful in doing this project.
6. If your bill dies before you have had a chance to follow it for at least three weeks, choose another to follow.
7. If your bill dies after you have followed it for at least three weeks, conduct an analysis of why it failed.
8. Write and submit a letter to the editor of a local newspaper regarding your support/opposition to the bill.
9. Information to be included in the notebook includes information related to all of the above, and a bibliography related to your study of the bill.

    A social policy analysis will account for twenty-five percent (25%) of the final grade. Students will choose a State (Missouri or Illinois, preferably) or Federal legislative policy and analyze it using the questions discussed in class and in the Gil text. This paper is to be APA formatted, and should be six to eight pages, exclusive of face sheet and bibliography. It is to include at least eight bibliographic citations, the specific nature of which will be included in a handout related to the paper.

    All papers are to be the students' own original work, and students are to accurately paraphrase information from sources. Wording that is too close to the original author's without being a direct quote constitutes plagiarism, and will be marked down substantively. Students may turn in drafts of papers by March 1 7th. While this is optional, it is strongly recommended. Additional information related to drafts will be forthcoming.

Group Project

Groups of three to four will form at the beginning of the semester. Each group will take one potential presidential candidate, and analyze in depth the position of that candidate vis-a-vis vulnerable community groups. Addition information related to this project will be given out on February 10th . This grade, 15% of the final course grade, will be based on the individual's portion of the group presentation.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend class on a regular basis, and should drop the course if they are unwilling or unable to do so.

1. Regular attendance for this class is expected. Students should drop the course if they
are unwilling or unable to meet the following attendance requirements.
2. The first three absences a student has will not effect his/her grade. It is assumed that
these are excused absences, and students should use them wisely. These, however, are
the only excused absences granted in this class.
3. Beginning with the fourth absence, each day a student misses, for any reason, will
result in 2.5 points being removed from his/her final grade. Following is a summary
of the effect of each absence on the final grade:
 

Absence #	Points off	Accum. Pts. off	Maximum Grade
1	None - Excused Absence		100
2	None - Excused Absence		100
3	None - Excused Absence		100
4	2.5	2.5	97.5
5	2.5	5	95
6	2.5	7.5	92.5
7	2.5	10	90
8	2.5	12.5	87.5
9	2.5	15	85

 
4. Only under very rare circumstances will students with more than nine absences be allowed to successfully complete the course. In such cases students will discuss their situation with the instructor and a mutually agreed upon plan of action will be developed. It is assumed that those individuals with a large number of absences have medical or other severe problems effecting their attendance, and they should be ready to present evidence to prove this.
 

SW 401 Overview