EDU 544: Business Management for Learning Organizations

Overview

EDU 544 is designed to address the often neglected but critically important business management component of educational enterprises of all types. Today's educators must be conversant in a wide array of business-related subjects to effectively contribute to their organization's teaching-learning mission. EDU 544 is designed to survey and provide a working knowledge of business planning to achieve organizational objectives, financial considerations, principles of management, applications of information technology and systems, human resource management, and operations, among others. These subjects are relevant to profit and not-for-profit organizations.

These multifunctional business-related issues arise from time to time—often unexpectedly—in the working lives of most educators. However, many educators are ill-prepared to perform such routine business management undertakings as preparing a budget or a grant proposal to secure necessary funding, participating in preparing the organization's strategic plan, overseeing school (logistical) operations and special programs, negotiating key vendor contracts, etc.

Students in EDU 544 will focus on a course-long project that requires the development of either a business case or a grant proposal for a real-world organization of their choosing. The project will integrate the issues and disciplines referred to in the preceding paragraphs. Course modules are organized in a sequential fashion that parallels the project planning process. Thus, students develop their projects as the course unfolds.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Develop a credible, persuasive, professional-quality business case or grant proposal for an educational organization (or an organization with an educational/training component). Within this business case/grant proposal, you will:
• Describe the organization or educational institution in terms of its mission, vision, goals, culture, constituents/stakeholders/customers, and decision-making structures.
• Analyze the organization or educational institution to determine an unmet need (that can be met through an education/training-related innovation).
• Propose an innovation/program/project that will enable the organization to fulfill the unmet need.
• Assess the setup and operational costs of the proposed innovation, and potential sources for the revenue needed.
• Assess the human resource requirements for the proposed innovation.
• Develop an implementation and operational plan for the proposed innovation.
• Determine how success of the innovation will be measured.
• Demonstrate how the proposed innovation benefits the organization or educational institution and aligns with its strategic goals.

Course Requirements

Microsoft Excel
PowerPoint

Required Texts
EDU 544 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore