AEE 595 Public Policy Advocacy (3 credits) Methods and techniques of developing and influencing public policies and programs with an emphasis on agricultural, human resource and educational policy.

If you have taken AEE 501 Foundations of Agricultural and Extension Education you know that federal and state legislation has had a major impact on the development and evolution of agricultural and extension education. Our organizations and their practices have been driven by the legislative process. The Morrill Act, the Hatch Act, the Smith-Lever and Smith-Hughes Act, just to name a few, have been of crucial important to the field. These acts did not accidently happen and were the result of years of work. When these acts were passed, there were strong grassroots efforts and advocates who were actively involved in securing the passage of the bills.

Today, more than ever, agricultural and extension educators need to be involved in influencing public policy. Our future may depend upon it. In this course you will learn how the legislative process works and gain the tools needed to influence public policy.

The overall objective of this course is to equip you with the tools and knowledge to effectively influence public policy.  Specific objectives include:

1. Describe the process utilized at the local, state and federal levels in developing public policy.
2. Demonstrate how to find and access pending legislation.
3. Demonstrate how to identify and communicate with legislators at both the state and federal levels.
4. Explain the restrictions regarding how involved private citizens and state employees can be involved in influencing public policy.
5. Explain how one can effectively work with elected officials and staffers to influence public policy.
6. Develop and implement an action plan for influencing public policy.
7. Describe the rules and regulations process that occurs after legislation is passed and how it can be influenced.

Instructor:	Gary Moore	MeeCee Baker	Jay Jackman
Office phone:	(919) 515-1756	717-860-8463 mobile	859) 257-2224 or (800) 509-0204
Home phone:	(919) 460-7475	(717) 527-2050
Fax:	(919) 515-9060		(859) 323-3919
e-mail:	gary_moore@ncsu.edu (note: there is an underline between gary and moore)	mbaker@versantstrategies.net	JJackman.NAAE@uky.edu
Mailing address:	Department of Agricultural and Extension Education Box 7607 Raleigh, NC 27695	Versant Strategies 116 Pine Street 5th Floor Harrisburg, PA  17101	National Association of  Agricultural Educators 300 Garrigus Building Lexington, KY 40546-0215

There are no specific prerequisites for this course other than the desire to learn more about public policy advocacy

If you are enrolled for this course through North Carolina State, you have complete access to the NCSU library. The URL that explains all the library resources available to you is http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/distance/ If you need help logging into the library please contact the NCSU course instructor.

You are to identify one piece of pending state or federal legislation and develop a strategy plan as to how you would go about influencing the passage or defeat of this piece of legislation. This strategy plan will probably get other colleagues involved. Will you develop a state or nation wide e-mail campaign, have 4-H and FFA members write letters, make political contributions to certain individuals, get the big names in your community to use their influence, bring in hit men from Chicago or what? This plan should clearly show what should be done in a logical step-by-step process to influence the passage or defeat of this piece of legislation. It should be realistic and feasible. As part of your plan you are to develop a 1 page position paper either supporting or opposing the legislation. The entire project probably will be 5-10 pages in length. This is due July 31 and should be e-mailed to Dr. MeeCee Baker as a text or Word document. This will count for 25% of your grade. Since people who try to influence public policy rarely work by themselves, you will be allowed to work as teams of two on this project. You don't have to work as a team, but you have that option.

There will be  a comprehensive examination over the content covered in this course.  This exam is to be completed by August 5. It will be mailed to a proctor in your local community whom you will identify. It will be primarily multiple choice. This will count for 25% of your grade. 

This course is graded using the + and - system. The breakdown of the grading system is as follows

A+ = 97%
A =  94-96%
A- =  90-93%
Bt =  87-89%
B =  84-86%
B- = 80-83%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 74-76%
C- = 70-73%
D+ = 67-69%
D = 64-66%
D- = 60-63%
F = 59%

Graduate level work should be:

A. Neat - There is no excuse for sloppy work at the graduate level. You can have fantastic ideas and thoughts but if your work is sloppy, colleagues will think your thoughts and ideas are sloppy also. Hundreds of resumes are thrown into the trash every year because they aren't crisp and sharp.

B. Use Proper Grammar - words should be spelled correctly, sentences should be complete, paragraphs should be paragraphs, rules of correct English usage should be followed, etc.

 Both faculty and students at North Carolina State University have a responsibility to maintain academic integrity. An informational brochure about academic integrity is available from the university and students are encouraged to obtain a copy. Additional information is contained in the NCSU Code of Student Conduct. Academic Dishonesty Scholarly activity is marked by honesty, fairness and rigor. A scholar does not take credit for the work of others, does not take unfair advantage of others, and does not perform acts which frustrate the scholarly efforts of others. The violation of any of these principles is academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes the giving, taking, or presenting of information or material by a student with the intent of unethically or fraudulently aiding oneself or another person on any work which is to be considered in the determination of a grade or the completion of academic requirements.

The Honor Pledge - The students and faculty of NCSU believe that the willingness of students to affirm and adhere to the essential values of honesty and integrity in all their academic endeavors is exemplified in the Honor Pledge: I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or assignment. It is university policy that all students sign the Honor Pledge on tests and assignments for each course as specified by the instructor.

LABORATORY SAFETY

This course does not have a laboratory. However, you will be working on your computer during the lessons. Thousands of computers are damaged each year because of power surges, and most of these come through the phone line and damage the modem. You are strongly encouraged to get a modem surge protector and/or to unplug you computer include the modem/phone connection during stormy weather.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 mandate that the faculty provide reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities.  These accommodations are based on the premise that students with disabilities need an equal opportunity to acquire information and demonstrate what they have learned; not have an advantage over others in the class.  This does not mean lowering class standards, but it may mean having students learn and express knowledge in a different mode.

All students registered with the NC State Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS) will provide the instructor with an accommodation letter.  This letter verifies that appropriate medical documentation is on file and that the student has a substantiated disability requiring effective reasonable accommodations. Accommodations for which the student qualifies will also be included in the letter.  If you have not registered with the DSS and have a learning disability, you should register in Suite 1900, Student Health Center.

If you have a documented disability, please schedule an appointment with the course instructor to discuss academic accommodations.

If desired, a one-day field trip can be arranged to visit the North Carolina state capital and meet with legislators and other government officials. As the class unfolds, information about this possibility will be shared with you. It will not be a course requirement but will be an optional activity in which one can participate.

1. Each week you will click on the class link that corresponds to that week. You should complete the lesson some time during that week.

2. When you go the the weekly lesson, you are to first view the list of topics for the lesson. This is your guide as to what you should learn.

3. Next, complete the pretest (if one is available-not all lessons have pretests). You will receive a score immediately after you take the pretest. The pretest is designed to serve as an advanced organizer for the lesson materials (in other words to motivate you to learn). You should not expect to score high on the pretest. If you did, there would be no need to take the class. Please type your e-mail address in the block that asks for it at the end of the pre-test. This lets me know you have completed the pretest. It has no bearing on your grade unless you are on the borderline. If you are on the borderline and have completed all the pretests during the semester, your grade will be bumped to the higher grade.

4.  One of the benefits of taking a course on-line is the opportunity to experience a multitude of varied materials found on the Internet. Under the list of learning activities there will be a list of web sites, journal articles, papers and other materials to be reviewed. In this class we try to utilize the power of the World Wide Web (WWW). You are to visit each site that is listed under the learning activities and read or view the materials. For some of the materials, you night  need to have the Acrobat Reader on your computer. If you don't have this program, it can be downloaded for free from Adobe.

5. On most weeks you will complete a worksheet that relates to the weekly lesson. That is to be completed and e-mailed (or faxed) to the instructor who designed that particular lesson.  You might want to print out the worksheet early in the lesson and then refer to it as you complete the various learning activities. E-mailed assignments are always graded prior to other types of submissions.

7. You should establish a standard time every week to work on this class and then do it if you are taking the course on the web. You don't want to get behind because it will be hard to catch up. In a typical on-campus class you would spend 3 hours in the classroom and 6-9 hours reading and doing assignments during a week. This class will take similar time commitments.