PAD 4878 - Public Safety Administration Capstone

College of Public Safety Administration

Credit(s): 3
Contact Hours: 47
Effective Term Spring 2023 (615)

Requisites

Admission to Public Safety Administration (Bachelor of Applied Science) (PSA-BAS) or
(Admission to Paralegal Studies (Bachelor of Applied Science) (LEGAL-BAS) and
Prerequisite Permission of the program)

Course Description

This course will afford the student an opportunity to observe and use analytical knowledge and research skills to define and confront a problem encountered by today’s public safety administrators. The student will complete a project dealing with a current public safety issue and make recommendations for implementation of a solution. This course will foster implementation strategies concluding in a process of promoting efficient and effective management in a public safety agency or the student’s chosen field of study. This course will examine the outcome of each student’s individualized leadership plan toward educational and career goals with a personal portfolio developed in the course Foundations of Public Safety Administration course to ensure attainment of program goals.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

  1. The student will demonstrate critical thinking skills in the analysis of an actual contemporary issue within the public safety administration field by:
    1. identifying vital questions and formulating them clearly and precisely.
    2. gathering and assessing relevant information and using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively.
    3. arriving at well-reasoned conclusions and solutions and testing them against relevant criteria and standards.
    4. displaying open-minded thinking within alternative systems of thought and recognizing and assessing their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences.
    5. communicating effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems by utilizing peer review.
  2. The student will develop a detailed plan to address a public safety issue by:
    1. conducting a needs analysis.
    2. defining the problem.
    3. following a structured approach to solving the problem.
    4. recommending solutions.
    5. presenting the plan to a committee of academicians and practitioners.
  3. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the process of applying ethical decision making to public safety administration issues by:
    1. discussing intellectual integrity.
    2. describing fair-mindedness and intellectual unfairness.
    3. discussing evidence and rational thought in formulating conclusions.
    4. identifying the ethical issues associated with social science research.
  4. The student will demonstrate an understanding of personalized analysis and goal achievement by:
    1. completing the personal plan set up in the course Foundations of Public Safety Administration.
    2. describing the acquisition of program goals in a comprehensive journal.
    3. outlining in the comprehensive journal explicit concepts learned in each course throughout the program.

Criteria Performance Standard

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will, with a minimum of 70% accuracy, demonstrate mastery of each of the above stated objectives through classroom measures developed by individual course instructors.

History of Changes

C&I 4/12/05, BOT 5/16/05; Effective 20043(0350). Submitted as 4XXX; SCNS assigned #. C&I 2/27/07, BOT 3/20/07, Effective 20062(0375). C&I Approval: 10/14/2011, BOT Approval: 02/01/2011, Effective Term: Summer 2012 (455). C&I Approval: 02/09/2017, BOT Approval: 03/21/2017, Effective Term: Fall 2017 (535).
C&I Approval: , BOT Approval: 04/18/2023, Effective Term: Spring 2023 (615)

Related Programs

  1. Public Safety Administration (PSA-BAS) (655) (Active)