Syllabus

Schedule

Course Schedule:

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday. 

Week 1:	Aug 31 – Sep 7
Week 2:	Sep 7 – Sept. 14
Week 3:	Sep 14 – Sep 21
Week 4:	Sep 21 – Sep 28
Week 5:	Sep 28 – Oct 5
Week 6:	Oct 5 – Oct 12
Week 7:	Oct 12 – Oct 19
Week 8:	Oct 19 – Oct 23 (Sunday)

Weekly Schedule:

Week 1
Course Overview; Brief Introduction to the World of Public Health, Health Care Finance, and the Budget Process

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 1, 2, 15

Lecture:

• Introduction to Financial Management

Forum Discussion

• Original Contribution:

As outlined in the assignment schedule of this course, the culminating assignment is a grant application. This week, you will prepare to complete this application by drafting the following components:

• A short description of the organization and department for which you will seek funding.
• A mission statement of the department or organization.
• A discussion of the customer, deliverables, possible revenue streams, and grant opportunities available to this department.
• A spreadsheet you intend to use to create your budget. Use information in Baker and this week’s lecture to develop this. 

You are welcome to model your department after a real organization; however, you should not use information that would be considered confidential or proprietary without the permission of the organization. 

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

• Peer Response:

Respond to the original contribution of a colleague. Propose suggestions that might strengthen their budget sheet. Additionally, make comments on any aspect of their project that you think will help improve their ultimate application’s chances of being funded. 

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Week 2
Staffing, Contracting, Outsourcing, and the Procurement Process

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 9, 13, 21
• Yallof J, Morgan C. Beyond performance standards: How to get the most from your outsourcing relationship. Benefits Quarterly. 2003(3):17-22. Article available by searching UNE’s Full Text Journals.
• Optional: Chinman M, Imm P, Wandersman A. Getting to outcomes 2004: Promoting accountability through methods and tools for planning, implementation, and evaluation. Rand Corporation. 2004. http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR101.html Accessed August 1, 2016

Lecture:

• Staffing Models Lecture
• Staffing Model (XLS)

Forum Discussion

• Original Contribution:

Conduct an independent search for a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, TED Talk, YouTube video, or other open source of information that discusses outsourcing. Using the week’s materials, discuss what you believe to be the barriers and issues caused by outsourcing.

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

• Peer Response

Respond to the original contribution of a colleague. Add to their discussion by suggesting additional barriers or issues they may have overlooked or by asking questions that deepen their perspective. Reference the week’s materials to support your feedback.

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Week 3
Planning, Evaluating, and Understanding Revenue Streams

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 20 
• Hunter P, Pond K, Jagals P, Cameron J. An assessment of the costs and benefits of interventions aimed at improving rural community water supplies in developed countries. Science of the Total Environment. 407 (2009):3681-3685. http://www.sciencedirect.com.une.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0048969709002496 

Lectures and Spreadsheet:

• Revenue Expenses and Liabilities Lecture

Forum Discussion

• Original Contribution:

Conduct an independent search for a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, TED Talk, YouTube video, or other open source of information that discusses revenue streams and planning. Using the week’s materials, discuss the extent to which you think the revenue streams described in your source are consistent with the needs of the customers in the respective organization.

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

• Peer Response:

Respond to the original contribution of a colleague. Discuss how their response to the prompt contributes to your own understanding of revenue streams. Reference the week’s materials to support your feedback.

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Grant Application Assignment 1: Staffing Model with ERE worksheet. Staffing requirements will shape your program and budget. With this in mind, the first step in completing the course’s grant application will be to define your personnel requirements in the form of a staffing model. The goal of this assignment is to determine what personnel you will need, and then attach expenses to those positions.

1. Determine the positions you will need. Write one to two sentence descriptions for each. 
2. Create an expected weekly schedule for each position to estimate the weekly number of staff hours. Then protract those hours out to a full year, making the budget fit your operational periods.
3. Prepare a brief justification for your staff positions and time spent. 
4. Estimate a salary for each position. The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers resources for this: Overview of BLS Wage Data by Area and Occupation and State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (Maine).
5. Calculate Employee Related Expenses (ERE). Typically, minimum expenses include local and federal unemployment taxes, employer paid portion of health insurance, and social security. Some organizations have additional costs, such as IRA matching contributions and fringe benefit packages. Determine what is applicable by reviewing laws in your state and the IRS publications on IRS.gov, such as Understanding Employment Taxes. A standard rule to follow when creating your budget is to include an additional 22% of personnel costs for ERE. 
6. A value must be placed on volunteer hours. This involves a payroll portion and an in kind portion. For example, BLS data indicate that an environmental health scientist in Maine costs a business a median wage of $23.56 per hour; therefore, if your staffing includes a volunteer environmental health scientist, your budget will need to account $23.56 per hour for that position. Read Volunteer Labor and Its Impact on the Budget to understand this. Each state has an average wage for volunteer time, which is not minimum wage. See the data at the Independent Sector’s State Values of Volunteer Time.

Use the data gathered in steps 1 through 6 to create your personnel budget. On each line item of your spreadsheet, insert an explanation or description, as well as the source of the data you used to calculate the cost. In addition to your spreadsheet, include your  justification for positions and time spent (step 3). This can be included within your spreadsheet file (please use “wrap text” for the cell so that the text is in full view).

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Week 4
Financial Administration, Assets, Liabilities, and Money Management

Reading:

• Baker: Chapters 7, 8, 19, 22
• Stulz R. Six ways companies mismanage risk. Harvard Business Review. March 2009:86-94. Article available by searching UNE’s Full Text Journals.
• Honore P, Lesneski C, Zelman W. Introducing a set of public health financial indicators. APHA Learning Institute, 2007. https://stream.une.edu/hosted/gph/gph725Mod6_docs/mod6Public_Health_Fin_Indicators_6.pdf
• Honore P, Lesneski C, Zelman W. Strategic use of financial indicators: Performance measurement and strategy. https://stream.une.edu/hosted/gph/gph725Mod6_docs/mod6Strategic_Indicators_6.pdf

Lecture:

• There is no lecture this week.

Forum Discussion 

• Original Contribution:

There are a number of financial ratios used in health care. To evaluate your proposal, apply one financial ratio of your own design and one financial ratio presented in this week’s materials or other literature. Include references as appropriate. You might get some ideas by linking concepts from the Honore presentations with the data presented on the website of World Life Expectancy http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-by-county (Accessed August 4, 2016)

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

• Peer Response:

Respond to the original contribution of one colleague. Provide feedback on the appropriateness of the ratio used. In addition, suggest two additional ratios that would help them determine the value of their project.

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Week 5

Strategic Management

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 10, 11, 12,14, 17, 18
• Knowledge@Wharton. What’s A Human Life Worth in Dollars and Cents? Forbes.com.
  May 2, 2008. Accessed August 4, 2016: http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/02/health-care-reform-ent-law- cx_kw_0501whartonlifeworth.html

Lectures and Spreadsheet:

• Financial Ratios Lecture
• Financial Reports Lecture
• Indirect Allocation (.XLS)

Forum Discussion

• Original Contribution:

One of the concepts of financial management is that of “carrying over” money from one fiscal year to the next. Choose one of the following sides of this practice and defend your reasoning: Argument 1: Carryover is a good practice that encourages managers to be efficient and to not spend money recklessly at the end of the fiscal year. Argument 2: Carryover creates needless reserves of money that could be used for other important purposes. 

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

• Peer Response:

Respond to the original contribution of one colleague. Choose someone who defended the same argument as you. Come at their argument from the other side and make at least two points that support that argument. For example, if you chose to defend Argument 1, choose to respond to a colleague who also chose Argument 1. In your response, defend Argument 2. Make at least two points that support Argument 2. This is an exercise in critical thinking, whereby you are required to understand an argument from two different perspectives. 

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Grant Application Assignment 2: Completed Application. A standard federal grant application is provided as a template. Completion of all sections, however, is not required for this assignment. Here is an outline of what is expected:

• Program Director/Principal Investigator information
• Project summary and relevance, including financial needs, strategic plan, and staffing
• Key personnel

The budget section of the application is due Week 7. 

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM

Week 6
Capital Budgets

Readings:

• Baker: Chapter 16

Lecture and Spreadsheet:

• Capital Budgets Lecture
• Capital Budget (.XLS)

Grant Application Assignment 3: Capital Expenditures Worksheet. The purpose of this assignment is to overlay the principles of the time value of money with the operating budget. In effect, you will justify why a capital expenditure should be made and how it will impact the financial operations of the program. Use the example below to create a capital expenditure worksheet that provides cost and justification for a chosen expense for your program. 

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Example: A van purchased to transfer customers costs $40,000. The loan period is ten years, making the interest $20,000. Operating costs will be an additional $50,000 for the salary of a driver plus $10,000 for insurance, maintenance, and fuel. To meet these costs, revenue will need to be increased by $66,000 each year. If the van is estimated to pick up two patients per hour for eight hours a day, five days per week, for 50 weeks per year, it can be projected that patient numbers will increase by 1,600 per year, which will move capacity from 63% to 81%. This, in turn, will increase revenue by $80,000 (1600 patients x $50/visit). This is presented in the following table:

Capital Investment	Cost
Van loan	$40,000
Loan interest	$20,000
Driver	$50,000
Insurance, maintenance, and fuel	$10,000
Additional annual revenue needed	$66,000

Increase in number of patients served per year: 1600 x $50/patient = $80,000

Annual revenue projection: $80,000 – $66,000 = $14,000

Week 7
Strategic Planning – Putting It all together

Reading:

• Baker: Chapters 23, 24, 25, 26
• Honore P, Lesneski C, Zelman W. Strategic use of financial indicators: Performance measurement and strategy. https://stream.une.edu/hosted/gph/gph725Mod6_docs/mod6Strategic_Indicators_6.pdf
• Kaissi A,Begun J. Strategic planning processes and hospital financial performance. Journal of Healthcare Management. 2008;53(3):197-209. Article available by searching UNE’s Full Text Journals.

Lecture:

• Strategic Management Lecture

Grant Application Assignments 4 and 5: Final Budget and Executive Summary. There are two parts to the final assignment of your grant application:

The first is to complete and submit your final budget worksheet. Ensure that it includes your staffing and ERE costs, as well as other expense areas. Show the grant you applied for as a revenue stream.

The second part of the final assignment is to write an executive summary,  which is a discussion that provides your funder with a succinct abstract of the key requirements of your application. Introduce your program and communicate its value to the community. Specific components of your executive summary include deliverables; metrics for success; and budget explanation:

• Deliverables: Describe what you will provide to the community or funder.
• Metrics for success: Explain at least two financial ratios from the Honore presentations included in Week 4. Specific budget numbers do not need to be integrated in your discussion of the metrics for success.
• Explanation of your budget:  Include a ratio of your own choosing, describe why the ratio is relevant, and what an acceptable ratio for your program would be. In your budget discussion, integrate a peer-reviewed article to support your acceptable ratio assertion and what you can do to either stabilize or change it. 

Due Wednesday by 11:59 PM EST

Week 8
Budget Approvals, Accounting and Final Exam

Readings and Lecture:

• There are no readings or lectures this week.

Final Exam. The final exam contains 20 questions drawn from readings from the textbook.

Due Sunday by 11:59 PM EST

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• Public Health Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/public-health/
• Library Tutorial: Find an article
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Information Technology Services (ITS)

• ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.

Attendance Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.