Issues in Personnel Selection (PSYC ) Spring 2013

Transcription

1 INSTRUCTOR Dr. Mark Bowler Rawl 111 COURSE MEETING TIME Wednesday, 12:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., Rawl 205 OFFICE HOURS Monday & Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Tuesday & Thursday: 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (or by appointment) WEBSITE Announcements, assignments, data, discussion questions, notes, readings, and any anything else deemed relevant to this course, will almost always be posted via the course Blackboard (Bb) site: REQUIRED TEXTBOOK blackboard.ecu.edu Gatewood, R. A., Field, H. S., & Barrick, M. (2010). Human resource selection (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. OTHER REQUIRED READING MATERIALS* Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2003). Principles for the validation and use of personnel selection procedures. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Civil Service Commission, Department of Labor, & Department of Justice (1978). Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection and Assessment. *Available on the Bb site. REQUIRED COURT DECISIONS* Boyd v. Ozark Air Lines Burlington Industries v. Ellerth Connecticut v. Teal Dukes v Wal-Mart.pdf ( KB) Gratz v. Bollinger Griggs v. Duke Power Co. Grutter v. Bollinger McDonnell Douglas v. Green Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins Regents of the University of California v. Bakke Ricci et al v. DeStefano et al.pdf ( KB) Rudder v. District of Columbia Smith et at. v. City of Jackson Spurlock v. United Airlines Steelworkers v. Weber Sutton v. United Airlines Texas Dept. Of Communicty Affaris v. Burdine United States v. Gerogia Power Ward's Cove Packing Co. v. Antonio Washington v. Davis Watson v. Fort Worth Bank and Trust *Available on the Bb site.

2 COURSE DESCRIPTION The scope of employee selection is so broad that it is exceptionally difficult to cover in appropriate depth all of the relevant issues in a single semester. Regardless, selection is so central to the practice of I/O psychology that indepth of coverage is essential. Thus, in order to balance this depth vs. breadth issue while still supporting both a research and practice orientation, this course will be divided into three phases. Phase 1 General Issues in Employee Selection The first phase of this course will provide a review of the fundamental principles of employee selection. We will generally follow the Gatewood, Field, and Barrick (2008) text, starting with the issues associated with measurement and then moving to the legal issues, job analysis and performance criteria, and finally predictors. Class time will be spent discussing numerous issues raised by both the text and additional readings (e.g., SIOP Principles, EEOC Uniform Guidelines, SCOTUS decisions, etc.). Phase 2 Application The second phase will focus upon the application of concepts covered in the previous two phases. Data will be provided and students will have the opportunity to develop their own selection systems and compare their choices with those of their classmates. Additionally, this will provide students with the necessary skills to complete the selection project that is due at the end of the semester. Phase 3 Technical Issues in Employee Selection The final phase will focus on many of the technical issues associated with selection. For example, issues such as banding, cutoff scores, difference scores, fairness and justice, utility, and validity generalization, will be addressed. In addition, we will discuss numerous constructs and their application to employee selection. This phase will adopt a qualitative focus but it is also intended to bridge the gap between research and practice. Furthermore, students will be given the opportunity to assist in developing the topics and reading lists for this phase and will be responsible for leading class discussion of these topics. ATTENDANCE For each class you miss, half a letter grade will be deducted from your final grade. Similarly, if you are more than 10 minutes late for the beginning of a class, half a letter grade will be deducted from your final grade. If you are a member of an athletic team of involved with a sanctioned campus organization that will require you to miss class, please make sure to notify me of your status immediately. Moreover, you must provide me with the dates that you will be missing within the first two weeks of the semester. POLICY I will respond to any and all messages that I am sent. However, there are two caveats to this policy. First and foremost, every that you send me must have the following eight characters as the first characters in the subject line: PSYC6420. All of my s are automatically sorted into their respective course folder. Without these characters your will not be sorted appropriately and will most likely not receive a response. Second, grammar and spelling are of paramount concern. If you send me an that is rife with misspellings and/or incorrect grammar I will send it back to you and ask you to correct the mistakes before I respond to your question/request. Similarly, you will be resubmitting any messages that contain any digital slang (e.g., using ne for any ; GR8 for great ; plz for please ) or inappropriate/unprofessional language (e.g., Am I just SoL? ).

3 EVALUATIONS Final grades in this course will be based on multiple components including: (1) having the required textbook on the first day of class, (2) a written summary of a relevant court decision, (3) presenting your court case summary to the class and facilitating a brief discussion of its merits, (4) a job analysis, (4) an oral presentation of the results of your job analysis, (5) presenting a special topic and facilitating a class discussion of its merits, (6) applied selection project, (7) presentation of your selection project, (8) your overall participation in the class, (9) an oral final exam. Court Decision Summaries When discussing the legal issues related to employee selection, each student will be required to read and summarize a relevant court decision. These are to be clear and concise in their discussion of the (1) circumstances surrounding the case, (2) the legal question at hand, and (3) the court s decision. The points related to this aspect of the course are awarded on a pass/fail basis. Either you adequately and accurately prepare a quality summary or you do not. Based on the discussion you may be required to update/correct some or all of your summary. Please note that you will be completing this assignment alone (i.e., there is no collaboration allowed). In addition to preparing a written summary, you are expected to present your summary to the class and facilitate a brief discussion on its merits. Job Analysis In teams of two, students will conduct a job analysis on a position approved by the instructor. Based on the collected information, each team should create a job description and identify (1) the position s tasks/responsibilities, (2) KSAOs, (3) required education, licensure, or certifications, (4) required tools and equipment, (5) working conditions, (6) reporting structure, and (7) other relevant information. Additionally, several critical incidents should be highlighted as well as relevant potential predictors and measures of performance. Please note that you will be completing this assignment alone (i.e., there is no collaboration allowed). Job Analysis Presentation Each team will give a succinct and informative presentation detailing the results of their job analysis. This presentation is to be no more than 10 minutes long. All presentations will be timed and ended at 10 minutes regardless of the amount of material remaining. Special Topic Discussion Facilitation Students will be expected to facilitate the class discussion on a special topic once during the semester. Topics are chosen by the students with the approval of the instructor. Potential topics include the following: (1) Assessment centers, (2) banding, (3) bias in personnel decisions, (4) cutoff scores, (5) difference scores, (6) executive selection, (6) fairness, (7) international legal environment, (8) intuition in employee selection, (9) justice, (10) meta-analysis and validity generalization, and (11) utility. The points related to this aspect of the course are awarded on a pass/fail basis. Either you successfully facilitate the discussion or you do not. Please note that you will be completing this assignment with at least one other student in the class. Class Participation Students are expected to be adequately prepared for every class meeting and actively participate in class discussions. The points related to this aspect of the course are awarded on a pass/fail basis. Either you regularly participate or you do not.

4 Selection Project During the semester, students will be presented with a set of data for which they must generate a selection model. This model will be judged based on four primary characteristics: (1) the model s validity, (2) the model s utility, (3) clarity of presentation, and (4) the model s adverse impact. Unlike the rest of the grades in this course, the grading of these assignments is relative to one another. That is, grades on this assignment are curved. Selection Project Presentation Each selection project team will give a succinct and informative presentation detailing their research proposal. Each student should highlight the literature supporting the idea and the methods for conducting the study. This presentation is to be no more than 15 minutes long. All presentations will be timed and ended at 15 minutes regardless of the amount of material remaining. Final Exam The final exam will be a one-on-one discussion with the instructor that will cover all materials addressed during the semester. It will be comprised of approximately 10 questions and will take one to two hours to complete. These individual exams will be administered during the final weeks of the semester with no more than one exam scheduled on any given day. GRADING RUBRIC Points ~Percent Textbook 50 5% Court Decision Summary % Court Decision Discussion Facilitation 50 5% Job Analysis Project % Job Analysis Presentation % Special Topic Discussion Facilitation 50 5% Class Participation 50 5% Selection Project % Selection Project Presentation % Final Exam % % FINAL GRADES Your final grade for the course will be based upon the rubric below. Please note that I view the Minimum Points as being the threshold for the particular grade. There is no rounding-up of grades (e.g., an 89.98% does not get an A). You must achieve the minimum number of points for the given grade. Final Grade Minimum Points Minimum Percent A % B % > X 80% C % > X 70% F < 70%

5 LAST ASSIGNMENTS & MAKE-UP POLICY Issues in Personnel Selection (PSYC ) Failure to turn in an assignment at the start of class on the day it is due will incur a penalty of one letter grade. If the assignment is not submitted within the next 24 hours, an additional letter grade will be deducted. This pattern will continue until the assignment is submitted. Because of the scheduling requirement and the due date of grades, the final exam must be taken on the day that it is scheduled or you will receive an incomplete in the class and will have to take the exam the following semester. CELL PHONES, LAPTOP COMPUTERS, AND AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDERS The use of cell phones and laptop computers is prohibited during class meeting times without my consent. Similarly, any audio or video recordings of class meetings are prohibited without my consent. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic integrity is expected of every East Carolina University student. Academically violating the Honor Code consists of cheating, plagiarism, falsification, or attempting to cheat, plagiarize, or falsify. Cheating is the giving or receiving of any unauthorized aid or assistance or the giving or receiving of unfair advantage on any form of academic work. Plagiarism is copying the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and adopting those as one's original work. Falsification is any statement of untruth, either verbal or written, regarding any circumstances relating to academic work. SPECIAL ASSISTANCE East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Slay 138 ( Voice/TTY). EMERGENCY WEATHER In the event of a weather emergency, information can be found online at the ECU website ( or by phone ( ). Please do not contact me to determine if we are meeting for class. If ECU has not officially canceled classes then we will be meeting. CONTINUITY OF INSTRUCTION In the event that face-to-face classes are suspended due to a pandemic (e.g., H1N1) or other catastrophe (e.g., hurricane) this class will continue via the internet for those that are able to participate. Using online chat and/or video conferencing, our class will still meet during our normal class hours and maintain the same standards as our face-to-face meetings (e.g., participation in the discussion; submission of research proposal summaries). Furthermore, the noted rules of attendance will be utilized.

6 COURSE SCHEDULE Week Date Topic Reading Assignment 2 1 1/16 Introduction to Employee Selection GFB Chapters 1 & 3 Textbook Due 2 1/23 Reliability & Validity GFB Chapters 4 & 5 SIOP Principles 3 1/30 Employment Law I 4 GFB Chapter 2 Court Decision Summary Due Court Cases I 4 2/6 Employment Law II Court Cases II Uniform Guidelines 5 2/13 Job Analysis & Performance Appraisal GFB Chapters 7 & 15 Austin & Villinova (1992) 6 2/20 Recruitment & Selection GFB 8 & 6 7 2/27 Predictors of Job Performance I 4 GFB Chapters 9, 10, & /6 Predictors of Job Performance II GFB Chapters 12, 13, & /13 Spring Break - No Class 10 3/20 Job Analysis Project Due Job Analysis Presentations 11 3/27 Special Topic 1, 2, & 3 4 Readings on Bb /3 Special Topic 4, 5, & 6 Readings on Bb /10 Special Topic 7, 8, & 9 Readings on Bb /17 Selection Projects Due Selection Project Presentations I 14 4/24 Selection Project Presentations II 4 4/25 to 5/9 One-on-one Final Exams 1 Subject to change based upon time and student needs. 2 To be completed prior to class. 3 Topics will be decided at the beginning of the semester. 4 Please note that these class meetings will not start until 1:00 p.m. Items in bold text are due that day at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. GFB = Gatewood, Field, & Barrick (2010).