COURSE DESCRIPTION

This foundation course provides an overview of the theories, models, issues, and policies for community and community economic development in the United States. Beginning with an examination of the theoretical framework for community development and community economic development, the course considers the economic development movement, housing and redevelopment policies, the community development corporation and its role, place-based redevelopment, and neighborhood job creation and planning. Continuing, the course examines recent development strategies and trends. This course concludes by approaching some of the challenges faced by existing community economic development delivery systems and challenges faced by professionals who apply them.

COURSE TOPICS

Perspectives on the beginnings of community development
The Community Economic Development Movement
Community Change through community leadership
Tools of community economic development
Global Economy and Community Economic Development
Trends and Challenges

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

CO 1 Demonstrate a working knowledge of the issues in community development.

CO 2 Summarize the policies that influence community development decisions and approaches, and analyze how they are applied.

CO 3 Compare and contrast how different tools are applied to solve community economic development problems.

CO 4 Critique the global community development movement and its impact on local community economic development strategies.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to complete your coursework. Some course materials may be free, open source, or available from other providers. You can access free or open-source materials by clicking the links provided below or in the module details documents. To purchase course materials, please visit the University's textbook supplier.

Required Textbooks

Phillips, Rhonda & Pitman, Robert H. (Eds.). (2015). An Introduction to Community Development. New York: Routledge.

ISBN-13: 978-0415703567

Green, Gary P. & Haines, Anna (2015). Asset Building and Community Development, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

ISBN-13: 978-1483344034

COURSE STRUCTURE

Community and Economic Development and Leadership is a three-credit online course, consisting of six modules. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

Module 1: Perspectives on the Early Community Development
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 1, CO 2, CO 3
Module 2: The Community Economic Development Movement: Policies, Practice, and Process
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 1, CO 2, CO 3
Module 3: Community Change through Community Leadership
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 1, CO 2, CO 3
Module 4: Tools of Community Economic Development
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 1, CO 2, CO 3
Module 5: Global Economy and Community Economic Development
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 2, CO 3, CO 4
Module 6: Limits and Challenges of Community Economic Development
Course objectives covered in this module: CO 3, CO 4

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in nine online discussion forums, complete five written assignments, participate in one synchronous event, and complete a two-part final project. See below for details.

Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in SafeAssign.

Discussion Forums

You are required to participate in nine discussion forums.

Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Discussion board interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning.

Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your readings. You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete five written assignments. These assignments ask you to discuss, analyze, and participate in local public community meetings. Some of them will involve case studies. All assignments are designed to help you to integrate the theory of community development with the practice of community development. To the extent possible, you will connect with practitioners in the field so that you have first hand accounts of actual community development activities.

Final Project

The capstone project brings together the theory and practice of community development. You will synthesize the readings, research, models and other information contained in the course and course activities with research from the workplace to demonstrate mastery of and the ability to synthesize, integrate, summarize and report on a subject to be developed by you. Take either of the following three approaches:

Meet with your local community development program director to discuss a project which is currently underway. Describe the key components of the project. Include the process the office used to create and implement the project. Connect those goals with the community economic development goals.

Research your local community’s public participating history within the last three years. How was the public noticed? To the extent that you can, why the project is important, what community economic development goals the project meets.

Create a case study on a community economic development project in your community. Discuss the rationale for the project, critique the process and outcome of the project. Describe how you would approach the project and defend your choices.

A full description of the project and its requirements is found in the Final Project area of the course website. Please consult the Course Calendar for the due dates for the final project paper and presentation.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

Online discussions (9)—32%
Written assignments (5)—30%
Synchronous Event (1)—required, but ungraded (complete/incomplete)
Final project—38%

Paper—30%
Presentation—8%

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A	=	93–100	B	=	83–87
A–	=	90–92	C	=	73–82
B+	=	88–89	F	=	Below 73

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.
Take time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State University.
Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.
If you are not familiar with web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the Course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking examinations.
Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC POLICIES

To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.

For more, see: