Vermont Legislative Research Service (POLS 230)

Syllabus
Vermont Legislative Research Service (POLS 230)
Spring 2016
Professors Bartlett (Lead Professor), Burgin, and Gierzynski
See Political Science Department Web Site for contact info
Teaching Assistant: Dahne Duffy, [email protected]
Hybrid Course: Meeting Times Vary
Scheduled Tuesday, Thursday meeting times: 10:05-11:20|
This class offers an outstanding opportunity for you to apply what you have learned thus far in your tenure at
UVM in working on projects that could have a real impact on the state of Vermont. The class will operate as a
research service for the Vermont State Legislature. During the semester we will carry out research requested
by members of the state House and Senate. You will have the job of finding and presenting accurate and
objective information to lawmakers. This means that you will have the heavy responsibility of representing
the University of Vermont to the rest of the state. How well this works will depend a lot upon your drive,
ingenuity, initiative, and level of maturity and responsibility.
The course will begin with a very quick survey of state and legislative politics, Vermont politics, and the
methods and tools we will use. The rest of the semester will consist of carrying out research for the legislature
and writing reports on that research.
Course Requirements
This course will require that you invest at least 12 hours per week in your research projects. You should
expect that a minimum of 4 of those hours will be held in Montpelier in the State House (basically ½ a day per
week) for the first few weeks of the semester, and that you will need to return to Montpelier occasionally
later in the semester. You will be working on your research with your team independently, with the faculty
and the Teaching Assistant available for advice by email (or in person with an appointment). You may also be
asked to answer quick requests during office hours to get information back quickly to the legislators.
Required Readings
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Most of the reading that you will do for this class will occur in the process of doing the
research on the policy questions put to us by legislators. The reading will be specific to
the policy question you are researching and will likely include scholarly journal articles in a
number of different disciplines, scholarly books related to the policy question, papers by
other research organizations such as the National Conference of State Legislators and the
Congressional Research Service, internet site materials from state and national
government agencies, court rulings, legislation, and state statutes. Read these materials
carefully since these are the pieces you will need to understand in order to write your
reports.
To provide you with a means of assessing the veracity of information you will be required
to read:
 Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. Unspun: Finding Facts in
a World of Disinformation. Random House, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4000-6566-0
To familiarize you with the Vermont legislative process and the legislative process in
general you will be required to read:
 Peverill Squire and Gary Moncrief. State Legislatures Today, 2nd
ed. Rowman and Littlefield, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4422-4749-9
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To familiarize yourself with the essence of succinct clear writing and the elements of full
and standard citation of all sources used, you will be required to read and use:
 William Strunk and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, 4th ed.
Longman, 1999. 978-0205309023
 The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. University of Chicago Press,
2010. 978-0226104201
To familiarize you with current and past policy issues that the Vermont legislature has
considered, read:
 VLRS Reports written in past years on http://www.uvm.edu/~vlrs/
 Anthony Gierzynski and Tom Rice, “Students as Policy Researchers for State
Legislatures,” in David Redlawsk and Tom Rice (editors) Civic Service (2009)
Grade Breakdown
Your grade in this course will be based mainly on the research you conduct for the legislature.
You will be expected to conduct the research and write 5 reports (of 3-6 pages in length) as part
of a team (each report will need to be rewritten several times before submission to faculty for
review and then at least once after faculty review). The quality and quantity of your input into
this research will determine 70% of your grade. Over the first several weeks of the course we
will introduce you to legislative and Vermont politics and research methods through a number
of reading assignments. You will be tested on your comprehension of those reading
assignments with a series of quizzes, which will represent 20% of your grade (see below). Ten
percent of your grade will be based on your overall contribution to this endeavor (including
your help in answering quick questions during office hours and your work in Montpelier
representing VLRS before the legislature or legislative committees). In sum, your grade will be
based on the following components as weighted:
Group research papers
Quizzes, paper
Overall contribution
70%
20%
10%
Because this course operates as a workshop where most of the work you will do will be as part
of your team, this course requires a commitment that you attend all of your team’s meetings.
Obviously, there may be an instance or two that circumstances prevent you from attending, but
repeated absences will significantly detract from your ability to provide a timely and useful
service to the legislature and ultimately will seriously harm your grade.
For the semester, Professor Bartlett will be assigning you your grade with input from Professor
Burgin and Professor Gierzynski.
Classroom Protocol
1.
Students are expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes
and research team meetings.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Students are expected to arrive on time and stay in class with their research teams until
the meeting period ends. If a student knows in advance that she will need to leave
early, she should notify the instructor and team leader before the class meeting begins.
Students are expected to treat faculty and fellow students with respect. For example,
students must not disrupt class by leaving and reentering during class, must not distract
class by making noise, and must be attentive to comments being made by the instructor
and peers.
Plagiarism: Students are responsible for knowing what constitutes plagiarism. A student
who plagiarizes material for VLRS reports will fail this course.
Instructors will inform students of any special additions.
Failure to follow this protocol will lead to whatever grade penalty we deem appropriate.
Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each
semester students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full
week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester.
Accommodations will be provided to eligible students with disabilities. Please obtain an
accommodation letter from the ACCESS office and see one of the instructors early in the course
to discuss what accommodations will be necessary. If you are unfamiliar with ACCESS, visit
their website at http://www.uvm.edu/access to learn more about the services they provide.
ACCESS: A-170 Living Learning Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405. PH:
802-656-7753, TTY: call 711 (relay), Fax: 802-656-0739, Email: [email protected], Instant
Messenger: UVMaccess. General office hours: 8:30am – 4:30pm Monday through Friday. Call
to make an appointment.
Full engagement is expected each week to complete the work of the course in a timely way.
We have assumed that some of us might be briefly ill or have unexpected emergencies and so
we have tried to build in as much flexibility as possible to accommodate. But there is no hiding
the fact a research course like this one moves ahead quickly. If you fall behind your team must
still move ahead, and your learning and grades will suffer, perhaps grievously. It is up to you to
prepare for the contingency of unexpected illness by keeping up with all work while healthy, so
that you can take advantage of maximum flexibility in the event of an emergency or possible
onset of severe illness.
VRLS Reports, Teamwork, and Excellence
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Room 516 Old Mill is available for use of research teams, either for team meetings or to consult
with Teaching Assistant Dahne Duffy. This office is normally locked, so please arrange for use of
the room in advance.
All reports must be written by all members of each team. Even if someone else composes the
initial drafts of some portion of a report, you must take ownership of every word and
punctuation mark in each report produced by your team. You may and should consult with
Professors Bartlett, Burgin and Gierzynski and Teaching Assistant Duffy while writing your
reports, but all draft reports must be carefully and critically reviewed by all members of a team
BEFORE the draft report is submitted (to Prof. Bartlett) for review by one of the professors.
Each team member must include a completed checklist with each submission certifying that the
report has been done as well as it can be and that each author takes responsibility for the
quality of the entire report.
After a report is reviewed by a professor, you will be required to undertake revisions and
improvements. After it is finally approved, it will be published and submitted to the requesting
legislator or committee. You may be asked by a legislator to answer questions in Montpelier or
even to present you work to a committee. Be prepared to say yes to such requests!
Schedule
We will start the semester with a number of training sessions that are designed to prepare you
for the research work that you will do as a Student Researcher for the VLRS (training sessions
from 10:05 to 11:20 on the dates specified). Near the midpoint and at the end of the semester
we will meet for you to present your work and offer insights to the other teams. The rest of the
time you will spend conducting research with your team and consulting Professors Bartlett,
Burgin and Gierzynski and Teaching Assistant Duffy.
You will work in teams of three; we will assign teams no later than 2 February. Each team will
be expected to complete five reports of typical difficulty and length (if there are bigger projects,
the professors may decide to count them as two or 1.5 reports). Reports will be chosen from a
list that Prof. Gierzynski will compile by a canvass of legislators. If a legislator suggests to you a
possible research topic, or a follow up, please pass that on to Prof. Gierzynski. Teams have a
say in which reports they undertake, but early in the semester we will encourage you to
undertake work that we think has a chance of affecting policy this session of the legislature.
Your team should choose the topic of its first report and begin work on it no later than 2
February. A polished draft is due (to Prof. Bartlett) no later than February 23. Subsequently,
another report will be due every two weeks (excluding spring break): March 15, March 29, April
12, and April 26. Please consult with Prof. Bartlett if any of these due dates are problematic
(completing a report early is never a problem!).
Date
Topic
Assignment
Measurement
January
Course overview and
Squire and Moncrief, chapters 1, 3, 4
300-400 word
4
19
purpose
January
21
Doing the research
January
26
February
2
Evaluating
information
The Vermont
Legislature and
Vermont Politics
Writing professional
reports
February
9
→ 3 VLRS reports of your choosing from
www.uvm.edu/~vlrs
→ Gierzynski and Rice, “Students as
Policy Researchers for State Legislatures,”
in David Redlawsk and Tom Rice (editors)
Civic Service (2009)
→ Jackson and Jamieson, Unspun
→ Squire and Moncrief, chapters 5, 6
essay on
"What is the
importance of
information in
the legislative
process?"
Information
literacy
workshop
with Scott
Schaffer
Quiz on
Unspun
Quiz on the
readings
→ Strunk and White.
→ The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed.
→ VRLS Polished Draft Report
Submission Checklist
Quiz on the
readings
submit to
Prof. Bartlett
formal
presentation
February
23
March 15
First report due
no class meeting
Early lessons learned
May 3
Final reports and
presentations
A brief (6-10 minute) team presentation:
"Our First VRLS Report: Keys to Success
and Lessons for Others"
A brief (6-10 minute) team presentation:
"Our Five Reports, Their Reception, and
Any Impact So Far"
5
formal
presentation