CJ 809 Issues Course - Elements of Essential Court Operations

Course Descripton: The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to study the essential management infrastructure of court operations; to analyze the intersections of court operations and constitutional mandates related to issues of judicial independence, interdependence, and accountability; and to situate the role of the courts within the communities they serve.  Students will be exposed to five distinct course segments, which will be taught by six instructors.  This course will begin with court budgeting and its relationship to accountability and organizational planning and performance goal-setting.   Human resources management will address the challenges of hiring and retaining talented and dedicated court employees at a time of continual organizational change.  The role of information technology management in serving current court operations while simultaneously answering the call for faster innovation, greater accountability, and transparency, will be explored and analyzed.  Finally, education of judges, court employees, the public, and members of the other branches of government will be presented and analyzed as the catalyst for developing a culture of learning and engagement that forms the expectations and interactions with the judicial branch.  Students will be engaged in the subject matter through readings, group discussions, writing assignments, and analysis.

Student Eligibility:  CJ 809 is a required course for both the Judicial Administration credit-bearing certificate and master’s degree specialization.  Thus, both the certificate and graduate program students are eligible to enroll in this class.

Course Dates:  Classes begin January 7, 2007 and end April 25, 2007.

Tuition:  $1,560

Registration Information:  Dr. Sharon George georges@msu.edu will enroll students in the course.  Registration begins immediately.  Students can enroll up to the date the class begins; however, early enrollment is encouraged. Students that are interested in enrolling, but cannot do so until late in the fall, should contact Dr. George expressing their intentions.