Skagit Valley College

Catalog Course Search Details

 Course Title:   Public Safety Employer/Employee Relations

 Title Abbreviation:   PUB SAFETY EMPLOY RELATI

 Department:    CJ

 Course #:    125

 Credits:    2

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    2

 CIP:    430103

 EPC:    832

 REV:    2018


 Course Description  

Introduction to dynamics of employer/employee relations in the public safety workplace. Examines professional standards of employee behavior, working conditions, job descriptions, conditions of employment, essential functions, and minimum industry standards. Explores relationships between employees, unions/guilds/benevolent orders, and administrative/supervisory personnel. Discusses collective bargaining agreements, compensation packages, disciplinary processes, and employee advisory services. Open to Criminal Justice majors.

 Prerequisite  

None

Additional Course Details

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 22

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0


Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Vocational Preparatory Required for ATA degree  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
N/A

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Provide examples of professional standards that are both general and specific to the public safety workplace.
  2. Be knowledgeable regarding working conditions found in public safety workplaces, and how they may differ from those found in the private sector.
  3. Understand the terms and conditions of employment, essential functions of a position, and knowledge/skills/abilities (KSA�s).
  4. Show how institutional living in public safety employment affects the employer-employee relationship.
  5. Define, and give examples of, minimum industry standards for the student�s career path.
  6. Compare and contrast open and closed shops, unions, guilds, and benevolent orders/associations and their role in public safety employment.
  7. Recite the steps in a progressive disciplinary action process, including informal and formal settings.
  8. Identify key components in a public safety agency�s compensation package for its employees.
  9. Understand appropriate responses in dealing with workplace issues such as harassment, discriminatory behavior, shift work, disagreement between employees, and breaches of ethics and professional conduct.
  10. Be cognizant of leadership and management styles in the public safety workplace.
  11. Know the roles of the various titles in the public safety organizational structure/chain of command.
  12. Identify the role that shop stewards or employee liaisons/ombudsmen play in public safety employment.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and facts related to a specific discipline.
2.2 Analyze issues and develop questions within a discipline.
2.4 Evaluate decisions by analyzing outcomes and the impact of actions.
2.6 Recognize how the value and biases in different disciplines can affect the ways in which data is analyzed.
2.8 Describe how one’s own preconceptions, biases and values affect one’s response to new and ambiguous situations.
2.9 Apply and/or create problem-solving strategies to successfully adapt to unpredictable and/or changing environments.

3. Communication

Definition: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
3.2 Recognize, produce and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal, group, and public speaking skills.
3.3 Demonstrate effective listening skills.
3.5 Recognize, comprehend, and use non-verbal behaviors appropriate to a given context.
3.6 Recognize, comprehend, and use visual communication appropriate to a given context.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.2 Understand, value and respect human differences and commonalities as they relate to issues of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and culture.
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.
4.4 Demonstrate effective communication across differences in human communities and cultures.
4.5 Adapt to and function effectively in communities and cultures different from one's own.
4.6 Utilize ethical practice in relation to diverse communities and cultures for the promotion of equity and social justice.

5. Global & Local Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding the complexity and interdependence of, and stewardship responsibilities to, local and global communities and environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
5.1 Understand the impact of their own and other’s actions on local/global communities and environments and how those communities/environments affect them in turn.
5.2 Identify diverse communities and their shared/competing interests and develop strategies for prevention and resolution of conflict.
5.3 Understand the consequences of choices as they relate to local/global community and environmental issues.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
6.1 Identify ethical and healthy choices and apply these personally, socially, academically, and professionally.
6.2 Demonstrate standards of professionalism in manner, appearance, and setting appropriate to the context, including the classroom, workplace, and community.
6.3 Apply successful organizational strategies of planning, goal setting, prioritizing, resolving conflict, and managing time to specific goals and/or projects.

10. Technology

Definition: Understanding the role of technology in society and using technology appropriately and effectively.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
10.2 Demonstrate an understanding of legal, ethical, and environmental issues in the use and misuse of technology.

Course Contents

  1. Professional standards.
  2. Working conditions and public safety.
  3. Terms and conditions of employment.
  4. Minimum industry standards for career path.
  5. Open and closed shops, unions, guilds, and benevolent orders/associations.
  6. Progressive disciplinary action process.
  7. Compensation package.
  8. Appropriate responses in dealing with workplace issues.
  9. Leadership and management styles.
  10. Organizational structure/chain of command.
  11. Shop stewards or employee liaisons/ombudsmen.
  12. Classes will be composed of modules that are approved by, or in keeping with, the practices of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Additionally, these modules and classroom presentations will be reflective of local agency policies in the public safety industry.