ANIMAL SPECIFIC COURSES (18 hours)

Special Topics in Animal Sheltering (may vary year to year)

The course reviews the history of animal sheltering and municipal animal control, evolving trends in the keeping of companion animals, and contemporary policy questions relevant to the work of animal care and control agencies.  These include such topics as the relationship between humane societies and the veterinary community, the legal status of animals, the feral cat dilemma, the debate over limited vs. open admission shelter policies, the hoarding phenomenon, and exotic animal concerns.

Special Topics — Animals and Public Policy

This course will provide an overview of public policy and current advocacy in the areas of farm animals, wildlife, companion animals, and research animals. From the 3Rs to the five freedoms, students will gain a working knowledge of current domestic and global policy debates related to animal protection. The course requires students to develop a series of memos, which provide an opportunity to explore specific policies in depth and enhance policy analysis and professional writing skills.

Special Topics — Animals, Advocacy, and Corporate Change

Corporations have long been a target for social movements in general and the animal protection movement in particular. Corporations affect the lives and welfare of animals in a variety of ways — through animal testing, slaughter, use of products, captivity, modification of habitat, and advertising related to animal use activities. The course will review the growing body of social science literature on strategies to influence corporate change. Using case studies, the course will focus on how the animal protection movement has employed negotiations, letter writing campaigns, shareholder resolutions, boycotts, shopping guides, protests, media, and litigation to change corporate behavior toward animals.

First Strike®: Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence

During the past two decades, the relationship between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence--once a subject of common anecdotal knowledge--has been substantiated by a significant body of work in social science.  Participants in this course will gain a fundamental knowledge of this connection (as explained by sociologists, psychologists, law enforcement professionals, and others); examine both qualitative and quantitative studies and case histories of the correlation between cruelty to animals, child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, and teen violence; and explore the broad terrain of community level partnerships involving humane societies, social service providers, and law enforcement agencies.  Participants will learn how to recognize the connection between cruelty to animals and human violence and will review a variety of intervention programs for victims and at-risk or offending populations.  The course is designed for educators, investigators, animal care and control personnel, law enforcement officials, protective service professionals, and other anti-violence workers.

Studies in Humane Education

This course will examine the history and theory behind the teaching of kindness to animals, and explore some of the most important topics in contemporary studies of humane education.  These include the development of empathy and the theory of transference, the relevance of gender differences in attitudes and conduct toward animals, the challenge of correlation or blending, and the evaluation of humane education’s impacts and outcomes. What do children think about animals?  How do children think about animals?  What is the relationship between humane education and cognitive theory?  Does teaching children to be kind to animals lead to increased empathy toward animals or toward other people?  What is the relationship between humane education and character education?  Between humane education and environmental education?    We will discuss all of these topics in this course designed for teachers, animal care and control personnel, and other interested individuals.

Animal Health and Behavior in the Sheltering Environment

This course examines basic health and behavioral management issues involving shelter animals.  Topics include epidemiology, shelter design and sanitation, immunization and vaccination policy, management of data, disease treatment protocols, the basic principles of nutrition and feeding, and collaboration with public health agencies. 

Animal Protection as a Social Movement

In the past four decades, the modern animal protection movement in the United States has worked to improve the lives of animals by providing shelter and safety, winning local, state and national policy protections, and transforming social attitudes and human behavior.  Drawing on both sociological and political science literature on social movements, the course explores the ideas, activists, issues and organizations that comprise the animal protection movement and the diverse set of strategies employed by the movement, including public education, protest, lobbying, litigation, direct service, and elections. The course also examines the myriad of economic interests that oppose efforts to gain protections for companion animals, farm animals, wild animals, and animals in research.

Compassion Fatigue

This course, designed especially for animal care and control professionals and other animal advocates, will provide students with the expertise to assess the signs and symptoms of compassion stress, and to utilize appropriate strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and its related stresses, traumas, and illnesses.  Particular emphasis is placed on the animal care community, including volunteers and workers in community animal shelters and emergency animal shelters in a catastrophic environment.

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT COURSES (18 hours)

Fundraising and Financial Resource Development

This course will cover the basics of fundraising for nonprofit organizations.  The class will include: how to establish and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy; how to establish positive relationships with current and potential donors; different approaches for fundraising from individual and institutional donors; the roles played by nonprofit boards, staff and volunteers in the fundraising effort; best practices in nonprofit fundraising.

Financial Management

This course covers the key financial management principles and skills that are relevant for nonprofit organizations.  The class will include discussions on and exercises in a variety of topics, including: preparing and analyzing financial statements; budget development and management; managing endowments and grants; cash flow analysis; financial planning and forecasting; tax issues for nonprofit organizations; preparing for an audit review.

Human Resource Management and Volunteer Management

In this course students will consider the strategic importance of employees in helping an organization fulfill its mission and goals. They will learn about best practices in recruitment and hiring, placement and orientation, staff development, environmental health and safety, labor relations, employee recognition, and compensation and benefits. The importance of understanding HR policy, employment agreements, fair employment practices, documentation, and labor law will be stressed. The course will adopt the perspective of the HR generalist who must also learn where to go when additional expertise is needed.

Risk Management and Decision Making

This course will provide a broad overview of risk management in social sector agencies, with special emphasis on decision making in turbulent times. Students will examine the basic roles and responsibilities of stakeholders pursuant to managing risk and protecting the nonprofit organization’s assets to ensure its future. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have gained a thorough understanding of the various components that constitute a comprehensive risk management program.

Strategic Planning and Organizational Effectiveness

Nonprofit organizations operate in a dynamic environment in which many other agencies compete for resources while serving the same constituency by providing a variety of services. Skilled leaders know how to assess an organization’s current level of performance, and then move the organization toward even greater effectiveness. This course will teach leaders to think strategically in such a context as they plan for the organization’s future success. They will learn how to link mission with strategy and to develop operational plans that maximize the organization’s impact on its target constituency in its community. Emphasis will be placed on strategy formulation as a participatory process that engages those who will execute an organization’s strategy by having them help shape it.  Ways to combine skilled management practices with inspiring leadership will be discussed.

Marketing and Public Relations (formerly known as Public Relations and Campaigns

This course examines and develops the leadership skills necessary to maximize effectiveness in the areas of marketing and public relations in the nonprofit sector.  The use of strategies and tactics to generate public awareness, change public policy, or otherwise influence attitudes and conduct is fundamental to humane work.  Public relations, communications concepts and marketing techniques will be examined with respect to building relationships with the media and external constituencies.  Students will examine nonprofit public relations and marketing communications particular to animal shelters.  Emphasis is on practical application of public relations concepts and marketing strategies.  The course relies in part on case studies and tactics that aid in developing a marketing and PR plan for the nonprofit organization.