Class Descriptions

Budgeting and Fiscal Management

SW761

Credits:	1
Prerequisites:	None

Pathway Associations

Community Change
Global
Interpersonal Practice
Mgmt & Leadership	Elective (Host)
Policy & Political	Elective
Program Evaluation	Elective
Older Adults
Children & Families

Course Description

This course will present the fundamental knowledge and skills needed to develop and manage the budget of a nonprofit social service organization and its programs. Students will learn to use techniques necessary to: 1) Plan, develop, display, revise, monitor, and evaluate a program budget; 2) Evaluate past financial performance (e.g. financial statements); 3) Monitor and evaluate the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a nonprofit program and a nonprofit organization.

Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Develop an organizational and program budget.  (EPAS 5, 6, 7)
2. Express clear, written justifications for proposed budget items. (EPAS 1, 5, 6, 7)
3. Develop and interpret financial reports that monitor revenues, expenses, and the overall financial status of an organization. (EPAS 1, 6, 8, 9)
4. Critically examine budgeting and fiscal management and their connection to service provision and relevant social work ethics and values. (EPAS 1, 2, 6, 7, 8)
5. Demonstrate knowledge of standard accounting concepts, principles, and systems, and their application in organizations. (EPAS 1, 6)
6. Identity the strategic choices associated with various revenue generation strategies, including their connections to sustainability. (EPAS 1, 2, 5, 6)
7. Analyze how key identity dimensions such as ability, age, class, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation, impact fiscal decision making.  (EPAS 1, 2, 7, 8)

Design

This course will use multiple methods including but not limited to lectures, demonstrations, readings, discussions, assignments, individual and group exercises. The primary pedagogy will be experiential, with hands on applications of real world situations arising in the field. The course will be graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory.

Intensive Focus on Privilege, Oppression, Diversity and Social Justice (PODS)

This course integrates PODS content and skills with a special emphasis on the identification of theories, practice and/or policies that promote social justice, illuminate injustices and are consistent with scientific and professional knowledge. Through the use of a variety of instructional methods, this course will support students developing a vision of social justice, learn to recognize and reduce mechanisms that support oppression and injustice, work toward social justice processes, apply intersectionality and intercultural frameworks and strengthen critical consciousness, self knowledge and self awareness to facilitate PODS learning.

The course will include instruction about how institutional biases and oppression manifest in the area of fiscal management, both internally (within the organization) and externally (external factors that impact the organization). Students will identify how inequities are manifested, maintained and reinforced in systems and identify systemic policies and practices and resist marginalizing and disempowering dynamics. Students will learn from those with different voices, values, and experiences. This course will focus on processes that promote social justice, including those that resist and reduce disempowering and marginalizing dynamics.