Materials: If you are taking the course on campus, you will need headphones or ear buds to hear course audio in the classroom.  The library has computers available during normal library hours. 

User Accounts: You will also be required to have user accounts for various services, such as Google, OneDrive, Zoom, etc.  These can be obtained at no cost to the student.  The instructor will provide details when we get to that section of the course.
Lab Access: A computer lab is located in the LSCPA library and is available during normal library hours. If the software is not available on a lab computer, ask someone on staff if there is another computer with the appropriate software. A valid Student ID is required in order to use lab facilities available on the Lamar campus. You may also need to bring  earbuds or headphones, if you need audio capability. You may also check with the Port Arthur Public Library or other public libraries for computer access. 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will: 

1. Identify major business functions of accounting, finance, information systems, management, and marketing. 

2. Describe the relationships of social responsibility, ethics, and law in business. 

3. Explain forms of ownership, including their advantages and disadvantages. 

4. Identify and explain the domestic and international considerations for today’s business environment: social, economic, legal, ethical, technological, competitive, and international. 

5. Identify and explain the role and effect of government on business. 

6. Describe the importance and effects of ethical practices in business and be able to analyze business situations to identify ethical dilemmas and ethical lapses. 

7. Describe basic financial statements and show how they reflect the activity and financial condition of a business. 

8. Explain the banking and financial systems, including the securities markets, business financing, and basic concepts of accounting. 

9. Explain integrity, ethics, and social responsibility as they relate to leadership and management. 

10. Explain the nature and functions of management. 

11. Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of information technology for businesses.

• Critical Thinking Skills: Students will engage in creative and/or innovative thinking, and/or inquiry, analysis, evaluation, synthesis of information, organizing concepts and constructing solutions.

• Communication skills: Students will demonstrate effective written, oral and visual communication.

• Empirical and Quantitative Skills - Applies the manipulation and/or analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.

• Social Responsibility Skills - Expresses intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

Understanding Economic Systems and Business

Making Ethical Decisions and Managing a Socially Responsible Business

Competing in the Global Marketplace

Forms of Business Ownership

Entrepreneurship: Starting and Managing Your Own Business

Management and Leadership in Today's Organizations

Designing Organizational Structures

Managing Human Resources and Labor Relations

Achieving World-Class Operations Management

Creating Products and Pricing Strategies to Meet Customers' Needs

Distributing and Promoting Products and Services

Using Technology to Manage Information

Using Financial Information and Accounting

Understanding Money and Financial Institutions

Understanding Financial Management and Securities Markets

Your Career in Business

DETERMINATION OF GRADE - IN-PERSON CLASSES

Assignments 40%  
Proctored Exams 60%

Notes: 

• To pass the course, you must have a 60 average on Assignments.  

• Grade calculations displayed in Blackboard may not always be accurate.  You should average your own grades using the syllabus grade calculation.  Report any discrepancies to instructor.

No Assignments Accepted Late:   Assignments for each week are due at the end of the day on Sundays, unless otherwise directed in the assignment, or on the syllabus/schedule.   New assignments for the next week should become available at noon on Monday.  All assignments, quizzes, and exams must be completed and submitted before the due date. Because you have ample time to complete assignments, late work will not be accepted. You should start early enough so that if/when you experience problems, we can work them out prior to the due date. Working with technology can be challenging. You will have problems. Websites will go down, Internet connections will not work, devices will not charge, etc. If you wait until the due date, you risk not completing your work on time. When you have technical issues, contact me early. Technical problems on the due date are NOT an excuse for turning in assignments late. I do occasionally extend due dates if you have a good reason for asking for the extension and if you have contacted me early. 

Resubmitting Assignments:  For most assignments, you are allowed two attempts prior to the due date (this does not apply to exams).  If you submit two attempts, only the second attempt will be graded and you will receive a zero for the first attempt.   You are not allowed to resubmit after an assignment has been graded.  

Missed Exams:  If you are absent and miss an exam, you will receive a grade of zero.  If you have special circumstances which require you to miss an exam, you may contact the me to see if other arrangements can be made.  Requests for makeup exams or other arrangements are granted only if you have an exceptional reason for missing an exam, such as a medical emergency, or death in the family.   It is your responsibility to initiate arrangements for a makeup or other arrangements.  Approval should be cleared with me prior to the date of absence.  If it is not possible to contact me prior to the exam, within 24 hours after missing the exam, you must email me and explain the reason you missed the exam.   The format of a makeup exam may differ substantially from that of the regularly scheduled exam.

Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSC-PA policies (Section IX, subsection A, in the Faculty Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty. You are expected to complete all assignments yourself. All exams must be completed on your own, with no assistance from anyone else and without the use of notes or textbook or any other materials, unless specifically expressed in the exam instructions. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing previous homework, accessing websites, or communicating with others when taking the exam. You are also NOT allowed to share information about exams with others. Some exams may be password protected. You are NOT allowed to share passwords with anyone else for any reason.

Accommodations:   If you have accommodations from the Office for Disability,  talk to your instructor about these during the first week of the semester.  Students with accommodations should also check with teacher two weeks prior to exam(s) to arrange for any  accommodations.  

Exam Information:   You will be required to take your  exams in the classroom, during the regular class time and using a LSCPA computer (no laptops).   You will be observed with a monitoring program while you complete your exam.  You will have 1 hour to complete each exam. Your screen activity may be recorded during exams.

Additional Policies (for in-person, campus classes)

• 
  Turn your cell phones to vibrate when in the classroom.

• No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom.

• Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission.

• Electronic devices (including, but not restricted to, watches,  cell phones, tablets, and laptop computers) shall not be used during examinations unless specifically allowed by the instructor.

• Use of electronic devices during normal class hours distracts other students, disrupts the class, and wastes valuable time. Your instructor has an obligation to reduce such disruptions and may impose such restrictions as he deems necessary.

• Unless specifically designated otherwise by your instructor, exams must be taken in the classroom, during class time, and without access to any outside resources and without communication with anyone other than the instructor.  You are not allowed to share exam login passwords with anyone else and you are not allowed to take the exam outside of the classroom.

• If you are tardy for any exam or quiz, you will be allowed to take the exam or quiz only with the instructor’s approval.   If you are allowed to take the exam, you will only have the timeframe allocated to the class to complete the exam. You will not be allowed additional time for the time you missed by being tardy.

• Missed quizzes and missed in-class assignments (assignments to be completed during  a class period) will each be recorded as a zero.  No makeup quizzes or in-class assignments will be given. Quizzes and In-class assignments  are considered Assignment grades.

• You are responsible for completing and submitting all assigned homework when due, and for being prepared for each class meeting.  This applies even if you were absent for the previous class meeting. 

The instructor reserves the right to drop you from the class if you do not submit course work regularly.   Submitting course work regularly means you submit coursework weekly.  If you are inactive for more than one week and/or if you do not submit assignments for a week, and if you do not email the instructor with an acceptable explanation, the instructor reserves the right drop you from the class. To be successful in the class, you are expected to exert sufficient effort.   

If at any time you have failed to complete at least 50% of the weekly assignments, you may be dropped from the class.  

Additional Attendance Policy: If you have missed more than 4 hours of class at the end of the semester, the instructor may assign you an F for the course.   Every three times you are late for class will count as one absence.   On any days you are tardy, you should check with the instructor after class to be sure you are counted present.  If you do not do this on the day you are tardy, the tardy will be counted as an absence.

• Always confirm any important arrangements or discussions with me by emailing me using your Lamar email.  Verbal communication, phone calls, etc will not be “official” unless confirmed in an email.   
• All coursework  must be original for this semester.  If you took this course previously, or have done a similar assignment in the past (in another class, for example), you must recreate your assignments this semester. 
• Most assignments this semester will be due at the end of the day each Sunday.   New assignments (for the next week) will be available Monday at noon and will be due  by the end of the day that next Sunday.

• 
  Some material in this course may be copyrighted. These materials  may be used only for instructional purposes this semester, by students enrolled in this course. These materials are being used fairly and legally. No one may distribute or share these copyrighted materials in any medium or format with anyone outside this class, including publishing essays with copyrighted material, uploading copyrighted material to Facebook or YouTube, or painting or performing copyrighted material for public display.
• Copyright violation is not the same thing as plagiarism. Plagiarism is intellectual dishonesty. Offenses of plagiarism result in lower grades or failing scores, and professors and the college strictly enforce plagiarism rules. There is never any acceptable use of plagiarism. Copyright violation is a legal offense, punishable by large fines and penalties.
• Copyrighted material can be used if permission from the material’s creator is obtained, or if its use meets the standards of fair use in an educational setting. For example, a student can quote a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a report without violating copyright but still be guilty of plagiarism if the quotation is not properly documented.
• If you are in doubt about what material can be freely used, ask your professor.