Fall 2014 Office Hours:
5-7pm Tuesday.
5-6 pm Thursday.
All hours are held in JH 4234.

Syllabus: Fall 2014

WEB PAGE

Professor Chapman's classes use

http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn00a/Gateway/

as the class website. There is also a centralized page used by other classes that is sometimes useful as a resource for students -- especially with regard to BUS 302L. That site is http://www.csun.edu/cobaessc/gateway-course-business-302.
 

COURSE PREREQUISITES

Junior standing and completion of all Lower Division Core courses (ACCT 220, ACCT 230, BLAW 280, BUS 105/205 or ENGL 205, COMP 100, ECON 160, ECON 161, SOM 120 or MATH 140, and MATH 102/103/105 or approved equivalents).  ALL PREREQUISITES WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.  NONE OF THE PREREQUISITES CAN BE TAKEN CONCURRENTLY WITH THIS COURSE.  Please note that BUS 302 is a prerequisite for all business, information systems, and accounting majors and must be taken prior to all 400 level classes in the College of Business and Economics.

WHO MUST TAKE BUS 302

Students in degree programs, listed below, must take Business 302.

1. Bachelor of Science in Accountancy
2. Bachelor of Science in Information Systems
3. Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (all options or majors)

BUS 302L

Students in the above programs must also take BUS 302L lab class, and achieve a passing grade.  This lab class provides Lower Division Core (LDC) certification by administering exams in the six core fields of Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Business law, and Statistics.   For details see 302L section of http://www.csun.edu/cobaessc/gateway-course-business-302.  NOTE: You will not be able to enroll in 400-level Business classes until you pass both BUS 302 and 302L.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

All required materials will be provided on our class web-site.

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This course will review and expand your understanding of key concepts from your lower division core courses in financial and managerial accounting, micro and macro economics, business law, and statistics. Using a case study method will enable you to solve real world business problems by integrating the use of key concepts and tools of analysis, from these core courses. In addition, class activities and assignments will provide you with an appreciation for how these business disciplines work together in a business environment.

The course is also designed to develop critical skills that you will need to succeed in today’s business environment.  These skills include, building and working in teams, making effective oral presentations, writing clear business reports, memorandums and letters, and thinking critically, strategically, and ethically in solving business problems.  For more information, go to the web site at http://www.csun.edu/cobaessc/gateway-course-business-302.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

There are five specific learning objectives for this course:  

• Learn to build and work effectively in teams.
• Enhance written and oral communication.
• Understand the cross disciplinary nature of business problems and strategies.
• Review lower division business core material.
• Use ethical thinking in solving business problems. 

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION

The class will be conducted in an active learning format where you will be asked to participate.  The role of the instructor is to help you develop critical business skills.  These include:

• Teamwork   Students will work on several assignments (cases and team exercises) in teams of no more than six people and will be graded both on the quality of the final output as well as their team contribution.
  
  
• Develop writing skills   Student teams will collaborate on written assignments and editing for a number of case studies.  In addition there will be other individual writing assignments.
  
  
• Effective oral presentation skills   Each team will formally present one of the cases to the class, as assigned by the instructor.  Each  member of the team will be graded individually on their part of the case presentation.  In addition students will have many opportunities to contribute to class discussion.
  
  
• Review Lower Division Core   You will work in teams on several cases that will require you to integrate materials across the lower division core.
  
  
• Strategic, critical, cross-discipline, and ethical thinking   Many of the class exercises and business cases  will require you to apply strategic, cross-discipline, or ethical thinking. 

GRADE DETERMINATION

Plus and minus grades (i.e. B+) will be used in BUS 302 assignments, but Professor Chapman will not use them when assigning final letter grades for the course

Your grade will be based on your performance in the areas below. 

*The weighting of the cases will be smallest for the first case written and gradually increase, with the largest weight placed on the last case.

EVALUATION OF TEAM MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS

Each student will submit a confidential evaluation of each team member’s contribution to each major team assignment. Team evaluations in Professor Chapman's classes will be completed using written forms provided on their class web-site.  
 

CLASS POLICIES

• Ethics and Academic Honesty:  Students are expected to act ethically and honestly in accordance with CSUN’s Student Conduct Code (p. 536 CSUN 2006-2008 Catalog).
  
• Assignments:  All homework exercises, problems, and cases must be completed before class when they will be collected.  Cases will also be submitted electronically to Turnitin.com.
  
  
• Business Professionalism:  Please observe the following rules
  
  
  • TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES & PAGERS BEFORE CLASS BEGINS.
  • Organization, neatness, timeliness, and consistency are prerequisites for success in business. Make sure both your work and personal appearance reflect these qualities.
  • Come to class on time, be attentive, and do not leave during or before the class session ends.  If you miss a class session, it is your responsibility to confer with your team members regarding class activities.

 

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