HDCF 429

Dr. Hunts' Office hours: Wednesday 9 - 10 a.m. and 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. in 222 Herrick Hall

Required Texts: Longnecker, Moore, Petty & Palich (2008).  Small Business Management (14th ed). Mason, OH: Thomas Higher Education

Rothenberg, M. (2006). Something Ventured Telecourse Guide (6th ed.) Mason, OH: Thomas Higher Education   

Course Description:  This course introduces basic finance, accounting, marketing, and mangement concepts for owning and operating a successful small family-owned business. Special attention is given to small family-owned businesses involving areas of study in health and human development.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basic management, marketing and legal requirements for owning and operating a successful small business. Special attention is given to small businesses involving areas of study in health and human development.

Evaluation:  Student performance in this course will be assessed as follows:

Discussion Grades : 25%            

Total worth of completed Business Plan: 25%

Exams: 20%

Evening lecture series: 10%

Homework/Quizzes: 15%

Participation as measured by visiting Power Points and Flashcards: 5%

Notes:

Letter grades will be based on: 90 – 100% A; 80% - 89% B; 70% - 79% C; 60% - 69% D; below 60% is a failing grade.  Pluses and minuses will be based on the curve within the class ranges.

Discussion grading will use the rubric posted on WebCT. Do not underestimate the importance of doing well in discussions and in your business plan.

Classroom Procedures:

Behavioral Expectations: Montana State University expects all students to conduct themselves as honest, responsible and law-abiding members of the academic community and to respect the rights of other students, members of the faculty and staff and the public to use, enjoy and participate in the University programs and facilities.   For additional information reference www2.montana.edu/policy/student_conduct/cg600.html

Collaboration: University policy states that, unless otherwise specified, students may not collaborate on graded material.  Any exceptions to this policy will be stated explicitly for individual assignments.  If you have any questions about the limits of collaboration, you are expected to ask for clarification.

Plagiarism: Paraphrasing or quoting another’s work without citing the source is a form of academic misconduct.  Even inadvertent or unintentional misuse or appropriation of another's work (such as relying heavily on source material that is not expressly acknowledged) is considered plagiarism. If you have any questions about using and citing sources, you are expected to ask for clarification.

Academic Expectations: Section 310.00 in the MSU Conduct Guidelines states that students must:

A. be prompt and regular in attending classes;

B. be well prepared for classes;

C. submit required assignments in a timely manner;

D. take exams when scheduled;

E. act in a respectful manner toward other students and the instructor and in a way that does not detract from the learning experiences; and

F. make and keep appointments when necessary to meet with the instructor.

A.     be prompt and regular in attending classes;

B.     be well prepared for classes;

C.    submit required assignments in a timely manner;

D.    take exams when scheduled;

E.  act in a respectful manner toward other students and the instructor and in a way that does not detract from the learning experience; and

F.     make and keep appointments when necessary to meet with the instructor.

In addition to the above items, students are expected to meet any additional course and behavioral standards as defined by the instructor.

Students with Disabilities: If you have a documented disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation(s), you are encouraged to contact your instructor and Disabled Student Services as soon as possible.       

Email Policy: I expect that you will check your WebCT email at least every 2 days. If there is a problem with WebCT look for messages on your campus "myportal" account.  

Student Educational Records: All records related to this course are confidential and will not be shared with anyone, including parents, without a signed, written release.  If you wish to have information from your records shared with others, you must provide written request/authorization to the office/department.  Before giving such authorization, you should understand the purpose of the release and to whom and for how long the information is authorized for release. 

Students have the right to access their educational records by appointment.  This information is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  For more information contact the Dean of Students office at 994-2826.

Withdrawal Deadlines

February 6: last day to drop class without a grade
February 7 - April 18: Dropped classes are graded "W"
April 23 - May 4: No drops allowed

I will only support requests to withdraw from this course with a “W” grade where extraordinary circumstances exist as per MSU requirements.  (Not having the grade that you would like and/or choosing not to be engaged in the course is not an extraordinary circumstance.)

Additionally:

1. All assigned work must be turned in before the last day of the course in order for the student to pass the course. Late work will be accepted but will be penalized at 10% per calendar day. An assignment is late if it is posted any time after 11:59 p.m. on the day that it is due.  If you are having computer problems, please call the help desk 1777. Losing work on a disk is not an excuse for a late assignment. You need to back everything up on a second disk so you do not lose information.  Not completing an assignment because a server is down - is not an excuse either.  This means you should not wait until the last minute to attempt the on-line portions of the assignments.

2. This course requires AT LEAST two hours of preparation out of class for each hour spent in class. Occasionally students will tell me that they have spent hours and hours on the class - but when I check on-line I can see that they have only visited WebCT for a few minutes here and there. So, be aware that I do have some concrete measurements of the time and effort you are spending on this course (not perfect measurements of course - but some measurement).

3. I will make every effort to ensure that the class is running smoothly and that students are understanding course material BEFORE the exams. However, if you are having problems, please contact me and we will set up study sessions or office hours to solve the problems. If you are concerned about the course in any way, please see me when the concern arises. Do not wait until the course is ending to bring up concerns.

4. You are always welcome to question a grade I have assigned.  This questioning must take place in writing with "proof" that you are correct  (for example - you might write:  Dr. Hunts - I believe "A" is a correct answer to question 34 - as per the discussion of the topic on p. 23 of the text.).  I will not entertain the questioning of any grade in a verbal manner.

General Course Operation: 

Not all of the material covered in this course will come directly from the text.  Some material will come from the videos, some from federal agencies, guest speakers, etc.  My approach is taken with a great deal of thought.  I want students to be exposed to a variety of resources (so that you will know how to be resourceful later).

You will receive a review sheet before each exam that will cover the main learning objectives for the exam.

There will be two exams. Cheating on the exams will result in failure of the course.   There will be several business plan assignments.  Cheating/plagiarism in any form on any assignment is strictly forbidden and will result in failure of the course.  False identification for attendance points and in-class exercises will result in all participating parties failing the course.

The business plan project will transcend the entire semester. Preliminary work on the proposed business plan will begin in February and culminate with a complete business plan by late April. The project will require students to use computer technology, library resources and other information. A copy of the business plan grading rubric is available on WebCT.

Students are required to regularly check their myportal email accounts.  You should plan on checking these accounts at least every 2 days.  Information on the WebCT is continually updated and students should plan to regularly check the WebCT.

Tentative Schedule

All due dates are at 11:59 p.m. that day.

Discussion Questions will be posted on Mondays, original responses are due by Wednesdays and responses to your group memebers are due by Fridays.

Quizzes will be posted by Tuesday of that week and are due by Friday of that week.

Homeworks will be posted by Monday of that week and are due by Friday of that week.

All business plan related assignments will be posted Mondays and due by the following Sunday.

Please contact Holly Hunts for questions about this site.
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