Syllabus for Managerial Accounting at Johnson State College

Course Description:

This course introduces you to the uses of accounting information in managing an organization. Management's purpose is to create and maintain value. Accounting systems support value creating activities by providing decision relevant information and motivating management to exercise good judgment. We will explore how accounting information supports and enhances management's decision making process. The emphasis will be on the big picture; management exists to create value for customers, owners, and employees.

Departmental Learning Outcomes and Assessment:

The Business and Economics Department has identified five learning outcomes that should be developed and mastered by the time our students graduate. Graduates of the Business and Economics Department will:

integrate classroom knowledge with guided work/internship experience,
demonstrate industry appropriate communication skills and the ability to work effectively with diverse groups in a team environment,
demonstrate the ability to adapt themselves to a changing business environment while encouraging others to do so as well,
demonstrate the ability to amass, evaluate, and interpret complex information to make effective business decisions, and
demonstrate the appropriate business norms and ethics, and mastery of the fundamental skills and knowledge required to successfully steward a business operation.

This course will give you an opportunity to develop skills towards mastering learning outcomes 2 and 4.

Learning Outcome 2 -- Analyzing company data is often a team function. In this class you will have the opportunity to work with a "team of analysts" sifting through a company's financial data in order to evaluate the company's performance. Your team will be expected to make an oral report to the "Board of Directors" providing details on current company performance as well as providing insight to potential company performance in the future.
Learning Outcome 4 -- A business operation generates "tons" of data each day. As a result, it is easy for managers to become bogged down in this sea of data. Effective managers are able to sift through these data and extract the information that is crucial for short-run and long-run decision making. In this class you will develop a "toolbox" of analytical methods used by managers, lenders, and investors to evaluate the performance of a business operation. In addition to analyzing the data, you will be expected to provide an explanation of your results and how these results impact a manager's decision making process.

Course Objectives: By the end of the course you should be able to...

discuss the differences between financial accounting and managerial accounting,
discuss how the cash flow value model measures the firm's success in creating long-term value,
accurately perform a cost-volume-profit analysis,
discuss how cash budgeting fits into the planning and control system,
explain the purpose of cost accounting systems,
perform variance analysis in order to make "better" decisions,
decide which products a company should be selling,
create and evaluate control systems,
perform and discuss the advantages of activity-based costing analysis,
discuss the use of strategic partnering and activity-based management performance measures,
discuss total quality management's three critical success factors of quality, service, and cost, and
calculate an investment's net present value and relate NPV to the investment's time adjusted return on investment (ROI).

Departmental and Class Policies:

Conduct in Class:
Students should conduct themselves in accordance with the Student Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities, page 18. Any acts of classroom disruption that go beyond the normal rights of students to question and discuss with instructors the educational process relative to subject content will not be tolerated. Examples of inappropriate disruptions include but are not limited to the following:

disruptive (side) conversations;
leaving class to go to the bathroom (especially during guest speakers);
disrespectful comments about fellow students;
interrupting the instructor about issues that should be discussed after class (such as a grade or accepting late homework);
using computers to surf the web, instant message or doing homework for another class;
ringing cell phones.

Sanctions for the above will be in accordance with the Student Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities, page 20.

Examinations:
Examinations must be taken when scheduled. Please plan your schedule accordingly. Make-up examinations will not be allowed unless the instructor has, prior to the examination, approved a request for make-up. Late take home exams will not be accepted.

Attendance:
Attendance has a high correlation with success in this class thus, students are expected to attend every class. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class.

number of absences	% of semester	effect on final grade
0-4	up to 14%	no reduction of final grade
5-6	18%-22%	one letter grade reduction
7+	25% or more	failure of the course

Tardiness:
Students are expected to be in class on time. Arriving late to class is disruptive as well as disrespectful to your fellow students. Five-six unexcused tardies will result in the reduction of one letter grade for the course. Seven or more unexcused tardies will result in failure for the course.

Late Assignments:
All assignments are due by the time specified on the Bb course site. For 1000 and 2000 level courses, late assignments will be reduced as follows: 25% reduction if turned in by the beginning of the next class and a 50% reduction if turned in by the second class after the assignment is due. Homeworks later than 2 class periods will receive a grade of zero. For 3000 and 4000 courses late assignments will not be accepted and will result in a grade of zero for that assignment. Please note that this is a 2000 level course.

Appeals:
To appeal a grade, either talk to the instructor or send an email to your instructor within two weeks of the grade having been received. Overdue appeals will not be considered.

Incomplete Policy
For a student to receive an incomplete, he or she must have a passing grade and must have completed a significant portion of the course work. Students will not be given an incomplete grade in the course without sound reason and documented evidence.

Evaluation: Final grades will be determined using the grading criteria outlined in the JSC Undergraduate Catalogue. Your final grade in this course will be based on a variety of assignments:

Assignment	Explanation	Points	Total
13 Homework Assignments	Drop the lowest grade	25	300
2 Semester Exams	problem-solving and short answer	100	200
1 Final Exam	problem-solving and short answer	100	100
2 Team Projects	analyzing business data in a team environment	75	150
Attendance / Participation		50	50
Total class points			800

This is the scale I will use for assigning final grades:

Grading Scale
A+ 98-100%	B- 80-82%	D 63-66%
A 93-97%	C+ 77-79%	D- 60-62%
A- 90-92%	C 73-76%	F below 60%
B+ 87-89%	C- 70-72%
B 83-86%	D+ 67-69%

Homework Assignments:
To help you practice doing, there will be homework assignments given from the student workbook. Homework assignments are due at the beginning of class for which they are assigned. The lowest homework assignment will be dropped.

Quizzes:
To help you focus in class, quizzes may be given at any time. Quizzes will cover material from the reading as well as problems similar to those on the homework assignments.

Team Projects:

Project 1

Analyzing company data is often a team function. In this class you will have the opportunity to work with a "team of analysts" sifting through a company's financial data in order to evaluate the company's performance. Your team will be expected to make an oral report to the "Board of Directors" providing details on current company performance as well as providing insight to potential company performance in the future. Your presentation will be critiqued by the Board and you will receive feedback on your presentation.

Project 2

Your team will be presented with a problem the company must solve. Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data will be crucial to "solving" the problem. Your team will prepare a written report for the Board detailing your analysis and providing your recommendations. Your report will critiqued by the Board and you will receive feedback on your report.

Semester Exams:
There will be two, take-home exams given during the semester. Students may work alone or in groups of no more than two. You may use your book, notes, homework, or me during the exam but you may not discuss the exam with any of your classmates! Students who disregard these instructions will receive a ZERO for the exam. Exams will be a combination of short answer and problems. You will have at least 4 days to complete and return the exam. Late semester exams will not be graded!

Final Exam:
The final exam will be similar to the semester exams except that the short answer section will be completed during the scheduled final exam time. Students may work alone or in groups of no more than two on the problem section of the exam. You may use your book, notes, homework, or me during the exam but you may not discuss the exam with any of your classmates! Students who disregard these instructions will receive a ZERO for the exam. You will have at least 4 days to complete and return the problem section of the final exam. The short answer section will be completed in class, during the scheduled final exam time. You may use your books and notes but you must work on this section of the exam by yourself. Late problem sections will not be graded!

Academic Support:
Students who have an academic need may receive support in the following areas: testing accommodations for students who have a documented disability, assistance with test taking strategies and study skills, intensive advising, personal counseling, tutoring, and support for non-traditional students through the department of Academic Support Services and the Learning Resource Center in Dewey Campus Center. Some services may require meeting eligibility requirements. Please call extension 1259 or 1464 or stop by their office in room #126 or room #114 in the Dewey Campus Center) for more information.

Students with disabilities, who believe that they may need accommodations in this class, are encouraged to contact me during my office hours. It is your responsibility to contact Dian Duranleau at Academic Support Services (Dewey 123, extension 1264) as soon as possible to verify your eligibility for any classroom accommodations, to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion, and to access academic assistance related to your disability.

Academic Integrity:
I expect all of your work, including group projects, to be independent and original. This includes providing proper citation and credit when utilizing information from outside sources. JSC’s policy on academic honesty, located in the JSC Undergraduate Catalogue, will be strictly enforced in this class. I encourage you to review this Powerpoint on Plagiarism and Copyright.

"Students are expected to be honest in all their academic work at Johnson State College. Academic dishonesty in any form is prohibited and unacceptable. Acts of dishonesty for which a student may be disciplined include, but are not limited to, receiving or providing unauthorized assistance on an examination and plagiarizing the work of others in writing assignments. The American Heritage Dictionary defines plagiarism in the following way: "To steal or use (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own." Students are responsible for knowing what specific acts constitute plagiarism; if students are uncertain whether a particular act constitutes plagiarism, they should consult with their instructors before turning in assigned work."

Class/Instructor Information	Weekly Schedule
Course Description	Homework, Quizzes, and Exams
Learning Outcomes and Course Objectives	Academic Support
Evaluation and Grading Criteria	Academic Integrity
Class Policies	Prerequisites and Textbooks

Instructor and Class Information
Instructor: Professor Reed Fisher	Class: T, W, & TH
Office: 217 Martinetti Hall	Time: T & TH: 8:30-9:45 a.m. and W: 9:00-9:50 a.m.
Office Hours: WED -- 10:00 a.m. - noon & 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. also by appointment, please ask!	Room: Martinetti 213A
	Credit Hours: 4
Phone: (802) 635-1301
E-mail: Reed.Fisher@jsc.vsc.edu
Instant Messaging: MSN Messenger -- my contact name is reed_fisher@hotmail.com AOL Instant Messenger -- my buddy name is jsc prof reed Skype -- my contact name is reedatjsc
Professor Fisher's Web Site: http://fisher.jsc.vsc.edu
Blackboard Course Site: blackboard.vsc.edu