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Course Information
Spring 2007
Section 001: Monday/Wednesday 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. (SOM 2.115)
Section 002: Monday/Wednesday 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. (SOM 2.115)
Section 501: Wednesday 7:00 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. (SOM 2.102)
The course has no formal pre-requisites and no special skills are necessary. The
quantitative aspects of the course will require only elementary computational skills;
however a calculator will be required.
This course will introduce the student to the basics and current issues on financial
accounting. Any individual with an interest in the business world will greatly benefit from
this course.
The objective of the course is to make students understand and intelligently use
information in financial statements. Another important purpose of the course is to give
students an idea about how capital markets respond to the financial statements. The
course will inevitably include moderately technical descriptions of how the financial
statements are prepared. However, the primary focus will be that of the user rather than
the preparer of accounting information. The course will be supplemented by real-world
examples.
At the same time, in order to reward those who regularly attend classes as well as to
measure your basic understanding of the material as we go along, I will give frequent
pop quizzes (minimum 5 times) during the sessions throughout the semester. Pop quiz
dates will not be announced. (Exception: Some of the pop quizzes may occasionally
require simple preparations on your part prior to class. If any future pop quiz requires
such preparation, it will be announced one session before the pop quiz).
I will also assign readings, exercises, and problems from your textbook. The assigned
exercises and problems will also not be collected or graded. Still, it is essential that you
do the readings and work on the assignments in a timely manner in order to master the
course and get the most out of it. After you attempt them yourselves, we will go over
some of the assignments in class.
Grading Policy
Exam 1 25 %
Exam 2 25 %
Exam 3 25 %
Pop quizzes 25 %
TOTAL 100 %
You are not permitted to use any electronic communications devices during the exam.
This explicitly includes cell phones and pagers. You are also not permitted to use a
portable computer on the exam. You are strongly urged to leave any electronic devices
(except calculators) at home or in a locker on the day of the exam.
Missed Exams
To receive a passing grade in the course, students MUST take all exams. Students will
not be allowed to “substitute” one exam for a missed exam. Students missing an exam
should contact me in advance with their legitimate reasons at least one week prior to the
scheduled exam time (unless an emergency situation arises). Only students with
legitimate excuses will be allowed to take the make-up exam. Failure to take the make-
up exam at the agreed time and place will strictly result in a grade of zero.
Disposition of Exams
As per school policy, exams will be retained for one year and then destroyed.
The lowest two grades of your pop quizzes will be disregarded to take into account the
fact that you may have legitimate excuses for your occasional absence throughout the
semester. Your overall pop-quiz grade will be determined from the remaining grades.
So, if you are going to miss a subsequent session, you do not need to let me know for
the purposes of your pop quiz grade. Remember, two of your lowest grades will
automatically be disregarded.
If you can’t make to the office hours, use WebCT as the only medium to email me. I will
answer your questions (which need to be answered) via email. However, since I teach
200 students this semester, I cannot guarantee that I will always be timely.
The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of
recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the
Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1,
Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the
university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations
are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are
available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-
6391).
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to
discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or
off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.
Academic Integrity
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic
honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity
of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student
demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work.
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions
related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as
one’s own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic
dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or
falsifying academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to
disciplinary proceedings.
Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from
any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on
plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of
turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective.
Email Use
The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication
between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email
raises some issues concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email
exchange. The university encourages all official student email correspondence be sent
only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider email
from students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individual
corresponding and the security of the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each
student with a free email account that is to be used in all communication with university
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean
of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the
rules and regulations.
Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational
opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in
room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to
6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m.
Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For
example, it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape recorders
or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind. Occasionally an
assignment requirement may be substituted (for example, a research paper versus an
oral presentation for a student who is hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with
mobility impairments may have to be rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or
university may need to provide special services such as registration, note-taking, or
mobility assistance.
It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an
accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty
members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations.
Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact the professor after class or
during office hours.
I reserve the right to change this syllabus’s content, grading scheme, and exam dates. Any
possible changes will be announced at the class ahead of the time of the change.