Welcome Letter Corporate Finance-- FIN 320-80 On-line Course Fall 2010 Dr. Francis Cai caif@wpunj.edu Professor Of Economics And Finance Dept. Of Economics, Finance, And Global Business Cotsakos College Of Business Office: Valley Road Building Rm 3028 P.O. Box 920 Wayne, New Jersey 07474-0920 (tel.) 973-720-2178 (fax) 973-720-3721 Welcome to this online course of Corporate Finance-FIN320-80. I hope you will find this experience to be positive and enjoyable. Here I would like to give you some general information about the course. You can get more detailed information and requirements for the course from the course syllabus available on Blackboard. We will have one optional face to face meeting and one mandatory face-to-face meeting during the session. The first face-to-face meeting is optional and will be on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 from 2:30pm-3:30pm in Room 3024, Valley Road Building. The second face-to-face meetings will be mandatory and the time and room TBA. In the first meeting we will discuss your experience of the first week class as well as any questions about the class requirements. In the second meeting, you will come to take the final exam. We will have the first Quiz on Thursday, September 2. It’s called “Welcome Quiz.” It’s designed to check if you have read Welcome Letter and Syllabus carefully. Course Description: This course will introduce you the basic principles and practices of the management of the financial affairs of a business. The topics include the importance of ethical business practices; the effect of taxes on financial decisions; the use of financial statements; the relationship between the present value and a future sum of money; and decisions on capital expenditures. Finally, students should feel comfortable to use the knowledge gained in this course to make personal financial decisions and to improve their understanding of the financial decisions at the firm where they will be (or are currently) employed. Taking the Course: We will “meet” through Blackboard, an online-learning shell-program that provides a “classroom” for course announcements, notes, assignments, discussion, and quizzes. The blackboard system is password protected. Once the semester begins, you can access the course by doing the following: 1. go to http://bb.wpunj.edu/ 2. click where it says “Click Here to Access Blackboard” 3. click where it says “Login” to be directed to the Username and Password page 4. enter your username (which is the same as your university email username) and your password (the same as your university email password. The default password is your social security number.) 5. click on course name. During this semester, you will need to log on to the course every day during the week to find out any update and announcement for the class. New course materials and Learning Goals will be posted during the week. For every chapter, I will count the number of times you participate the discussion on the “Learning Goals”. The minimum requirement is 3 times per chapter. Missing the minimum requirement will result in a lower grade. Textbook: “Fundamental of Financial Management: Concise” 6th Edition, by Eugene F. Brigham, Joel F. Houston, Thomson South-Western Homework: Every time we finish a chapter, I will post homework assignment for that chapter. I will also post the “due date” for the assignment. I expect that you will finish the homework assignments on time by following the “due date”. I will randomly check your homework assignments. When I do so, you will use Assignment Manager to hand in your homework. Late assignments will not be accepted or graded! The homework assignment has a "due date." "Due date" means you should finish it by that date. However, please don't send it to me unless I request it. The solutions will be posted after “due date” on Blackboard. You will keep all the finished assignments in a folder. Please bring the assignment folder to the second meeting. Quiz: We will have a number of online quizzes during the semester. I will post the information about the quizzes in advance of the quiz dates. Please follow the instruction carefully and make every effort to take the online tests. No make-up quizzes will be made available. Discussion Board: The discussion board serves as a "virtual classroom". Imagine you are in a classroom setting once you log in the Blackboard. After having read the book and the Learning Goals in the Power-point presentation, you want to join the discussion with other students in the “classroom.” You can ask related questions for that particular forum. For every chapter, I will count the number of times you participate the discussion board on the “Learning Goals”. The minimum requirement is 3 times per chapter. Missing the minimum requirement will result in a lower grade. The discussion board has a due date. You have to have at least three responses by the due date. Do not repeat what other people already said for the same topic. Ask different questions. Make different arguments. Let's have fun online. Important Note: As many of you know that online classes have many advantages over traditional classes in that online classes are flexible and convenient. However I would like to warn you that an advantage can turn into a disadvantage if the flexibility and convenience are abused. In an online class, no one looks over your shoulder to tell you to go online, to study, and to do homework assignments. Online classes require self-discipline and dedication. You must do a lot of reading and keep up with the assignments on your own. The success of taking an online class depends on you. Getting Technical Help: GO to http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/sc/ Learn About Bb website: http://www.wpunj.edu/irt/teambb/student/what_students_need_to_know.htm Learn A Request Bb Support: http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/sc/ Bb Virtual Commons: http://www.wpunj.edu/irt/teambb
