ACT 1010-100

Financial Accounting

Instructor: Susan Koepke

Semester:                Fall 2007

Instructor email: susan_koepke@ivcc.edu

Phone: (815) 224-0392

Office Hours: Monday: 11:00 to 12:00

Tuesday:        9:30 to 11:00 and 12:15  to 1:00

Wednesday: 11:00 to 12:00 and 5:30 to 6:30

Thursday:    9:30 to 11:00 and 12:15  to 1:00

Other times by appointment

Student email address:

Students must use the email address assigned by IVCC. If you do not have one you will need to create one. Please visit www.ivcc.edu/email/. Any other email address will not be accepted for several reasons: confidentiality, compatibility, may be interpreted as “junk” mail.

Textbook and supplies:

Needles, Jr., B, Powers, M (2007), Financial Accounting. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN-10: 0-618-79840-4, 9^th Edition

Course Description:

An introduction to financial accounting as an information processing system that communicates relevant financial data regarding the business entity to external decision makers. Emphasizes the basic concepts, principles, and techniques used in the generation of accounting data for financial statement preparation, interpretation, and use.

Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of accounting information and the financial statements
• Analyze business transactions
• Measure business income
• Complete the accounting cycle
• Prepare and analyze financial reports
• Account for merchandising operations
• Account for short-term liquid assets
• Account for inventories
• Account for current liabilities in relation to the time value of money
• Account for long-term assets
• Account for long-term liabilities
• Account for contributed capital
• Account for stockholders equity
• Account for stockholders equity
• Account for cash flows
• Analyze financial statements

Disability Statement

If you need support or assistance because of a disability, you may be eligible for academic accommodations through the Special Populations Office. Stop by office B-204 or call (815) 224-0284.

Attendance Policy

There is no requirement to be on campus or to be online at a specific time. Access is at any time from anywhere via the internet. However, in order to be successful in this class, you need to be “actively visible.” Activity constitutes participating in discussion boards (see below), completing assignments, accessing supplementary materials and taking quizzes and exams. If you are out of attendance for an accumulated amount of time and I feel that these absences will interfere with your progress and your ability to successfully complete this course, I have the right to drop you from the course without prior notice. If you are not able to complete the “actively visible” component, it is the student's responsibility to explain the problem to the instructor. It will be up to the instructor to decide if and what may be done in under the circumstances. Refer to the following web address for more information. http://www.ivcc.edu/faculty_and_staff/faculty_handbook/grade_and_attendance_records/

Assessment	Points
Mid-term & Final Exam (Caution: make up exams and their content are at the instructor’s discretion)	300
15 homework assignments	75
15 chapter discussions	150
15 chapter tests	150
Annual report project	75
Total points	750

Chapter Discussions

Although class participation is different, it is important to the success of this learning community. You and your classmates will be learning from each other as well as the text and other materials. Discussions are designed to enhance the learning experience. For this reason, you will be expected to participate in two class discussions each week as well as demonstrating an exercise through the Discussion Board in Blackboard. To receive the maximum points available for the chapter discussion, there must be substantial participation. Answering the question correctly will be considered an average effort. Using examples or material from another source (with proper citation) and contributing to someone else’s comments will be considered good or excellent work. Messages online such as “I agree” or “Good job” do not qualify as “substantial”. Comments should further develop the discussion. Note: Posting ASSIGNMENTS does not count toward discussion points.

Withdrawal Policy & Financial Aid Statement

Withdrawals must be requested through the instructor. Instructors then complete the form and turn it in to the Office of Admissions and Records. Be sure to check with Financial Aid to see if this might affect your financial aid. Withdrawal from a course can affect financial aid. Students who receive financial aid should see an advisor in the Financial Aid Office before withdrawing from a course. The last day for withdrawal is 11/8/06.

Plagiarism and Cheating

The administration and faculty of Illinois Valley Community College prohibit plagiarism. Plagiarism and/or cheating may result in failure of the course and/or dismissal from the college.

Classroom Rules

Course Changes – There may be times when the changes course outline must vary from the original. If there are any differences between the outline and what is listed in the assignments folder I will make sure to notify you via email. Regardless of any changes in course materials, the course objectives will remain the same.

Technical Assistance

The center provides individualized academic assistance to all students utilizing computer technology. The Help Desk Support Staff provides assistance to students in person, on the phone, and via e-mail.

Phone: 815-224-0318

Location: D201

Email: crc@ivcc.edu

Web Page: http://www.ivcc.edu/crc

Contact Person: Michelle Story – Michelle_Story@ivcc.edu

If you need assistance with communication tools or software issues, contact our staff.

If you are having trouble with your computer, you will need to contact the manufacturer or the store where you bought it.

If you are having trouble with your Internet connection, you should contact your Internet Services Provider (ISP).

In case you are having difficulty logging into Blackboard or accessing your student email, IVCC has set up a “Known Technical Issues” Page for your convenience. This page is located at: http://www.ivcc.edu/its/students/KnownIssues.html

Please call 224-0555 as soon as you detect a problem during regular campus hours.

Netiquette

In the virtual classroom, you communicate with your classmates and Instructor primarily in writing through the public course bulletin board, e-mail, and sometimes chat sessions. "Online manners" are generally known as "netiquette." As a general rule, you should adhere to the same classroom conduct that you would "off-line" in a face-to-face course. Some examples of proper netiquette are:

• Avoid writing messages in all capital letters. THIS IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD AS SHOUTING.
• Be careful what you put in writing. Even if you are writing an e-mail message to one person, assume that anyone could read it. Though you may send an e-mail to a single person, it is very easy to forward your message to hundreds or thousands of people.
• Grammar and spelling matter. Online courses demand the same standard of academic communication and use of grammar as face-to-face courses.
• Never use profanity in any area of an online course. The transcripts of online course bulletin boards, email, and chat sessions are savable.
• When responding to messages, only use "Reply to All" when you really intend to reply to all.
• Avoid unkindly public criticism of others. Publicly criticizing others in an inappropriate way is known as "flaming."
• Use sarcasm cautiously. In the absence of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and voice inflections, the context for your sarcasm may be lost, and your message may thus be misinterpreted.

In a face-to-face setting, our tone of voice and facial expressions may convey as much of our meaning as the words we use. In a written message, the subtext of your meaning may be confused or misinterpreted. Please do not use Internet slang abbreviations (e.g., "lol," "brb," etc.). Not everyone may understand.

Source: How to Succeed in an Online Course: Study Skills and Survival Tips. 6.2.05 http://www.distancelearning.org/howtosucceed.html

Virtual Classroom

To Log in the First Time:

1. Go to http://blackboard.ivcc.edu
2. Follow the instructions.
3. Do Not Forget to Change Your Password once you have logged in successfully!