NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Course title: Small Business Management
Course prefix, number, and section number: BUSG 2309 – 0312
Semester/Year of course: Fall 2023
Semester start and end dates: Aug 28 – Dec 16, 2023
Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Hybrid): Asynchronous Online
Class meeting location, days, and times: Online
Lab meeting location, days, and times: NONE
Semester credit hours: 3
Course description: (NCTC Catalog): Starting, operating, and growing a small business. Includes essential management skills, how to prepare a business plan, accounting, financial needs, staffing, marketing strategies, and legal issues.
Course prerequisites: None
Required course materials: (Included with tuition for course)
Small Business Management: Creating a
Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Seventh Edition
Author: Timothy Hatten Publisher: SAGE Publishing eBook ISBN: 978-1-544-36495-7 Print ISBN: 978-1-544-36591-6
Name of instructor: Doug Akins
Office location: Corinth Campus, Room 205
Telephone number: 940-498-6261 Office
E-mail address: dakins@nctc.edu
Office hours for students: Online via WebEx Mon – Wed 3-5pm
SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER
The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.
Grading Criteria:
15 - Chapter Homework 20%
10 - Discussion Forums 10%
8 – Case Studies 10%
1 - Aspire to Be Hired Assignment 10%
2 – Exams (Mid Term & Final) 25%
1 – Business Plan Project 25%
Final grade scale:
A: 90% - 100%
B: 80% - 89%
C: 70% - 79%
D: 60% - 69%
F: 0 – 59%
Late work policy:
To be fair to all students, I DO NOT accept late work except for documented illnesses. You have 7 days to complete assignments. Please take advantage of the time you have. If you have a problem uploading an assignment and choose to email it to me, it must be time stamped before 11:00 p.m. on Sunday or whatever the due date is. All assignments are important so please do not discount them.
SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Integrity Policy:
Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion. Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty. See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct.” Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:
- The student will receive a failing grade of "O" on the assignment. If the assignment is within a group in which the lowest assignment is dropped, the assignment will not be able to count as a dropped score. It will count as part of the grade.
- A "Scholastic Dishonesty Report Form" will be submitted regarding the incident
- Student may be dropped from the course with a failing grade (letter grade of “F”) if there is a second infraction or the first infraction was deemed extremely serious.
This information is used with permission and citation with gratitude to Princeton University: The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.
Intellectual honesty is vital to an academic community and for my fair evaluation of your work. All work submitted in this course must be your own, completed in accordance with the College's academic regulations. You may not engage in unauthorized collaboration or make use of ChatGPT or other AI composition software/NLPs/LLMs.
Students must obtain permission from me before using AI composition software (like ChatGPT) for any assignments in this course. Using these tools without my permission puts your academic integrity at risk.
This course does make use of AI/NLPs/LLMs plagiarism checker software such as “Turnitin” developed for the purpose of detecting the use of AI programs.
Any violation of this policy will be considered academic dishonesty and will be documented and filed as such. See Student Handbook, “Student Rights and Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL])”.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance will be taken from weekly homework participation. Students must complete the weekly homework assignment to be logged in as present for the week. Students must participate in more than 75% of all classroom sessions to successfully complete this course. There are 15 class sessions in this semester. The final grade will be reduce 5% for more than 2 unexcused absences (Zero for a homework grade will be considered unexcused absence).
Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered. All absences are unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies as determined by the instructor. It is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member. Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence. Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work. Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor. A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance, if possible, for permission to postpone the exam.
Withdrawal Policy:
A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.
Last day to drop with grade of a “W” is November 6, 2023.
Student Learning Outcomes: (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog
At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
- Identify the management skills for a small business
- Outline issues related to choosing a business and obtaining a return on investment
- Create a Business Plan
COLLEGE POLICIES