Course Syllabus

This is the schedule for weeks 1 through 15.

*Week 1 Begins Tuesday 9/3 Ends Monday 9/9 –

Unit One – Fundamental of the Legal Environment of Business

Syllabus Reading: Read the course syllabus and related documents in the top of screen area of class. You are responsible for knowing and following all the information there.

Textbook Reading: Chapters 1 through 3

Discussion: You don’t need your textbook in week 1 in order to complete the Discussion assignment. Write a 450-500 word essay in which you discuss your education and career plans and goals, to include CCV, any college you plan to attend after CCV (or that you’ve already attended) and your professional working world plans. Discuss how you see your study of the material in this course assisting in each stage of your education and work. An essay of this length will be two to three correctly written paragraphs. Due by 6 pm Friday VT time.

THEN - post your two replies to classmate's discussion answers by 11 pm Saturday VT time. Your replies must be of substance and further the discussion of our topics.

*Week 2 Begins Tuesday 9/10 Ends Monday 9/16

Unit One – Fundamental of the Legal Environment of Business “Continued”

REVIEW THE DUE TIMES FROM WEEK 1. IF YOU HAVEN'T PUT THEM IN YOUR CALENDAR/DEVICE/PHONE DO SO NOW.

Read: Chapter 4 – Chapter 7

Discussion: You have now read chapters 4 - 7. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

THEN -post your two replies to classmates' discussion answers by 11 pm VT time.Your replies must be of substance and further the discussion of our topics. Do not ask your classmates questions unless you're prepared to have me ask you the same questions. If I ask you any questions answer those by the same time. These instructions apply for the whole semester even if not stated.

*Week 3 Begins Tuesday 9/17 Ends Monday 9/23

Unit Two – Contracts, Sales, and Leases

Read: Chapter 8 – Chapter 12

REVIEW THE DUE TIMES FROM WEEK 1. IF YOU HAVEN'T PUT THEM IN YOUR CALENDAR/DEVICE/PHONE DO SO NOW.

Discussion: You have now read chapters 8 - 12. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

THEN -post your two replies to classmates' discussion answers by 11 pm VT time.Your replies must be of substance and further the discussion of our topics. Do not ask your classmates questions unless you're prepared to have me ask you the same questions. If I ask you any questions answer those by the same time. These instructions apply for the whole semester even if not stated.

*Week 4 Begins Tuesday 9/24 Ends Monday 9/30

Unit Two – Contracts, Sales, and Leases “Continued”

Read: Chapter 13 – Chapter 19

Discussion: You have now read chapters 13 - 19. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

Don't forget your two substantive replies to classmates, and answer any questions I ask you, all by 11 pm Sat. This is the last reminder of the semester, be sure you have it all in your phone.

*Week 5 Begins Tuesday 10/1 Ends Monday 10/7–

Unit Three – Commercial Paper and Secured Transactions

Read: Chapter 20 – Chapter 26

Discussion: You have now read chapters 20 - 26. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

Don't forget your two substantive replies to classmates, and answer any questions I ask you, all by 11 pm Sat. This is the last reminder of the semester, be sure you have it all in your phone.

*Week 6 Begins Tuesday 10/8 Ends Monday 10/14

Unit 4 – Business Entities

Read: Chapter 27 – Chapter 31

Discussion: You have now read chapters 27 - 31. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

*Week 7 Begins Tuesday 10/15 Ends Monday 10/21

Unit 5 – Regulation of Securities, Corporate Governance, and Financial Markets

Read: Chapter 32 – Chapter 35

Discussion: You have now read chapters 32 - 35. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

*Week 8 Begins Tuesday 10/22 Ends Monday 10/28

Unit 6 – Agency and Employment Law
Read: Chapter 36 – Chapter 40

Discussion: You have now read chapters 36 - 40. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

*Week 9 Begins Tuesday 10/29 Ends Monday 11/4

Unit Seven – Regulatory Environment of Business
Read: Chapter 41 – Chapter 47

Discussion: You have now read chapters 41 - 47. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

*Week 10 Begins Tuesday 11/5 Ends Monday 11/11

Unit Eight – Property
Read: Chapter 48 – Chapter 50

Discussion: You have now read chapters 48 - 50. Pick one of the chapters and write one 450-500 word essay about a critical takeaway and why?

*Week 11 Begins Tuesday 11/18 Ends Monday 11/25 - Current Events Week 1

The goals of the weeks 11 and 12 work are several-fold. First, to assess if students can use the critical thinking skill called issue spotting which means being able to understand what something is about (in our class that's current events articles) that relate directly to topics and cases we studied in weeks 4 through 10.Second, to get students to work with our librarians so each of you know how to do so if you haven’t already worked with them. Third, to get students using library databases and search terms to build that skill. Fourth, to get each of you to read quality newspapers which is something many of you have never done. This same testing of your skills continues in weeks 13, 14, 15. If you think of it as a final exam-type assessment of your learning and skills you're accurate.

When you read all postings at week's end make a list of the title, newspaper, and date of articles your classmates used and do not use one of those articles for your work in week 12. The opportunity to copy someone else's work is too great and we don't want that to happen.

Discussion: Current Events Week! It’s a good idea to work with a VSC librarian to be sure you know how to use the newspaper databases, see just below. Find an objective, current events article from a U. S. newspaper about a U. S. story (ie. no international newspapers or stories) from 2023 or 2024 concerning a business law topic from this semester's reading. Your article must relate directly to topics and cases we’ve studied. Post both the full text of the article and the link. The format to use is below. You may not use an editorial, an Op-Ed (opinion/editorial) nor a commentary type article. These are articles which express someone's opinion, view, or analysis of events and don't strictly report facts. Articles that are solely fact based are objective. Articles that include someone's view, opinion, perspective are subjective. Don't use the latter.

The library's newspaper databases are listed at:https://libraries.vsc.edu/research/sources/news#s-lib-ctab-29166759-3

Links to an external site.

How to create a permalink:https://libraries.vsc.edu/research/searching/saving-linking

Links to an external site.

You must use an article fromThe New York Times, Washington Post, or TheWall Street Journalf or this assignment.

Bolded template to use: (copy this template into your posting and fill it in- bold what's bolded, do not include non-bolded instructions)

1) Title and date of article and newspaper it’s from: (italicize the article title and newspaper's name https://bit.ly/2QmvZZL

Links to an external site. Scroll to bottom for directions-use italics not underlining.)

2) Link to article:(use the permalink instructions above)

3) Summary of the article:(Word limit is 200 for this section.)

4) Explain how the article relates to any topics of our class to include our book, discussions, and supplemental readings/materials: (Use detail to include chapter and page numbers, topics in detail .Word limit is 200 for this section.)

*Week 12 Begins Tuesday 11/26 Ends Monday 12/2 - Current Events week 2

Do not use an article that any classmates used in week. The opportunity to use someone else's work is too great so please don't use any week 11 articles. Go back to week 11 and make a list of the articles each of your classmates used and look for an article no one else used last week. Our three newspapers have many to choose from.

Discussion: Current Events Week part 2 - using the same directions from week 11 find a different topic and different article for this week.

*Week 13 Begins Tuesday 12/3 Ends Monday 12/9 – Writing a brief business ethics policy

Discussion: Write a 450-500 word business ethics policy for a small business you create, perhaps one you’d eventually like to manage or own. Include a one sentence introduction about the company that gives the name, location, and nature of the product(s) made or services offered. Indicate if it will be an LLC.

Use the format shown below including items 1), 2), 3), 4), 5), 6). I have an optional item 7) that’s particular to my business. If your business ethics policy needs a special item such as this create and include it.

Write in short, clear statements, not long paragraphs. This is a document your company would use on posters, brochures, and websites so it must be easy to read and eye catching. This is not to be a long explanation of specific duties of the type found in an employee manual. You have a very limited number of words to allow you to focus on writing a simple policy and doing a very good job on it. Post your policy as this week’s Discussion topic.

To help you get started here's an outline of what my policy would look like if I was doing this assignment.

Format to Follow: copy and paste starting with 1) and fill in as appropriate. Do not copy the content of my policy, write your own. That also means don't copy my material and change a few words. Write your own. The bolded words don't count towards the word total.

1) Introduction to Ethics Policy: Sunny Rock Farm Organic Market (SRFOM) LLC, of Walpole, Vermont. We sell organic produce, meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, and related products raised both on our farm and sourced from local (within 100 miles) organic producers.

2) Respect and Abide By All Laws: From organic farming regulations to environmental to health to employment, we closely adhere to all local, state, and federal laws. All food and beverage items in our store are certified organic by the Vermont Dept. of Agriculture and or the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

3) Our Customers: Our customers, vendors, and staff form the base of our business; without any of you we wouldn't exist. Please speak to a manager right away if anything is not to your satisfaction, we'll make it right because we respect you and want you to be happy. If our register overcharges you for anything you get one of that item free. If you find an expired/out-of-fresh date item on our shelves you get a fresh version of that item (one) free.

4) Our Vendors: You are our partners in business. Your products grace our shelves making our reputations and success inseparably linked. We pay your invoices within 15 days and seek a co-solution to any concerns raised by a customer about a product as both our names and business futures must be care-taken.

5) Our Staff: Our doors couldn't open daily without each of you. We pay highly competitive wages, offer paid sick, vacation, and personal leave for full time staff, and pledge to promote from within whenever qualified staff are interested in career advancement. Part-time staff from prior seasons receive hire-back preference. Schedules are set two weeks in advance so you can plan your life while working with us.

6) Giving Back to the Community That Supports Us: The community around us deserves to share in our business success. To that end we will donate all the vegetables and fruits for the monthly community dinner at the town center and will provide two, $100 each gift cards as fund raising raffle tickets every month to non-profit groups within our county on a first asked, first donated basis. Additionally, all food products not sold by the day before the "best by" date will be donated before expiration to the local food shelf and the local homeless shelter on an every-other-time basis.

7) Helping People Make Healthy Food Choices: Every Saturday and Sunday we feature easy to make, healthy recipes in our market, demo-cooked with free samples, recipes are on our website. One afternoon a month we hold a free "cooking for kids" class featuring kid-easy wholesome recipes, and one evening a month we hold the same type free class for adults.

*Week 14 Begins Tuesday 12/3 Ends Monday 12/9– TED Talks week 1

Discussion: TED Talks Week – go to: https://www.ted.com/ Near the top of the screen look for the Topics drop down menu. Click and select business. From all the Talks at these many Topics select any four (4) Talks (only four) and watch each one, then complete the format below for each Talk and post in class. Be sure the Talks you select are related to our class learning. If you watch a Talk and realize you can't relate it to our class learning per the directions in the template below, do not use the Talk. There are dozens of Talks related to our class learning, find and use four (4) of those.

The thesis of a Talk is one-to-two sentence(s) that concisely state what the author seeks to prove in giving the Talk. The summary of Talk is three-to-five sentences that state what the Talk is about. The two are different. Be sure you understand what a thesis statement is and then craft your thesis statement for each Talk. If you need to work with Tutor.com on this please do so.

Copy the bolded headings into your posting and put all four Talks in one posting box. Do not copy the unbolded words into your answers.

My Four TED Talks
#1

Full Title of Talk:

Author’s Name:

Thesis of Talk:Not sure how to do this?http://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/composition/thesis.htm Read all of it, and focus on the short paragraph just above the yellow box, and the contents of the yellow box.

Summary of Talk:

How Does This Talk Relate to our Class Readings, Discussion, and Learning?: This should include a focused explanation of the chapter(s) and sections/page numbers of relevant information in our book and any additional learning we had such as websites I provided, research sources you found and used in answering questions this semester.

Link to Talk:

Use same format in one posting for Talks 2,3,4

*Week 15 Begins Tuesday 12/10 Ends Monday 12/16 TED Talks week 2

Discussion: TED Talks Week Again! Using the same directions from week 14 find four (4) Talks you didn't use last week and complete the assignment.

END of course

***The basis for this course comes from Professor Anne Buttimer.