These are the readings and assignments for weeks 1 through 8:

Class Schedule

Week 1 Begins Tuesday 9/2 Ends Monday 9/8 Introductions

Syllabus Reading Read the course syllabus. You are responsible for knowing and following all the information there.

Online Reading What is the rule of law?https://bit.ly/3tAYRnpLinks to an external site. This is foundational to our legal system and to your understanding of it.

Textbook ReadingChapter1 American Law, Legal Reasoning, and the Legal System

Discussion Write a 350-400 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 answer of this length should be two to three correctly written paragraphs. This assignment serves the dual purpose of us getting to know one another and gives me a chance to assess your writing skills. Writing at a full college level is vital to your success in our class. See the grading rubric in week 1 for details.

This is due by Friday 6 pm VT time. Same due times each week. Put the assignment due times in your phone or calendar now, set alerts, and set reminders for enough time in advance to complete your work before it's due.

THEN - answer any questions I ask you by 6 pm Saturday VT time.These instructions apply for the whole semester. Be sure you have the due times in your calendar/device/phone for the whole semester and schedule time before they're due to get your work done, do this for the whole semester.

Week 2 Begins Tuesday9/9 Ends Monday9/15 American Law, Dispute Settlement, Business Ethics

ViewThis is a 30 min webinar from CCV's library about how to use APA citations. You will need to do this for every week, weeks 2-15, so watching the video now and reviewing it throughout the semester is required.

https://vsc.yuja.com/v/librariesAPAcitationLinks to an external site.

Read Chapter2Disputes and Dispute Settlement and Chapter3Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Discussion Pickoneof these topics and write a 350-400 word essay using college level writing skills. You may want to work with CCV’s librarians to learn more about the topics in our book. If you choose the third topic, social justice and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), please read these articles to get a start, and then conduct any further needed research with our librarians.

Investopedia (one of our go-to research sources) Investopedia

Harvard Business Review Harvard Business Review

Diversity Woman Media(online magazine) Diversity Woman Media

Corporate Finance Institute Corporate Finance Institute

This is a scholarly article from the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (yes, it's about business) National Institute of Medicine

Use APA in-text citations and a References section. Words/numbers in in-text citations and the Reference section do not count towards the word count. This applies for the whole semester.

• Your small business is in a contract dispute with a long time, good customer. What method will you select to resolve the dispute, and why did you choose this option? What steps will you take in the method you selected, and what specific outcome do you hope to achieve? Tell us enough about the dispute that we can understand your answer; however this should only be one to two sentences. The bulk of your answer should focus on ADR methods.

OR

• The local chamber of commerce is giving you their “emerging businessperson of the year award” later this month and you need to give a short acceptance speech about your views on business ethics and social responsibility. Write that speech. What business ethics theories are important to you and to business people, their staff, customers, and the community you do business in? How will you achieve the requirements of those theories?

OR

• You've just been hired by a well established business, or a start up business (your choice) as the Director of Ethics, People, and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Your first task is to create a DEI policy where you draw on the various points made in the articles above. The management team first wants you to give them a short talk about what the policy needs to include, and why. Your essay here is what you'll tell the team.

Week 3 Begins Tuesday 9/16 Ends Monday9/22 US Constitution and Business

Read Chapter4Business and the United States Constitution

DiscussionUse one of our go-to legal research sources, LII (Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School) and read their article about the Commerce Clause. Commerce Clause LII

Select one of the cases mentioned in the article and research it further. For this and all future assignments the sites Oyez.com or Justia.com are authoritative research sources for case law. You can also use the official site of the court that reported (decided) the case, such as the US Supreme Court, Vermont Supreme Court, or the US Courts website.

Write a 350-400 word answer using college level writing skills where you write a short 'case brief**.' Use these headings andboldthem. Words in theboldedheadings do not count towards your word total. (Do not include instructions in parentheses in your answer.)

Case Citation A citation looks something like this:Johnson v. Overlook, 157 U.S. 239, 250-262 (2002). This means the plaintiff is an entity named Johnson, the defendant (could be criminal - see chapter 5 - or civil) is an entity named Overlook. The case is from the U. S. Reports which is the official case reporter of the U. S. Supreme Court. The case is found in volume 157 starting on page 239, the specific citations you used are from pages 250-262. You need to give the exact page of your quotes and or paraphrases in your cite. The case was decided in 2002.

Facts (No more than two to three sentences. Include only facts relevant to the issue in the case.)

Issue(s) (What is the legal question(s) the court is being asked by litigants to decide? One to two sentences.)

Legal Rule (What is the legal rule the court applied in the case? Two to three sentences.)

Analysis (What factors did the court use in deciding the case? That's the analysis. This could be a full paragraph or two.)

Holding (What was the court's final decision in the case? One sentence.)

Dissent (Was there a dissent in the case and if yes, what did the judge(s) or justice(s) who wrote it say?)

**What is a case brief? It is a method used to extract the most important facts, legal issue(s), and decision of the court. In sum, it explains the salient parts of the case.

Week 4 Begins Tuesday 9/23 Ends Monday 9/29 Criminal Law in Business

Read Chapter 5Criminal Liability and read online in the Vermont Statutes, Title 13, the two chapters and several sections that address fraud crimes that can be encountered in any setting (chapter 47-frauds Crimes and Criminal Procedure (vermont.gov)Links to an external site.Links to an external site.

and frauds specific to commercial activity (chapter 49- fraud in commercial transactionsCrimes and Criminal Procedure (vermont.gov)Links to an external site.Links to an external site.Links to an external site.Links to an external site.Links to an external site.).

Also read in Title 13 chapter 57 larceny and embezzlement.Crimes and Criminal Procedure (vermont.gov)Links to an external site.Links to an external site.(Most but not all criminal statutes in Vermont are found in Title 13. A few others, mostly not related to business, are found in Title 7 (alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis); Title 18 (illegal drugs); and Title 23 (motor vehicles). You're welcome to read any of those if they're of particular interest. You can find them here. Do not use them for this assignment without checking with me first to be sure you’ve found criminal and not civil laws.Vermont LawsLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.

You'll see Title 9 Commerce and Trade if you look at all of Vermont's laws, we'll look at it later, it has civil, not criminal, laws. Do not use for this assignment.

Do not use chapter 031 Discrimination, it's not what you think it is, rather it's a sentencing enhancement statute for hate crimes which is far beyond the scope of our course, and rarely if ever used in a business context.

Discussion Find any five statutes of particular interest to you from those listed above that have a direct relation between business and crime. Copy the template below into your answer with headingsboldedas shown. For each of the five statutes pick one section that explains the statute, usually that will be the first in a sub-chapter, put the chapter, sub-chapter, and section number into the first heading, give the title of the section, and explain how it applies to business. Use the same format for headings second through fifth. Yourtotal wordsnot counting theboldedheadings should be 350-400, that means each of the five headings will contain about 75 words. The headings for each statute do not count towards the word total.

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Week 5 Begins Tuesday 9/30 Ends Monday 10/6 Tort Law and Agency Law

Read Chapter6The Tort System

Discussion Pick one of the section topics in chapter 6 that’s of particular interest to you and research it further, working with CCV's librarians. Then write a 350-400 word essay in which you explain in more detail than our book provides what the topic is about, and why it was of particular interest to you. How might this topic be applied in a business you someday hope to own or manage?

Week 6 Begins Tuesday 10/7 Ends Monday 10/13 – Contract Law and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

Rea: Chapter7 Contract Law and Chapter8Sales Contracts

Discussion Write a basic, 350-400 word contract about something of interest to you. Your contract must include the basic elements explained in chapter 7. It will be easiest to write if you write about sales contracts, chapter 8, meaning a contract for goods or services. Use this template withboldedheadings as shown for the four essential elements of a contract, and start with an Introduction where you state in one sentence what this is a contract for. Do not write a narrative explaining each section, rather create a basic contract and put the applicable provisions of it in each section. Copy the template into your answer. Use APA in-text citations and a References section to our book.

Introduction

Agreement

Consideration

Legality

Contractual Capacity

Week 7 Begins Tuesday 10/14 Ends Monday 10/20 Employment and Labor Law

Read Chapter9Employment and Labor Law

Discussion Write a 350-400 word essay in which you explain the type of employment situation you have, meaning is it at-will employment, or are you part of a union’s collective bargaining agreement with your employer, or are you one of the rare people who has a formal written contract for employment; usually this means specific services for a specific period of time, or until a specific task is completed? What general legal principles is your employer bound by concerning wage and hour laws, hiring and termination of staff, and general workplace safety and what specific federal laws must your employer follow that our book explains?

Please do not reveal your salary. Include the name of your employer. If you prefer to change the name of your employer in your answer, that’s fine. How long have you been with your employer? Are some employees at-will and others part of a collective bargaining agreement? If you’ve had experience with any of the topics in this week’s chapter at your current, or a former job be sure to include those. If you’re not working at this time, use a prior job as the basis for this assignment.

Week 8 Begins Tuesday 10/21 Ends Monday 10/27 Government Regulation

Read Chapter10 Government Regulation

Discussion We’ll learn this week about Vermont’s administrative agencies, all are part of the executive branch of government, headed by the governor. Go to Vermont Administrative Agencies and find the government tab at the top, click it, and then click Agency A-Z at the left side of screen. This gives you a list of all of Vermont’s administrative agencies. Select any three (3) of interest to you that closely regulate Vermont businesses, read their web page(s), and write a 150 word summary about each agency. Include a link to the agency’s page in your answer. What is the department’s or agency’s function? How is that function related to running a business in Vermont? (If you realize the agency/department doesn’t have a direct or strong tie-in to business, find another agency to research and write about. If you're not sure please email me by 12 noon Thurs. so we can discuss via email or Zoom.)

**Do not use the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB). Although their site says they regulate private sector union/management labor relations, reality is that so few private sector businesses are unionized in our state that you won't have anything to write about.**

**Also do not use the Vermont Dept of Human Resources because it is solely about HR for state employees and has no intersection with businesses HR departments.**

These are the readings and assignments for weeks 9 through 15:

Week 9 Begins Tuesday10/28 Ends Monday 11/3 Anti-Trust Law & Unfair Trade Practices

Read Chapter11Antitrust Law and Chapter12Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission

Discussion: Go to FTCand find any three (3) topics of interest that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates.The Advice and Guidance link at the top of the FTC's home page is the best place to start as it lists the many areas it regulates.Read the information and write a 150 word summary about each topic. Include a link to that topic’s page in your answer. How might these FTC regulations impact either a business you work for now, have worked for in the past, or hope to work for in the future?

Week 10 Begins Tuesday 11/4 Ends Monday 11/10 Securities Regulation and Business Organizations Models (Corporations, Partnerships, Sole Proprietorships)

Read Chapter14Securities Regulation Note: we are not reading or discussing chapter 13 International Law because it’s beyond the purview of our course. If this is an interest area of yours, you’re welcome to read it.Do not use chapter 13 topics as the basis of your work in weeks 14, 15.

Also readThere's a separate section in week 10's module about business organization models in general, and about Vermont's laws governing them. Please read it.

Discussion Why are securities regulation laws vital to the economic health of our nation’s stock market and economy? Why do we have these laws, and what event(s) were the genesis of them? Write a 350-400 word essay in which you explain. If you need to work with our CCV librarians you’re welcome to do so.

Week 11 Begins Tuesday 11/11 Ends Monday 11/17 Negotiable Instruments, Debtor-Creditor, and Bankruptcy

Read Our book doesn't cover negotiable instruments, debtor-creditor law, nor bankruptcy, yet they are required topics per our course description and they're important in business so we read about them at LII and Investopedia, and through Vermont's statutes. You'll see sections in week 11's module about them, please read them.

Discussion Select one of the three main topics this week (negotiable instruments or debtor-creditor or bankruptcy) and consider how business in the twenty-first century is evolving rapidly.

Much business is conducted via electronic means, many forms of business are extinct (shopping malls to many chain restaurants to video rental stores, etc), and new forms of business are being created daily. There are many other ways business is evolving. Given that fact is there still a need in our era for negotiable instruments, or debtor-creditor law, or bankruptcy? Why or why not? How will these laws need to evolve to keep pace with changes in business?

You'll want to work with our CCV librarians on your research for this answer, and refer to Vermont's laws as the basis of your work. Your answer should be 350-400 words as usual.

Week 12 Begins Tuesday 11/18 Ends Monday 11/24 Vermont's trade and commerce statutes

Read Vermont has extensive laws about everything related to trade and commerce found in Title 9 of the Vermont Statutes. This is the week we explore them in detail via the item posted in week 12.

DiscussionThis is a good week to have some fun with Vermont's statutes before we push into the final three weeks of class. Find five (5) chapters (laws are divided into chapters in Vermont as you've seen) in Title 9 of interest to you and write a 100-125 word summary of each chapter. Some of these chapters are long with a lot of sections in the statute so your summary will need to be general. Include the chapter number, title of the chapter, and provide a live link to the chapter in your heading. Do not use chapters that have been repealed. Your answers not counting words in the heading will total 500-625 words. Number your answers as shown in this template, usingbolding as shown.

If this was my answer here's what my template would look like, this is to show you how to format your answer.

1. Chapter 59 Motor Vehicle Installment Sales Financing Commerce and Trade (vermont.gov)
2. Chapter 61 Retail Installment Sales Commerce and Trade (vermont.gov)
3. Chapter 62 Protection of Personal Information Commerce and Trade (vermont.gov)
4. Chapter 67 Pay Per Call Services Commerce and Trade (vermont.gov)
5. Chapter 73 Weights and Measures Commerce and Trade (vermont.gov)

Week 13 Begins Tuesday11/25 Ends Monday12/1 Writing a brief business ethics policy This is Thanksgiving week. CCV requires online classes to meet as usual. Plan your time accordingly.

Discussion Re-read chapter 3 about business ethics. Then write a 350-400 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.Boldthe headings as I’ve done below. Use theboldedheadings I gave and then write your content for each of those headings.

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 professional job of 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 the numberedboldedheadings starting with 1) and fill in as appropriate.Theboldedwords don’t count towards the word total. Do not copy my words and phrasing for the content, write your own.

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

2) Respect and Abide By All Laws We closely adhere to all local, state, and federal laws relevant to our business including Vermont and federal organic product standards regulations. Our mission is to exceed all legal requirements and not merely to meet them.

3) Our Customers Our customers form the base of our business and if anything is not to your satisfaction, we'll make it right. Please always feel free to speak to the manager on duty who will do their best to turn the situation into a positive one for you.

4) Our Vendors You are our partners in business. Your products grace our shelves making your reputation and success, and ours, inseparably linked. We 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 receive pro-rated benefits. Our goal is to achieve a healthy work-life balance for all members of our team and we ask you to join us in doing your part for this to happen.

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 and will provide two, $100 each gift cards to our farm stand, as fund raising raffle prizes 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 12/2 Ends Monday 12/8 Current events in business

Focus The goals of the weeks 14 and 15 work are for both you and me to assess if you can use the critical thinking skill called issue spotting which means being able to understand what something is about (a current events article in week 14, TED Talks in week 15) that relate directly to topics we studied over the semester. This as a final exam-type assessment of your learning and skills.

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 2024 or 2025 concerning a business law topic from this semester's reading.Your article mustrelate directly to topics we studied in weeks 2 through 13.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.

If an article doesn't have a clear relation to what we studied do not rely on the catch-all of "it's about ethics." Please find another article. Use only articles that are about the US. We don't study international topics as they are beyond the scope of our introductory level class. You must fully understand US laws and systems before you can adequately address international ones. Don't use an article and say it's about ethics unless the reporter discusses business ethics in detail, by theory. In other words, don't use an article that you can't relate to anything else, and instead say "it's ethics." Find another article.

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

How to create a permalink:https://libraries.vsc.edu/research/searching/saving-linkingLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.

You must use an article fromThe New York Times,Washington Post, orTheWall Street Journalfor this assignment.

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

1) Title and date of article and newspaper it’s from (Italicizethe article title and newspaper's name because that’s correct writing form, see OWL.)

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

3) Summary of the article (Write 200 words +/- 10 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 chapters and page numbers/section, topics in detail. This section is where you show what you know so be sure to do so in detail. (Write 200 words +/- 10 for this section.)

Week 15 Begins Tuesday 12/9 Ends Monday 12/15 TED Talks in business

Focus The goals of the weeks 14 and 15 work are for both you and me to assess if you can use the critical thinking skill called issue spotting which means being able to understand what something is about (a current events article in week 14, TED Talks in week 15) that relate directly to topics we studied over the semester. This as a final exam-type assessment of your learning and skills.

Discussion Go to TED Talks

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 two (2) Talks and watch each one, then complete the format below for each Talk and post in class.

Be sure the Talks you select are directly related to our class learning. This includes topics from our book, from the current events articles in week 14 and from week 13's ethics policy.

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. If a Talk doesn't have a clear relation to what we studied do not rely on the catch-all of "it's about ethics." Please find another Talk.

Use only Talks that are about the US. We don't study international topics as they are beyond the scope of our introductory level class. You must fully understand US laws and systems before you can adequately address international ones.

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 200 words 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.

Copy theboldedheadings into your posting and put both Talks in one posting box. Do not copy the un-bolded words into your answers.

My TED Talks
#1

Full Title of Talk

Author’s Name

Thesis of Talk Not sure how to do this? Thesis statement

Read all of it and focus on the short paragraph just above the yellow box, and the contents of the yellow box. One to two sentence limit for this section.

Summary of Talk (Write 200 words +/- 10 for this section.)

How Does This Talk Relate to our Class Readings, Discussion, and Learning? This should include a focused explanation of the weeks, topics, chapters, section numbers, case(s), website(s) from our class that relate to your Talk. (Write 200 words +/- 10 for this section.)

Link to Talk give the URL for the Talk.

Use same format in one posting for Talk 2.

END of course