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BUSN 2370 Syllabus

Course Syllabus

BUSN 2370 - Legal Environment of Business

3 Credit Hours

Course Information

Course Description:

A study of the principles of the American legal system as they relate to business including: sources of law; the U.S. Constitution and the organization of government; the relationship between law and business ethics; tort law; criminal law; international law; the common law of contracts; the Uniform Commercial Code including contracts for the sale of goods, negotiable instruments and commercial paper, the banking system and transactions, and secured transactions; real and personal property; bailment; agency; business organizations; government regulation of business; consumer protection; employment relations; insurance; and wills and trusts.

Course Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will demonstrate a basic knowledge of the American legal system; the relationship between law and ethics; tort and criminal law as they relate to the conduct of business; significant principles of the common law of contracts; the articles of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding the sale of goods, commercial documents, the banking system and transactions, secured and transactions; bailment; principles of agency; business organizations; government regulation of business; employment relations; consumer protection; transactions in real property; insurance; and wills and trusts.

Prerequisites & Co-requisites:

None

Course Topics:
  • The Constitutional Foundations
  • Ethics and Business Decision Making
  • Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Torts and Cyber Torts
  • Intellectual Property and Internet Law
  • Criminal Law and Cyber Crime
  • Agreement and Consideration in Contracts
  • Capacity, Legality and Enforceability
  • Contract Performance, Breach and Remedies
  • Sales and Lease Contracts
  • Performance and Breach in Sales and Lease Contracts
  • Warranties, Product Liability and Consumer Law
  • Negotiable Instruments
  • Checks and Banking in the Digital Age
  • Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy
  • Mortgages and Foreclosures after the Recession
  • Agency
  • Employment Law
  • The Entrepreneur's Options
  • Corporations
  • Investor Protection, Insider Trading and Corporate Governance
  • Antitrust Law and Promoting Competition
  • Personal Property, Bailments and Insurance
  • Real Property and Environmental Law
  • International Law in a Global Economy

 

Specific Course Requirements:

None

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course. Move your cursor over the "Books" link in the navigation bar and select "Textbooks & Course Materials." Select your Program, Term, Department, and Course; then select "Submit."

Supplementary Materials:

None

Hardware and Software Requirements:

Minimum hardware requirements can be found here.

Minimum software requirements can be found here.

Common applications you might need:

Web Resources:

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab (for APA, MLA, or Chicago style)

The Writing Center Online Writer's Handbook

Student Resources:
  • Technical support information can be found on the TN eCampus Help Desk page.
  • Smarthinking virtual tutoring is available FREE of charge. to access Smarthinking, visit the course homepage and select Smarthinking under Course Resources. You also view sample sessions to see what Smarthinking offers and how it works.
  • Information on other student issues or concerns can be located on the TN eCampus Student Resources page.

Instructor Information

Please see "Instructor Information" in the Getting Started Module for instructor contact information, virtual office hours, and other communication information. You can expect to receive a response from the instructor within 24-48 hours unless notified of extenuating circumstances.

Participation, Assessments, & Grading

Testing Procedures:

There will be two exams given during the course, a mid-term and a final. The exams will not be comprehensive. Each exam will count as 20% of the student's final grade in the course (see Grading Procedure section below). The exams will be open book, open notes, take home exams and the student will have one session to complete each exam. Exams will be made available to the student on the Content section of eLearn and can be downloaded and copied from there. Students are to submit exam ANSWERS ONLY to the instructor by placing the answers in the Dropbox in eLearn (NOTE: This means that the entire exam paper should never be sent to the instructor - only the answers). The answers should be placed vertically (up and down) on the page, numbered, and single spaced. Feel free to place more than one column of answers on a page. (NOTE: ALL submissions, weekly assignments and test answers, will be submitted by placing them in the Dropbox in eLearn). All exams must be submitted on time. The student will not have access to the exam in eLearn after the deadline and NO LATE EXAMS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!

Grading Procedures:

There are five components to the student's final grade for this course as follows:

Graded Items% of Grade
Two exams @ 20%  40%
Weekly assignments and timely completion -  12 assignments @ 8 points each  20%
Discussion Board Participation - 5 @ 20 points each  10%
Quizzes - 10@ 10 points each  10%
Writing Project  20%
Total  100%

 

Grading Scale:
Grading ScaleGrade
  90 - 100  A
  80 - 89  B
  70 - 79  C
  60 - 69  D
  Below 60  F

 

Assignments and Projects:

The course has been designed to be completed over a 15-week schedule. The student is expected to read the chapters of the text assigned for that week as set out in the Content section of eLearn. The student is expected to check the Content section on eLearn for the lecture notes, Powerpoint slides, and complete the assignment by the deadline listed. (Note: Some of the assignments contain hyperlinks to Internet sites where the assignment may be completed.  In order to utilize the hyperlink contained in the learn-by-doing assignment, your computer must be connected to the Internet. The Internet sites provided in the assignments are current as of the posting of this syllabus. However, some Internet sites do change or are discontinued. In the event you are unable to access a site because it is no longer available, you should so advise the Instructor). The Instructor will accept late assignments that are submitted in the Dropbox, but the student will have 1 point deducted for every day past the deadline.

NO LATE EXAMS, DISCUSSION POSTS, QUIZZES, NOR LATE PROJECTS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!

Weekly Assignments

The course has been designed to be completed over a 15-week schedule. There will be a total of 12 weekly assignments. Each assignment is worth 8 points. The weekly assignments account for 20% of your overall grade in this course.  You must follow the assignment due date schedule set out in the Content section of eLearn very carefully.  For each assignment, the student is expected to read the chapters of the text assigned for that session as set out in the Content section of eLearn. In addition, the Content section will provide the student with access to the instructor's lecture notes and Powerpoint slides for those chapters. The student is also expected to read the lecture notes and slides for the session.

Most assignments involve locating some information related to the reading material (usually online with website link provided) and answering a question that will confirm that the student has in fact located the correct information. Each assignment provides the student with sources at which the necessary information can be located. Once each assignment has been completed, the student must provide responses for that assignment by preparing a document and placing the document in the Dropbox in eLearn. Weekly assignments and timely completion of the session reading assignments will count for 20% of the total grade. Your grade for each week's session will appear in the Grades section of eLearn. The instructor will provide individual feedback on weekly submissions as needed in the feedback section in Dropbox. The week following the submission deadline for each assignment, the instructor will place the correct answers to the assignments in the Content section of eLearn. The student will be responsible for comparing his/her submitted answers with the correct answers provided.  Points will be deducted for failing to include all answers on the assignment and/or submitting the assignment late.

Please Note: Websites come and go on the WWW and web pages change their information. If the web link you have been asked to access as part of an assignment is no longer in service or you are convinced that the particular information the instructor has asked you to locate on a site is no longer there, DO NOT PANIC--advise the instructor in an email and the instructor will attempt to locate the website.

Discussion Board Participation

In conjunction with course readings and assignments, discussion topics will be posted on the eLearn discussion board. Topics will include issues associated with the readings. Students are expected to contribute their thoughts on each topic by the posted due date.  Students will be evaluated on both quality and quantity of their participation in the discussion board. As the Instructor, I will facilitate student discussions but I will not respond to every post. I may intervene if the discussion gets off track. I will check the discussion board daily during the week and occasionally on the weekend. Students should not use the discussion board to address specific questions to the instructor (instead, the student should send an email to the instructor for questions). Posts in the Discussion board must be made before the deadline for such assignment as indicated in the Content section of eLearn (i.e. no late submissions are allowed!!!)

There will be a total of 5 discussion board assignments. Each assignment is worth 20 points and will count as 10% of your overall grade for the course. Your grade for each discussion assignment will appear in the Grades section of eLearn.  In order to receive the full 20 points for each discussion assignment, the student will need to do the following:

  • Submit one initial response in the Discussion Board and respond to at least two other posts before the end of the session (5 points).
  • Submit posts that contain grammatically correct sentences without any spelling errors (5 points).
  • Submit posts and responses that show evidence of knowledge and understanding of course content and applicability to professional practice (5 points).
  • Submit posts that elicit responses and reflections from his/her peers and responses integrate multiple views (5 points).

When assessing the quality and level of student participation, the instructor will consider the following characteristics to be excellent discussion contributions:

  • Submit initial post(s) early in the session, and subsequent responses to the posts of other students throughout the duration of the session. The goal is to have a discussion around the topic that lasts throughout the session.
  • Posts and responses should be thorough and thoughtful. Just posting "I agree" or "Good idea" will not be considered adequate. Support statements with examples, experiences, or references. Keep each post and response to one or two short paragraphs.
  • Posts should be within a range of 75-150 words.  If a post does not meet the minimum word count of 75, I will not count it toward your grade.
  • Do not stray from the topic. All posts and responses should address the question, problem, or situation as presented for discussion.
  • Posts and responses should be complete and free of grammatical or structural errors.

Distance conveys a degree of anonymity, which sometimes causes people to drop their normal standards of decorum when communicating online. In order to participate in online discussions, students need to treat each other with respect and do not transmit any message that you wouldn't be willing to communicate in a face-to-face discussion. Thus, when participating in the Discussion board, students should observe the following Netiquette Guidelines (failure to follow these guidelines will result in a student getting zero points for a discussion assignment):

  • Do not use all capital letters. Using all capital letters online is the equivalent of yelling. Instead,use HTML to bold or italicize text in your postings.
  • Avoid sarcasm and subtleties.Be clear and straightforward with your language.
  • Be truthful. Don't pretend to be someone or something that you are not.
  • Use appropriate language .Avoid any use of jargon or offensive language (do not use comments that might be construed as racist or sexist).
  • Do not commit illegal acts,such as libeling or slandering others,and do not joke about committing illegal acts.
  • Do not post irrelevant messages.
  • Do not post messages that are irrelevant or not part of the discussion assignment.
  • Don't post, display, or otherwise provide access to materials belonging to others,and cite references as appropriate.
  • Be positive. It's good to express your opinions in discussions, but don't make disagreements personal. Agree to disagree in your exchanges of and opinions.
  • Be aware of cultural differences.Avoid posts and responses that have references to people in other cultures.
  • Spell it out.Trendy abbreviated spellings (i.e. "texting" language) is best left outside of online classrooms.
  • Remember everything you post is recorded.

Quizzes

There will be a total of 10 quizzes.  Each quiz will have 10 questions and is worth 10 points (1 point per question) and will count as 10% of your overall grade for the course. Quizzes will cover material from the assigned readings and lecture notes. Your grade for each quiz will appear in the Grades section of eLearn. Students must complete the quizzes by the deadlines outlined in the Content section of eLearn. Students will not be allowed to take quizzes past the deadline.  All quizzes will be found under the Quizzes section of eLearn. Quizzes are self graded in eLearn.

Writing Project

The student will be required to complete a written research paper on a topic related to the material covered in the course. Following this syllabus is list of suggested topics for a research paper. Students may select a different topic for a paper, but the instructor must approve the topic in advance. Research papers must be a minimum of 1,500 words and must be submitted to the instructor in the Dropbox in eLearn. Research papers should be typed in 12 point type, double-spaced, and be accompanied by a title page using the following format:

TITLE
A Research Paper by (Your name)
BUSN 2370-Legal Environment of Business
Walters State Community College
Semester

The Writing Project must be the original work of the student and prepared for this course only. Submission of material prepared for another course or prepared by someone other than the student (including pre-packaged research papers obtained from Internet or other commercial services) will receive a grade of 0. Students may not work together on the Writing Project.

NO LATE PROJECTS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!

Class Participation:

This course is a fully online course. Your orientation information and all other information needed for this course can be found under the Content section of eLearn.  In order to be counted for attendance in this course, you will need to read the entire syllabus very carefully and complete the orientation quiz. The orientation quiz can be found under the Quizzes tab. Of course, you can always email the instructor if you have questions or need assistance with this class. All information and assignments for this course will posted in the Content section.  Later in the semester, your midterm exam and final exam will be posted on the Content section. Check the appropriate place on the Content section for when those exams will be due.

Punctuality is important in keeping up in a timely fashion with the reading assignments and lecture notes and in completing the assignments that accompany the readings and lecture notes. Each student is expected to submit assignments to the instructor using the Dropbox in eLearn for each assignment (see assignments and projects section above). Failure to complete the assignments in a timely fashion will result in points being lost.

Late Policy:

No late discussion board assignments, quizzes, exams, or projects will be accepted  (no exceptions). Weekly assignments may be turned  in late for a 1 point reduction for each day the assignment  is late.

Course Ground Rules

The following two statements (1., 2.) were derived from the TBR System-wide Student Rules document, released January 2012:

RULES OF THE TENNESSEE BOARD OF REGENTS STATE UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM OF TENNESSEE SYSTEMWIDE STUDENT RULES CHAPTER 0240-02-03 STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS

Read the document in its entirety here.

1. Standards of Conduct:

  • Students are required to adhere to the same professional, legal and ethical standards of conduct online as on campus. In addition, students should conform to generally accepted standards of "netiquette" while sending e-mail, posting comments to the discussion board, and while participating in other means of communicating online. Specifically, students should refrain from inappropriate and/or offensive language, comments and actions.

2. Review the TN eCampus Academic Integrity/Academic Honesty Policy:

  • In their academic activities, students are expected to maintain high standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is prohibited.

Such conduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • an attempt by one or more students to use unauthorized information in the taking of an exam
  • to submit as one's own work, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, computer programs, or other products prepared by another person,
  • or to knowingly assist another student in obtaining or using unauthorized materials.

Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited.

Students guilty of academic misconduct, either directly or indirectly through participation or assistance, are subject to disciplinary action through the regular procedures of the student’s home institution.  Refer to the student handbook provided by your home institution to review the student conduct policy.

In addition to other possible disciplinary sanctions that may be imposed, the instructor has the authority to assign an "F" or zero for an activity or to assign an "F" for the course.

Other Course Rules:

Students are expected to:

  • Participate in all aspects of the course
  • Communicate with other students
  • Learn how to navigate in Brightspace
  • Keep abreast of course announcements
  • Use the assigned course management (Brightspace) email address rather than a personal email address
  • Address technical problems immediately:
  • Observe course netiquette at all times.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussions:

  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other’s ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in TN eCampus programs and courses. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading will be included within the course modules. To access the Virtual Library, go to the course homepage and select the Virtual Library link under Course Resources.

Students with Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this syllabus is for general information purposes only. While we endeavor to keep this information up-to-date and accurate, there may be some discrepancies between this syllabus and the one found in your online course. The syllabus of record is the one found in your online course. Please make sure you read the syllabus in your course at the beginning of the semester. Questions regarding course content should be directed to your instructor.


Last Revised on July 12, 2021