Due dates. Assignments include surveys, tests, essays, presentations, and discussions. Assignments are due by the days and times listed in the Schedule of Assignments. Assignments turned in late may receive zero points, depending on the circumstances. No assignments will be accepted after the last day of class. Failure to follow directions related to assignments may also be penalized. All assignments may be submitted early. The window for taking tests typically opens one week before the due date.
Grading. Grading is based on a percentage from total points earned from participation and assignments: 0-72= F, 73-79=C, 80-80=B, 90-100=A. Participation is measured by your contributions to discussions. Assignments are graded on content and style. Elements of content include accuracy, completeness, and difficulty. Elements of style include spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format. See the grading rubrics in Canvas for details on how each assignment is graded. Consistent with kaizen, and at the discretion of the instructor, you may revise and resubmit selected assignments (not tests).
Surveys (4 points). Surveys include the Commenced Attendance Quiz (CAQ) and the Course Assessment Survey (CAS). CAQ is a survey used by the Registrar to establish your attendance. Failure to complete this survey may jeopardize your funding. The CAS is an end-of-course anonymous survey that asks your opinion about course objectives and suggestions on how to improve this course. I value your feedback and use it to improve the course. If you complete it in good faith, you will receive full credit.
Tests (200 points). Tests include the Moral Competency Inventory (MCI), three quizzes on selected readings and videos (Quiz1, Quiz2, and Quiz3), an Academic Integrity Quiz (AIQ), and seven Pop Quizzes (PQ) on each chapter. Unless otherwise indicated on the test, all tests are open book, individual effort, not proctored, and may include multiple-choice and essay questions. The MCI is a questionnaire that measures your resolve to have moral courage. Take the MCI at the start and end of the course. Do not take the quizzes until you have completed all of the assignments related to each quiz.
Essays (120 points). Specific requirements for each essay are in Canvas. Submit the essays to Canvas. You will receive feedback on each essay in the form of comments embedded in your essays within Canvas. Use the feedback to improve your writing skills and your knowledge of the topic that you write about. Using artificial intelligence, Course Hero, similar services to write your essays is cheating. A plagiarism checker will be used to evaluate the originality of your writing and the probability that it was written using artificial intelligence.
Presentations (80 points). Use the slide show function in PowerPoint to prepare four video presentations. Assume your audience is a client or supervisor. The first presentation (Pres1) is on any one of the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) cases in Chapter 2 Cases. The second presentation (Pres2) is on any one of the GVV cases in Chapters 3-8. The third presentation is on Major Case 3 beginning on page 436 of your textbook (Pres3). For each one, describe the GVV case and answer its questions. The fourth presentation (Pres4) is on a famous accounting whistleblower. Pick any one of the whistleblowers listed in Canvas. Submit the PowerPoint files of the presentations to the Assignments tool in Canvas. The time limit for each presentation is five minutes. Include note pages on each slide. Each note page should be a script of what you would say about the slide if you were making the presentation to an audience. Do not read from your scripts when making the presentations. Using artificial intelligence to prepare or deliver your presentation is prohibited.
Discussions (18 points). Participation points will be awarded based on your answers to questions posted by the instructor and your comments to classmates using the Discussion tool in Canvas. Your responses will receive full credit if they are timely, meaningful, and reference the comment of at least one classmate. Negative points may be awarded for rudeness.
Course Policies
Academic integrity. To promote a culture of academic integrity in the Leavitt School of Business, faculty and students pledge not to “lie, steal, cheat, or tolerate those who do.” In addition, the School defines academic integrity to include five core values: honesty, trust, respect, fairness, and moral courage. I encourage you to sign the School’s Integrity Pledge. A link to it is on the home page of the course in Canvas. Using artificial intelligence to prepare or deliver your assignments is prohibited.
Plagiarism. All assignments that require a written response must be in your own words. Plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the course or expulsion from the School of Business. Plagiarism includes “(1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words” (Hacker 2011: 502). As a control against plagiarism, your written assignments will be submitted to Unicheck, a system that identifies papers containing unoriginal material.
Advice: Give This Course a Chance
Over the years, I have noticed that some students suspect that this course will be a waste of time because personal values relevant to ethical decision making, such as honesty, trust, respect, fairness, and responsibility, are established before the college years from childhood experiences. Although personal values and some ethical decision-making skills are often developed early in life, highly respected psychologists Lawrence Kohlberg and James Rest report that “cognitive moral capacity” develops through the college years and beyond. In addition, my experience in this course consistently shows that moral awareness, judgment, and commitment can increase from the experiences in this course if you give it a chance. Other researchers observe that most people want to be ethical. They do not wake up one morning with a clear intention to be unethical. But social or organizational pressures of loyalty and conformance, as well as powerful authority figures, can influence people with strong moral compasses to commit unethical acts. You will be learning about accountants and others who got on the slippery slope of fraud, where relatively minor indiscretions became character-shaping habits that led to more egregious behavior. The consequences of the poor choices that they made can be powerful cautionary reminders when you are faced with similar moral temptations. Many of the videos assigned in this course include the personal experiences of accountants and others who made morally courageous choices in defense of closely held values. Watch the videos instead of just reading the transcripts. The facial expressions and emotions communicated by these courageous persons are powerful communication tools that can help you better understand their ethical dilemmas, motivations, and concerns. I hope that you will be inspired by these moral exemplars to have moral courage in your personal and professional life.
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