BUAD : Corporate Finance - Spring

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1 SAMPLE SUBJECT TO CHANGE THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND INNOVATION BUAD : Corporate Finance - Spring Meeting Time: N/A (DL class) however, you are required to come to campus to take the midterm and final exams (see directions later in this document). Instructor: Dr. Doina Chichernea Office: ST-South 4011 Phone: (419) doina.chichernea@utoledo.edu Office Hours: TR 4:30 7:00 pm or by appointment. Course Overview This is your core (corporate) finance course. It is designed to familiarize you with the broad range of issues faced by financial managers and to give you the analytical tools required to solve these issues. The first part of the course reviews the time value of money concept and addresses valuation of bonds and stocks as applications of the present value of future cash flows concept. Broadly speaking, the material covered in this class concentrates around the three major types of decisions in corporate finance: Investment decisions: What real assets or projects should a firm invest in to create value? Financing decisions: How should the firm finance these projects? (Capital structure decision equity or debt?) Payout decisions: How much should we pay out in dividends? What is the best way to return money to shareholders? Textbook and Materials Textbook (required): Corporate Finance, by Ross Westerfield Jaffe, 10 th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2013 and Connect Connect (required): Homework assignments are online using McGraw-Hill s Connect. Connect access codes are packaged with a new textbook in the bookstore, or can be purchased online at our section s Connect web address.you can register in Connect and have access without a code for a limited time period (typically three weeks). Supplement Textbook (recommended, not required): Corporate Finance A Practical Approach, by Clayman Fridson Troughton, Wiley, 2012, Second Edition (CFA Institute Investment Series). Although the schedule includes suggested readings from this book, these are not mandatory they are included for those of you who want to understand these topics deeper (and are maybe interested in taking the CFA exams in the future). Calculator (required): You need to have and know how to use a financial calculator (Texas Instruments BAII Plus, HP-10B or equivalent is recommended). It will help you solve time value of money and valuation problems quickly, which will be very helpful in an exam situation. BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring

2 Distance Learning (DL) vs In Class Expectations: Since you registered for the DL section of this course, I expect that you are all highly self-driven individuals, and that you are able to discipline yourself into following the material and asking for help when you need it. This is not an easy class, and the DL environment puts the responsibility of keeping up on your shoulders rather than mine. If you feel that finance is not your strong suit, or that additional instructions and attention may benefit you, I strongly urge you to consider taking the in class section of BUAD6200 (I teach this section and attendance for the in-class section is not mandatory). Time Requirements: Please be advised that in order to perform well in this class you are expected to spend an average of 6-8 hours a week reading the material, reviewing, doing homework, working on assigned projects etc. DL vs In Class: As an on-line student, it is your responsibility to make sure that you understand the material by reading the textbook and following the slides that I post on BB. As an additional tool, I will use Mediasite to record the in-class section lectures and post links to these recordings on BB, but please keep in mind that these may not be available for every class. If you think you would benefit from additional explanations on certain topics, please feel free to attend any of the in class sections. Since online group work is less beneficial and harder to manage, all of the assignments in this section are individual assignments!!! Please make sure that you follow the directions and you submit everything on time! The material covered and the work assigned for grade in the DL and in class sections are very similar Office Hours: Since this is a DL class, I cannot assess whether you are keeping up with the material as I would in an in class section. Please seek help early if you feel that you are not understanding the material or are having difficulty with your homework. The material in this class can be difficult and concepts build on each other; it is therefore very easy to get lost in the material and hard to pick up in the middle if you do get lost. Please try to keep up with the work every week. If you feel that you need extra help, you have several options: (1) me with your questions; (2) attend some of the in class sessions to catch up; (3) come see me during my office hours; (4) contact me to schedule a different time to meet if you cannot make it during office hours. DOs and DON Ts for this DL class: DOs: Follow instructions! Every homework, assignment, and exam comes with its set of instructions. Before panicking or shooting me an , please read these instructions carefully chances are your questions are already answered!! Keep up with the material! Work on the class every week and make sure you submit everything by the due date. Communicate!!! With a DL class, I do not have a chance to assess the understanding or to solicit feedback in class as I normally would. If you are falling behind or if you think something is out of place or missing, please me about it. Be professional! Please be professional in your communication and your submitted assignments at all times. BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring

3 DON Ts: Do not wait until the last minute to ask for help!!! There is very little I can do two days before the exam!!! Keep in mind that the longer you wait to ask, the less I can do to help!!!! Do not expect a curve!!! Your grades are all available to you on BB as we go through the material. The grade breakdown below should help you determine what your grade is in the class at every point in time. Do not expect some magic points to appear before the semester is over!! Do not hesitate to show up for any of the in class sessions!!! Subject to seat availability, you are welcome to attend as many of these as you can If you have never taken an online class before, it might be useful to read the material provided by Learning Ventures for current online students. You can find this at Course Policies Prerequisites: Completion of FINA5130 or its equivalent is required to take this course. Blackboard: You will have the syllabus, class schedule, lecture notes and other information about the course under the Blackboard system (you can get there from your myut portal, or directly go to and log in with your regular student id and password). Please check it regularly (before you come to class) for announcements and updates about the class. Connect: Homework assignments are online using McGraw-Hill s Connect which is a web-based assignment and assessment platform accompanying the text. Connect access codes are packaged with a new textbook in the bookstore, or can be purchased online at our section s Connect web address provided above. Communication: The best way to communicate with me is via . I usually respond in less than 48 hours. Please use your UT to communicate with me and include the section name ( BUAD ) in the subject of your . Grading Scale A 95% C % A % C % B % D % B % F <60% B % Grade Breakdown Homework 20% Midterm 30% Case 20% Final 30% Homework There will be 8-10 individual homework assignments (assigned through Connect). Directions on how to register for Connect are available on our Blackboard site. Connect will not let you turn in BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring

4 an assignment after it is due. After each assignment is due, I will post answers to the equivalent problems from the end of the chapter on Blackboard (although numbers may be different, they should help you understand the logic). Homework is useful in two ways. First, it allows you to test your understanding of the material presented/discussed in class. You never really know whether you understand something fully until you are forced to apply it. Second, sometimes I will give assignments that walk you through a problem that makes a point or teaches you something that we don t have time to cover in class. Since you will rarely see a problem in the real world exactly like problems in the book, you should learn how to develop intuition and solutions on your own. The homework will allow you to do this. Note: Although your performance on each of the homework assignments does not represent a large fraction of your grade, if you do not work them through (and understand them), you will not do well on the exams, which do represent a large fraction of your grade. Although most assignments only require one final answer, please focus on understanding the concept and the logic behind the steps, and not on the numbers!!! Case You will be assigned a capital budgeting/cost of capital case during the semester (you will be able to fully solve the case after we complete Ch. 13). This is an individual assignment!! You are supposed to work on this case and submit the report by the date indicated in your assignment schedule. I will post details and instructions for the case on BB later in the term. Be aware that the case is worth 20% of your final grade. The grade on your case will reflect both your ability to understand the material (content) and your ability to present your analysis/conclusions in a professional manner (form). Exams You are required to come to campus to take the midterm and final exams!!!! You have three options for how to take these exams: 1) Take the exam on campus with the rest of the class during the time specified in your schedule. 2) If you cannot come during the time specified in your schedule, take the exam at the testing center during the period specified in your schedule (you have a 4-day period to take the exam). 3) Under very special circumstances (you cannot travel, you are in the military etc.), you can take the exam under the supervision of an approved proctor. This is allowed only with special permission and if you choose this option, it is your responsibility to locate an approved proctor in your area. You can find directions about off-campus proctor policies and procedures here Exam questions will be related to the assigned chapters and are similar to the homework problems and the problems included in the slides covering the material. Both exams are open-book and opennotes (however, you do not have access to a computer, so please make sure you plan accordingly). However, this will not help much if you haven t done the homework and didn t understand the material. While you have multiple choice options for each question, you are required to show me the steps that got you to the right answer, and not just circle the answer. The thinking process that takes you to the answer is what I will be looking for when grading the exams. Inputs used in any calculation must be provided on the exam to receive credit. Partial credit will be given for correct procedures even if an error is made early in the problem. BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring

5 Remember, the process is graded; therefore, only circling the correct answer will be worth very little credit. The final exam is comprehensive, in the sense that the material covered in the second half of the semester relies on your understanding of the material from the first half. Review Sessions before Exams If you can, I strongly advise you to participate in the in class review sessions that are on the schedule before each exam. This is your chance of asking whatever questions you may have about the exam or about the material. If you cannot make it, make sure you follow the review material that I post on BB. Review Problems There will be 2 practice tests (review problems) designed to help you prepare for the midterm and final exam. These practice exams are designed similar to the actual exam, but do not expect the exact same questions (or same questions with different numbers) for the actual exams!! Keep in mind that the exams are open-notes, so you will have the review problems in front of you. Submitting these review problems by the due date will give you some bonus points that will simply add to your final grade think of these as extra credit points. Course Objectives The main objective is that students are able to critically analyze corporate decisions from a financial perspective. Taking this course should help you improve in the following areas: - Build a framework that allows you to better understand and analyze corporate finance questions. You should be able to answer questions pertaining to: Valuing stocks and bonds Explaining the risk return trade-off Evaluating projects and make capital budgeting decisions Evaluating the optimal capital structure for a firm Identifying the best way to return money to shareholders - Enhance written communication skills the case assignment requires each of you to submit maximum content in a minimum number of pages (excluding tables, references etc) of analysis. This should teach you how to write in a concise and effective way. Academic Integrity Policy As a student taking coursework in this College you have the obligation to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct. The Code of Student Academic Conduct and other documented policies of the department, college and university related to academic integrity will be enforced. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest, whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences that range from probation to expulsion. Any violation of these regulations, including acts of plagiarism or cheating, will be dealt with on an individual basis according to the severity of the misconduct. Academic Accommodation/Accessibility Students with disabilities who believe they may need academic accommodations are encouraged to speak with me after class and will need to contact the Office of Accessibility (Rocket Hall 1820; BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring

6 ; ) as soon as possible for more information and/or to initiate the process for accessing academic accommodations. Course Feedback Your feedback is very important, especially for a DL class. Therefore I will give two short surveys during the semester (aside from the regular official evaluation that will be completed at the end of the class). This will give you an opportunity to express what you like or don t like about the course, so that I have a chance to address the concerns as much as I can during the semester. BUAD : Corporate Finance, Spring