FIN 4403 Honors Finance Section Tentative Course Syllabus Fall 2015 Term In Canvas

Transcription

1 FIN 4403 Honors Finance Section 5320 Tentative Course Syllabus Fall 2015 Term INSTRUCTORS / CLASS Dr. T. Craig Tapley, DBA Graham-Buffett Master Lecturer of Finance Dr. John Banko, Ph.D., CFA Lecturer of Finance Section: 5320 Class Time: Monday, Periods 7-8 (1:55 p.m. 3:50 p.m.) Room: 210 Heavener Hall Class Webpage: -- In Canvas CONTACT INFORMATION Office: 321 David Stuzin Hall 306 David Stuzin Hall Phone: (352) (352) Fax: (352) (352) ctapley@ufl.edu john.banko@warrington.ufl.edu Office Hours: TBA TBA PREREQUISITES Students must be selected for admission to this class and enrollment is limited. To be selected, a student must be majoring in finance, have an outstanding academic record, received an A in FIN 3403, and agree to be a teaching assistant for FIN Grades of A in other finance classes that the student has taken are expected. Extracurricular activities, strong interpersonal skills, and evidence of leadership are expected. A personal interview with the selection committee is required. THESIS AND DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY GROUPS Prior to the first week of class, the 18 Primary TA s will be split into 6 Thesis Groups, consisting of 3 members each. The 18 Primary TA s will also be assigned to 6 Discussion/Activity Groups. Each Senior TA will oversee two of the Discussion/Activity Groups. Finally, the 18 Primary TAs will also be split into 7 teams for holding weekly reviews. FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 1

2 OVERVIEW The primary goals of the Finance Honors Program include: (1) challenging our best students in an educational framework, (2) helping them develop and refine skills needed for success in their future careers, (3) helping them to gain a deeper understanding of basic financial theory, as well as exposing them to advanced topics within the field, and (4) creating an opportunity for them to interact and network with other top students in the college. To help meet these goals we wish to expose our best students to the senior faculty within the Warrington College of Business and to professionals in the field. We have arranged for some of the senior faculty to come in as guest speakers. This has been one of the favorite activities of students in the past and we expect everyone to attend, be prepared, and ask good questions. There is also a requirement that you attend presentations by at least two outside speakers, either through the Professional Speakers Series run by the department (we will keep you informed of speakers and dates), or through the Faculty Seminar Series, which features faculty presenting some of their cutting-edge research: seminars are usually scheduled for Friday mornings from 9:00-10:30 a.m. You must write up a one-page summary of each presentation and turn this into Dr. Banko within one week of the session; please include your name, the name of the speaker, the date and location of the presentation, and then your summary. We also wish to help you understand and appreciate the complexities of finance in the real world. Therefore, each of the Discussion/Activity Groups, with the help of their Senior TA s, will conduct 45-minute sessions on a finance-related topic of their choosing. Each group will determine their topic, research the topic, and provide background material for the class to read before their session. PDF copies of the background material are due to Dr. Banko by noon on the Friday prior to the session so that he can get it posted to the class webpage for the class to read in a timely manner. Although every member of the group must participate in researching the topic and putting together the structure for the class discussion, this exercise is not a group presentation. That is, every member of the group will not get up and simply talk for 5-6 minutes. Rather, since every student in the class will already have read the background material, what we would like is a group-led DISCUSSION, not a LECTURE. The audience will rank each group s performance (1-2) and the group s grade on this assignment will be based on that ranking. [Note: In order to ensure that all students are prepared to engage in the class discussion, Dr. Banko and Dr. Tapley reserve the right to hold a pop quiz and/or require each student to write a brief summary of selective articles assigned, before the start of the group discussions.] In addition, we want to help you learn about current research trends within finance, to develop your own research agenda, to gain more focused knowledge of a topic within finance, and to learn how to do collaborative research. To that end: 1. Each semester an overall research theme is chosen for the class. This semester the theme is TBA. 2. As noted above, the 18 Primary TA s will be split into 6 Thesis Groups, consisting of 3 members each. Each Thesis Group is expected to: (a) Select a topic that is within the overall theme stated above, with each student in the group selecting a sub-topic to research. FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 2

3 (b) Prepare a Topic Outline and a Literature Review for their paper and present this in class on September 21st. (c) Write a page paper on their topic, with each student taking responsibility for a sub-topic. [Note: one of the hardest tasks you will have is learning how to integrate the separate aspects of your research into a single, well-written, cohesive paper. However, this is exactly what is required when working on collaborative group projects in the business world.] (d) Submit a draft by 12:00 noon on Friday, October 23 rd. (e) Peer review one of the other thesis papers by 12:00 noon on Friday, October 30 th. (f) Submit a final paper by 12:00 noon on Friday, November 13 th. (g) Present their research results at the end of the term to the other students in the class during the final three class times. Finally, we want to help you develop your communication skills. This will be accomplished through both your roles as a student in FIN 4403 (discussions, written reports, class presentations, etc.), as well as your role as a Primary TA for FIN 3403 (answering student questions and teaching them finance, holding exam reviews, grading student s written assignments, etc.). Students who successfully complete this course, and meet all of their responsibilities as a teaching assistant for FIN 3403, will be designated by the department and the college, as Warrington Finance Scholars. RESPONSIBILITIES OF FIN 3403 TEACHING ASSISTANTS A major component of FIN 3403 is the responsibilities given to and expected of the teaching assistants. As a TA, your responsibilities include: 1. TA s will discuss with the instructor feedback they are receiving from students; discuss criteria for grading assignments; help determine assignments/exercises for the discussion groups on an ongoing basis; and help determine future projects. 2. TA s will mentor, facilitate, and monitor the activities of the FIN 3403 students. 3. TA s will respond to s or discussion group postings from members for the class concerning questions the students may have about the class or material being covered in the class. 4. TA s will hold weekly reviews in Heavener 140, from 4p 5p on Tuesdays (listed in the schedule). 5. Each TA will monitor/hold online office hours every other week, with additional extended hours the week before an exam: TA s are encouraged to develop a professional relationship with the members of the class and meet/interact with students as needed. FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 3

4 GROUP ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS CONTACT LIST Entered after TA assignments are complete on the first day of class. GRADING Grades in FIN 4403 will be based on the following: Attendance and Interaction in FIN % Professional Speakers / Faculty Seminar Series 10% Finance-Related Topic Discussions 10% TA Responsibilities (Grading, Office Hours, Reviews, etc.) 30% Written Research Thesis 40% 100% TENTATIVE SCHEDULE Week One Date Day TA Online Assignment / Activity 8/24/2015 Monday 8/25/2015 Tuesday 8/26/2015 Wednesday 8/27/2015 Thursday 8/28/2015 Friday University: Start of Classes FIN 4403: Introductions, Pictures, Etc. 8/31/2015 Monday 9/1/2015 Tuesday 9/2/2015 Wednesday 9/3/2015 Thursday 9/4/2015 Friday Week Two FIN 4403: Class admin, Research papers and presentations FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 4

5 Week Three 9/7/2015 Monday University: Labor Day - No Classes 9/8/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 1: 4p - 5p in HVNR 140 9/9/2015 Wednesday 9/10/2015 Thursday 9/11/2015 Friday 9/12/2015 Saturday FIN 4403: Ropes Course at Lake Wauberg Week Four 9/14/2015 Monday FIN4403: No class due to weekend actviity 9/15/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 2: 4p - 5p in HVNR 140 9/16/2015 Wednesday 9/17/2015 Thursday 9/18/2015 Friday 9/21/2015 Monday Week Five FIN 4403: Primary TA Groups: Presentation of Topic and Prior Research, 15 Minutes Max Per Team 9/22/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 3: 4p - 5p in HVNR 140 9/23/2015 Wednesday 9/24/2015 Thursday 9/25/2015 Friday Week Six 9/28/2015 Monday Guest Speaker: TBA 9/29/2015 Tuesday Exam 1 Review - Senior TAs: 4p - 6p in HVNR 140 9/30/2015 Wednesday 10/1/2015 Thursday 10/2/2015 Friday FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 5

6 Week Seven 10/5/2015 Monday FIN4403: No class due to Exam 1 10/6/2015 Tuesday Exam 1: 8:20p - 10:20p 10/7/2015 Wednesday 10/8/2015 Thursday 10/9/2015 Friday Week Eight 10/12/2015 Monday FIN 4403: Discussion of Team-Defined Topics, Senior TA Team 1 10/13/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 4: 4p - 5p in HVNR /14/2015 Wednesday 10/15/2015 Thursday 10/16/2015 Friday Week Nine 10/19/2015 Monday FIN 4403: Discussion of Team-Defined Topics, Senior TA Team 2 10/20/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 5: 4p - 5p in HVNR /21/2015 Wednesday 10/22/2015 Thursday 10/23/2015 Friday FIN 4403: Electronic Copies of First Draft of Research Reports Due by 12 Noon Week Ten 10/26/2015 Monday 10/27/2015 Tuesday 10/28/2015 Wednesday 10/29/2015 Thursday 10/30/2015 Friday FIN 4403: Discussion of Team-Defined Topics, Senior TA Team 3 Exam 2 Review - Senior TAs: 4p - 6p in HVNR 140 FIN 4403: Peer Review of Draft of Research Reports Due by 12 Noon FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 6

7 Week Eleven 11/2/2015 Monday FIN4403: No class due to Exam 2 11/3/2015 Tuesday Exam 2: 8:20p - 10:20p 11/4/2015 Wednesday 11/5/2015 Thursday 11/6/2015 Friday University: Homecoming Week Twelve 11/9/2015 Monday FIN 4403: Guest speaker TBA 11/10/2015 Tuesday 11/11/2015 Tuesday University: Veterans Day 11/12/2015 Thursday 11/13/2015 Friday FIN 4403: Final Electronic Copies of Research Reports Due by 12 Noon 11/16/2015 Monday Week Thirteen FIN 4403: Primary TA Research Presentations, Research Teams 1a & 1b Presentation: 30 minutes max per team 11/17/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 6: 4p - 5p in HVNR /18/2015 Wednesday 11/19/2015 Thursday 11/20/2015 Friday Week Fourteen 11/23/2015 Monday No Class 11/24/2015 Tuesday 11/25/2015 Wednesday University: Thanksgiving Holiday 11/26/2015 Thursday University: Thanksgiving Holiday 11/27/2015 Friday University: Thanksgiving Holiday FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 7

8 11/30/2015 Monday Week Fifteen FIN 4403: Primary TA Research Presentations, Research Teams 2a & 2b Presentation: 30 minutes max per team 12/1/2015 Tuesday Weekly Review Team 7: 4p - 5p in HVNR /2/2015 Wednesday 12/3/2015 Thursday 12/4/2015 Friday Week Sixteen 12/7/2015 Monday FIN 4403: Primary TA Research Presentations, Research Teams 3a & 3b Presentation: 30 minutes max per team 12/8/2015 Tuesday Exam 3 Review - Senior TAs: 4p - 6p in HVNR /9/2015 Wednesday 12/10/2015 Thursday University: Reading Days - No Exams or Classes 12/11/2015 Friday University: Reading Days - No Exams or Classes 12/12/2015 Tuesday Exam 3: 5:30p - 7:30p 12/13/2015 Sunday 12/14/2015 Monday FIN Honors Finance - Syllabus Fall Term Page 8