| Course Ground Rules:
When entering new experiences, everyone has expectations regarding what should happen, what should not happen and what is expected to occur. In a university course environment it may be helpful to students if the instructor identifies her expectations of students. Therefore, my expectations of students enrolled in AEB 5516 Quantitative Methods in Agribusiness Decisions are that each student will: 1. Be an interested and concerned participant. 2. Be open-minded and willing to evaluate objectively new ideas. 3. Be challenging and questioning of a. Yourself, b. Classmates, c. Outside resources, and d. Instructor, 4. Provide the instructor with frequent feedback on her performance. 5. Show creativity and ingenuity. 6. Have a positive and cooperative attitude. 7. Participate in class discussions. 8. Exhibit teamwork in team exercises. 9. Behave with the highest possible level of integrity. 10. Accept the fact that while the mathematical process in agribusiness decisions may be black or white, the recommendation for action that follows the analysis is neither black nor white, but shades of gray. 11. Make a commitment to excellence in performance including: a. Attendance, b. Appropriate study effort and time, c. Thoughtful, on-time assignments, and d. A questioning mind. I have high expectations of AEB 5516 students. The rewards for fulfilling these expectations include positive feedback, a positive learning experience, and the achievement of your course grade goal. In the first unit you will have an opportunity to articulate your expectations of me. Attendance and Class Participation: Attendance will be measured based on whether or not you participate in the discussions. Lack of participation significantly impacts one's ability to perform competently on homework assignments, major evaluations, etc., and hence, your final course grade. Readings and homework assignments are designed to supplement and support discussions. They are not a substitute for it. This course is not designed to be solely an independent study (i.e. the student and his/her computer). Student participation and contributions are actively solicited. Participation by everyone is important for true understanding of the subject matter. They are vital to the success of the student as well as the course. All questions, musings, thoughts related to the course material are welcome. Your participation grade will be based on the quality and quantity of your contribution to the bulletin board discussions. Additionally, WebCT allows the instructor to track your use of the course web site (i.e. how often you log-on, how long you are logged on, and which part(s) of the course you are using). Those who use the course web site and have more active participation via bulletin board postings are likely to receive a higher grade for class participation. Your participation, web site visits, and bulletin board postings will provide valuable feedback to me so that I can make improvements to the course. Homework Assignments: Homework assignments will be made throughout the course. The assignments will focus on the application of the analytical concepts we learn in the course. Analysis, as well as interpretation of the results, will be emphasized in the assignments. You may work with others on the homework assignments. In fact, you are encouraged to do so. It is often in conversation that concepts become clearer to the speaker as well as the listener. However, each student must submit his/her own individual assignment. You cannot simply duplicate another person's assignment. If you work in a group (either face-to-face or electronically), you must indicate with whom you worked on your assignment when you turn it in. All homework assignments are to be submitted as E-mail attachments (MS Word PC compatible and/or MS Excel PC Compatible). Late assignments will be corrected, at my convenience, but no grade will be assigned. Hence, if you turn in a late homework, you will receive feedback on your work, but you will not receive credit for doing the work. Please be sure your name, phone number, and E-mail address are on all submitted material. Given that we live in a world with individuals who think it is entertaining to do harm to others, including their computers, I am very concerned about inadvertently installing a virus on my machine. When you submit your assignment as an E-mail attachment, the subject of your E-mail must contain the specific homework assignment. The file name for the file containing your assignment is to be your last name and assignment number, e.g. willett2.doc or willett2.xls. In the body of your E-mail message, you must identify the homework assignment and the specific name of the attached file. I will delete all attachments that are not adequately identified. Please send a single file in each E-mail message. Do not send multiple files in a single message. If you do not follow this policy when submitting your assignments, the consequence is that I will not read your file and you will receive 0 points for the assignment. Major Evaluation and Final Evaluation: There is a major evaluation at the middle of the semester and a final evaluation at the end of the semester. Each evaluation might include a small number of multiple choice questions, several short answer questions and a case problem. No credit is given for an examination that is not taken or one that is submitted after the deadline. Grading Policies: Generally speaking, the bulletin board postings, homework assignments and evaluations are due by Friday noon. In the event of an emergency and the student misses an assignment or an evaluation, the student should have written approval from the Dean of Students Office. The contact person is Julie Sina, Dean of Students Office, 109 Peabody Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 352-392-1261, jsina@ufl.edu. Upon receipt of this approval, the student should contact the instructor. The instructor will handle the missed assignments on a case-by-case basis. Important Dates and Deadlines: Important dates for this course can be found by selecting the Calendar icon on the course home page. Dates for when homework is due, evaluations occur, and other deadlines are posted. This is the best source for the latest information regarding due dates and other information of importance to the course. In addition refer to the University of Florida's Critical Dates web page for deadlines for registration, last day to drop with fees returned, deadline to drop a course, deadline to withdraw from a course, etc. Academic Honesty: As a result of completing the registration form at the University of Florida, every student has signed the following statement: "I understand that the University of Florida expects its students to be honest in all their academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment of academic honesty and understand that my failure to comply with this commitment may result in disciplinary action up to and including expulsion from the University. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity." This means that all work submitted by you is your own work and you will not tolerate academic dishonesty by your classmates. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves, and our peers, to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. University Computers
and Networks: Instructors have been
asked to remind students that if they feel that a fellow student is using
the computers in the labs inappropriately (viewing pornography, playing
games, etc), to bring it to the attention of the instructor. The instructor
can then take appropriate action to remedy the situation. |