BUS 223 Personal and Family Finance

Description: 

This course provides a study of money management decisions in relation to personal and family finances. Emphasis is on building useful skills in buying, budgeting, managing and tracking finances, increasing resources, and coping with current economic conditions. Upon completion, students should be able to develop a personal financial plan.

Overview: 

This course provides a study of money management decisions in relation to personal and family finances. Emphasis is placed on building useful skills in buying, budgeting, managing and tracking finances, increasing resources, and coping with current economic conditions. Upon completion, students should be able to develop a personal financial plan.

Prerequisites: 
There are no Prerequisites or Corequisites for this course.
Prospectus: 
PDF icon BUS 223 Prospectus Rev.2016.pdf
Instructor: 

Ruddlesden, D. Jerry

Adjunct Assistant Professor in Business
Part Time
Degrees: 
A.A. (1989), Ambassador University; B.A. (1987), Marshall University; M.B.A. (2009), DeVry University
Subject Matter: 
Accounting and Business

Dalton Jerry Ruddlesden received his A.A. from Ambassador College in Big Sandy, TX, his B.B.A. from Marshall University in Huntington WV and his M.B.A. from Devry University. Before attending Ambassador College, he graduated from Marshall University with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting. At Ambassador his main area of focus was Theology, and he served on the Outreach Program and was a member of the Ambassador Choral. In 1989 he was hired into the work to serve as an accountant in the Caribbean Regional Office. In 1994 he began working for the Global/Living Church of God in the Finance Department and now is the Financial Controller for both Living Church of God and Living University, overseeing the accounting department and budgeting/cash flow forecasting. He is married to Susanne Ruddlesden who is a TV editor in the Tomorrow’s World studio and they have two children, Ana and Geoffrey. 

Course Credit: 
Three (3) semester credit hours
Instructional Objectives: 

As a result of participating in BUS 223 the student will be able to:

  1. Understand the specific components that make up a financial plan including; Financial Planning, Money Management, Income and Asset Protection, Investments and Retirement and Estate Planning.
  2. Identify and apply biblical principles related to Family Finances.
  3. Apply the course concepts by creating and maintaining a flexible family budget and financial plan. 
Required Texts: 

This text is designed to be kept as reference resource upon the conclusion of the course.

E. Thomas Garman and Raymond E. Forgue. Personal Finance. 10th ed. China: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010.  

Additional Readings: 

Additional readings will periodically come from church literature and other sources. The appropriate web links will be designated on the course web site. Be sure NOT to miss these readings as listed on the lesson pages of the course.

Lectures: 

Course lectures will take the format of both video and audio. PowerPoint slides will accompany lectures and videos will also periodically be available for download with lectures. See the course website for details.  

Course Calendar: 

Lesson

Topics

Assignments
1 Introduction, Syllabus, Explain Assignments.
CH 1, 2, 3 Financial Planning		 Read CH 1, 2, 3 – Homework and Quiz,
Post Intro Biography
2 CH 4-9 Money Management Read CH 4-9 – Homework and Quiz, Begin Family Budget
3 CH 10-12 Income & Asset Protection Read CH 10-12 – Homework and Quiz
4 CH 13-16 Investments Read CH 13-16 – Homework and Quiz
5 CH 17-18 Retirement and Estate Planning Read CH 17-18 – Homework and Quiz
  Final Project Final Project – Family Flexible Budget and Financial Plan
  Final Exam Final exam covering all lessons
Course Requirements: 
  1. Submit assignments on or before the date due.  No late or make-up assignments will be allowed accept for extreme circumstances (permission of instructor is necessary).
  1. Students will be responsible for the chapter readings that correspond with the class lecture.  Be sure to read the chapter prior to logging in and completing the weekly assignment. Readings will correspond with in-class assignments and will help you be better informed.  Completing the readings in advance will make the assignments make more sense to you!
  1. Icebreaker/Biography Forum Post:  All students are required to post a brief biography to the forum.  The assignment is worth 25 points.  In your forum post, briefly answer the following questions: (please limit your comments to 200 words):
    • Your name and the church area that you attend.
    • How long you have been part of/attending the church.
    • Why you are taking this particular course and what you hope to learn.
    • Whether or not you have taken any other Living University courses.
    Along with the biography that addresses the above questions, post two reply/comment posts on the biographies of your classmates.
  1. Discussion Forums: For each lesson we will have Forum Discussions on the topics covered. Each student is encouraged to participate. Although there are no point values awarded for these forums, one or more of the Quiz/Final Exam questions may come from a topic or question posed on these discussions.
  1. Five (5) quizzes will be given throughout the course. There will be a quiz on each of the 5 lessons covered in class. Quizzes will be multiple choice, matching or short answer, and open book and notebook. Quizzes will address chapter readings, assignments, and lectures. Your quiz is due on the last day of each lesson, typically Sundays. Quizzes are worth 50 points (total=250). IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the quizzes are open book and notebook, you really need to study ahead of time for these assessments. If you study ahead of time by reviewing your notes and the chapters covered, it will greatly expedite your quiz time on task. If you do not study ahead of time, the quiz will end up taking a great deal of time. There should be NO discussion with classmates regarding the quizzes.
  1. Biblical Perspective Research Paper will be a minimum 3 page paper on a biblical perspective of Family Finance. Topic(s) will be assigned in Lesson 3 and the paper will be due with Lesson 4 assignments. The Paper will be worth 100 points.
  1. Homework will be given for each lesson covered. It will be graded for completion (80%) and accuracy (20%). Each unit will be worth 50 points (total =250). In order to learn the concepts, students must diligently keep up with the practice problems assigned for each lesson.
  1. Final Exam. There will a final exam at the end of the course covering cumulative topics and concepts from all lessons. The Exam will be closed book, but will not required a proctor. It is worth 100 points.
  1. Final Project. The final project will be due the last week of class and will consist of developing a flexible family budget and financial plan. This project will begin after completion of Lesson 1 and will be built over the semester. The student must demonstrate proficiency in the class material and include aspects of all lesson units in their financial plan. The MLA format should be used for all citations. The final project will be worth 375 points.

Grades, assigned by points, are as follows:

A - 990 and above (90%)
B – 880-989 points (80%)
C – 770-879 points (70%)
D – 660-769 points (60%)
F – 659 and below  

SUMMARY OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS POINT VALUE
Biography Forum Post 25
5 Quizzes (50 points each) 250
Homework (50 points each) 250
Biblical Perspective Paper 100
Final Exam 100
Final Project 375
Total 1100

Students With Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities have a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students having a disability requiring an accommodation should inform the instructor by email (on the “Course Info” page click on the instructor’s name and then select “Send Email”).

Technology Access
This course requires web access and the student has to have an established e-mail account. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary to view documents that are PDF files. One can download the reader free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Course Evaluation
Student input is welcome for improving this course. Making suggestions by e-mail is helpful. Our goal in this course is to facilitate the successful achievement of all instructional objectives by all students. At the end of the course students have the opportunity of assessing the course. We want to make e-learning courses as effective as we can. We may also ask some other questions concerning a student’s experience in distance learning to help us improve our program. We appreciate students letting us know how we can improve our products and services for them and other distance learners.

Withdrawing From or Dropping This Course
It is the responsibility of a student to drop a course if he or she cannot meet the requirements of the course. Any student who stops attending a course without officially withdrawing from it risks receiving a punitive grade for that course. Withdrawal requests may be conveyed in any manner to the course professor, Registrar, or Vice President of Academic Affairs. This action is sufficient for ensuring any refund owed you. Please note the following: If a student drops a course on or before the “Last day to withdraw from a course without a grade penalty” as published in the University Academic Calendar, even if his or her work is not of a passing grade, then a “W” is recorded. If a course is dropped after that date, but before the last 21 calendar days of the semester, then the instructor determines the grade. The faculty member will at this time record a grade of “W” if passing (not computed in GPA) or “WF” if failing (computed in GPA). Students who drop a course, yet remain in one or more other courses during the last 18 calendar days of the semester, will receive a grade of “WF.” Students who completely withdraw from the University at any time during the semester may be given a grade of “W” on all courses. If students do not initiate the withdrawal process, the instructor is required to initiate the administrative process and to record a grade of “W” or “WF” for the course depending on the date the faculty member drops the student from the course. Students who register for a course as an audit, but then withdraw will be assigned a grade of “W” for the course.