University of North Carolina at Greensboro Bryan School of Business and Economics Department of Accounting and Finance ACC 630: Seminar in Contemporary Accounting Issues Fall 2015 Tuesdays 9:30-12:20 INSTRUCTOR: Irfan Safdar, Phd OFFICE: 325 Bryan Building E-MAIL: musafdar@uncg.edu OFFICE HOURS: By appointment Course Description: This seminar is designed to allow students to critically examine and discuss issues affecting the current financial reporting environment including auditing and ethics. Students are expected to read and analyze the assigned materials and develop ideas and opinions which will provide the basis for class discussions. Course Objectives: Critically analyze, discuss and debate current issues affecting accounting practice. Propose solutions and formulate opinions to the issues being discussed. Effectively communicate ideas and opinions based on a thorough analysis. Conduct independent research in assigned areas in order to lead class discussions. Formulate opinions related to the issues being discussed Course Resources: No textbook is required. However, you will be required to purchase a set of case studies/ from a link that I will provide. The case studies are inexpensive. All remaining readings will be from publicly available websites or can be obtained from the UNCG library at http://library.uncg.edu/. If a specific article is assigned, the document or a link to the document will be posted in Canvas. Grading Scale: A 93 - 100% A- 90 - 92.99% B+ 87 - 89.99% B 83 - 86.99% B- 80 - 82.99% C+ 77 - 79.99% C 70 - 76.99% F Below 70% 1 Final course grades Final Exam 2 Mini-Exams Homeworks and Presentations Participation/contributions to open discussion 25% 30% 30% 15% Attendance This class is a seminar, therefore attendance is crucial. If a family or medical emergency occurs and you cannot attend class, I expect you to let me know prior to our class meeting or the absence will be considered unexcused. Absences related to work or personal issues are not excused. In the case where an absence is excused: participation grades for that class are allocated to the remaining classes a missed presentation will be done when the student returns Preparing for class An introduction to the topic for class, assigned readings and any additional assignments are posted in Canvas. You should plan to spend 4-8 hours preparing for each class meeting by doing the assigned readings, doing your own additional research to answer any questions you have related to the assigned readings, and when applicable, preparing for your presentation. Participation Because the class is a seminar and not a lecture, you are expected to participate throughout each class. In many classes, I will present the material related to the topic but will call on students as I go along to answer specific questions. Your ability to add to the discussion strongly depends on your familiarity with and understanding of the topic which is directly associated with the time you spend doing the assigned readings and supplementing it with any additional research to help answer any questions you have based on the readings. I encourage students to ask questions at any point during the class. Questions you have related to the topic will help facilitate our discussions and improve others’ understanding. Participation grades will be posted to Canvas according to the following grading rubric: 5: When called on, student has an appropriate response to all questions asked. Student asks questions that show that a solid understanding and adequate research of the topic was done. 4: When called on, student has an appropriate response to most (all) of the questions asked but all (most) questions the student asks show that a solid understanding and adequate research of the topic was done. 3: When called on, student has an appropriate response to most of the questions asked. Most questions the student asks show that a solid understanding and adequate research of the topic was done. 2: When called on, student has an appropriate response to some of the questions asked. Some questions the student asks show that a solid understanding and adequate research of the topic was done or no questions were asked. 1: Student came to class but was unable to provide appropriate responses to questions asked and student did not ask any reasonable questions in class. 0: Unexcused absence 2 Presentations Each student/group is assigned short presentations. Each presentation should explain the answer to an assigned question or topic in a simple, straightforward manner. Specific assignments for each presentation will be posted in Canvas or announced in class. The first objective of the presentations are to allow students to conduct independent research using both assigned readings (when applicable) and students’ own research to supplement their understanding of the topic being presented. The second objective is to allow students to use judgment to determine the most important items related to an assigned topic for a presentation. The third objective is to communicate your information to the audience. This is critical because without it, your audience will not be able to determine what you learned or what they are supposed to take away from the presentation. The most important thing you can do to increase presentation effectiveness is to rehearse out loud; first by yourself and then at least one other time with a classmate or friend. Please see the document titled “Preparing for Presentations” in Canvas for further instructions. The grading rubric that will be used for presentations is as follows: Presenter: Discusses all relevant information and shows that adequate research was done to prepare Minimizes details so that the main points stand out; presents information in a concise manner and where possible, supported by data Explains information in a conversational manner; does not read from notes or slides Explains information in straightforward, understandable terms that are the presenter’s own words Speaks slowly and clearly Uses the right amount of time to speak; enough to adequately cover information but does not get cut off before the assigned question is answered Points available 20 20 20 20 10 10 Mini-Exams and Final Exam Exams will be comprised of multiple-choice and short answer questions based on the assigned readings and class discussions. Students are expected to take the exams as scheduled. If you have an emergency, notify me before the exam and if approval is warranted, a make-up will be scheduled. Using notes or other resources or communicating with classmates during a quiz or exam is not allowed. Any evidence of cheating constitutes a violation of UNCG’s AI policy and will be documented as such. Professionalism 3 This class will be run in a professional manner to help prepare students for the business world. Promptness, attendance and attention are expected. Professionalism should be shown towards all members of the course and includes listening when others are talking, not attacking anyone else’s opinion or comments, not talking over people or monopolizing the conversation and refraining from using your phone or computer for non-class related activities during class. Your participation grade may be adversely affected by a lack of professionalism shown towards me or other students in or outside of the class if the context relates to this course. Email policy: I welcome you to email me about attendance, scheduling a meeting, questions you may have about an assignment, or anything else. I will try to respond within 24 hours. UNCG Policies: Students are expected to abide by the UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Student Conduct: http://studentconduct.uncg.edu/policy/code/ Academic Integrity Policy: http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/violation/ Student Disabilities: http://ods.dept.uncg.edu/services/ Any request for special accommodations must come through the Office of Disability Services with the appropriate paperwork. Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom: Please familiarize with the disruptive behavior policy which is available on‐line at http://sa.uncg.edu/handbook/policies/. It states that “The instructor may withdraw a student from a course for behavior that is deemed by the instructor to be disruptive to the class. The grade assigned will be “W” if the behavior occurs before the deadline for dropping a course without academic penalty, and the instructor has the option of giving a “W” or a “WF” if the behavior occurs after the deadline.” Adverse Weather: The University of North Carolina at Greensboro will remain open during adverse weather conditions unless an administrative decision on changing work and class schedules is made by the Chancellor. Students can receive details on the UNCG home page (www.uncg.edu), or by dialing three campus telephone numbers: Adverse Weather Line (336-334-4400); Campus Switchboard (336334-5000); and University Police (336-334-5963). Important Dates: Please refer to http://www.uncg.edu/reg/Calendar/acaCal/sp15.html for important dates. ACC 630 Spring 2015 Class Schedule 4 I expect the following schedule will be tentatively what we follow. However, it may be necessary to spend more/less time on some topics that could change our plans. If changes are needed, I will tell you of changed due dates during class. It is important that you read relevant materials before coming to each class period. Assignment due dates will be posted later. Date Aug 18 Topics Introduction to Syllabus and IFRS Convergence Syllabus Aug 25 IFRS Adoption in Canada IFRS Adoption in China Sep 1 IFRS Case Study TBA Sep 8 Mini-Exam 1 Ethics Sep 15 Fraud and Accounting Scandals Sep 22 Issues in Auditing Sep 29 Issues in Auditing Oct 6 Issues in Auditing Oct 20 Issues in Auditing Oct 27 Mini-Exam 2 Nov 3 Fair Value Nov 10 Issues in Derivatives Accounting Nov 17 Topics in Finance Nov 24 Topics in Management Accounting 5