Santa Fe Community College
BSAD 232 – Business Law I - Blended (CRN 30878)
Spring 2008
Meets OFF CAMPUS at 205 Montezuma Street on Thursday 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
PATRICIA FINN, JD. Assistant Professor of Paralegal Studies; B.U.S. University of New
Mexico with honors, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa; Juris Doctorate Degree, Texas Tech
University.
You can contact me at 424-9746 or by email in the SFCC Online system or at
Pfinn@sfccnm.edu. I encourage you to contact me anytime if you have problems with the
course. I will do my best to reply to any email you send to me within 48 hours. However, some
responses will be made not directly to you, but to the entire group through email, a discussion
posting, or an announcement.
The text is Business Law Today: Comprehensive Edition, by Miller and Jentz. The text is
the 7th edition, ISBN 0-324-30392-0. Unlike math or history, the law changes everyday, so
older versions of the text are significantly different than the current text, and will not suffice for
this class. However, you may reuse the text for Business Law II, and since this text is in wide
distribution, you should be able to sell it on the secondary market (to used book sellers) when
class ends.
Course Objectives. After completing this course, students should be able to discuss the scope,
extent, and importance of the law in business; be able to define and discuss fundamental
concepts, principles and rules of law related to court systems, contracts, torts, intellectual
property, and alternative dispute resolution; be able to define the operation and function of the
courts and administrative agencies, and demonstrate analytical skills and reasoning power. In
addition, students will become familiar with common legal terminology, and will learn to
distinguish between simple problems, and complex ones requiring a lawyer’s advice.
Major topics. The Legal Environment; Contracts (creation, performance, breach, and
remedies); U.S. Court Systems; Torts (negligence, intentional torts, and strict liability);
Intellectual Property (copyrights, patents, and trademarks), and Alternative Dispute Resolution
(negotiation, mediation, and arbitration).
Grading: I anticipate using the following grading scale:
Quizzes
Online Discussion
Midterm
Cumulative Final
Total Possible Points:
25 points
25 points
25 points
25 points
100 points
Final grades will based upon the percentage of points earned, as follows: 91-100%=A; 81-90%=B;
71-80%=C; 61-70%=D; Below 61%= F or W. I may add “+” or “-” to a grade for especially
excellent (or especially lackluster) preparedness and discussion participation. The grading scale
may be adjusted at the instructor’s discretion.
Quizzes. There will be one online quiz for each chapter. You may take these quizzes as many
times as you like during their period of availability, and only the highest score you achieve will
be entered for your grade on each quiz. However, you will not have access to the quizzes after
the deadline passes. Quizzes will generally be multiple-choice, true-false, matching, fill-in-theblank, and short answer, will often include automated explanations for correct and incorrect
answers, to assist you in learning the material.
Online Discussion: Online discussions will take the place of three-quarters of the regular course
meeting time; that is, each student is expected to spend 3 hours and 45 minutes per week reading
and posting messages online. I will create a weekly discussion topic. You must log in at least
three times each week, at least 24 hours apart, although I recommend daily log-ins. I expect you
to read all postings and post your own messages at least twice per week. Online discussion will
be evaluated by the amount of time you spend online, the number of postings you read and
contribute, and the quality of your contributions. Please be aware that I am able to monitor how
long you are online and where you go in the website.
I will often pose questions in the weekly discussion, and your postings can be your own
questions, answers, reports of research, relevant personal experiences, application of textbook
concepts to current events and the novel we are reading, responses to textbook problems, and
anything else relevant to the course. Postings don’t have to have perfect grammar, spelling, etc.,
but it is good to remember that in business and legal environments, others will use your written
communications to judge your abilities.
Midterm and Final. The midterm and final will also be online and open book, but will be
time-limited, so you will not be able to pass them unless you have prepared for them much as
you would for an in-class exam. The final will be cumulative, meaning it will cover all chapters
assigned during the term, however, it will emphasize the areas not tested on the midterm. The
midterm and final will include the same sorts of questions you will encounter in the quizzes,
however, there will be more short answer and short essay questions.
Non-Completion of the Course. If for some reason you believe that you will be able to
complete or pass the class, it is usually best to voluntarily withdraw. However, if you do not,
withdraw from the class and have not passed by the end of the course, I will normally give you a
grade of “W” (for “withdrawal”) unless you specify that you would prefer an “F.” Note that
receiving an “F” damages ones college grade point average, and a “W” may have adverse
financial aid consequences.
This is a BLENDED course. Because this is a blended or “hybrid” course, 75% of the course
activities take place through the SFCC Online (Blackboard) System. While I will help you
use this system in any way I can, I am not a computer usage expert, and expect that you will take
the steps necessary to assure your access to the system. If your home computer system is not up
to the task of completing this course, then you are welcome to use the computers on campus.
You may need to on-campus student resources to assist you in solving any technical difficulties.
Some computers are located in the atrium next to the Distance Learning office, so you can work
on the course with assistance a few steps away, if you are on (or willing to come to) campus
sometime between 8 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday, or by appointment. Their phone
numbers are 428-1166 and 428-1522. The computer monitors in the computer labs are also
trained to assist you with Blackboard.
Americans with Disabilities Act. It is your responsibility to request any accommodations for
your individual learning needs. SFCC will make every attempt to reasonably accommodate
students with disabilities. For more information, contact Special Services at 428-1331.
Legal and Academic Advice. I am a lawyer, but my role in and out of the classroom is educator
and academic advisor. Also, our time in the classroom is very limited, so I do not want to
address issues in class which are not relevant to most or all of the students. If you have personal
legal questions, I would be happy to assist you in finding resources to help you, and to explain
general legal principles. The same goes for academic advice. Please feel free to contact me
outside of class (by email, phone) to talk about your personal academic and career goals.
Reading:
You will give yourself the best chance of success in this course if you read the
assigned chapters in an active manner, by taking notes and frequent breaks to think about what
you have read. Use the chapter quizzes, and the review questions and practice exams at the end
of each chapter to self-test your under-standing of the material.
Extra Credit: I do not give extra credit assignments—there is plenty of work in the course itself.
READ EACH CHAPTER BEFORE CLASS ! I will answer any questions you have during the
Thursday night meeting.
Tentative Schedule
(Subject to Change at Instructor’s Discretion).
Assignment
1
Date
January 24
Chapter(s)
1
Topics/Special Info
Legal Environment
2
January 31
3
Courts & Alternative Dispute Resolution
3
February 7
4
Torts & Cyber Torts
4
February 14
5
Intellectual Property
5
February 21
8
Contracts: Nature & Classification
6
February 28
9
Contracts: Agreement
7
March 6
10
Contracts: Consideration
March 8-14
Mid-Term Exams
Spring Break 3/15-21/08 & Spring Holiday 3/2123/08
8
March 27
11
Contracts: Capacity & Legality
9
April 3
12
Contracts: Genuineness of Assent
10
April 10
13
Contracts: Statute of Frauds
11
April 17
14
Contracts: Performance and discharge
12
April 24
15
Contracts: Breach & Remedies
13
May 1
16
Contracts: Third Party Rights
14
May 8
17
E-Contracts
15
Review for final exam
Final Exams May 10 -16