Syllabus
MAN4902 Sustainability Management Capstone
Instructor:
Dr. Lynn Grinnell
Office Hours
Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday 1:00-5:00 pm; Virtual Hours: scheduled weekly feedback sessions.
Office Phone
727-791-5934 or Skype Grinnell.lynn
E-mail
Use MyCourses email (primary) or Grinnell.lynn@spcollege.edu (secondary)
Course Credits 3 credits
Course Objectives
1. The student will plan and organize a project to solve a sustainability management issue.
2. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the general methods and informed ethical approaches for dealing
with sustainability management issues using the core concepts learned throughout this degree program.
3. The student will develop a potential solution to sustainability management issues associated with their defined
project.
4. The student will recommend and present a detailed implementation plan to address the sustainability management
issue associated with his/her project.
Textbooks: None
Weekly Activities Schedule
Week
1
Chapter
2
III
3
II
4
IV
5
6
7
V
VI
8
VII
9
VIII
10
IX
11
X
Assignment Description
Points
Mandatory Capstone Orientation
Project idea paragraph
10
Stakeholder analysis
10
Meet with stakeholders
Introduction
10
Company-theory-compliance
Comprehensive audit
Collect baseline data
Book final presentations with COB
Audit analysis
10
Statistical analysis of data
Best Practices Research
10
Recommendations for improvement
10
Options-CBA-change plan-decisions
Implementation plan
10
Tasks-timeline-resources-charts
Measure Results
10
Pilot-metrics-comparisons
Spring Break
Standardization and compliance
10
Operating procedures/reports
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
10
Summary-advice-future projects
Practice Presentation Booking
Weekly overview
Wednesday, 1/7
WebEx Feedback
Saturday, 1/17
Week 3
Saturday, 1/24
Week 4
Saturday, 1/31
Nothing due
Saturday, 2/7
Week 6
Saturday, 2/14
Saturday, 2/21
Week 7
Week 8
Saturday, 2/28
Week 9
Saturday, 3/7
Week 10
Saturday, 3/14
Week 11
Saturday, 3/21
Week 12
12
13
I
14
15
16
Executive Summary
Assemble
Combine sections-draft presentation
10
Practice presentations
Final Presentations
Final project and Surveys due
Saturday, 3/28
Note: Presentation
overview this
week
Saturday, 4/4
Week 13
Week 14
Friday
Monday
Grading
Policy. This course operates on a “mastery” learning approach, meaning that assignments are submitted twice – once
for an initial grade and feedback, and a second time for a final grade. The initial grade will be an accurate reflection of
how much editing is still needed; hence, it is possible that initial grades may be very low for some chapters. If
substantial editing is done on sections with low initial grades, and points are not deducted for late submissions, the
grade on the final paper and presentation can rise to a top grade, bringing up a low average to a very respectable high B
or low A.
Expectations. Students must submit all of the assignments for each week by Monday or the following week or the time
of the scheduled weekly feedback session, whichever is earlier. Students are required to review their work weekly with
the instructor in a virtual or in-person session in order to get feedback and a grade. Failure to do so will result in loss of
5 points each time in the category of Project Management. (Submitting a chapter without attending a feedback session
is not a suitable substitute since the primary purpose of the session is to receive line-by-line feedback.)
External delays. In the event that a key stakeholder or data are not available when needed, students should proceed to
another chapter and continue submitting subsequent chapters until they can go back to complete their earlier chapter.
Serious delays in stakeholder meetings or receipt of data should be coordinated with the instructor in order to keep
from losing project management point.
Teams. If you have teamed up with a classmate, know that each person submits a separate part of the chapter each
week (with different color font). Editing for “one voice” should not be done until after the initial feedback on each
chapter. (Note: the amount of editing needed after each feedback session is usually substantial, whether by individuals
or teams. Teams should set up a weekly virtual or in-person meeting time to help coordinate their efforts.
Communication in between virtual meetings needs to be prompt and supportive, using discussion boards or email, as
the team determines. Teams occasionally break, but the project is designed to allow for separation into separate
projects up until Week 10.
Points for each activity
Ten sections @ 10 points
Final presentation @ 40 points
Final paper @ 60 points
Project management @ -40 points
TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS
100
40
60
-40
200
Grading
 90-100% = A
 80-89% = B
 70-79% = C
 60-69% = D
 0-59% = F
Incompletes. Per SPC policy, for an incomplete grade to be assigned, the student must have a minimum of 80% of the
course completed, as anything less than 80% will result in the appropriate letter grade being recorded. In the event of an
“I”, the instructor will provide the terms for all required work to be completed; no later than the end of the sixth week
of the next semester. After that time, a grade of “F” (or higher if the work that has been submitted is adequate to justify
the higher grade) will be assigned.
Attendance Policy
Participation in the course is essential in order to avoid being withdrawn for non-attendance in Week 1 and
2. Participation is defined as submitting weekly or bi-weekly assignments and attending the virtual feedback session.
Participation at the 60% point. Attendance for the 60% point of this class will require a passing grade and active
participation. NOTE: Not achieving attendance leads to a WF (Withdrawn and Failed), which can have both financial and
GPA consequences.
Final poster session. As a team, you will be presenting a “poster” for a poster session at a simulated conference. For
blended classes, the presentations are held during the Week 8 class; for online classes, presentations will be given
during a synchronous WebEx during the final week. (Video submissions are not a suitable substitute since the primary
purpose of the conference is to speak extemporaneously and answer questions about your topic; however, video
participation can be arranged if you are out of town.)
Course Requirements
Time Commitment
This is a 16 week course, but still has the intensity of an accelerated course. Students should expect to spend between
15-20 hours per week, on average, on research, project design & implementation, meetings with stakeholders, and
writing/editing. Spending less time will be insufficient for success. Falling behind has a cumulative deleterious effect,
making it extremely difficult to complete the course on time.
Computer Requirements
Students should have regular access to a computer that is connected to the Internet. It is strongly recommended that
students have a broadband (high-speed) internet connection such as DSL or a cable modem. When viewing on-line
videos, students should have an internet connection that is stable and will not drop their connection. Students without a
stable high-speed internet connection should consider making arrangements to view videos with alternative means
(i.e.at one of the St. Petersburg College libraries or a similar facility) where a stable high-speed internet connection is
available.
The College of Business requires students to have a webcam; this is most beneficial in Capstone. However, WebEx
sessions can be conducted without a webcam if students are participating from a remote location or computer with lessthan-ideal Internet speeds.
A standard file format has been devised to apply to all classes in order to support file compatibility, sharing, and
commenting needs. Students are required to submit all assignments in Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel and other
Microsoft formats). Other formats may have MyCourses compatibility issues or instructor feedback in comments may
not be viewable by students.
The College provides full function student licenses for selected Microsoft software programs, other than the basic
Microsoft Office products. Go to MySPC helpful links, and look for Microsoft DreamSpark.
Academic Integrity
Academic honesty and plagiarism falls under the Academic Honesty Policy of the college. The College of Business has a
Zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty and if the student is in violation, a zero will be given for that assignment,
and the student’s name will be submitted to the Dean for future tracking. Additional violations can result in a failing
grade for the course (or in future courses, even for initial violations). **Understand that not properly giving credit to
the sources used in your work, even when paraphrasing, is considered plagiarism and can result in a "0" for that
assignment**.
Miscellaneous
Please click here to access the most up-to-date SPC policies: http://www.spcollege.edu/studentrights/