SPRING 1999 IDS 390W: REPORTING TECHNIQUES FOR ACCOUNTANTS

Gretchen N. Vik, Ph. D. (Dept. Sec. SS 2411) Office: SS 3114, ext. 46024 E-mail: Gretchen.Vik@sdsu.edu Office Hours: MW 2:45-3:45, before and after class, or by appointment and E-mail.

Carolena Lyons-Lawrence, Ph. D. Office SS3363, ext. 45708 E-mail: Carolena.Lyons-Lawrence@sdsu.edu Office Hours:  MW 4-6 pm and by appointment and E-mail.

Martha Doran, Ph. D. Office: SS 2421, ext. 46841, E-mail: Doran1@mail.sdsu.edu Office hours: Tu 1:30-2:15 pm, Th 4-5 pm, after class, or by appointment and E-mail.

Carol Venable, Ph. D. Office: SS 2417, ext. 42662, E-mail: Carol.Venable@sdsu.edu Office Hours: Th 1:15-2 pm, M 3:15-4 pm, after class, or by appointment and Email.

Texts: Vik and Gilsdorf, BUSINESS COMMUNICATION, Custom Text ISBN 0072299754 (Chapters 1-4, 10-11, Appendices A, B, C) McGraw-Hill-Richard D. Irwin, 1998.

Hirsch, Anderson, and Gabriel, COMMUNICATION FOR ACCOUNTANTS: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS, MCGraw-Hill/Irwin, 1999.

Wilson, GROUPS IN CONTEXT, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, 1998.

Prerequisites: Completed or being completed 60 units, completed GE Communication and Analytical Reasoning requirement in Written Communication, and completed Writing Competency Requirement. (Check with Evaluations or the Advising Center if you're not sure, since courses taken out of sequence do not earn the W required for graduation.) IDS 390W must be taken before or concurrently with ACC 322. It may be taken concurrently with ACC 321.

Course Objective: Since accountants spend a great deal of time communicating in written reports and oral presentations, this course is designed to improve your communication skills so you can present financial and business information more effectively. Both content (analysis of business risk, use of relevant and current sources, etc.) and execution (audience analysis, format, layout, style, clarity, diction, and proofreading mechanics) are part of your grade, but since this is a graduation writing requirement, in-class writing must attain an acceptable level for you to get a C in the course. Other Objectives on which you will be graded:

• Make at least your final presentation without notes.
• Use a presentation package such as Powerpoint to create at least one set of visuals.
• Discuss number analysis appropriately (analysis, not just descriptive information).
• Understand the difference between description and analysis.
• Think with the numbers.
• Work effectively in teams.
• Find and evaluate research sources, both print and online.
• Learn to create professional document design.

The texts and your instructors are resources for you in your active learning. Assignments overlap, so it's especially important to keep work on projects current in this class. As in your professional life, you will have to make choices about how to balance and complete your various assignments in your classes this term. You will receive a number of handouts: read and use them, as they contain important information about your assignments and how they will be graded

Team Work: Teams will be assigned by Dr. Venable and Dr. Doran based on courses completed, work experience, and other criteria. After attempting to solve team problems yourselves, you may fire a member. This person must come to the instructors and arrange to write an individual paper and give an individual presentation. Since this is a project-based course, all class members must do every assignment to complete the course. Missing a project or a presentation grade means failing the course.

Grading: You must get a C or better to get the W credit--if you need help with writing skills, get a thorough handbook and look things up--you can't get a C without good proofreading skills. For common errors: The Goof-Proofer by Manhard (Collier, 1987, $3.95). A good handbook: The Elements of Grammar by Shertzer (Collier, 1986, $4.95). Handbook with lots of exercises and answers: The Least You Should Know About English by Glazier (Holt). Serious proofreading errors include subject-verb agreement (remember that company=it, not they), noun and verb endings, punctuation errors that interfere with meaning such as apostrophes and semicolons, and spelling. Run your spellchecker FIRST and then proofread for homonyms, of/or, etc.

Tentative percentage division is 20 for two in-class case exams, 20-25 other individual writing, 20 group writing, 20 oral presentations, 10 final exam, 5-10 participation and attendance. Confidential team evaluations affect your participation grade and can affect your total grade.

Semester Assignments

• Introductions, In-Class Exercises and Activities
• Individual Article Summaries, Team Summary, Team Presentation
• Individual Not-for Profit Briefing Memo, Team NFP Proposal and Budget, Team Presentation, Team Board Questioning and Funding Decision
• Individual Company Research Report (in two sections)
• Team Workplan Memo, Team Payroll Cycle Report and Working Papers, Team Presentation
• Two In-Class Exams (these have been scheduled around the accounting exams and will not be changed)
• Final Exam

Presentations will all use visuals, including overheads from Powerpoint or a similar program and potentially a computer-driven Powerpoint presentation of your visuals. Presentations will be from brief notes but NOT read from a script (that's a formal speech, not a powerful selling presentation). Remember: your final presentation needs to be without notes!

Plagiarism/Source Citations

GIVE CREDIT TO SOURCES OF PARAPHRASES, QUOTED, OR BORROWED IDEAS: PLAGIARISM (STEALING IDEAS AND WORDS) IS CAUSE FOR A FAILING GRADE AND LOSS OF BUSINESS SCHOOL CODES! (CBA Policy) The least SDSU penalty for plagiarism is to receive a zero grade on the assignment and have your name reported to the Campus Judicial Authority. Further penalties include receiving an F for the course, having business major codes blocked to you at registration, and expulsion from the University.

Listing and/or attaching sources at the end of a report does NOT cite them; place individual parenthetical citations in the text when you borrow words or ideas. See VG App. C for documentation systems (modern systems no longer use superscript notes). Generally, cite an electronic source by author, title, etc. as if it were a print source, then add the electronic address and date of document and date of access. See the sdsu libweb site: Citing Electronic Citations by Friedman for a good handout.

May 19 (W)	Final, MW 4 pm class	BAM 344, 3:30-5:30 pm
May 18 (Tu)	Final, TT 10 am class	BAM 344, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
May 17 (M)	Final, MW 6 pm class	BAM 344, 7-9 pm