SAMPLE Course Syllabus (students should use current syllabus from current professor) Title: Finance 6100.30, Business Finance Term: Fall 2015 Instructor: Email: John S. Gonas, PhD john.gonas@belmont.edu Course Description: Finance 6100 offers an applied approach to the fundamental principles, concepts, and analytical tools of a financial manager uses to make working capital and capital budgeting decisions. It includes a tool and core examination of financial statements, the time value of money, risk and return analysis, the cost and issuance of long term debt and equity, how to forecast project cash flows and profitability, and how to efficiently and effectively manage working capital. Course Objective: The objectives of the course are to gain an understanding of: The goals of financial management and the basic decisions of the financial manager The use and evaluation of financial statements and cash flows Stock & bond valuation using discounted cash flow methods Introduction to option contract specifications, valuation, and trading Alternative methods for raising capital as well as making capital budgeting decisions Risk and return analysis Determining the cost of capital and its components Working capital management Upon completion of the course, the student will have an understanding of the role of financial markets and that of financial managers of the firm. The student will be able to value financial instruments and projects of the firm and determine the financial needs of the firm. Objectives of the Massey Graduate School of Business Administration:
To provide a personalized career-oriented and practical educational program in Business Administration which emphasizes the four themes of: leadership, innovation, private enterprise and entrepreneurship. To equip students with the ability to: 1) communicate effectively, 2) think critically, and 3) make enlightened judgements about their environment. To emphasize quality classroom instruction within the parameters of Christian principles. Pre-requisites: Each student is expected to have an applied understanding of undergraduate-level microeconomics, accounting, algebra, and probability and statistics. The student is also expected to proficiently utilize Microsoft Excel and Word for word processing and spreadsheet analysis. Text and supplementary material: Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, McGraw Hill, 10 th Edition, 2012. http://connect.mheducation.com/class/j_gonas_belmont_university A financial calculator with the functions of: present value, internal rate of return and irregular cash flows (such as the TI BA II plus, which will be used for class examples) is also needed. Please see the following web links for calculator manuals: TI BAII Plus: http://education.ti.com/us/product/tech/baii/guide/baiiguideus.html TI 81, 83-Plus, 84-Plus: http://education.ti.com/downloads/guidebooks/eng/83m$book-eng.pdf HP 10B: http://h20015.www2.hp.com/content/common/manuals/bpia5211/bpia5211.pdf Course Policies and Procedures: Learning Objectives and Outcomes: Learning is this course is derived primarily from class discussion, individual writing assignments, a semester case, and examinations. Students will benefit most from class if they have read the assigned material and completed the assigned homework problems. Unless agreed upon in writing in advance by the instructor, make up tests, cases, or quizzes will not be allowed and a zero will be given for the missed work. Five in-class/take home assignments that correspond to each chapter s homework problems will be offered throughout the semester. Each assignment will have a maximum score of 15 points. Therefore, the maximum amount of quiz/assignment points a student can receive is 75. In addition, one applied case worth 80 points will also coincide with the capital budgeting chapters. Last, three in class exams will also be offered. The first two exams will carry a maximum of 75 points and the final will carry a maximum of 100 points. All students will automatically receive 15 points for class participation. Points will be lost for excessive absences and/or no participation is class discussions. UNIVERSITY POLICIES: Accommodation of Disabilities: In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Belmont University will provide reasonable accommodation of all medically documented disabilities. If you have a disability and would like the university to provide reasonable accommodations of the disability during this course, please notify the Director of Counseling & Developmental Support in the Office of the Dean of Students (460-6407) as soon as possible. Honor Code: The Belmont community values personal integrity and academic honesty as the foundation of university life and the cornerstone of a premiere educational experience. Our community believes trust among its members is essential for both scholarship and effective interactions and operations of the University. As members of the Belmont community, students, faculty, staff, and administrators are all responsible for ensuring that their experiences will be free of behaviors, which compromise this value. In order to uphold academic integrity, the
University has adopted an Honor System. Students and faculty will work together to establish the optimal conditions for honorable academic work. Following is the Student Honor Pledge that guides academic behavior: I will not give or receive aid during examinations; I will not give or receive false or impermissible aid in course work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other type of work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of my grade; I will not engage in any form of academic fraud. Furthermore, I will uphold my responsibility to see to it that others abide by the spirit and letter of this Honor Pledge. Grading scale: Exam #1 75 Exam #2 75 Exam #3 100 Semester Case 80 Writing Assignments 75 Class participation 15 420 A 407-420 C 306-322 A 390-406 C- 294-305 A- 378-389 D+ 281-293 B+ 365-377 D 264-280 B 348-364 D- 252-263 B- 336-347 F <252 C+ 323-335
Tentative Class Schedule: (NOTE: The class schedule is subject to change if necessary.) Date Chapter(s) Aug 25 5/6 Introduction to Corporate Finance Time Value of Money & DCF Valuation o Solving for PV, FV, Rate, and Periods o Accommodating time period less than a year o Accommodating periodic payments o Accommodating beginning and end-of-period payments o Amortizing annuitized cash flows o Amortization schedules o Accommodating principal repayments o APR and EAR o Solving for each and understanding the difference Sep 1 2/3 Financial Statements & Analysis of Financial Statements o Income Statement, Balance Sheet, & Cash Flow Statement o Measuring Liquidity, Asset Management, Profitability, Debt Management, and Market Value Sep 8 7 Exam #1 Chapters 2, 3, 5, & 6 Interest Rates, Bond Valuation & Management o Term Structure of Rates o Accommodating differences in term, quality, and other risk factors o Bond Valuation o Solving for the PV, YTM, or Coupon Rate o Interpreting the relationship between price and yield o Investing in Bonds o Differences in types, taxability, and provisions Sep 15 7/8 Bond Valuation (Contd) Equity Issuance, Types & Valuation o Primary market v. Secondary market o Common and preferred shares o Common stock valuation Sep 22 24/25 Introduction to Options & Continuation of Equity Valuation Capital Budgeting Process and Cash Flow Measurement Sep 29 9/10 Exam #2 Chapters 7, 8, 24, & 25 Introduction: Capital Budgeting Cash Flow Derivation & Measurement Oct 6 11/12 Capital Budgeting Process and Risk/Return Analysis Oct 13 13/14 CAPM & Deriving a Weighted Average Cost of Capital (Semester Case Overview) Oct 20 15/16 Raising Capital, & Capital Structure Theory Cost of Capital Relationship to External Macro-Economic Conditions
Oct 27 17 Behavioral Finance & Cost of Capital Relationship to External Macro- Economic Conditions Hand in Semester Case & Review for Final Exam Chapters 11-17