●  Free subscriptions to online newsletters as follows (recommended):
           AccountingWeb.com
           SmartPros.com  

●  Other readings as assigned (required but free to registered students through University Library--see assignment schedule at end of syllabus)

●  Tips on Business Writing (http://business.nmsu.edu/~ClassAcct/writing.htm) (required but free)

If you have (or believe you have) a disability and would benefit from classroom accommodations, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Office located at Garcia Annex [Phone: 646-6840; TTY: 646-1918].

Please feel free to call Jerry Nevarez, Director of Institutional Equity, at 505-646-3635 with any questions you may have about NMSU's Non-Discrimination Policy and complaints of discrimination, including sexual harassment.

Please feel free to call Michael Armendariz, Coordinator of  Services for Students with Disabilities, at 505-646-6840 with any questions you may have on student issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  All medical information will be treated confidentially.

If you have a condition that may affect your ability to exit safely from the premises in an emergency or that may cause an emergency during class, you are encouraged to discuss any concerns with the Instructor.

Choose an article about financial reporting to shareholders from the choices that will be announced in class.  To encourage discussion and "cooperative learning," you will be part of a group of two or three students for this assignment.  Before starting the work below, obtain instructor approval of your article.

As a group, prepare one written summary (five double-spaced pages) of the main points of the article.  Be sure to include the following:  (1) the question the article is trying to answer, (2) why this question is important and/or interesting,  (3) the answer the article gives to the question, and (4) why further research on this question is needed.

Also as a group, prepare an oral presentation to the class, explaining the main points of the article in an understandable way.  Be sure to include the three points above.

Although multiple-choice format is not the norm for exams in this course, your group will submit to the instructor the night of  your oral presentation a list of three (known by your group only) multiple-choice questions and their answers related to your article that could be used on the final exam. These questions should be questions your group believes should be reasonably answerable from listening to the group's presentation. The instructor will choose one question from each group for use on the final.

To do a good job, you will probably need to review some earlier publications cited in your article.  This will be a good opportunity to improve your knowledge of the accounting literature.  Any such references you use should appear in a reference list at the end of your written summary and should be cited in the text of your summary.  For these references and in-text citations, use the exact format used by the journal in which your article appears.  Also, don't forget to state the title and author(s) of your article.

In your summary, avoid lengthy quotations from the article.  The idea is to show that you understand the key points, so use your own words as much as possible.  Do not make statements in your written summary or in your oral presentation that you do not understand.  Repetition of equations and formulas used in the article is usually unnecessary to convey the main ideas.  (If you have taken mathematical economics and/or econometrics, you will have a better grasp of the math.)

Punctuation, grammar, spelling, and sentence structure will constitute 20% (4 points) of the grade on the written summary.  Avoid the common errors discussed in the "Tips on Business Writing" listed in the required materials (above). The due date appears on the schedule at the end of this syllabus.  (Two-point penalty for each weekday or portion thereof the paper is late.  By the way, no group has ever submitted this assignment late.)  Each person in your group will receive the same grade on the written summary, so resolve any internal disagreements before the submission date.

Oral presentation dates will be assigned in class.  Each person must present--e.g., you can't have one person do the written report and another do the oral report.  Although everyone in your group will receive the same grade for the written report (as well as for the Deloitte case write-up), each person will be graded individually on the oral report.  In addition to its content, a good oral report is characterized by (1) clarity of presentation, (2) eye contact with the audience, (3) ability to hold audience attention, (4) ability to convey and discuss the main ideas without reading from a script, and (5) evidence you have enabled the audience to understand the presentation.  Each group's report should take about 20 minutes.  Tip:  You may use notes, but glance at them and look up at the audience before speaking--try  not to let any words come out of your mouth when your head is down.  You're doing this for only a total of a few minutes for the whole semester, so take time to practice.  Imagine yourself in the place of the audience and think what would make it interesting to you.

Oral Presentation Evaluation (courtesy of California State University East Bay)

	1: Beginner	2: Novice	3: Proficient	4: Advanced	Score
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.
Subject Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with expected answers to all questions, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all class questions with explanations and elaboration.
Graphics	Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics	Student occasionally uses graphics that rarely support text and presentation.	Student's graphics relate to text and presentation.	Student's graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation.
Mechanics	Student's presentation has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.
Eye Contact	Student reads all of report with no eye contact.	Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads most of report.	Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes.	Student maintains eye contact with all sectors of the audience, seldom returning to notes.
Elocution	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student's voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation.	Student uses a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience members can hear presentation.
				Total Points: