Budgeting and Finance

Doctorate Degree in Criminal Justice

CJ 825

Breyer State University

Instructor: Jackie Sexson, J.D., MBA

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to Budgeting and Finance!  This course is a Post-Graduate Level course in the curriculum for the Doctoral Degree in Criminal Justice.  I am pleased to instruct and guide you in this specialty course, which will be applied towards y our requirements in the doctoral program.

This course will delve into the world of corporate finance.  It focuses on how companies invest in real assets and how they raise the money to pay for these investments.  The course will focus on setting out the basic principles of financial management and applying them to the main decisions faced by a financial manager.  It explains why the firm’s owners would like the manager to increase firm value and shows how managers value investments that may pay off at different points of time or have different degrees of risk.  This course will examine briefly the main features of financial markets and why companies may prefer a particular source of finance.

Part one of this course will be an introduction and an overview of how businesses are organized and the roles that a financial manager will play in the businesses.  The concept of time value for money will be discussed as well as the basic features of bonds and stocks and the way to valuate these securities.  In this part, we will discuss the cost of capital and we will learn to measure market risk and review the relationship between risk and expected return.  This part will also examine the role of shareholders in large corporations as well as examine the securities that firms issue and their relative importance as sources of finance.

Part two will focus on the debt and payout policy, the two classic long-term financing decisions.  Bankruptcy will be a focus in this part as well as the financial analysis and planning that is so important to businesses.  Long-term financial planning will be examined to see how financial managers consider the combined effects of investment and financing decisions on the firm as a whole.  We will begin the discussion of capital management and the basic steps of credit management, the principals of inventory management and how firms handle payments efficiently and put case to work as quickly as possible.  This part will also cover special topics such as the importance of understanding the financial world in order to foresee and prevent fraudulent criminal activity in businesses.  We will examine some of the laws and processes that the financial markets and banks use to prevent criminal activity.

TIME FRAME:This is a six (6) semester hour course.  This course is allotted 10 weeks of time.  You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the 10-week period.  The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course, or the day which you notify me that your textbooks have arrived and you are ready to begin your studies.  Please be cognizant of the time frame.  It is rare that extensions of time are permitted, unless you have good justification.  Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded six (6) semester hours of credit. 

TEXTBOOK: There is one (1) required textbook for this course:

Book 1: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 5th edition.  Brealey, R., Myers, S., Marcus, A.  McGraw-Hill 2006: ISBN # 0-07-301238-6.

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EXAMINATIONS: There are two examinations for this course, a mid-term exam (completed during the 5th week) and a final exam (completed during the 9th week).  The mid-term exam covers Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Chapters 1 – 14) and the final exam covers Parts 5, 6, 7 and 8 (Chapters 15 – 25).  The examinations are “open” book and will be thought-provoking discussion type of questions.  A simple one or two sentence answer will not be sufficient to make a good grade on the exams.  I expect graduate level writing to be used in completing your examinations.

The mid-term examination must be taken by the end of the 5th week in the course.
The final examination must be taken by the end of the 9th week in the course.

Upon your request, I will e-mail the examinations to you and once you complete each (within one week from the time I send it to you), return it as an e-mail attachment back to me (sexson@aol.com). The paper is due by the tenth week of class (send to me also via e-mail attachment). Both the midterm and final examinations, and the final paper will be graded within one week of my receiving them.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:

90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

Midterm Exam = 100 points
Final Exam = 100 points
Assignments = 100 points
Final Paper = 100 points
Total points = 400 points

A = 360 – 400 points
B = 320 – 359 points
C = 280 – 319 points
F = Below 280 points

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone if you would like. Our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at any time during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me right away.

When communicating via email, ALWAYS put the course number (CJ 825) in the subject line of your email AND “sign” your email with your full name.  If you do not follow these instructions, your email may be deleted, believing that it is spam.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Please go to the assignment section of the classroom for more details.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: In addition to teaching several courses in the criminal justice program for Breyer State University, I also teach at several other institutions online and enjoy the online experience tremendously.  I am a practicing attorney and am the managing partner and executive director of a legal and human resources consulting firm, The Sexson Group.  I have held management positions in Fortune 500 companies as well as management positions in state government.  Early in my legal career, I was a defense counsel, handling drug cases.  As for hobbies, I enjoy hiking and snow skiing as well as other outdoor activities.  My dogs and I enjoy long walks in parks. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES: After completing this course, you will be able to:

1). Understand the duties and responsibilities of the financial manager.
2). Have a working ability to make financial decisions.
3). Understand the concept of time value of money and how to value streams of cash flows and work through the valuation of perpetuities and annuities.
4). Understand the financial market including stock price valuation and market efficiency.
5). Distinguish between unique risk and market risk of individual stocks.
6). Understand long-term financial planning and the importance of investment and financing decisions.
7). Understand the importance of financial knowledge in the prevention of financial market crimes.

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may contact the instructor at adm@breyerstate.com.

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