This is where I try to answer the most frequently-asked questions (FAQs) about BUS 477. If your question is not answered here, please contact me.

• General questions about the class
• Teams and team project
• Grading
• Assignments
• Surveys
• Guest speakers

General Questions About the Class

Where and when are the classes?
The current (Fall 2008) class is offered at the Burnaby campus of Simon Fraser University.  Classes are held on Wednesdays from 16:30 and are four (4) hours long.  

Do I need any business experience to do well in this course?
No. Anyone who applies themselves can get an A+ in this course... and win money!

English is not my first language. Is perfect English required?
If you want top grades in this course, your written assignments will have to be both grammatically correct and free of spelling mistakes. This standard applies to native and non-native speakers of English.

What is unique and different about this class?
One of the key outcomes of this class is a business plan for a technical idea.  The engineers (ENSC 201) come up with the idea and the business students (BUS 477) develop it.

Grading

How are assignments graded?
All assignments for BUS 477 are graded by me (Jackson).  I grade out of 100, then convert to one decimal.  (e.g. The paper is out of 15.  Your grade on the paper is 82/100.  Your recorded grade is then 12.3 / 15). For your final grade, I will round up (e.g. 82.5 will be 83.)  To make the grading as objective as possible, I use a common grading rubric for both oral and written assignments.

How do you convert from a digital to a letter grade?
Your final grade for the class will be a letter grade (e.g. 83 will be A-)

A+	90 - 100
A	85 - 89
A-	80 - 84
B+	75 - 79
B	70 - 74
B-	65 - 69
C+	60 - 64
C	55 - 59

Early and Late Assignments

Assignments may be handed in at any time.  All assignments must be submitted to receive a passing grade in the course. Early submissions do not benefit from extra grades.  Late assignments will lose 10% of the available grade for each day overdue, including weekends.  

Participation Grades
10% of the grade of this course is for class participation.  Of this grade, 5% is allocated to your contribution to the class and 5% toward your contribution to the community of entrepreneurs.

Class participation includes attending class, leading or participating in class discussions, summarizing your participation in entrepreneurial events for the class, answering surveys and other class-related activities. 

Community participation includes contributing useful links and references to the class website, volunteer work with entrepreneurial associations, participation in business plan competitions, attendance at entrepreneurial events in Vancouver and other activities that benefit the larger entrepreneurial community. 

Grade Disputes
I aim to be very objective with how I grade (see grading rubrics) and very fair relative to the class and the grading guidelines imposed by SFU.  That stated, I am open to hearing your arguement if you feel the grade I assigned you was not what you deserved.

If you would like to dispute a grade:

• contact me by email within one (1) week of receiving the grade
• in your email, state the assignment number, the grade you received, the grade you feel you deserved and very specifically, the reasons why you feel your grade should be revised

I will consider your arguement and reply to it within one (1) week of receiving your note.  I will regrade your paper.  The revised grade I assign may go up, it may go down or it may stay the same. If you are not satisfied with the revised grade, we will follow a formal departmental grade dispute procedure.

Assignments

Format of papers

All assignments are to be submitted in business report format.  All references and statistics are to be footnoted.  Readability is key.  Poor grammar and spelling will be penalized.

Assignments may be submitted digitally, hard copy or both.  The final assignment (business plan) must be submitted both digitally and in hard copy.

Please make sure assignments you send by email are not lost by using the following subject line formatting:

BUS477 - Assignment #n - "Assignment Name" - "your name"

• n - the number of the assignment (e.g. 1-5)
• "Assignment Name" - the name of the assignment (e.g. The Baord)
• "Your Name" - last name, first name (e.g. JacksonEan)

 

Teams and Team Project

How are teams structured?

Teams are comprised of 5-7 students from BUS 477 and ENSC 201. The idea is to see 2-3 students from BUS477 paired with 3-5 students from ENSC201 for an average team size of 6.  We would like to see the total number of teams for the combined classes be 15-18... this so you have a 1:5 or 1:6 probability of winning cash!

How do I get on a team?
Students in BUS 477 will be asked to form teams of 2 or 3. Since some students drop the class and some on the wait list join it, we won't form teams until the second week.  You are welcome to pick your own team.  Those who have no preference for a partner will be randomly assigned to a team. 

How can I choose a team if I don't know what the business idea is?
That's part of the "real world" fun. The engineers determine the idea. Both classes will meet on the first day of classes for a mixer and frequently throughout the semester. The ENSC 201 students will aim to have their ideas in and approved by the second class. Once an idea has been approved by the ENSC 201 instructor, there will be an opportunity for the students of BUS 477 to hear the ideas and match up with students of ENSC 201.  The details of the project will be developed during the semester.

Can I use any idea for my business?
The idea for your business must qualify as an engineering concept and it must be approved by the instructor of ENSC201.

How are contestants in the Ken Spencer Competiton selected?
The instructors of BUS 477 and ENSC 201 will independently grade the final papers and put forward the 6 or 7 top business plans from those generated by the classes.

Surveys

During BUS 477, I will ask you to take 3 or 4 online surveys. These short surveys take less than 5 minutes to answer.  They help me make adjustments to the course you are taking and improve BUS 477 for future students.

The surveys are annonymous.  I can tell who in the class has taken the survey, but I can't tell which response belongs to which student.  That means you have an annonymous outlet to share your true feelings about the class.  It also gives me another way to objectively assign your individual participation grade. 

How do the surveys work?  I provide a link (URL) to the survey on this website.  You follow the link, answer a few rating questions about the class and share any specific feedback or suggestions. 

These are very short surveys, so I generally make them active for one week only. I will generally shut down a survey the evening before a class so we can discuss in class.  I aim to share survey results on the class website and dedicate a few minutes of class time to it, as well.

Guest Speakers

If you are a confirmed or prospective guest speaker, welcome! Please follow the appropriate link below for details on how to prepare and where to find the class:

Guest speaker. Speaks to the class for 45-60 minutes about their personal expertise or entrepreneurial journey. 

Guest panelist.  Participates in an expert panel that hears the business plan "pitches"