Syllabus

MAN4902Sustainability Management Capstone

Instructor: / Dr. Lynn Grinnell
OfficeHours / Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday 1:00-5:00 pm; Virtual Hours: scheduled weekly feedback sessions.
Office Phone / 727-791-5934 or Skype Grinnell.lynn
E-mail / Use MyCourses email (primary) or (secondary)
CourseCredits / 3 credits

Course Objectives

  1. The student will plan and organize a project to solve a sustainability management issue.
  2. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the general methods and informed ethical approaches for dealing with sustainability management issues using the core concepts learned throughout this degree program.
  3. The student will develop a potential solution to sustainability management issues associated with their defined project.
  4. The student will recommend and present a detailed implementation plan to address the sustainability management issue associated with his/her project.

Textbooks: None

Weekly ActivitiesSchedule

Week / Chapter / Assignment Description / Points / Weekly overview / WebEx Feedback
1 / Mandatory Capstone Orientation / Wednesday, 1/7
Project idea paragraph / 10
2 / III / Stakeholder analysis
Meet with stakeholders / 10 / Saturday, 1/17 / Week 3
3 / II / Introduction
Company-theory-compliance / 10 / Saturday, 1/24 / Week 4
4 / IV / Comprehensive audit
Collect baseline data
Book final presentations with COB / Saturday, 1/31 / Nothing due
5 / Audit analysis
Statistical analysis of data / 10 / Saturday, 2/7 / Week 6
6 / V / Best Practices Research / 10 / Saturday, 2/14 / Week 7
7 / VI / Recommendations for improvement
Options-CBA-change plan-decisions / 10 / Saturday, 2/21 / Week 8
8 / VII / Implementation plan
Tasks-timeline-resources-charts / 10 / Saturday, 2/28 / Week 9
9 / VIII / Measure Results
Pilot-metrics-comparisons / 10 / Saturday, 3/7 / Week 10
Spring Break
10 / IX / Standardization and compliance Operating procedures/reports / 10 / Saturday, 3/14 / Week 11
11 / X / Conclusions and Lessons Learned Summary-advice-future projects Practice Presentation Booking / 10 / Saturday, 3/21 / Week 12
12 / I / Executive Summary / 10 / Saturday, 3/28 / Week 13
13 / Assemble
Combine sections-draft presentation / Note: Presentation overview this week
14 / Practice presentations / Saturday, 4/4 / Week 14
15 / Final Presentations / Friday
16 / Final project and Surveys due / Monday

Grading

Policy. This course operates on a “mastery” learning approach, meaning that assignments are submitted twice – once for an initial grade and feedback, and a second time for a final grade. The initial grade will be an accurate reflection of how much editing is still needed; hence, it is possible that initial grades may be very low for some chapters. If substantial editing is done on sections with low initial grades, and points are not deducted for late submissions, the grade on the final paper and presentation can rise to a top grade, bringing up a low average to a very respectable high B or low A.

Expectations. Students must submit all of the assignments for each week by Monday or the following week or the time of the scheduled weekly feedback session, whichever is earlier. Students are required to review their work weekly with the instructor in a virtual or in-person session in order to get feedback and a grade. Failure to do so will result in loss of 5 points each time in the category of Project Management. (Submitting a chapter without attending a feedback session is not a suitable substitute since the primary purpose of the session is to receive line-by-line feedback.)

External delays. In the event that a key stakeholder or data are not available when needed, students should proceed to another chapter and continue submitting subsequent chapters until they can go back to complete their earlier chapter. Serious delays in stakeholder meetings or receipt of data should be coordinated with the instructor in order to keep from losing project management point.

Teams. If you have teamed up with a classmate, know that each person submits a separate part of the chapter each week (with different color font). Editing for “one voice” should not be done until after the initial feedback on each chapter. (Note: the amount of editing needed after each feedback session is usually substantial, whetherby individuals or teams. Teams should set up a weekly virtual or in-person meeting time to help coordinate their efforts. Communication in between virtual meetings needs to be prompt and supportive, using discussion boards or email, as the team determines. Teams occasionally break, but the project is designed to allow for separation into separate projects up until Week 10.

Points for each activity

Ten sections @ 10 points
Final presentation @ 40 points
Final paper @ 60 points
Project management @ -40 points / 100
40
60
-40
TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS / 200

Grading

  • 90-100%= A
  • 80-89% = B
  • 70-79%= C
  • 60-69% = D
  • 0-59% = F

Incompletes. Per SPC policy, for an incomplete grade to be assigned, the student must have a minimum of 80% of the course completed, as anything less than 80% will result in the appropriate letter grade being recorded. In the event of an “I”, the instructor will provide the terms for all required work to be completed; no later than the end of the sixth week of the next semester. After that time, a grade of “F” (or higher if the work that has been submitted is adequate to justify the higher grade) will be assigned.

Attendance Policy

Participationin the course is essential in order to avoid being withdrawn for non-attendance in Week 1 and 2.Participationis defined as submitting weekly or bi-weekly assignments and attending the virtual feedback session.

Participation at the 60% point. Attendance for the 60% point of this class will require a passing grade and active participation. NOTE: Not achieving attendance leads to a WF (Withdrawn and Failed), which can haveboth financial and GPA consequences.

Final poster session. As a team, you will be presenting a “poster” for a poster session at a simulated conference. For blended classes, the presentations are held during the Week 8 class; for online classes, presentations will be given during a synchronous WebEx during the final week. (Video submissions are not a suitable substitute since the primary purpose of the conference is to speak extemporaneously and answer questions about your topic; however, video participation can be arranged if you are out of town.)

Course Requirements

Time Commitment

This is a 16 week course, but still has the intensity of an accelerated course. Students should expect to spend between 15-20 hours per week, on average, on research, project design & implementation, meetings with stakeholders, and writing/editing. Spending less time will be insufficient for success. Falling behind has a cumulative deleterious effect, making it extremely difficult to complete the course on time.

Computer Requirements

Students should have regular access to a computer that is connected to the Internet.It is strongly recommended that students havea broadband (high-speed) internet connection such asDSL or a cable modem. When viewing on-line videos, students should have an internet connection that is stable and will not drop their connection.Studentswithout a stable high-speed internet connection should consider making arrangements to view videos with alternative means (i.e.at one of the St. Petersburg College libraries or a similar facility) where a stablehigh-speed internet connection is available.

The College of Business requires students to have a webcam; this is most beneficial in Capstone. However, WebEx sessions can be conducted without a webcam if students are participating from a remote location or computer with less-than-ideal Internet speeds.

A standard file format has been devised to apply to all classes in order to support file compatibility, sharing, and commenting needs. Studentsare required to submit all assignments in Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel and other Microsoft formats). Other formats may have MyCourses compatibility issues or instructor feedback in comments may not be viewable by students.

The College provides full function student licenses for selected Microsoft software programs, other than the basic Microsoft Office products. Go to MySPC helpful links, and look for Microsoft DreamSpark.

Academic Integrity

Academic honesty and plagiarism falls under theAcademic Honesty Policyof the college. The College of Business has a Zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty and if the student is in violation, a zero will be given for that assignment, and the student’s name will be submitted to the Dean for future tracking. Additional violations can result in a failing grade for the course (or in future courses, even for initial violations). **Understand that not properly giving credit to the sources used in your work, even when paraphrasing, is considered plagiarism and can result in a "0" for that assignment**.

Miscellaneous

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