• best 9 scores on at least 10 unannounced quizzes (at least 90 points)
• two mid-term tests (at least 30 points each, for a total of at least 60 points)
• a comprehensive final exam (at least 100 points)

General guidelines to maximize learning
The greatest difficulty for many Mktg 4320 students is that they must shift their perceptual focus. You can no longer view marketing communications as part of the audience (as you do when you watch television commercials or read magazines), but instead, as the communicators. You must now view business practices as if you are the creators of those messages. Since not all audience members (if any) would be people like you, mass communications strategy and tactics must be assessed in terms of what the target audience might perceive. In business, a strategy's effectiveness must be judged in terms of what the target audience might understand, not in terms of what you might personally "like."

In addition, professional communicators must often deal with clients and topics they might personally dislike. Since we will discuss mass communications for products you might not buy, in contexts for which you would never be in the target audience, we will cover topic areas and use examples that you might find personally offensive. Because of the material of this course, this is unavoidable. Similar to marketing managers who must communicate with people unlike themselves, you must put aside your personal tastes.

Class preparation requires more than general "scanning" of the reading assignments. You must study each assignment and think about it before class. Like a business meeting, you are expected to come to all classes prepared and will be individually called upon and questioned about your understanding of the material. By links to this syllabus, you are given a set of study questions to help you prepare for class discussions. These questions provide you with advance insight into my planned discussions and will help you understand the readings when preparing for every class. The study questions are important study aids to provide ongoing daily assistance in helping you understand course material. However, they are near useless if you put them aside and wait till just before the mid-term test or final exam; I will not answer last-minute pre-exam questions asking "What is the answer to question number X from the study questions?"

Quizzes
The quizzes deal with your pre-class preparation and are drawn from the reading assignment scheduled to be discussed in the upcoming class, not the past class lectures. At a business meeting, you are expected to arrive having read the reports and background material, studied and be prepared to discuss them, without another executive telling you which parts he or she considers important. Therefore, you are expected to always come to class prepared with prior study and understanding of that material. Study for the quizzes the same way you prepare for an intensive class: think about the readings, try to answer the linked study questions plus those in the textbook, and discuss the material with your classmates.

Quiz dates often will not be announced in advance. Quizzes will cover the assigned readings that had yet to be discussed in class -- the first quiz will also cover the content of this syllabus -- and a quiz can be administered on any day that a given topic is under discussion. They can also be given on the class days just before or just after exams.

The quizzes will be multiple-choice. You must have in class a scantron #882-E (the smaller sized forms available at the bookstores) and a #2 pencil. If you are not prepared with the proper materials, your score will be zero. Since these are machine graded, you must also be careful to indicate the proper version for scoring in that a failure to do so would result in a score of zero, and a sloppy erasing of a mark could have that item scored as incorrect regardless of what you had as an answer.

The ten quizzes will each have at least 10 possible points and only the best nine scores will count toward your total. Possible points on any individual quiz above 10 are considered "extra credit."  If there are 11 quizzes, scores from the best 10 will be used for grades.

No make-up quizzes will be given. It is presumed that no one misses class for a minor or trivial reason and that every absence will have a valid and documentable excuse. A student who is absent for a quiz day for any reason will have that quiz be the one dropped. Students that have a valid excuse for missing more than one quiz, documentation and verification contacts of excused absences must be provided for all quiz days missed, not just those in excess of the one dropped. If such materials can't be provided for all quiz dates missed, the "additional" missed quiz is considered unexcused for grade purposes. Prior notice must be provided for any planned events; unexpected emergencies require direct notification as soon as possible by phone, with documentation provided as soon as you return to campus. Do not wait till the next class day to drift in with an excuse. Quizzes will be short, with lectures/discussion to follow each quiz. Since the class can't continue till everyone finishes the quiz, students who arrive late for class, even if by what they consider "only a few minutes," might discover they will not be allowed to take the quiz on that day. (In business, "on time" means seated and ready to work at the designated moment, not walking in the door. Students arriving late could be considered absent for purposes of a quiz.)

It is the student's responsibility to advise me of any emergency that might impact his or her performance in the course. In the case of an emergency or an extenuating circumstance that causes several classes to be missed over an extended period of time, please notify me as soon as possible via telephone or e-mail. Prior notice must be provided for any planned events; unexpected emergencies require direct notification as soon as possible, with documentation provided as soon as you return to campus. For any absences for any reason, the student will be responsible for missed class notes, handouts and any announcements made in class. Since tape recorders are recommended herein as note taking aides, absent students are also encouraged to have a friend in the class record it to help obtain missed lecture materials.

The following are the only conditions under AU policy considered excused absences from class and/or exams:

1. Personal or family health conditions, certified by a physician or counselor and approved by the instructor;
2. Personal or family legal conditions, warranting your attention during class time and certified by an attorney or judge and approved by the instructor;
3. University business certified by a university official and approved by the instructor;
4. Instructional activities of another class as certified by a faculty member and approved by the instructor;
5. Religious holy days that ban work activity for purposes of personal observance.

• Students are expected to do their own work on assignments, quizzes and tests. Alleged violations of the Student Academic Honesty Code will be reported to the Academic Honesty Committee.
• If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out from your classmates what materials were covered, what assignments were made and what items may have been distributed in class.
• In addition to class information, assignment updates, additional explanations on lecture topics or answers to student questions could be sent to all class members via the Auburn e-mail system, with additional required reading assignments as attachments. This means that you are expected to make a daily check of your university e-mail.
  
• You must sit in the same position on the seating chart in every class. This chart will help me both learn your names and direct me from calling on the same people all the time. I also will give everyone a copy of the chart so you can learn your classmates' names -- I hope you will discuss your ideas with each other when preparing for class discussions since experience has found this to be the surest way to improve your performance in the course.
• Classes will always start on time. And "on time" in this context is used in the business sense of the term: at the time designated for the start of class, students are expected to be in their seats and ready to work. And as indicated above, arriving late could be treated as an absence for purposes of taking a quiz.
• I would be happy to discuss the course, your progress, the most recent quiz answers or any other issues that concern you on an individual basis.
  
• If you have a disability, you must meet with me in my office to discuss possible accommodations. Course requirements will not be waived, but accommodations will be made to assist in meeting the requirements, provided you are timely in working with me to develop a reasonable accommodation plan.