Accounting Information Systems— BUS581.01	hours: M 6:30-9:10 Room:; VH 216
Dr. Chih-Yang Tsai Office: VH 302 Phone: 257-2934 Email: tsaic@newpaltz.edu	Office Hours Tuesday: 5:00-6:25 PM Other time by appointment

Course Description

Study of conceptual foundations of accounting information systems (AIS), and the relationship of AIS to business processes and internal controls. The use of software packages for processing accounting information.

Student Learning Objectives  (and Bloom's Taxonomy classification)

• Analyze and diagram major business cycles and relate them to the data processing cycle (Analysis*)
• Explain the legal and ethical implications of Accounting Information Systems (Comprehension*)
• Apply information obtained from Accounting Information Systems to support decision making (Application & Evaluation*)

 * Bloom's Classification of Cognitive Domain Skills: 1) Knowledge, 2) Comprehension, 3) Application, 4) Analysis, 5) Synthesis, 6) Evaluation.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with Financial Accounting basics is necessary for the course.
• Proficiency in Spreadsheet software such as MS Excel.
• Knowledge in databases and/or internal control (audit) would help although not neccessary

Required Text & Other Materials

1. Accounting Information Systems: The ISBN number for this customized textbook is ISBN 10:0558195970 or ISBN 13: 9780558195977. [It contains selected chapters from Accounting Information Systems, 11th ed., Pearson/Prentice Hall, by Marshall B. Romney and Paul J. Steinbart, ISBN-13: 978-0-13-601518-5 (or ISBN-10: 0-13-601518-2)]

2. There is an online version of the complete book available at http://www.coursesmart.com/0136015336

Software: QuickBooks available in the business school labs.

Blackboard Server: All announcements, assignment, and handout will be posted on the blackboard server.  Please make sure you have access to the course Blackboard.

Grading

• Tests (50%): 25% from the midterm exam and 25% from the final exam.
• Assignments (15%): There will be weekly homework assignments.  
• Preparation and Participation (15%): This includes attendance, reading chapter materials before classes, and participation in class/online discussions.
• Term Paper (20%): Students are required to research and write a term paper.  A brief class presentation of the paper will be conducted toward the end of the semester.  (Guidelines for paper and presentations)
• Grades are non-negotiable. Your grades are based purely on your performance on the items listed above. The instructor will not change your grade except for curves given to all students and errors in grading tests and recording scores.
• Policy for makeup examination: Makeup examinations are allowed only for legitimate reasons and the instructor needs to be notified beforehand unless there is a proven emergency situation.  
• Claims of recording errors: Results of tests, assignments, and quizes are posted regularly. Claims of recording errors should be made within one week of their release time. Please keep all returned tests, assignments, and quizes until you are shure they are correctly recorded. 

Dates to keep in mind

First class: August 25, 2008; Last class: December 1, 2008

Last date to withdraw from this class: Nov. 6, 2008

Class does not meet on: Tue. November 17 

Exam 1: Tuesday Oct. 27

Exam 2: 7:15-9:15 PM, Tuesday Dec. 15

Expectations

Treat this class as you would for your job:  prepare by reading the text and doing assigned homework.  Arrive promptly and remain in the classroom for the duration of the class period.  Please do not exit and reenter the room during class time, except in an emergency situation; turn off your pager or cell phone during class. Be proactive: if you are having a problem with the material being covered, seek help right away.  [Office Hours: see the top of the page;  Tutoring hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 10:00-11:00 AM VH 212]

Policies (applicable rules will be relaxed for students with documented health or personal problems)

Textbooks:  Not having textbooks or delay of purchasing the textbooks may significantly damange the chance of successful completion of the course.  It is student's responsiblity to obtain the textbooks in the first week of the semester. 

Make-up exams:  a student who is unable to take an examination at the scheduled time for a legitimate reason must contact the professor as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements for completing it.

Absences and tardiness:  students who are absent from class should consult Blackboard to view the notes and homework assignments.  Absence beyond three class meetings or repeated tardiness will cost a student's attendance points. 

Assignments submitted after the deadline:  Late submissions with legitimate reasons will not be accepted .

Cheating and plagiarism:  students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their college work. Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious offenses, and students that engage in any form of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action. The School of Business Ethics Statement and Policy Regarding Unethical or Dishonest Behavior are appended, and can be viewed online at: http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness/adminacad_integrity.html and http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness/adminacad_behavior.html.

Tentative Schedule

1. General Instroduction: Handout, Chapters 1 & 2 (Week 1)
2. Analysis and Documentation of Processes & Introduction of Relational Databases: Data Flow Diagrams (DFD) and Flowcharts -- Chapter 3 & 4 (Weeks 2-3)
   
3. Computer Fraud, Abuse & Control and Accounting Information Systems: Chapters 5 & 6 including a potential guest speaker (Week 4-5) 
4. Software Evaluation: QuickBooks and Others (Week 6) 
5. Information System Controls: Chapters 7 and 8 (Week 7-8)
6. Auditing Computer-Based Information Systems: Chapter 9 including Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Week 9)
7. Midterm Exam: (Week 10)
8. The Revenue Cycle: Chapter 10 (Week 11)
9. The Expenditure Cycle: Chapter 11 (Week 12)
10. General Ledger and Reporting System: Chapter 12 (Week 13) 
11. General Discussion: Discussion of projects (Week 14)
12. Final Exam: (Week 15)

* Coverage of materials in each week may be adjusted based on students' background and class progress.

SUNY New Paltz School of Business : Vision/Mission/Strategic Priorities and Porgram Learning Goals

http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness/

SUNY New Paltz School of Business : Ethics Statement

School of Business students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their college work. Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious offenses, and students that engage in any form of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action. While we prefer to adhere to a code of honor in the School of Business, due to national trends in cheating, forgery, and plagiarism, we are instituting this policy within the school. Any student found cheating, committing forgery, or plagiarizing may suffer serious consequences ranging from failing a specific piece of work to failing the course. In some cases, a student may be expelled from the School of Business and the college.

Your business education includes learning ethics and values. We trust that you have the basic foundation upon which we can build. You will be judged by your character as well as by your knowledge and skills since the business world increasingly demands ethical behavior of its employees. Honesty remains an admirable quality.

Cheating is defined as giving or obtaining information by improper means in meeting any academic requirements or in other aspects of your professional conducts. The use for academic credit of the same work in more than one course without knowledge or consent of the instructor(s) is a form of cheating and is a serious violation of academic integrity.

Forgery is defined as the alteration of forms, documents, or records, or the signing of such forms or documents by someone other than the proper designee.

Plagiarism is the representation, intentional or unintentional, of another’s words or ideas as one's own. When using another person's words in a paper, students must place them within quotation marks or clearly set them off in the text with appropriate citation. When students use another’s ideas, they must clearly identify the source of the ideas. Plagiarism is a violation of the rights of the plagiarized author and of the implied assurance by the students that when they submit academic work it is their own work product. If students have any issues with respect to the definition of plagiarism, it is their responsibility to clarify the matter by conferring with the instructor.

Cases requiring disciplinary and/or grade appeal action will be adjudicated in accordance with Procedures for Resolving Academic Integrity Cases, a copy of which is available in the office of the Vice President for Students Affairs, the office of the Provost for Academic Affairs, and in the academic Deans' offices.

We, the members of the SUNY New Paltz School of Business community, are committed to practicing the highest standards of ethical behavior and demonstrating integrity in all we do. We practice these standards and expect them to be demonstrated by others not only in our business dealings, but in all our relationships. Ours is a culture of integrity. For us, ethical behavior means adhering to certain standards in both public and private.

School of Business : Policy Regarding Unethical or Dishonest Behavior

The school maintains a system (including software and web-based resources), by which students are well informed, educated and required to acknowledge by electronic signatures, the ethics, honesty and integrity standards of the School of Business, and the consequences of violating those standards.

Instructors who identify any violators should report the incident to the Dean’s office for disciplinary action. The following procedure is followed by the dean’s office for handling such incidents.

Penalties:

The involved students may request an appeal through Academic Appeal Committee (undergraduate) or Graduate Council (graduate students).

First time offenders receive a failing grade for the course, which can only be changed based on a favorable outcome of the appeals process, if applicable. The dean’s office keeps a list of first time offenders. The offenders are also required to recertify their understanding of our ethics, honesty and integrity standards.

A second time undergraduate offender will be referred for possible dismissal to the Office of Student Affairs. A second time graduate student offender will be dismissed from the Master's degree program in which he or she is matriculated, subject to review by the Graduate Council.

Note: Once a student completes the training program, he/she shall be treated equally regardless of their previous educational experience and cultural norms. Instructors are encouraged to remind students of our ethics, honesty and integrity standards at the beginning of each course.