|
COMM 387
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Introduction
to Telecommunication Management
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Spring 2003, TR 2:30 pm–3:45 pm, 262 Willard
Course web-site: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/k/p/kpj1/comm387.html |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This course aims to introduce you to the operation and management of the
broadcast, cable and telecommunications industries. You will learn some
of the critical skills required for successful careers in these industries.
This will be accomplished through lectures, in-class discussions, and participatory
team activities.
The required text-book will be: Peter K. Pringle, Michael F. Starr and William
E. McCavitt, Electronic Media Management (4th Ed.), Focal Press.
Copies are available at the HUB bookstore and other campus bookstores.
Evaluations will be based on three exams, one individual assignment, and
in-class exercises.
Exams: There will be three exams for this course, on dates given in the course calendar. Each exam will count for 25% of your course grade. The exams will include multiple choice and short-answer questions. Exam Three will be cumulative with 20% of the points based on topics covered in Exams One and Two. There will be no make-up exam, unless you have sufficient and demonstrable cause for your absence resulting from situations such as family emergencies, illness or participation in university-sponsored activities. “Dream Job” assignment: This assignment is intended to help you assess your own skills and talents for a successful job-search/career in the broadcast and telecommunication industries. From trade publications such as Broadcasting & Cable, Electronic Media, or the web, you will identify an advertisement for your “dream job.” To make sure that you are on the right track, I want you to turn in your job advertisement to me on Tuesday, February 4. If the job advertisement is inappropriate for this assignment, I will inform you by e-mail before the next class. Remember to include your preferred e-mail address along with your name when you turn in your job advertisement. You will need to choose another job ad by Thursday, February 13. Here are detailed instructions and tips for finding your job advertisement. Please retain a copy of the job ad for your file when you turn it in to me. The copy you turn in to me will NOT be returned. The second part of the "Dream Job" assignment is the Company Report. You will thoroughly research the company to which you would like to belong: the market in which it operates, its business plan, strengths and weaknesses etc. Detailed instructions for completing this assignment will be discussed in class (an advance copy is available here). The Company Research Report will be due in class on Tuesday, March 4. In part three, you will assess your own strengths and weaknesses for the job: what makes you an attractive candidate for the company, what are your weak points, how would you remedy your weaknesses over the next few years until you graduate (more courses? internships? summer jobs?). Finally, in part four, you will prepare a resume listing your job skills and training for this position. (Here is an advance copy of the instructions for the resume/self-assessment). Both parts 3 and 4, the self-assessment AND the resume, will be due in class on Thursday, April 17. In-class assignments: While no attendance will be taken in this course, it is strongly recommended that you be present for all classes. To give you an incentive to be present, part of your course-grade (10%) will be based on in-class assignments such as surprise quizzes, simple essays, and discussion exercises. Finally, your presence for all (or most) in-class assignments may also help you get the higher grade, in case your final score falls very close to the borderline between two grades. Detailed guidelines will be provided in class for all the above assignments. Advance copies of all assignment guidelines are available at the class website. The point break-up will be:
Under normal circumstances, there will be no curve. However, if the distribution of grades nearing the end of semester displays significant departures from the normal distribution (the "bell curve"), marginal adjustments to the grading intervals may be made. Comm 387 is a required course for all telecom majors and is a prerequisite for many higher level classes. Program guidelines require you to obtain a grade of at least C or above for this class. If you believe that you may not be able to achieve this requirement at any stage during this semester, you should contact me at the earliest.
Course Policies and Expectations Please complete the assigned readings prior to the class meetings. Both readings and class presentations are equally important in selecting questions for the exams.Please attend class regularly. Though no daily attendance will be taken in the class, in-class assignments will be held on unannounced dates to encourage you to attend class regularly. Please submit assignments at the beginning of class on the due date itself. Late assignments will attract a penalty equal to 10% of the total points for that assignment, for every day the assignment is late. For example, if you submit the company report (worth 40 points) late by one day, 4 points will be deducted from the score you earn after evaluation. If the assignment is late by two days, the penalty will be 8 points and so on. Please note that the late policy counts each and every day your assignment is late, including weekdays and weekends. Please submit only paper copies of your assignments. E-mail submissions will NOT be graded. Under exceptional circumstances (such as serious illness or family emergency), I may accept an e-mail submission as proof that you have completed an assignment by the due date, but you will still be responsible for providing me with a paper copy for grading at the earliest. Printer malfunctions, computer breakdowns etc. sometimes happen, and will not be considered exceptional circumstances. It is your responsibility to plan ahead and ensure that your assignment is ready by the due date. Please do your own work. All Penn State University policies on academic dishonesty, plagiarism etc. will be strictly enforced. Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly and creative activity in an open, honest and responsible manner, free from fraud and deception, and is an educational objective of the College of Communications and the university. Cheating, including plagiarism, falsification of research data, using the same assignment for more than one class, turning in someone else’s work, or passively allowing others to copy your work, will result in academic penalties at the discretion of the instructor, and may result in the grade of 'XF’ (failed for academic dishonesty) being put on your permanent transcript. In serious cases it could also result in suspension or dismissal from the university. The rules and policies regarding academic integrity should be reviewed by every student, and can be found online, and in the College of Communications document, Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures. Any student with a question about academic integrity or plagiarism is strongly encouraged to discuss it with his or her instructor.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 1 | Lecture | Date | Day | Topic | Readings | Assignment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan-14 | T | Introduction | -- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Jan-16 | R | Basic Economics | -- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 2 | 3 | Jan-21 | T | Basic Econ. (contd.) | -- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Jan-23 | R | Basic Econ. (contd.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 3 | 5 | Jan-28 | T | Introduction to Management | Chap. 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Jan-30 | R | Introduction to Mgmt (contd) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 4 | 7 | Feb-4 | T | Financial Management | Chap. 2 | Job. Ad. Due | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Feb-6 | R | Financial Management (contd) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 5 | 9 | Feb-11 | T | Financial Management (contd) | ,, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Feb-13 | R | Financial Management (contd) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 6 | -- | Feb-18 | T | -- | -- | EXAM 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Feb-20 | R | Human Resource Management | Chap. 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 7 | 12 | Feb-25 | T | Human Resource Mgmt (contd) | ,, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Feb-27 | R | Human Resource Mgmt (contd) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 8 | 14 | Mar-4 | T | Programming | Chap. 4 | Company Report Due | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Mar-6 | R | Programming (contd.) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 9 | -- | T, R | -- | SPRING BREAK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Week 10 | 16 | Mar-18 | T | Programming (contd.) | ,, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Mar-20 | R | Sales & Marketing | Chap. 5 | Week 11 | 18 | Mar-25 | T | Sales and Marketing (contd.) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Mar-27 | R | Sales & Marketing (contd.) | ,, | Week 12 | -- | Apr-1 | T | -- | EXAM 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Apr-3 | R | Outreach | Chap. 6 | Week 13 | 21 | Apr-8 | T | Outreach (contd.) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | Apr-10 | R | Regulation | Chap. 7 | Week 14 | 23 | Apr-15 | T | Regulation (contd.) | ,, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | Apr-17 | R | Cable Management | Chap. 8 | Dream Job (pts. 2 & 3) | Week 15 | 25 | Apr-22 | T | Cable Managment (contd.) | ,, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 | Apr-24 | R | Telco and ISP Management | TBA | Week 16 | 27 | Apr-29 | T | Media Ethics | -- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | May-1 | R | Media Ethics(contd.) | -- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exam Week | May-6 | T | [subject to change, check here] | Final Exam 12.20-2.10 pm |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||