FORT 250 – Forest Management Practices
Spring 2009

 

Instructor: Dr. Peter Linehan

Office: 220 Science-Technology Building

Telephone: 717-749-6089

Email: pel2@psu.edu

 

Office Hours:

*    Wednesday 10-12

*    By appointment

*    Stop by when I am in the office.

 

Course Objective: Forest Management Practices is a required, capstone course in the forest technology program taught in the fourth semester. It gives students the opportunity to use the various skills they have learned in other courses to develop management plans for forests managed with varying objectives. Concepts of valuation, timber procurement, and discounted cash flow are covered. Regulatory, management certification, public sector, and private sector management issues are also explored.

 

Academic credit: 3 credit hours.

 

Meeting Time and Place:

Thursday 10:30 to 12:20pm, lecture. Room 108 GS

Friday 1:00 to 4:50pm, lab as needed. Start in Room 208 GS

 

Text:

*    Basic Concepts in Forest Valuation and Investment Analysis by S.H. Bullard and T.J. Straka.

*    The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around your Home. Kays, Drohan, Downing, Finley.  (I have copies for the class.)

*     Various Pennsylvania Forest Extension articles (handouts)

*    Journal and newspaper articles.

 

Course Website: Course materials will be posted on ANGEL. When you log in this course will appear on the Profile page for all registered students.

 

Evaluation: The distribution of grades is as follows:

 

Exam 1

25%

Final Comprehensive Exam

25%

Forest Management Project

30%

Class Projects and Assignments

20%

Total

100%

 

Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Grade

Percentage earned

A

91 - 100

A-

89 - 90

B+

87 - 88

B

80 - 86

B-

79

C+

77 - 78

C

70 - 76

D

65 - 69

F

< 65

Class Policies:

General Philosophy
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR REACHING YOUR OWN EDUCATIONAL GOALS. This means that class attendance, completion of assignments, reading the text, studying for and taking tests etc. are all your responsibility. The instructor cannot help you if you don’t ask for help.

Field Labs

Field labs will take place in all weather conditions. It is your responsibility to dress appropriately for a lab, including footwear, hats, gloves, raingear, etc. For safety reasons, if you are not dressed appropriately, the instructor may exclude you from that day's lab. Hard hats aren't necessary for most Surveying labs. If they are, it will be announced ahead of time.

Attendance

You are expected to attend all class sessions. That's the only way you will be able to keep up with the work. Attendance is not part of the calculation of your grade. However, on most class days there will be quizzes or an in-class assignment. There is no make-up allowed for quizzes without prior permission. Assignments can be made-up at the discretion of the instructor. Please inform the instructor by email or telephone if you must be absent from class. Following University College policy, your attendance will be reported during the fourth week and you attendance and progress will be reported during the seventh week of the semester.

 

Please schedule your doctor, dentist, orthodontist, and other appointments outside of class times. If your parent or significant other does your scheduling, please let them know about you class times.

Academic Integrity

Cheating and plagiarism is wrong. I may assign a reduced grade or zero for assignments where I know cheating or plagiarism has occurred.

Here is the University College Academic Integrity Policy that we will follow: https://teamworks.campuses.psu.edu/uc/Academic%20Programs/UCpolicies.pdf  

The College of Agricultural Sciences has a helpful website on this topic: http://academicintegrity.cas.psu.edu/

 

Class Preparation

It is your responsibility to come to class prepared. This includes reading the assignments and being ready to ask and answer questions.

 

Late assignments

Completed assignments should be handed in on time unless the instructor postpones the due date or you make prior arrangements. If you find that you cannot complete an assignment on time then you should send the instructor an email explaining how much you have completed and what is your problem with the assignment. Include specific information on the difficulties you are having, not just that you couldn’t do it. The instructor reserves the right to give late assignments a lower grade or zero.

Inclement Weather

In this course we will follow campus policies in case of delayed or cancelled classes. http://www.ma.psu.edu/inclement.html For commuting students, if you feel you can't safely come to class during a storm, just call my office or send me an email.  

Computer Usage

Computer systems have become very powerful and indispensable tools in all our lives.   It's becoming hard to remember how we did things before the computer age.  As with all good things there are also negative uses of this new technology, including software piracy, network hacking, and the creation of viruses. In this course we will follow the University's computing policies which can be found at http://cac.psu.edu/policies/  

Tobacco Usage

There is no smoking allowed in Penn State buildings. Also, please do not chew tobacco during class. Students who chew in class will be asked to leave and will get a zero for that day's assignment. On most days I will have a five minute break during class, where you can go outside to satisfy your cravings. During outdoor labs do not use tobacco products when we are together in a group.

Official Academic Policies

The official academic policies for Penn State are listed on the Faculty Senate website: http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/

Services For Students With Disabilities:

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course, contact the Disability Contact Liaison, Kendra Wolgast, located on the first floor of the General Studies Building in the Student Success Center. She can be reached at 749-6045 or kmw24@psu.edu. For further information regarding the Penn State Office of Disability Services, please visit their web site at www.equity.psu.edu/ods/. Instructors should be notified as early in the semester as possible regarding the need for reasonable academic adjustments.