Special Topics in Funeral Service and Mortuary Science Syllabus for 2013-2014
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Instructor Information

Course Information

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Course

MRTS-1391-001 Special Topics in Funeral Service and Mortuary Science

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: Program Director consent

Course Description

Topics address recently identified current events, skills, knowledges and/or attitudes and behaviors pertinent to the technology or occupation and relevant to the professional development of the student. This course was designed to be repeated multiple times to improve student proficiency.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Online Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

1. National Board Study Guide, ICFSEB, Volume XI, August 2012 - (DO NOT buy an older version, you need the new version for studying purposes.)
2. The Funeral Service COMPEND (Recommended)
    

STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE:  Many times the following question is asked, 'Where is the material to review?'  My answer is that is an exit/capstone course designed to take practice exams over material you have been covering since you began in the program.  Therefore, your review materials, besides the glossary terms provided in this course, are going to be your text books and class notes kept from previous courses taken in the program.

In addition, the study manuals contain practice questions.  Use them to your advantage and study them.

Supplies

\ ***Once a student meets the qualifications to register and take the National Board Exams, they need to be prepared to pay for the exams.  Remember that both Arts and Sciences exams must be taken prior to your gra

Student Performance

 This is the CAPSTONE course for the MRTS.AAS program.  Students enrolled in this course must be in their final semester of study.

This course and all course work must be completed successfully according to this syllabus prior to National Board Examination Certification by the program director.

American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) Requires ALL students must take the National Board Examination prior to graduation.  THEREFORE:

• If you have not met all requirements including taking the National Board Examination by the end of this Semester You WILL NOT graduate.
• You must SUCCESSFULLY finish all course work (with the exception of the National Board Examination) NO LATER THAN THE DATES GIVEN IN THE SYLLABUS' COURSE CALENDAR BELOW.  YOU MUST TAKE BOTH SECTIONS OF THE BOARD EXAM PRIOR TO GRADUATION.   In some instances, students that have met requirements cannot get an exam appointment with the testing service before graduation.  If this happens, the program director and student will visit pertaining to the student's options.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Students will be presented with terminology and practice exams covering all 13 'mortuary science' related sections that are subject to appear on the National Board Exam in an attempt to prepare them for the exam.  The National Board Exam changed the way the questions are categorized in September of 2012.  For example, the following subjects in science are anatomy, chemistry, pathology, microbiology.  On the new exam, they are combined.  We will give you practice exams on the subjects separately to give you a broader coverage of possible questions you may see.

Students will have completed all necessary course work for the Mortuary Science AAS degree at Amarillo College.

Students will make application to Amarillo College for graduation.

Students will have an  exit interview with the program director. At this time grades will be verified in all course work and NBE may be scheduled.

Students will register to take the National Board Examination and pay the required fees at http://www.theconferenceonline.org/.

No student will be certified to take the NBE until all requirements of the program have been met.

 

MRTS 1391 – Student Completion Tracker - This document will be available on the first class day along with the syllabus.  Please print it off and use it as a tool to assist you in making sure you complete your tasks in this course.

 

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

 

Grading Criteria

Grading Policy

• A = 92-100
• B = 83-91
• C = 75-82
• F = 0-74

TO QUALIFY TO TAKE THE FINAL EXAMS IN THIS COURSE:

PRACTICE EXAMS:

• Students must take all 13 sets of practice exams at least 2 times by September 27th, 2013.  Each subject area must have one score of 80% or better.
• By October 15th, 2013, students must have taken all 13 sets of practice exams at least 5 times since the beginning of testing.  Each subject area must have 2 scores of 90% or better in each section; AND 1 score of 85% or better in each section.
• By December 3rd, 2013, students must have taken all 13 sets of practice exams at least 10 times since the beginning of testing.  Each subject area must have 4 scores of 90% or better in each section; AND 2 scores of 85% or better in each section; AND 2 scores of 75% or better in each section.
• Combining the 8 scores would result in a minimum of 85% average for each section.

AND

MATS EXAMS: Information for purchasing the MATS software is found under the 'supplies' information.  The course calendar below instructs the student when they need to purchase the software.  There are several due dates throughout the semester for proof of your work (see course calendar below).  It is imparative you follow the dates according to the instructor and course calendar below.  Failure to successfully complete the MATS requirements listed in this syllabus WILL result in a grade of 'F' for this course.

• Purchase and download MATS software the week of September 30th, 2013 if you are not using the West Campus Computer Lab.
• Provide proof of 1 completed MATS ARTS - Funeral Directing and 1 completed MATS SCIENCES exam by October 19th, 2013.  Minimum score not required on this submission.
• Provide proof of 1 completed MATS ARTS - Funeral Directing and 1 completed MATS SCIENCES exam by November 2nd, 2013.  Minimum score not required on this submission.
• Provide proof of 5 completed MATS ARTS - Funeral Directing and 5 completed MATS SCIENCES with scores of 90% or better on each by December 2nd, 2013.

If you passed the above requirements, TO QUALIFY TO BE CERTIFIED FOR THE NBE:

COMPREHENSIVE ARTS (FUNERAL DIRECTING) FINAL EXAM AND SCIENCE (EMBALMING) FINAL EXAM:

• Student have an approved site and proctor and date with the program director.
• Student MUST score an 85% or better on BOTH exams.  They will not be averaged together.  So you MUST score 85% or better on each.  Failure to do so will result in failing the course. 

NBE - SCIENCES and ARTS:  If you pass all sections above according to course requirements, you will be certified to take the National Board Exam.  Results of each exam must be submitted to the program director for the student to earn a final grade.

Given you meet the guidelines presented in this syllabus, your final grade in this course will be calculated as follows:

• Practice Exams and Practice Final Exams - 33%
• MATS software exam scores - 33%
• National Board Exam Scores - 34%

Note:  A grade of ZERO (0) will be entered for the NBE scores if the exams are not taken due to not meeting requirements for the course after the Amarillo College class withdraw deadline.  This would result in a 'F' for the course.

IF you do not understand, please contact the instructor during the first week of school.  It is imparative you understand the course rules and requirements.

NOTE:  INCOMPLETES WILL NOT BE GIVEN IN THIS COURSE FOR ANY REASON EXCEPT THE STUDENTS' NBE TEST DATES OVERLAPPING WITH THE GRADUATION DATE.  NO EXCEPTIONS!

American Board of Funeral Service Education Requires ALL students must take the National Board Examination prior to grduation.

• If you have not met all requirements including taking the National Board Examination by the end of this Semester You WILL NOT graduate.  In the event, a schedule conflict arises with the testing center for the NBE, the student MUST make all necessary steps to test prior to graduation.  If this is not able to happen, the student MUST communicate with the instructor to determine further options.

 

 

 

Attendance

In order to be successful in this course students should login regularly to the course and take practice Exams as well as practice on the MATS software. 

If you do not follow the timeline laid out for you in this course it will be difficult for you to complete.

WHEN PURCHASING YOUR SOFTWARE, ALLOW A 5-7 DAY PROCESS.

IF A STUDENT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS TO REGISTER TO TAKE THE NBE, THEY NEED TO ALLOW 1-2 DAYS FOR THE APPLICATION PROCESS.  DO NOT DELAY OR PROCRASTINATE.  NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE FOR ANYONE.  SO, BE RESPONSIBLE AND ALLOW APPROPRIATE TIME TO TAKE THE NBE EXAMS BEFORE THE CLASS DEADLINE. 

Class attendance should be regarded as an obligation and all students are expected to attend class.  Attendance in an online course is logging in and accessing course content.  Simply logging in is not acceptable as attendance.  Instructors are able to track your login and content access.  

IF YOU DO NOT COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Take the assigned amount of practiced exams per section, passing with the required scores, by the assigned due date times;
2. Submit the proper amount of required MATS scores, by the assigned due date times; AND
3. Take and pass the comprehensive program final for arts and program final for sciences with the required scores;

YOU WILL NOT PASS THIS COURSE AND YOU WILL NOT BE CERTIFIED TO TAKE THE NBE.

 

The National Board Exam(s) are NOT to be taken lightly.  Not only does your career and goals depend on your passing of them, but the future of this program do as well.  The program takes this very seriously and will not allow anyone to take the NBE if they have not proven through this course they are ready and prepared.

 

 

Calendar

Additional Information

COMPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL BOARD EXAMINATION

The National Board Examination consists of two parts:  the Funeral Service Arts Examination and the Funeral Service Sciences Examination.

FUNERAL SERVICE ARTS EXAM

The Funeral Service Arts Examination consists of 170 multiple-choice questions, 150 scored items and 20 unscored pre-test items.  You are allotted three hours for this examination: three minutes to agree to the non-disclosure and two hours and 57 minutes to complete the exam.  The Arts examination consists of the content areas listed below:

Content Areas (# of Questions):

• Funeral Directing (52)
• Funeral Service Marketing/Merchandising (22)
• Funeral Service Counseling (23)
• Regulatory Compliance (38)
• Cemetery and Crematory Operations (15)
• Pretest Questions (20)

FUNERAL SERVICE SCIENCES EXAM

The Funeral Service Science Examination consists of 170 multiple-choice questions, 150 scored items and 20 unscored pre-test itmes.  You are allotted three hours for this examination: three minutes to agree to the non-disclosure and two hours and 57 minutes to complete the exam.  The Sciences examination consists of the content listed below:

Content Areas (# of Questions)

• Embalming (60)
• Restorative Art (38)
• Preparation for Disposition (22)
• Funeral Service Sciences (30)
• Pretest Questions (20)

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 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

 If a student has a grievance with the course instructor, the following “due process” protocol will apply. The student must follow the protocol steps in the order shown.

 1.      Make every effort to resolve the concern directly with the course instructor. The instructor should be contacted by the student before the conclusion of the course.

 2.      If the concern cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the student after meeting with the course instructor, the student should seek satisfaction from the immediate supervisor of the instructor within one week of the student–instructor meeting.

3.      If the concern cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the student after meeting with the Mortuary Science Program Director, the student should seek satisfaction from Dean of Health Sciences within one week of the student–division chairperson meeting.

 4.      If the concern cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the student after meeting with the dean, the student should seek satisfaction from the Vice-President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) within one week of the student–Dean meeting.

 5.      If the concern cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the student after meeting with the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, the student should seek satisfaction from the college President within one week of the student–VPAA meeting. The decision of the President will be final.