Mortuary Jurisprudence Syllabus for 2015-2016
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Instructor Information

Course Information

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Disability Statement

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

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Administrative Drop Policy

N/A

Student Withdrawal Procedures

N/A

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Course

MRTS-2335-001 Mortuary Jurisprudence

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: MRTS 1301, MRTS 1310 and MRTS 1211

Course Description

A survey of general principles of mortuary and business law. Emphasis is on ethical practice. Compliance with pre-need and at-need regulatory agencies included. A writing intensive course.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Online Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

There are 2 Required Texts for this class. 1. Mortuary Law - T. Scott Gilligan and Thomas Stueve ISBN: 1-993031-02-B 2. Law for Business 18th Edition. Ashcroft and Ashcroft. 

Supplies

\ TEXTBOOKS: See textbooks on this syllabus.

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\ COMPUTER or ACCESS TO A COMUTER: You MUST have access to a computer with active internet service, Mozilla Firefox (free download available & recommend), M

Student Performance

Course Objectives and expected outcomes:

The subject area guidelines for Funeral Service Law are designed to introduce the student to  rights, duties, and responsibilities of the funeral service practitioner and funeral establishment; including but not limited to: state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to funeral service including preneed; torts involving the dead human body and the funeral service practitioner; wills, estates, probate and related matters; cemeteries, crematories and issues related to final disposition;  sources of law; the legal status of the dead human body; the duty of burial, right to control funeral arrangements and final disposition and liability for funeral expenses; and the legal aspects of being licensed to practice in funeral service (funeral director, embalmer, etc.).

Objectives:  Upon satisfactory completion of a course of study in Funeral Service Law the student should be able to:

1. Understand and discuss the laws, rules and regulations affecting funeral service.

2. Identify legal relationships, rights, duties and liabilities between the funeral service practitioner, the dead body and the consumer.

3. Recognize the legal issues and importance of due diligence in funeral practices and compliance to help minimize exposure and/or liability. 

4. Understand the importance of completing proper documentation in funeral service.

5. Distinguish situations when legal and other professional services are required for death planning and estate administration.

 

STUDENT PERFORMANCE:

• Regular log-in and keeping current will all discussions, assignments, projects, quizzes and exams is necessary for satisfactory achievenment. There is no foreseeable excuse for not being able to log on and complete any activity. There are several libraries and numerous computer labs on the AC campus. If your computer is inoperable, you should be responsible and make plans to access a computer at another location to do the work. Incomplete work will result in a poor grade and may put you in danger of failing the course.
• Follow guidelines set forth by the Mortuary Science Program and Amarillo College. www.actx.edu/mortuary
• Communicate with the instructor when you are having difficulty with course.

Students shall achieve a averaged score of 75% or better on all assignments 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

STUDENTS SHOULD:

1. Log-in at least two times per week. (Personal Recommendation: Once at the beginning of each week, once in the middle, and once at the end of the each week.)
2. Read assigned text book material.
3. Read all other assigned material.
4. If in doubt, ask...
5. Actively participate in discussions (these are graded and are considered class participation).
6. Do not judge other students.
7. Respect each others opinions.
8. Respect deadlines and turn in assignments on time.
9. DO NOT procrastinate. (As the saying goes...a lack of planning on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on mine.)
10. *Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class and will result in a grade of on the exam or assignment involved that cannot be replaced or dropped. Please see Student Rights and Responsibilities for a specific description of academic dishonesty. Any cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students at Amarillo College.

Grading Criteria

Grading Policy:

• Discussions/Class Participation = 15% of your final grade
• Quizzes/Written Assignments = 25% of your final grade
• Research Paper = 10% of your final grade
• 2 Exams = 20% of your final grade
• Final Exam (Comprehensive) = 30% of your final grade

Grading Scale

• A=92-100
• B=83-91
• C=75-82
• F=74 and below
• (To pass the State and National Board Exams, you must score a 75 or better. Please note that we gear our grading policy towards that standard. Be aware of this as you take this class and all other MRTS courses.)

Each student is responsible for ensuring the integrity of his/her own work. Cases of academic dishonesty will result in either zero points or administrative withdrawl from the Mortuary Science Program. There will be no tolerance for missed due dates, assignments, projects, quizzes or tests. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET ASSIGNMENTS AND SUCH TURNED IN AND IN ON TIME. If you wait until the semester is over to resolve an issue with missing assignments, projects, exams, etc., then it will be too late. ALWAYS KEEP COPIES OF YOUR WORK (projects, assignments, clinical paperwork, etc.). Students should have a back up plan for computer problems. Most public libraries have internet access for students' use.

ALL course work is expected to be typed with correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. PROOF READ your work before submitting. Failure to do so will result in a lower grade.

Class Discussions Participation Grading Scale (In addition to 100 word minimum; and correct grammar, punctuation and spelling):

• Outstanding Contributor: Contributions in class reflect exceptional preparation. Ideas offered are always substantive, provide one or more major insights as well as direction for the class. Challenges are well substantiated and persuasively presented.
• Good Contributor: Contributions in class reflect thorough preparation. Ideas offered are usually substantive, provide good insights and sometimes direction for the class. Challenges are well substantiated and often persuasive.
• Adequate Contributor: Contributions in class reflect satisfactory preparation. Ideas offered are sometimes substantive, provide generally useful insights but seldom offer a new direction for the discussion. Challenges are sometimes presented, fairly well substantiated, and are sometimes persuasive.
• Non-Participant: This person says little or nothing in class. Hence, there is not an adequate basis for evaluation.
• Unsatisfactory Contributor: Contributions in class discussions reflect inadequate preparation. Ideas offered are seldom substantive, provide few if any insights and never a constructive direction for the class. Integrative comments and effective challenges are absent.

LATE WORK (Assignments/Projects):

• 1-2 days after due date (includes Saturday and Sunday) will result in an automatic 10 point deduction.
• 3-4 days after due date (includes Saturday and Sunday) will result in an automatic 20 point deduction.
• 5 days after due date (includes Saturday and Sunday) will result in an automatic 30 point deduction.
• After the 5^th late day, if an assignment is not turned in, it will be entered as a ZERO (0).

QUIZZES/EXAM MAKE-UP POLICY:

• No quiz or exam make-ups will be given. You are given atleast 3 days to take a quiz or exam. There is ample time given to plan ahead to take your quiz or exam. Remember to have a back-up plan in case of computer problems.
• In this class, your Final Exam is to be proctored. What is a proctored exam? A proctored exam is an exam that is administered by an individual who supervises the student while they are taking the exam. The proctor's function is to ensure the integrity and security of the exam in a secure environment.
• Within the first two weeks of class, you will be given specific instructions on how to find a proctor. There will be certain requirements and information needed before the proctor can be approved.
• IF you are within driving distance of Amarillo College's West Campus, you may set up an appointment with the instructor to take your final exam in the instructor's presence using your own laptop and the schools wireless internet access. If the instructor for THIS course allows, you may take a written version in their presence on a date set by the instructor.

 

MANDATORY SKILLS BUILDING/TUTORIALS

     In an effort to improve student retention, the following policy is in place for this course:

If a student fails an exam (excluding the final), they will be required to schedule a visit with the instructor (over the phone or in person), complete an additional assignment and retake the exam.  All this must be done prior to being able to take the next assigned exam.  If you fail the second attempt, the higher of the two grades will be entered into the grade book.  Failure to complete the tutorial and retake the exam during the required time will result in not being able to take the next assigned exam.  This will result in a ZERO (0) on the next exam and place you in serious jeopardy of failing the course.  Exams, quizzes and assignments in this course deserve serious attention on your behalf, and the tutorial requirements are instilled in this program to help your succeed.

 

Attendance

\ ONLINE ATTENDANCE: This is an online course and is intended to give you flexibilty. However, it is still the same time frame of a full 16-week semester. You are expected to make an effort to log-in atleast twice a week. It is recommended that you log-in at the beginning of a week and at the end. Often times, changes have to be made and are announced through course e-mail and announcements. If you fail to log-in regularly, you may miss vital information concerning changes within the course. Online learning requires the student to be disciplined to keep up with online participation, assignments, scheduled quizzes and exams. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET ASSIGNMENTS AND SUCH TURNED IN AND IN ON TIME. If you wait until the semester is over to resolve an issue with missing assignments, projects, exams, etc., then it will be too late.

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\ Class attendance is required and will be evaluated based on online participation and testing. Class attendance should be regarded as an obligation and all students are expected to attend class. Because this is an online class attendance will be gauged by student participation in posted discussion topics and submission of required testing and projects. Failure to participate in discussions will be deemed an absence from class. A portion of your final grade will be determined by you participation in these discussions. Students failing to take the required exams will be deemed to be absent from class. Due to the fact that this class is totally online and available continuously no absence will be allowed unless approved in advance by the instructor.

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\ COURSE COMMUNICATION: The instructor will make announcements through course email and course annoucements. It is IMPORTANT that you log-in atleast twice a week not only for course material, but for emails and announcements as well.

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