This course will be conducted entirely over the Internet and will not meet in the classroom -- students will never need to be online at or any physical place at the same time as anyone else. You can work on the course at 3:00 am or 3:00 pm -- it doesn't matter as long as the assignments are completed and submitted by the deadlines.

     No later than midnight on the first day of the semester [Monday, January 23, 2012], all students must send an email message to the instructor FROM THE EMAIL ADDRESS YOU INTEND TO USE FOR THIS COURSE to check in and confirm that you are aware that you are in this online course. Send this message to: hospitality.classes@gmail.com -- this is the email address that will be used exclusively for this course. The subject for this email message must be: FACS-171 / Your Name / Checking In. Failure to check in, as indicated above, could result in being permanently removed from the course.

     During the first week of classes (January 23 - 27), click on the "Start Here/Course Info" button on the left of your screen and carefully read all the documents in that folder (the course syllabus, FAQ's, exam procedures, and factoids, etc.). The information in these documents will answer almost all of your questions about how the course will run and how to succeed in the course. You will take an exam on those documents when you are finished reading them. You must attain a score of 100 on the exam and you will be given as many tries as needed to attain a 100 -- the exam is open notes so it should be fairly easy to do. If you do not attain a score of 100, you will lose twenty-five points off your "attention to detail" grade. Since part of your final grade will be "attention to detail", it is incumbent on you to be familiar with and follow all policies/procedures/requirements contained in these documents.

     Here is how the course will work. The first thing to do when you logon to the course is read the "Announcements" -- always read the announcements first since there are often instructions and reminders provided. Next, click on the "Assignments" button to see what the assignments are for the week. The assignments will change every week and will be updated no later than midnight on Mondays, although I always try post the new assignments on Sunday to give you extra time. The "assignments" page tells you exactly what needs to be accomplished for the week and when the deadlines/due dates are. Assignments will always include reading a chapter in the book, industry news, an additional industry related reading, and class notes. In addition to these readings, there will always be a homework assignment to be submitted on BlackBoard and/or a group discussion. Please refer to the "Homework Factoids" under the "Start Here/Course Info." button on BlackBoard for complete information on how to submit your homework.

     All course materials to include class notes, supplemental readings, industry news and homework assignments can be found by clicking on the "Course Documents" button on the left side of your screen. These documents will change each week and will be listed under the week they were posted. These are all the documents that you will work with each week except the chapters in the textbook, which will never be online.

     If the homework for the week is a discussion question, you will first click on one of two discussion buttons on the left of your screen. The "Desktop Diner Discussion" link is only used for two things during the semester. First, you will introduce yourself to the class on this discussion board during the first week of classes. The second purpose is for the "Desktop" where all students in the class can have free discussions on any topic they want and to ask questions that would pertain to the whole class (see the "Discussion Board Factoids" for more information). The "Desktop Diner" will always be available to all students in the class. The "Group Discussion Board" link won't show up until the second week of the semester and will be used to answer all subsequent discussion questions. The class will be divided into three groups and you will only be required to read and post in the group that you are assigned. You are welcome to read the postings of other groups, but you won't be able to post to them (see the "Discussion Board Factoids" under the "Start Here/Course Info." button for complete information).

     Again, welcome to the "Introduction to Hospitality Management" course. Feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions and/or concerns regarding this course. Please use the following e-mail address for all correspondence related to this course: hospitality.classes@gmail.com (Note: All lowercase letters and no spaces.)