Take My Liberty BUSI 687 Class

Dalton's text is read one or two chapters a week, though not in strict order: the schedule moves from the fundamentals of risk and insurance through life, health, property and liability coverage, and then to business risk and the place of insurance in a full financial plan.

Week one sets out what risk is and how individuals and firms respond to it, through the classic choices of avoiding it, reducing it, keeping it or transferring it to an insurer.

The following weeks look at how insurance contracts work, with their declarations, insuring agreements, conditions and exclusions, and at how coverage is chosen and priced for people at different stages of life.

The middle of the term covers protecting income and health and protecting homes, cars and other property, with the liability that comes with owning them.

The later weeks turn to risks a business carries and close by placing insurance inside a complete financial plan.

Forums fall in every week except two and seven, question sets in weeks one, three, five and seven, case assignments in weeks two, four and seven, quizzes in weeks two, four and six, and the final in week eight.

BUSI 687 is carried week by week, since each forum, question set and case draws on the chapters assigned for that week.

Question sets are answered in full sentences and full depth. A question on coinsurance in a property policy, for example, is answered with the rule, a worked example of a partial loss when the home is underinsured, and a sentence on what the owner should do about it.

Case assignments treat the instructor's client as a real household or business. Each one identifies the exposures in the facts, the coverage already in place, the gaps and a clear recommendation, with numbers where the chapter supports them, such as a life insurance need calculated from income replacement and debts.

Forum threads clear 350 words and bring in course material, outside sources and practical experience, and each is also attached as a Word document as the instructions require. Replies to two classmates top 250 words and add something real.

You post and submit everything yourself; the quizzes and the final stay with you.

Ethical questions run through the forums too, such as how an adviser should handle a client who wants to drop coverage they plainly need.

BUSI 687 work goes to someone who advises clients on insurance as part of their practice: a Certified Financial Planner, a Chartered Life Underwriter or a licensed agent with planning credentials.

That experience shows in the case assignments, where recommendations sound like a planner's letter to a client: what the gap is, what it would cost to close and why it matters to that family or firm.

It shows in the question sets too, where technical terms such as waiver of premium, umbrella liability or business interruption coverage are explained accurately and in plain words.

The forums benefit from real client situations, with names and details changed, which gives classmates concrete examples to respond to.

A second reviewer checks every answer for accuracy and every post for length and sources before delivery, and the same writer stays on the course.

Where a case involves a business, the analysis covers property, liability and key-person exposures together, since a small firm's owner often carries all three.

The question sets are the first difficulty. They carry the most points and ask for thorough answers across several questions at once.

Insurance language is the second. Policy terms are precise, and an answer that blurs coinsurance with a copay, or replacement cost with actual cash value, loses points.

The case assignments are the third, since they ask for analysis of a client's full situation rather than definitions.

Forum mechanics come fourth: every main post goes up twice, once as text and once as an attached Word file, and both replies must carry real content.

The final is the fifth. It is open-book but comprehensive, and its 250 points make it the largest single item, so study time in week eight matters.

Students without a planning background also find it hard to tell which coverage matters most for a given client, which the cases expect them to judge.

Week one carries both a forum and the first question set, so the course is best handed over before it opens.

Question sets come to you several days before their deadlines in weeks one, three, five and seven.

Case assignments come before their deadlines in weeks two, four and seven, each built on the client your instructor provides.

Forum threads arrive early in their weeks, with the Word copy attached, and replies follow once classmates post.

Each question set, case assignment and forum has its own price on the quote, with the question sets together the largest share.

Joining late means only the remaining items are priced.

The final's date is fixed in week eight, so written items in weeks six and seven arrive early to leave study time.