Class: Environmental Economics - Econ 4430 - Fall 2013

Class location: 124 Monroe Hall

Instructor: Bill Shobe

Email: shobe@virginia.edu
Phone: 434.982.5376
Office: 211 Monroe Hall (2 pm - 3 pm, or by appointment)
            Other days: 2400 Old Ivy Rd.  (A map is here.)

Required Text 

Introduction to Environmental Economics, 2nd ed.; Hanley, Shogren & White, Oxford, 2013.

Economic Rights and Environmental Wrongs: Property Rights for the Common Good; R. A. Devlin & R. Q. Grafton; Edward Elgar, 1998.

Check around in the usual places online or at the bookstore.

In-class Response System

I will be using an in-class response tool called "Top Hat". This is a "clicker" system that uses your mobile phone, pad computer, or laptop as the "clicker". You will not need to buy a clicker, but you will need to subscribe to the Top Hat service. There is a small fee for using this service. Your responses to the in-class queries will give you the opportunity to earn up to 5% extra credit for the course. Note that you do not need a smart phone, any phone that can send a text message will do.

Honor Policy 

The U.Va. honor code will be strictly enforced. All written work must be pledged. Also, I will ask you to pledge any documentation that you provide for special arrangements on graded work.

Special Accommodations

If you need special accommodations for any class requirements, you must contact me as soon as you reasonably can. Serious illness or death within the student's immediate family, religious holidays, and participation in field trips and athletic contests are all permissible reasons for rescheduling an in-class test.  You have the obligation ahead of time to make the necessary arrangements for make-ups.  Your reasons must be in writing (which includes email) and must be pledged.  Otherwise, no make-ups will be allowed.

A special word about the final exam.  The final exam will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 from 2 PM to 5 PM.  I will not allow students to reschedule the final for the purposes of arranging convenient holiday travel.  Period.  If you need to arrange your holiday travel in a way that conflicts with the final, then you need choose a class that does not disrupt your holiday plans. 

Course Format

There will be two classes per week: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30 PM in Monroe 124. Class attendance is not required.  However, in the past, those who did not attend class regularly tended to do poorly in the course.

Please sign up for a discussion section. I do not yet know how much use we will make of these.

Office Hours

My regular office hours will be in Room 211 Monroe Hall for the hour from 2 pm to 3 pm (or until the last person leaves, whichever is later).  Also, I will generally be available by appointment almost any reasonable time. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I will be in my  office at the Weldon Cooper Center, which is at 2400 Old Ivy Rd., a 15 minute walk from Central Grounds.  (A map is here.)

Grading

Letter grades for the course will be assigned as follows:

There will be a short paper (3 pages) for 12%, two in-class tests, and a final exam.  Each of the in-class tests (dates TBA) will count for 26% of your grade and the final, Dec. 10 will count for 36%. The final will be fully comprehensive. You will be eligible to earn up to 5% extra credit for your answers on in-class queries using the "Top Hat" response tool.