Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.
I will measure your progress and success in this course by having you engage in a wide variety of different activities:
- An orientation for acquainting you with some essential course components.
- Negotiation preparation for organizing your thoughts about new course concepts and how to apply them during the in-class negotiations.
- In-class negotiation for practicing the various negotiation and conflict resolution strategies presented in the readings and discussed during our class meetings.
- General in- and out-of-class participation for displaying your understanding and application of course material.
- Self-reflection for connecting course concepts to your own personal experiences of conflict and negotiation.
- A final activity, scheduled during finals week (see UB’s final exam schedule), for tying everything together.
As you complete these activities, you will earn negotiation experience points:
| Activity | Experience Points | Total Points Available |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | 50 per orientation activity | 550 |
| Negotiation Preparation | 300 per preparation | 3,600 |
| Negotiation | 200 per negotiation | 2,400 |
| Class Participation | ≈5,000* | |
| Self-Reflection | 750 per self-reflection | 3,000 |
| Final Activity | 2,000 | |
| Total | 16,550 |
*This is only approximate. The actual total for class participation may vary. If this adversely influences course grades, then the Negotiator Advancement table below will be updated accordingly.
You have entered this class as a New Negotiation Student, but as you do these activities and earn negotiation experience points you will advance to higher levels. The level at which you end the semester will determine your final letter grade in the course:
| Experience Points | Level | Title | Letter Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 6,800 | 1 | New Negotiation Student | F1 |
| 6,800 to 7,499 | 2 | Negotiation Student | D− |
| 7,500 to 8,199 | 3 | Negotiation Initiate | D |
| 8,200 to 8,899 | 4 | Novice Negotiator | D+ |
| 8,900 to 9,699 | 5 | Apprentice Negotiator | C− |
| 9,700 to 10,499 | 6 | Marketplace Haggler | C |
| 10,500 to 11,299 | 7 | Used Car Salesperson | C+ |
| 11,300 to 12,199 | 8 | Distributive Bargainer | B− |
| 12,200 to 13,099 | 9 | Negotiation Analyst | B |
| 13,100 to 13,999 | 10 | Principled Negotiator | B+ |
| 14,000 to 14,999 | 11 | Master Negotiator | A− |
| 15,000 to 15,999 | 12 | Grandmaster Negotiator | A |
| 16,000 or higher | 13 | Negotiator Supreme | A+ |
UB does not allow final course grades to be an A+ or a D−. Therefore, a final course grade of an A+ will be assigned an A and a final grade of a D− will be assigned a D.
This negotiation experience point structure means that you are free to choose some activities and skip others. You are also free to decide how much you want to engage in the course.
Some students will reach the level of Marketplace Haggler and then vanish. Fair enough! Others will not relent until they are Negotiator Supreme. Great—go for it! In the end, I will support whatever choice you make.
Photo: Ron Batzdorff / NBC.
Late Work
Classes become quite overwhelming when deadlines are missed. In such situations, it is easy for work—and anxiety!—to pile up. This is why I expect that your activities are done on time.
That said, there may be times when you cannot get things done as expected. If that happens, do not panic! Philosopher’s stones are there to help. If the situation is truly extraordinary, please do see me about a reasonable accommodation.