Seidman College of Business - Finance Department

Course Contact Hours (For Each Course)

The CFP Board's requirement is 45 hours per course, on average. Please note that we have combined 3 board courses into one course each semester. Our course is broken down into 3 units per course.

• 18.0      3 hours of online instruction with the instructor per week (per unit). This is recorded and available to view anytime.
• 12.0      Discussion boards (2 posted discussion questions from the ME books each week - 2 one-hour sessions per week per unit)
•   6.0      1-hour quiz per week per unit
•   3.0      Final exam - minimum score required for each unit
• 12.0      2 hours per week of graded problems per unit
• 51.0      Total contact hours per unit (153 hours per course)

Note: Students should log in online 4 out of 7 days per week, and the first discussion post must be done by Thursday at midnight (EST) each week.

Grading

• 24%      Discussions, 4 points each week (2pts per question)
• 24%      Weekly quiz, 4 points each week
• 28%      Final exam (3 sets of 20 questions - an accommodation to Blackboard's stability)
• 24%      Weekly problems, 4 points each week
• 100%

Note:  A minimum score of 75% in the course is necessary to pass the course. Students who do not achieve this score can retake the exam within 1 week of the class end date. If still not at 75%, then the course needs to be retaken at full course cost.

Course Descriptions

Martin is an Affiliate Faculty of Practice in the Finance Department. In finance, he worked for a global investment bank, cofounded a financial literacy dotcom, and led a wealth management team for high-net-worth clients. Additionally, he worked in business development, quality engineering, and management consulting. He also owned and operated a restaurant and boat marina. After 25 years of business experience, he went back to law school and worked at Michigan’s then largest law firm before serving as General Counsel of a local healthcare company. He offers part-time legal services to businesses on a subscription basis which is challenging the mis-aligned incentives inherent in the prevalent hourly fee arrangements of other attorneys.

Ph.D. in Management, M.B.A., B.S.B.A., CFP®, ChFC, CLU, CFS, CM, and
NASD Series 6, 7, 24, 63, and 65 Clinical Affiliate Professor of Finance and Program Director for the Seidman Financial Planning Certificate Program, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Hoogstra is also the owner of West Michigan Accounting Services and Arcadia Asset Management, a business based in Holland, Michigan that focuses on comprehensive financial planning and asset management. Has taught FPC 304, Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits, since 1999. Eric is also teaching the FPC 303 Personal Income Tax Planning Course.