The 2024 fall semester was a bonanza for finance majors, minors and all business students with a plethora of applied learning projects, guest speakers and multiple activities that sharpened their skills.
Guest speakers in classrooms:
Prof. Dan Ervin’s students in his FINA 440 Corporate Finance course had the privilege of listening to and interacting with Mr. Wayne Judkins (’88), former head of bond trading at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Judkins shared his experience in the industry. He offered advice on careers. Especially on job searches while at SU.
Dr. Ervin continues to enhance his corporate finance class with innovative teaching methods and real-world problems drawn from his extensive industry experience.
In Dr. Shine Lei’s FINA 446 Retirement Planning course, Robert Jeter, Vice President & Financial Advisor at INFOCUS Financial Advisors was the guest speaker. He discussed the intricacies of financial planning and career opportunities in wealth management and answered students’ questions. In addition, Dr. Lei organized a meeting of students with Mr. Jason Nickerson, President & Chief Operating Officer at John G. Ullman & Associates, Inc. with faculty members including Drs. Asli Eksi, Kashi Khazeh and Ani Mathers.
Dr. Ani Mathers,, in her FINA 440 Corporate Finance course hosted Ms. Brenda Galgano (CFO, Perdue Farms) and Matt Cohen (co-founder, SIMPLi) as guest speakers. Students gained a wealth of knowledge from two different corporations, one, a 105+ year old privately held agribusiness giant, and young 5-year-old regenerative organic food supplier.
Mr. Rich McGhee, a retired cognizant executive and manager of a family office visited my FINA 449 class and discussed his investment philosophy, economic and financial market outlook as well as general career advice.
Case studies:
In addition, students in Dr. Mathers FINA 440 course completed three case studies to get real world experience in corporate finance decision making. The cases were:
- Sneaker 2013 – Students had to value two potential new shoe lines for a shoe company using NPV and IRR to determine which, if either, investments the company should take.
- Burton Sensors – Students had to value a new machine project for an engineering firm, as well as decide how to finance the project given financial constraints in a privately held firm. This case deals with the intersection of financing and investment decisions.
- Carter International – Students had to value a potential acquisition target using absolute (discounted cash flow) and relative (market multiples) approaches and propose how to finance the acquisition by considering the appropriate capital structure for the post-acquisition firm.
Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge
In Dr. Asli Eski’s FINA 321 Financial Modeling course students completed six assignments from the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC), a program designed for college and university students to enhance their Excel proficiency through engaging challenges and competitions. Similar to the other Excel assignments in the course, these were graded automatically on the ExPrep platform. More info about MECC: https://mecc.college/
Trading using AmplifyMe simulation
During the 2024 fall semester, students in the FINA 441 Investments course taught by Dr. Asli Eksi Linderkamp participated in an AmplifyMe Finance Accelerator Simulation. The free, fast-paced, practical simulation puts the students in the seat of an investment bank trader and an asset manager and hence provides them with a unique opportunity to understand how the financial markets work by making them trade with each other. More info about AmplifyMe: https://amplifyme.com/
Also, during the 2024 fall semester, Dr. Ani Mathers organized a mergers and acquisitions simulation using AmplifyMe Finance Accelerator in the FINA 440 Corporate Finance course and for the members of the Financial Management Association. More details of the simulation is AmplifyME | Simulations in Markets, Banking and Financial Technology
Finally, Dr. Ani Mathers advised a group of students competing in the CFA Research Challenge (Research Challenge | CFA Institute).