Department of Finance and Quantitative Analysis

About the Department

The department has three distinct branches: the Finance group, the Quantitative Analysis group, and the Operations Management group. Faculty members in each group provide instruction in the basics of their disciplines as part of the core curriculum provided to all COBA graduates. The core curriculum provides all students, regardless of specialty area, with a general framework of understanding of the other specialty areas in business. This department is responsible for providing this conceptual framework in corporate finance, in business statistics and quantitative methods, and in operations management.

The faculty members provide the bulk of their instruction to the undergraduate degree programs, but they also provide key components of the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum. High quality instruction in finance, statistics, business forecasting and operations are an integral part of the university’s MBA program of study.

The department is also the home of the Bachelor’s of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Finance. Finance is one of the seven specialty areas in which a separate major is awarded. Those majors offered by COBA include:

Note that while the Information Systems degree is offered through COBA, the Information Systems faculty are housed in the College of Information Technology. Sometimes that's a bit confusing, but there's a story there.

In addition to these eight majors, several of the majors also provide specialized training in a particular emphasis area. For example, the BBA degree in Management includes an emphasis area in Operations Management, with the specialized training in the operations management discipline provided by the Operations Management group of this department.

Within the BBA in Finance major, there are also several emphasis areas in which students can specialize. More information about the Finance major is provided below.

WHAT IS FINANCE?

According to Webster’s dictionary, “finance” is the science of managing money. In that context, the business discipline of finance is the art and science of managing money in a business or in a family. Modern finance encompasses a number of specialty areas, loosely assembled around the end customer. Corporate finance focuses on business finance, personal finance focuses on individuals, and financial services focuses on the management of financial intermediaries such as banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms.

Corporate finance is the management of money within a business and includes raising funds for the business, deciding on the types of capital (debt or equity) to use when funding operations, measuring the desirability of capital expenditures, working capital management, measuring financial performance, and managing the cash flows into and out of the business. Personal finance is the study of money management for individuals and families over time, including revenue and expense management, investment strategies, insurance planning, retirement planning, and estate management. Financial services firms are intermediaries between the providers of funds and users of funds. The management of financial intermediaries such as banks and insurance companies has become increasingly more complex as financial markets become more global, so a firm grounding in the basics of international finance is also a must in this area.

WHY MAJOR IN FINANCE?

Finance offers many professional opportunities. Every small business person is, of necessity, a finance practitioner, while every major corporation has a finance division. Job opportunities abound in both the for-profit business arena and the not-for-profit sector.

Financial services firms such as banks and insurance companies employ millions throughout the United States, and millions more are employed abroad. Finance majors frequently find employment in these firms in a variety of different capacities, ranging from loan officers to insurance underwriters to stock brokers.

With the aging of the baby boomer generation in this country, there has been an increase in the demand for finance specialists who can advise individuals on their personal financial planning needs. Individuals seeking a career in the financial planning industry learn a variety of specialties, including financial markets and investments, portfolio management, real estate, insurance, and tax strategies.

WHAT IS THE COURSE OF STUDY FOR A FINANCE MAJOR?

The major in finance has been designed to provide the student with a variety of concepts and techniques that can be applied in all financial situations, as well as specialized study in particular fields. The BBA in finance has several tracks that a student can choose, depending on their interests:

 

•               BBA in Finance – no emphasis area

The general track allows for the greatest level of flexibility for students and prepares graduates to enter into managerial programs in any financial field. Students are required to demonstrate mastery of certain basic techniques in applied financial management but are then free to take a number of elective finance courses to round out their studies. Studies include financial management of the firm, financial markets and investments, financial risk management using futures and options, capital budgeting techniques and managerial decision-making.

 

•               BBA in Finance –Financial Services Emphasis

This emphasis area is designed to allow students to specialize in the management of financial institutions, particularly banks. It also provides students with a choice of several finance electives to complement their studies.

 

•               BBA in Finance – Personal Financial Planning Emphasis

This emphasis area prepares students for a career in the financial planning industry. Students study a variety of specialty areas in investments, insurance planning, and tax and estate management.

 

•               BBA in Finance –Risk Management and Insurance Emphasis

This emphasis area requires coursework in the identification and measurement of risk for firms and individuals, the nature and availability of a variety of insurance products, and the national and international operations of the insurance industry. Students are also trained in the science of risk management, the systematic process of managing an organization’s risk exposure so as to achieve its objective of maximizing value while at the same time minimizing risk. Graduates have a variety of job opportunities as insurance company managers, corporate risk managers, insurance brokers and agents, employee benefits managers, personal financial planners, claims adjusters and insurance underwriters.