Stamford

CFA Institute Helps UConn Business Students Practice Ethical Decision Making

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CFA Institute Ethical Decision MakingStamford, Conn. – On March 4, 2014, the Stamford CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Society hosted an Ethical Decision Making course for UConn business students on the Stamford campus. Michael Dineen, CFA and professor of finance, coordinated the event which was designed to provide participants with the framework to analyze situations from an ethics perspective.

Bob Dannhauser, head of global capital markets policy at the CFA Institute, led the presentation and discussion, presenting the CFA Institute’s Ethical Decision Making course in a case-based format. After the presentation, cases were given to all students, who were challenged with the task of choosing the ethical decision to make. This personal interaction and dialogue was an important component for the students: the discussion that ensued generated many considerations for real life situations that students may face in their financial careers.

The course attracted both graduate students in the MS in Financial Risk Management program and undergraduates studying Financial Management.

MSFRM Students Das & Li Awarded National Scholarships

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Stamford, Conn. – Only two scholarships awarded annually by the Public Risk Management Assoc.

PRIMA Student ScholarshipsEach year, the national Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA) awards just two scholarships to students enrolled in public policy and public administration programs. For 2014, both scholarship recipients are from UConn’s MS in Financial Risk Management program.

Xinyue Li and Debolina Das, both enrolled in Stamford, were selected for the annual PRIMA Student Scholarship awards for their outstanding academic performance.

“These scholarships not only recognize our students’ academic strengths and their strong commitment to risk management, but also confirm the quality of our MSFRM program,” said Jud Saviskas, executive director of the UConn School of Business in Stamford. “We are very proud of these two students, and they are a shining reflection of our fine program.”

Based in Alexandria, VA, PRIMA exists to promote and advance the profession of public risk, and serves as the primary resource for public risk management educational programs, products and services.

The PRIMA student scholarship covers expenses related to their attendance at PRIMA’s 35th Annual Conference, June 9-11 2014, in Long Beach, California. These expenses include the conference registration, meals, hotel accommodations, and both air and ground transportation.

As a student scholar, each will be paired with a mentor—a PRIMA member who is an experienced risk manager. The mentor will help the students network, gain industry knowledge, and expose them to other learning opportunities before, during, and after the 2014 Annual Conference. The winners will also receive a complimentary one-year student membership in PRIMA.

“Our FRM program has grown nearly five times in the last three years, attracting outstanding students from abroad, and earning the support and recognition from major corporations in the northeast,” added Professor Chinmoy Ghosh, head of the Finance Department and director of the MSFRM program. “These competitive scholarships recognize the academic excellence of our students and highlight our focus and emphasis on research initiatives in Risk Management.”

Pictured: Xinyue Li and Debolina Das, recipients of the 2014 PRIMA Student Scholarship awards

IBM, MBAs Use Visual Analytics to Tackle Business Problems

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IBM, MBAs

Stamford, Conn.– “Big Data.”

It’s a term we hear over and over again, and its impact is universal. But what is “big?”

According to a 2011 IDC/EMC study, the estimated size of the digital universe was 1.8 zettabytes, and is predicted to grow to 35 zettabytes by 2020. To put that number into perspective, it is the equivalent of 35,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes!Continue Reading

2nd Annual Connecticut Risk Management Conference: Aligning Risk Management with Strategy

Posted on by Claire Hall

The second annual Connecticut Risk Management Conference will be hosted by the UConn School of Business at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut on November 14, 2013. This year’s conference, Aligning Risk Management with Strategy, has been designed to bring together professionals engaged in risk management, senior management, and regulators, as well as faculty members and students in UConn’s MS in Financial Risk Management (MSFRM)* program. Continue Reading

New Undergraduate Financial Management Major Introduced to Stamford Campus

Posted on by Claire Hall

The new undergraduate financial management major was introduced to the School of Business’ Stamford campus on Thursday, August 29. The first class includes 17 business students. The financial management major offered only at the UConn Stamford campus is specifically designed to prepare students for careers in corporate money management and investment. The curriculum is closely tied to professional financial services practice. It was developed in partnership with the Stamford Chartered Financial Analysts Society (SCFAS), and prepares students to take the first level of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams which leads to the CFA designation. The unique program will include support from the society with mentoring and introductions to the various financial institutions in the tri-state area.

The first class will graduate in May 2014.

Pictured: The financial management students along with Professor Katherine Pancak, Professor John Knopf, Program Manager Marlys Rizzi, Executive Director for the School of Business at UConn Stamford Jud Saviskas, and Finance Department Head Chinmoy Ghosh.

Business Briefs (Summer 2013)

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Bridging the Gap between Business and Human Rights

This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 3, Issue 3 (Summer 2013)

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Robert C. Bird, Northeast Utilities Chair in Business Ethics and associate professor of marketing, and his colleagues hosted a colloquium titled, “Bridging the Gap between Business and Human Rights.” The event took place on May 14-15, 2013 to explore the potential for common ground between business and civil society groups in the area of human rights. Attendees at the conference explored how firms perceive and interact with human rights, examined how voluntary regimes can positively influence business behavior, and analyzed how multinational corporations can align their interests with human rights in their chosen markets.

Pictured: Lisa Laplante (UConn School of Law), Stephen Park (UConn School of Business), and Norman Bishara (University of Michigan) during the May colloquium,”Bridging the Gap between Business and Human Rights.

UConn Students Win 1st Place in Statewide Competition – Venture Business Category

On Friday, April 26, eighteen finalists from nine Connecticut universities competed in the statewide 2013 Connecticut Collegiate Business Model Competition. Among the first place winners were UConn School of Business undergraduates Tim Hidu ’13 and Paul Melancon ’13, whose business, Sea Green Organics, was awarded first place in the venture business category, coming ahead of three competing MBA teams from other universities. Sea Green Organics aims to commercially produce and distribute an organic liquid seaweed-based lawn fertilizer.

Travelers EDGE Scholars Identify Growth Opportunities for Local Organization

Travelers EDGE Scholars Begum Abadin ’15, Kurtis Adei ’14, Janice Tate ’14 and Andrea Llivichuzhca ’14 presented a marketing strategy to the New England Air Museum (NEAM) as part of the Travelers EDGE Venture project for 2013. Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment) works to help underrepresented students attain college degrees, as well as a competitive edge when entering the job market.

NBC Sports and Olympics at Stamford Learning Accelerator

Executives from NBC Sports and Olympics in Stamford met with over 80 UConn students at the Stamford Learning Accelerator (SLA) in March. Arranged by Brian Brady, director of the SLA and instructor in residence, the event was video streamed live from Stamford to the School of Business Café in Storrs, where students at the main campus were able to simultaneously participate and pose questions to the NBC Sports team.

MIS Students Develop Tracking System for Connecticut Department of Banking

During the Spring 2013 semester, a team of Management Information Systems (MIS) students, as part of their capstone course taught by Professor and Ackerman Scholar Sulin Ba, developed a Microsoft SQL Server based Enforcement and Examination Tracking System for the Consumer Credit Division of the Connecticut Department of Banking. Despite the complexity of the project, the students were able to provide a system solution that the Consumer Credit Division staff can incorporate and use.

Cigna CIO Mark Boxer ’87 MBA Addresses Undergraduate Business Students

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UConn School of Business Dean John A. Elliott welcomed Mark Boxer ’87 MBA, executive vice president and chief information officer at Cigna, to campus on March 12th. Boxer spoke to a full audience of 240 undergraduates about the importance of information technology in the insurance industry and for Cigna. He also shared his career experiences and spoke about Cigna’s career opportunities in information technology for business majors.

Pictured: Undergraduate students gather to hear Mark Boxer ’87 MBA speak on the importance of information technology.

Marketing Students Develop Advertising and Promotional Campaign for 2013 Honda Civic

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In an Integrated Marketing Communications course taught by William Congdon ’75, former publisher of Popular Mechanics and adjunct lecturer, a team of students—named the “Blueprint Integrated Marketing Team”—engaged with EdVentures, Inc. to develop “Honda Push-Play,” an advertising and promotional campaign for the 2013 Honda Civic Sedan.

Pictured: UConn students experience the 2013 Honda Civics on Fairfield Way and participate in games and giveaways.

UConn School of Business Ranked Among Top 100 Most Social Media Friendly MBA Schools

Evaluated on presence and activity levels in social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and others, the University of Connecticut School of Business was ranked among the “Top 100 Most Social Media Friendly MBA Schools for 2013” by OnlineMBAPage.com.

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View all business briefs, accolades, and media mentions at business.uconn.edu/pressroom.

Upcoming UConn Stamford Conference to “Celebrate Women Entrepreneurs” in Connecticut – SOLD OUT

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

SOLD OUT – The Connecticut Celebrates Women Entrepreneurs Conference is sold out. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Connecticut’s first state-wide conference celebrating and supporting women entrepreneurs arrives Friday, September 20, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. at UConn’s Stamford campus. The event provides women business owners with an opportunity to network, showcase and expose their ventures to a state-wide audience, participate in a variety of educational and business building workshops, as well as meet, share ideas, and network with other women entrepreneurs.

This event is being presented by the UConn School of Business. Sponsors include Webster Bank as the Platinum Sponsor, TD Bank as a Gold Sponsor, and First County Bank as a Silver Sponsor. Bronze Sponsors include: People’s United Bank, Northwestern Mutual/The Bender Financial Group, Wells Fargo Advisors, Logicbroker, and LLBH Private Wealth Management of Westport, Connecticut. Hearst Media Services is the exclusive media sponsor.

Helping to greet attendees at this event will be Mary Holz-Clause, UConn’s vice president of economic development. Holz-Clause, whose office hosts the CT Small Business Development Center and administers several incubator programs to help entrepreneurs, states, “Women entrepreneurs often face unique challenges in growing their business. This conference will provide a forum for discussion, support, and identifying resources for helping women-owned business to thrive in Connecticut.”

This event begins in the morning with registration and continental breakfast and runs through an optional afternoon luncheon. Most of the activities are free and there is also no charge to register. Attendees can rent an exhibit table to market and sell their products and services during the event for $30. There is a cost for the keynote luncheon which is $50 per guest.

Says event co-founder Valarie Gelb, CEO and founder of TheBarnYardGroup, “Women entrepreneurs are vitally important to the economy in the State of Connecticut and this gathering of successful women gives us an opportunity to network and to celebrate our success.”

Representatives from the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development as well as other organizations such as Connecticut Innovations and the Small Business Development Center will also be available to help attendees leverage available resources from the state. In addition, attendees will be able to attend free educational workshops on a variety of relevant topics that range from getting funding for your business, leveraging digital media, and accessing available resources from the State of Connecticut.

Janis Collins, startup company advisor at the Stamford Innovation Center, will be leading an event workshop on business/entrepreneur resources available from the State of Connecticut. “It is a great time to be a woman entrepreneur in the State of Connecticut. Not only have we committed the resources to help new ventures get off the ground faster—and more successfully—we have designed support programs to meet the unique needs of women entrepreneurs. Representatives from some of these resources will be attending the event to provide information about these programs,” she says.

The conference will conclude with an afternoon luncheon featuring keynote speaker Cindi Bigelow, president and CEO of Bigelow Tea based in Fairfield, Connecticut, the #1 special tea company in the United States. Cindi will speak on leadership and motivation: “Leadership, what does that mean and how do we work on being the best leaders we can be? That is a question that must be a part of our daily thought process because only with strong and dynamic leadership can we expect to achieve success in our businesses. I will share with you my key areas of focus for getting my most motivated and effective teams all working together to drive the business forward,” shares Bigelow.

Event Details

All Connecticut women business owners and entrepreneurs from early stage to high-growth companies are welcome to attend.* Registration is free; just click uconn.biz/2013women to sign up.

Connecticut Celebrates Women Entrepreneurs
Friday, September 20, 2013
8:30am – 2:00pm
UConn Stamford Campus
Stamford, Connecticut
Register here >>

Join or follow the Twitter conversation: #CTCelebratesWomen

For more information about this event, contact Brian Brady, director of the Stamford Learning Accelerator, UConn School of Business at brian.brady@business.uconn.edu; Tim Dowding, associate director of the International Business Accelerator and professor, UConn School of Business, at tim.dowding@business.uconn.edu; or Valarie Gelb, CEO, TheBarnYardGroup at vgelb@thebarnyardgroup.com.

*Please note: While the Connecticut Celebrates Women Entrepreneurs one-day conference on September 20th is a celebration of women entrepreneurs, men are welcome and encouraged to attend.