Undergraduate Programs

Strong Corporate Support for Students in UConn Stamford’s New Financial Management Major

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The UConn School of Business is proud to announce a premier group of financial institutions supporting the School’s new undergraduate Financial Management major in Stamford.

The Financial Management major was designed and developed, in part, by CFA charterholders from prominent local hedge funds and investment firms. The major has been accepted into the CFA Institute’s University Recognition Program and stands to serve as inspiration to a program intent on helping cultivate a young generation of future CFA charterholders. The CFA credential has become one of the most globally respected designations and the Financial Management major, along with those selected within this program to join the Investment Management Program (IMP), will be exposed to academic and practical applications in finance coupled with reinforcement of strong ethical behavior.

“Through a progressive relationship with the CFA Society of Stamford, students who excel in the Financial Management major will be invited to join an exclusive Investment Management Program (IMP), which, among other benefits, provides access to a wide array of tools and research from financial institutions like Barclays, CreditSights, and Atlantic Asset Management,” said Jud Saviskas, executive director for the UConn School of Business in Stamford. “This innovative relationship encourages and facilitates an exchange of ideas, networking opportunities and career development for aspiring investment professionals – and it’s already received outside interest from many other colleges and universities.”

Last year, a group of IMP students travelled to Wall Street for a visit to several institutions such as Barclays, Bloomberg, and CreditSights. As program supporters, these companies allow students and faculty complimentary access to their client web portals such as, Barclays Live, which provides a range of research and financial analytics tools, and CreditSights’ online global research platform and an analytical staff of almost 80 investment professionals.

“Barclay’s and CreditSights’ web portals are an excellent tool for IMP students as they undertake the challenges of the program and the pursuit of the CFA Level I exam,” said Michael Dineen, senior vice president of Atlantic Asset Management and UConn adjunct professor.

Thomas Walsh, managing director at Barclays added that the collaboration with IMP is just one example of the importance the bank places on developing an early foundation of ethical investment knowledge. “The most successful students will be those who develop the skill sets they need to be productive and innovative members of the next generation’s workforce,” Walsh said. “We are delighted to be able to make Barclays Live available to IMP students and hope that they will derive significant benefit from these new resources.”

“We have had the pleasure to meet a number of IMP students, and they are coming into the space during interesting times in the evolution of the credit markets,” said Glenn Reynolds, CEO of CreditSights. “We hope the background information from prior credit cycles and our analysis of the structural shifts taking place today – most notably in banking and finance – can be of value as they prepare themselves for the role they can play in the markets. Credit has grown dramatically in all areas of the global economy from sovereign to corporate to household, and there are a lot of moving parts to the puzzle.”

Barclays
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays has long been recognized as a leader in not only fundamental equity and credit research but also technical and quantitative analysis. Their research, analytics and market-leading benchmark and tradable strategy indices are widely used by clients and the markets.

CreditSights
Founded by a group of analysts in September 2000, CreditSights is an independent research firm offering a range of fundamental research products, quantitative risk models, and ratings services that are used by clients making investment and risk management decisions. CreditSights does not underwrite securities or manage assets and has grown from 8 employees in 2000 to over 115 currently. The company has its main operations in New York, London, and Singapore.

Atlantic Asset Management
Atlantic Asset Management has been an independent registered investment advisor for over 20 years, focusing on institutional fixed-income and asset allocation strategies; and for 15 years, has run an investment manager “sponsorship” program, where promising emerging managers focusing on niche market segments have received seeding and infrastructure support to help grow their businesses.

Experience a Top Ten Business Law Program!

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Bloomberg Businessweek has named the UConn Business Law program as one of the top ten programs in the U.S.

This ranking is based on survey responses from graduating seniors regarding their learning experiences in Business Law classes. Members of the Business Law faculty have repeatedly earned national recognition from their peers for their teaching methods and classroom mastery.Continue Reading

Undergrads Win 4th Annual Hartford Financial Services Case Competition

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Hartford Financial Services Case CompetitionCongratulations to Katharine Coulter, Shailee Desai, Giovanni Sornatale, and Patrick Stimola! The four undergraduates kicked off Husky Weekend by winning the final round of an annual campus case competition sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services Group on Friday, April 4.

The UConn team, who placed first in the preliminary round of the two-part competition on February 14 before advancing to the final round, competed against students from Quinnipiac, Boston University, Bentley, and the University of Hartford. The team was mentored by Cari Goldner ’13, Hartford Financial Services, and Kathy Hendrickson of the Business Career Center.

Congratulations to the winning team for an outstanding case presentation.

MIS Students Place 2nd in 2014 CoMIS Competition

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CoMIS

Imagine having just 24 hours to solve your company’s most pressing IT challenge. Imagine, then, presenting a solution to your executive board immediately thereafter. This scenario mirrors the challenge that student teams faced at the third annual Competition on Management Information Systems (CoMIS), held at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management April 2 – 5.

Joining top teams from around the United States, including Arizona, Arizona State, Emory, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Texas-Austin, and Texas-Dallas, the UConn team—led by assistant professor of OPIM Dmitry Zhdanov—was represented by three undergraduate upperclassmen: Tyler Campbell ’14, Dan Marquis ’14, and Yue Zhu ’14, all MIS majors. Sean Priest ’15 was instrumental on the practice squad.

After two days of educational and networking events with corporate sponsors, each team was presented with the case and given 24 hours to deliberate. Cases were submitted the following morning, and the CoMIS judging panel evaluated each team on a 20-minute presentation of their recommendations followed by a 10-minute Q&A session.

The top team from each group presented in the final round on Saturday afternoon, and winners were announced at an Awards Banquet on Saturday evening.

For the second time in three years, the UConn team placed in the final round, taking second place to the University of Minnesota for 2014. Indiana University came in third.

Please join us in congratulating the UConn team on their achievement!

Pictured (left to right): Yue Zhu, Tyler Campbell, and Daniel Marquis

UConn Students Compete in 7th Annual Business Language Case Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

On Friday, November 8, three students from the University of Connecticut traveled to Provo, Utah to compete in the Seventh Annual Business Language Case Competition at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Marriott School of Business. The three students were Sarah Scheffel ’14, a senior who is majoring in international business with a minor in Spanish, Akanksha Singh ’16, a second-year student studying finance and Spanish, and Jonathan Sanchez ’14 (CLAS), a political science major also in his last year. The team was accompanied by Kelly Aceto, Managing Director of the UConn Center for International Business Education and Research.

The competition was conducted in two categories: Spanish and Mandarin. All of the participants were non-native speakers of each language. The team from UConn participated in the Spanish competition, in which they had to read a case about Wal-Mart’s expansion into organics, create an executive summary and PowerPoint presentation, and answer ten minutes of questions all in Spanish.

Overall, the BYU competition was an incredible experience for the students who took part because it allowed them to showcase their business acumen and foreign language skills, sharpen their presentation skills for real-life global business situations, and network with international business professionals who served as judges and coaches, as well as the other participants. Other schools present at the competition were Arizona State University, University of Miami, Indiana University, American University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Washington, University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, Utah State University, and University of Notre Dame. This is the first year that UConn has participated in the Business Language Case Competition.

The UConn team was sponsored by the UConn Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which is one of the 33 CIBERs located in top business schools throughout the U.S. The UConn CIBER is mandated to increase the competitiveness of U.S. business in the global marketplace.

38th NABA Eastern Region Student Conference Prepares Students for Corporate World

Posted on by Claire Hall

Six members of the UConn chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) attended the organization’s 38th Eastern Region Student Conference (ERSC) on October 10-13, 2013. The conference featured two and one-half days of workshops, seminars and interview sessions designed to better prepare minority students for careers in accounting and financial management disciplines. 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.

New Bachelor of Science Degree in Financial Management offered at UConn-Stamford

Posted on by Claire Hall

This fall, students at the UConn-Stamford campus will be able to choose a new major designed to fit the needs of the business base in Fairfield County. Graduating its first class in 2017, the BS in Financial Management has been developed to provide students with the skills they need for successful careers in corporate financial management and analysis, investments, and portfolio management.

The curriculum includes the same general education requirements and business core requirements as other UConn business majors, though differs in that financial management majors will also complete electives in which they will learn about issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to investment strategies, portfolio management and business ethics. The plan of study aims to ready students for the Level 1 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

> Learn more about the Financial Management Major

Cigna CIO Mark Boxer ’87 MBA Addresses Undergraduate Business Students

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn School of Business Dean John Elliott welcomed Dr. Mark Boxer ’87 MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Cigna, to campus on March 12th. Dr. Boxer spoke to a full audience of 240 undergraduates about the importance of information technology in the insurance industry and for Cigna. He was joined by Cigna staff Ida Chaplinski ’96, Willis Gee, Kirstin Ferreira ’12, and Fatima Quraishi.

Dr. Boxer shared his career experiences and spoke about Cigna’s career opportunities in information technology for business majors, and shared an overview of the company’s Technology Early Career Development Program (TECDP).

The Cigna Executive Lecture event was part of the Management Information Systems (MIS) Executive Lecture series, where senior business IT executives share their experiences with undergraduates at the UConn School of Business.

Learn more about the UConn MIS major at http://www.business.uconn.edu/MIS

UConn Undergraduate Team Wins 1st Round of Hartford Financial Services Case Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

On Friday, March 1, 2013 Rebecca Kantor ’15, Katharine Coulter ’14, Blake Molnar ’14, and Stephanie Simko ’14 won first place in the third annual Hartford Financial Services Group Campus Case Competition held at the University of Connecticut School of Business.

The case competition focused on a team’s ability to research and analyze a business technology issue and to provide creative solutions. Four teams participated in the competition, assisted by mentors provided by The Hartford Financial Group. At the conclusion of a two-week long process, the teams presented their solutions to a panel of judges consisting of senior executives from The Hartford.

The winning team will now go on to represent the University of Connecticut School of Business at The Hartford’s regional competition which includes students from Quinnipiac, Bentley, Bryant, Boston University and the University of Hartford.