Finance Certificate (STEM)

Financial Management is about decisions firms make in two broad areas: the investments it makes and how it pays for them. The first involves expenditures for physical capital, human capital, technological capability, brand capital, and so forth. The second involves raising money in financial markets. In business decision making, the objective is to maximize shareholder wealth. Why the emphasis on shareholders? Among stakeholders generally (i.e., customers, employees, suppliers, government, communities, etc.), shareholders alone possess a uniquely comprehensive and long-term view of the firm's viability as an ongoing enterprise. This perspective arises from the residual nature of shareholders' claim to earnings and assets. Wealth is created when the return from investing business resources exceeds their opportunity cost.

FINC 530 Financial Management provides an advanced discussion of the analytical techniques used to assess the impact of business decisions on shareholder value. The course covers these topics:

• Valuation-stocks, bonds, corporate valuation
• Interest rates and financial markets
• Investment decision making (capital budgeting analysis)
• Risk, return and the opportunity cost of capital
• Market efficiency
• Capital structure

PR: FINC 501, ACCT 515, STAT 510, GRBU 503
PR or CONCURRENT: ECON 520

Offered every fall semester; prerequisites: FINC 501, STAT 501, ACCT 515

The course covers advanced topics in financial analysis and decision making, including advanced valuation, short-term finance, long-term finance (debt and equity), capital structure, payout policy, leasing, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. Offered every spring semester; prerequisites: FINC 530.

The course provides advanced coverage of the structure of the finance industry, money and capital markets, derivatives, foreign exchange, central banks and monetary policy, depository institutions and regulation. Offered every spring semester; prerequisites: FINC 530.

The course provides a deep understanding of financial reporting and analysis for purposes including valuation, credit risk assessment, cash flow measurement, managerial decision making and more. Offered every fall semester; prerequisites: ACCT 515.

Statistical and technical understanding are essential for the Finance professional. This course focuses on creating a solid foundation of technical skills, which will be applied in downstream courses. Topics will include programming concepts and logic, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive statistics, and data storage techniques. Offered in hybrid and online modalities every fall semester; prerequisites: None

Substitutes for ISYS-525 Managing Information (1.5 cr.) in the MBA curriculum
Within the context of data analytics, this course teaches students to manage information as a strategic asset with the potential to create significant business value. Students will be exposed to various approaches to managing the capture, retention and disposition of information. Special emphasis will be placed on the legal/regulatory, ethical, risk management and cybersecurity requirements of managing information. Topics include the role of information systems in an organization, information systems governance (which is designed to ensure that IT investments create organizational value), data governance (which seeks to ensure that organizational data meet the standards for quality data), and strategies for identifying measurable sources of ROI. Offered in an online modality every summer semester; prerequisites: None