New finance minor a practical pairing with wide range of St. Mike’s majors

Steven Doyon ’88

Students can build upon foundational business knowledge or find a unique combination with another major and a minor in finance — a new offering in the Saint Michael’s Business Administration and Accounting Department.

Students interested in finance have pursued a combination of major and minor programs in Business Administration, Accounting, and Economics. The new finance minor encompasses and builds upon what those students have successfully learned and applied in careers for years, but now with an official minor designation, said Steve Doyon of the business and accounting faculty.

Xinting Zhen

Xinting Zhen, a business-faculty finance professor, said the new minor focuses on practical application using real financial and market data. Minor requirements include financial accounting, finance, international finance, investments, and money and banking. New courses, in equity valuation for instance, are part of plans for the future as this program grows.

Finance courses enhance student understanding of stock and bond financial markets, corporate finance, portfolio management, financial intermediaries, and international financial issues.  Zhen said students improve financial analytical skills by creating Excel-based financial models to determine the value of a public company, plus learn approaches to manage invested portfolios and about how multi-national corporations manage operation and translation risks.

A CFA competition group visits NASDAQ headquarters in New York City with Professor Paul Olsen in this 2019 file photo.

Interested students may participate in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Research Challenge to benefit from hands-on mentoring in valuation modeling and financial analysis. The CFA Research Challenge is an annual global intercollegiate finance competition. Participants gain real-world experience building career skills and using techniques applied by research analysts. Saint Michael’s CFA Research Challenge team members receive professional advice from faculty, alumni, and industry professional judges.

Steve Doyon praises Saint Michael’s alumni as highly effective in a wide range of finance careers. Alumni are also experienced financial advisors and planners or wealth management professionals, employed by a firm or managing their own business or practice. Each bring his or her Saint Michael’s liberal arts education into careers, professional leadership, and community service.

Saint Michael’s new finance minor welcomes students of all majors interested in the finance field and careers.