Finance

Study of the information contained in balance sheets, income statements, statements of cash flow, and footnotes in the annual reports of corporations. Includes analysis of the relationships and predictability of such information. The course includes case studies, computerized analyses and library research. Prerequisite: ACCT-200. 4 SH.

Examines the theory and practice of corporate financial management. Topics include the financial environment, time value of money, bond and stock valuation, and the capital asset pricing model. Also covers analysis of financial statements, financial forecasting, capital budgeting, long-term financing decisions, the cost of capital, capital structure, dividend policy and working capital management. Prerequisites: an introductory statistics course (MATH-108, MATH-180, MGMT-202 or PSYC-123), ACCT-200, and either ECON-105 or both ECON-201 and ECON-202. 4 SH.

Examines various investment vehicles within a risk and return framework. Topics include the structure and operation of markets, use of margin, short sales, stock market indexes, mutual funds, efficient market hypothesis, stock and bond valuation, duration, international investing, call and put options, futures contracts, real estate, and portfolio management. Uses a mutual fund study, a stock valuation exercise, and a computer database to increase knowledge and experience in investment management. Prerequisite: FINC-340.

Focuses on the financial services industries and financial markets in the U. S. economy. Topics include the structure of financial markets and the roles of financial services industry and the federal government in these markets; the valuation of fixed-income securities; risk-return trade-offs in capital markets; hedging and the use of financial derivatives to manage interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, credit risk, and liquidity risk; asset-liability-liquidity management emphasizing GAP and duration analysis; mergers and acquisitions. Prerequisite: FINC-340. 4 SH.

Examines the theoretical and practical analysis of the financing and investment decisions of multinational firms operating in international financial markets. Topics include international asset valuation, international financing and investments, foreign currency, foreign exchange risk exposure, and country risk management. Prerequisite: FINC-342. 4 SH.

Students will study a sector of the economy in great detail, examining the financial valuations for companies in that sector. Students will also conduct research using Bloomberg Terminals and will assist students in the River Hawk Fund Management course as they make decisions on the student managed investment fund.

This course introduces the principles and practices of real estate, with a focus on the economic, legal, and financial aspects of the industry. Topics include property rights, market analysis, real estate finance, investment analysis, and property management. Students in this class will complete the Urban Land Institute’s Foundation of Real Estate Certificate as part of the course. Prerequisites: FINC-340. 4 SH.

Risk management is the study of risks and risk mitigation techniques, methods and models. These are used by people in all industries and especially relevant for those considering opportunities in insurance or those who would like to be upper-level executives, where managing risks is a crucial responsibility. Prerequisite: FINC-340. 4 SH

This course focuses on risk management within businesses. Students will learn the concepts and tools that businesses use when managing risk and will apply these concepts and tools to a variety of cases and scenarios. We adopt an enterprise risk management perspective, i.e., we will be concerned with managing all the major risk exposures of an enterprise and, under ideal conditions, in a portfolio context. By the end of the course, students should have a decision-making framework that can be applied to many different situations involving risk. Prerequisite: FINC-385 Principles of Risk Management. 2SH

A brief review of MGMT-340 with additional depth in such topics as risk and return, cost of capital, capital structures theory and practice, capital budgeting, and financial statement analysis. Expands to cover topics such as lease financing and debt refinancing. Uses case studies to apply these concepts and theories. Prerequisite: FINC-340. 4 SH.

This course is designed to focus on the work of portfolio managers. Students will learn how to establish appropriate investment objectives, develop optimal portfolio strategies, estimate risk-return trade-offs, select investment managers, and evaluate investment performance. Many of the latest quantitative approaches in portfolio formation and evaluation are discussed. This course will draw upon selected materials from the CFA professional designation curriculum. This class is one of the two courses that make up the “Susquehanna Student Investment Program, SUSIP”. Prerequisite: FINC-342. 4 SH.

Examines various investment techniques, using empirical analysis within the framework of modern portfolio theory. The course features a top-down fundamental analysis approach using both economic and industry financial data. Topics include macroeconomics, portfolio analysis, financial statement analysis, traditional investment theory, intrinsic security valuation, efficient market hypothesis, executive compensation, insider trading and advanced technical writing, and oral presentations. Prerequisite: FINC-340. 4 SH.

This course focuses on securities that promise a fixed income stream. Topics include features of bonds, risk of bonds, yield spreads, duration, convexity, term structure, volatility of interest rates, and CDO’s. Financial models are developed using Excel and focusing on extraction of financial data and converting it into models useful for financial decision-making. Prerequisites: FINC-340 and instructor’s permission. 4 SH.

Topics of current importance and interest in finance. Prerequisites: FINC-340. 1-4 SH. This courses requires instructor permission to enroll.

This course investigates contemporary or emerging topics of real estate. The individual course topics will vary according to the interest and expertise of the instructor. The course may be repeated for credit if the topic is different. Prerequisites: FINC-375. 2-4 SH.

This course provides practical, real-world experience in valuing companies, making investment decisions, and managing portfolios. Students will evaluate economic sectors, industries, and individual firms as investment opportunities using a variety of financial analysis methods. Students will oversee the work of junior analysts and present their recommendations to the River Hawk Fund Advisory Board. Pre-requisite: FINC-340: Corporate Financial Management.

This course is designed to debt and equity secondary markets linked to real estate assets. Mortgage structure and mechanics in both residential and commercial markets will be examined, along with an evaluation of investment in property markets, mortgage-backed securities, and with REITs. The course places considerable emphasis on securitization, the housing finance system, the GSEs, the subprime mortgage crisis and related topics. The course will be relevant both to people with an interest in real estate and those interested in fixed income markets. Prerequisites: FINC-375. 4 SH.

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the strategic decision-making processes in commercial real estate. It will cover factors that affect real estate investments, including market conditions, capital markets, government policies, and property-specific characteristics. Students will work in teams analyzing all aspects of a real estate and/or development opportunity and work in teams to assess the profitability of the venture. Prerequisites: FINC-375 and senior standing. 2 SH.

This course provides an overview of the fundamentals of insurance operations, including underwriting, claims management, risk assessment, and customer service. Students will learn how insurance companies operate, and how they interact with customers and other stakeholders. The course will cover the key processes and activities involved in insurance operations, as well as the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern the industry. Prerequisite: FINC 385: Principles of Risk Management. 2 SH.

This course focuses on the principles and practices of property risk management, including the identification, assessment, and treatment of property risks. Topics covered include property risk identification, loss prevention, risk financing, and risk transfer. Prerequisite: FINC-385. 2 SH.

This course investigates contemporary or emerging topics of risk management. The individual course topics will vary according to the interest and expertise of the instructor. The course may be repeated for credit if the topic is different. Prerequisites: FINC-385. 2-4SH.

A learning experience that cultivates a student’s academic and professional development through valuable work experience and the integration of classroom-acquired knowledge by working at a firm, corporation, government agency, or nonprofit organization. Prerequisites: Approval by the SWSB Internship Coordinator and acceptance by the organization. Graded on an S/U basis. 2 or 4 SH.

Individualized academic work for qualified students under faculty direction. 1-4 SH.

This course deals primarily with projects that collect and structure data as part of the preparation for data analysis and visualization. Major emphasis is placed on managing a data collection project and data structuring to provide the basis for algorithmic analysis. Students will study project management, data manipulation, data modeling and Structured Query Language. 4 SH.

This course enables students to advance their knowledge of statistical techniques to synthesize, analyze and draw insights from quantitative data. It emphasizes the application of mathematical and quantitative methods and Microsoft Excel to analyze and present data to improve business and economic decision making. Prerequisite: MATH-108, MATH-180, MGMT-202 or PSYC-123. 2 SH.

An introduction to the basics of client/server computing and web-based system development. The course covers the concepts of networking, web technologies, HTML (hyper-text markup language), client-side scripting (JavaScript), server-side scripting (PHP, ASP, and ISP) and structured query language (SQL). The course builds upon Database Systems Analysis and Design by linking an interactive web design to a database. Prerequisite: INFS-174. 4 SH.

Design, development and use of computer models for planning, allocation and scheduling in the manufacturing and service sectors. Uses queuing theory and statistical analysis to interpret results. Includes the use of Simul8 or some other special-purpose simulation language. Prerequisites: A statistics course such as MATH-108, MATH-180, MGMT-202, PSYC-123 or equivalent and COMM-101. 2 SH.

A practical course to teach database programming in SQL. Topics include relational database management systems fundamentals such as extended entity-relationship modeling, normalization and physical database file organization. Additional topics include database administration and data warehousing. Students develop a prototype database for an actual client. Prerequisites: CSCI-181, INFS-174 or CSCI-281. 4 SH.

This course provides a framework for understanding the technologies associated with algorithmic analysis and data presentation for business decision-making. Students will study analysis techniques that enable insights and patterns to be drawn from descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics. Student teams research and present tools that support these techniques, which are also investigated through individual research projects. Prerequisites: INFS-174. 4 SH. CC: Writing Intensive.

A brief summary of the tools, techniques and applications of artificial intelligence. Introduces problem solving and knowledge representation and selects topics from techniques for constructing models, robot design, language processing, computer vision, neural networks and expert systems. Same as CSCI-485. Prerequisites: CSCI-281, MATH-111 and either MATH-108 or MATH-180. 2 SH.

Topics of current importance and interest in information systems. Emphasizes readings from the current literature. Prerequisite: Instructor’s permission. 2 or 4 SH.

Individualized academic work for qualified students under faculty direction. Usually studies special topics not covered in regularly offered courses. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and approval of instructor and department head. 2-4 SH.

A research project culminating in a substantive paper on a selected topic or field in computer science or information systems by arrangement with an instructor. Prerequisites: junior or senior standing and permission of computer science department head or information systems department head. 2-4 SH.

A learning experience that cultivates a student’s academic and professional development through valuable work experience and the integration of classroom-acquired knowledge by working at a firm, corporation, government agency, or nonprofit organization. Prerequisites: Approval by the SWSB Internship Coordinator and acceptance by the organization. Graded on an S/U basis. 2 or 4 SH.

This semester-long course serves as a capstone experience for business data science majors. Students will engage in projects that can benefit a university or community group. This course requies students to integrate principles learned from their data science and business foundations coursework. These projects will change each year based on requests and arrangements made through the faculty in the Department of Finance and Analytics. The projects largely will focus the students on the development of data analytical solutions to solve analytical problems associated with large volumes of data. Prerequisites: INFS-174, CSCI-301 and senior standing. 2 SH. Capstone.

Offered to students participating in the London Program of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, this course provides knowledge and exposure to the art of theatre performance by utilizing the rich offerings of the theatre and other fine arts resources in London and England. 4 SH. CC: Artistic Expression.

Offered to students participating in the London Program of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, this course introduces students to the theories and principles of diversity by examining Great Britain as a case study in diversity. The course explores key aspects diversity in relation to, but not limited to, class, race, gender and sexuality. A key focus will be location-specific study of social and cultural diversity through student exploration of the role played by culture, ethnicity, class, race and gender in Britain’s past and in its contemporary life. This will involve exploring the opportunities and challenges faced by individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations in their engagement with issues of equality and social justice. Students will learn about contemporary British culture and they will be able to compare that culture with that of the United States. 4 SH. CC: Diversity.

OFFP-SWSB SWSB London Program Planning The goal of this course is to prepare study abroad students for a semester’s study in the Sigmund Weis School of Business London Program. Students begin work toward achieving the cross-cultural learning goals; examples include examining definitions and aspects of culture and learning to recognize ethnocentrism. They will be introduced to observational and reflective techniques to be used on site and will begin an investigation of the history and culture of their destination. Many differences come into play: finances, physical health and safety, cultural expectations, and world affairs differ in relevance to the SU student studying on campus versus studying in London. This course will respond to the question of how to research, plan and prepare for a study abroad experience, as well as how to prepare to return home. This course also includes some mandatory workshops provided by the GO Program office. Prerequisite: Approval by the GO Program office 1 SH

This course completes the cross-cultural requirement for students in the Sigmund Weis School of Business London Program. This course is designed to allow students to reflect on a cross-cultural experience and to integrate that experience into their social, intellectual, and academic life. They will explore the complexities of culture-both their own and that in which they have been immersed-in order to understand the possibilities and responsibilities of being a global citizen. Through short assignments, student presentations, a final paper and an opinion survey, students reflect on their learning in London coursework, company visits, consulting projects and more. Prerequisites: Completion of the SWSB London semester. 1 SH CC: Cross-Cultural Reflection.