Business Dialog

Now in its third year, the Big Give is an annual one-day event celebrating the generosity of the TU community. This year’s participation was the best yet, with a record 1,450 donors giving more than $140,000. Contributions benefit key projects on campus across all seven colleges, including the Honors College, Albert S. Cook Library, Athletics, TU Student Emergency Funds, unrestricted funds, BTU- Partnerships for Greater Baltimore, Student Affairs and the Office of Inclusion & Institutional Equity.

CBE is especially proud to have earned first place in dollars earned among TU’s colleges, with nearly 100 gifts totaling more than $15,000.

“We are very thankful to have received 94 gifts totaling $15,348” said CBE major gift officer Frank Sneeringer.

One of the special projects supported by this year’s Big Give contributions is the Tigers Well-Suited for Tomorrow fund. The fund, started in 2019, helps students find professional attire.

During these changing times, many of our students are preparing to enter the workforce. This period is even more stressful for those students who lack the professional attire needed to make a positive first impression in a critical job interview. Tigers Well-Suited for Tomorrow is a fund that helps address this often-overlooked student need by supporting CBE’s career closet, The Well-Suited Wardrobe.

The Well-Suited Wardrobe offers new and lightly worn items so our students can look their best while showing future employers their skills and giving them confidence to succeed in the workplace. Funds raised help increase the career closet’s range of inventory and items that will help our students land their first internship or job.

Learn more about the Well-Suited Wardrobe or be a part of our students’ success stories by making a gift today.

Starting a career in finance might seem intimidating, but networking is a great first step. On April 9, the College of Business and Economics hosted its second Finance Meet & Greet, bringing experienced professionals and students together in an intimate and unique industry event. The goal of the program is to provide students with valuable perspectives from practitioners within the broad field of finance and provide them with an opportunity to ask questions and network.

Chinedum Nwadiora, a lecturer in the Department of Finance who hosted the event, said it succinctly: “A grade isn’t enough. You need to make industry contacts.”

The virtual event, which drew more than 50 attendees featured keynote speakers Michael S. Harris, director of family office and partner at Verdence Capital Advisors; recent CBE alum, Jeffrey Niedzwiecki ’19 (financial advisor; vice president of Crossland Financial Group) and Seth Vittori ’18 (associate at Morgan Stanley), all who shared key insights from their professional experience.

Harris advised students to have an understanding of the marketplace at large, like understanding the different roles and the different types of firms. While a lot of research can be found online, the speakers recommended conducting informational interviews. However, they cautioned that the point of these is to pick professionals’ brains, not to ask for a job.

The panelists also encourage students interested in pursuing careers in finance to start preparing for their professional licenses now. There are several designations that can be earned while an undergrad, such as Bloomberg certifications, which are embedded in the finance curriculum in CBE.

Niedzwiecki and Vittori noted the advantages of pursuing the financial planning track, which helped hem professionally and personally by saving time and money once employed in the industry.

Neither hesitated to answer whether the CBE curriculum prepared them for their careers.

“I think it was perfect,” says Niedzwiecki.

“I couldn’t agree more. The curriculum really does prepare you well for the material you’ll study for the next 1-2 years in the CFA program,” says Vittori.

Regardless of which finance track students pursue, the speakers also agreed that another great way to prepare is through internships. Harris called them “super important,” and Vittori says he believes the experience he got through two internships helped him secure a job when he graduated.

Niedzwiecki called communication skills critical. Understanding financial concepts is not the end of the job – you have to be able to explain that knowledge, he says.

“You need to learn how to explain what you’ve learned at a college level at a fifth grade level,” he says. “If you can show you have better communication skills than the next guy, that’s the key.

Learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom. In fact, for the past three years TU alumni have returned to campus to teach students the importance of soft skills. In their signature event, Skills to Pay the Bills, the CBE Young Alumni Advisory Council (YAAC) bring business partners and students together in interactive workshops to improve the skills students need to succeed outside of the classroom.

Patrick St. Clair ’16, chair of YAAC, introduced the Skills to Pay the Bills workshop series in 2019. He shared: “The event aims to accomplish three things. 1.) Show students how paramount these skills are to their personal and professional growth. 2) Provide opportunities for students to work on these skills with their peers and industry leaders. 3) Provide resources for students to continue growing those skills after the event ends.”

The successful series is always highly attended and popular with students. Topics include everything from conflict resolution and effective communication strategies to intrinsic motivation and, especially relevant today, tips for starting your career in a virtual world.

This year’s event, held on February 17, featured prominent business leaders whose presentations focused on timely and timeless topics:

• Kevin Stehl, VP of Business Intelligence at SECU, Getting Started in the Workplace: How to differentiate yourself in your first year as an Operations Professional
• Greg English, Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, Connecting for success in a virtual work environment
• Brandon Trissler, VP of Content and Marketing at RNL, Professional Persuasion Through Compelling Communication: Writing to Spur Action and Results

The series of workshops were attended by 66 students.

Read more from Patrick St. Clair’s interview.

CBE is proud to share that our very own associate professor, Dr. Natalie M. Scala, has been awarded the USM Board of Regents Award for Public Service. Dr. Scala’s ongoing research on elections security has directly impacted the local community, the state of Maryland and beyond. She joins four other TU faculty members in being recognized for the system’s highest honor.

 

 

We are also pleased to congratulate our Assistant Dean, Sabrina Viscomi, for successfully defending her dissertation (Relationship Status? It’s Complicated: How consumer-brand relationships influence the  organizational outcomes of brand transgressions) and earning her Doctorate in Business Administration (D.B.A.).

Congratulations on your significant accomplishments!