Course Listing For Master of Science Finance Courses

Emphasis is placed on understanding reported financial information used to assess a company’s current performance, future risks, and business opportunities. Students develop skills necessary to understand the performance impact on financial statements and how economic events such as operating activities, corporate investments, and financing transactions affect the three main financial statements - the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. Dual listed as MBA 520/MSF 520 Prerequisite: Graduate standing

This course includes fundamental principles and practices of risk management and insurance with an applied focus on risk management processes as well as institutional and contractual details of the insurance industry. Topics include risk identification; risk characterization; pricing of risk reduction techniques; risk retention; regulatory, legal and tax implications; insurance; and other hedging strategies. Additionally, personal, business, and public policy perspectives concerning life, health, property, and liability risk management and insurance are addressed. Dual listed as BA 602/MSF 602/FP 602 Prerequisite: MSF 624

This course presents fundamental micro and macroeconomic concepts relevant to managers and other policymakers in business and government. Students are challenged to recognize, apply, and assess these concepts to decision making in business management and public policy. Students address the applicability of economic concepts to themselves, businesses, and society. Concepts and implications fundamental to the market supply and demand economic framework are addressed with an emphasis on their application to the firm and individual. Additionally macro-economic concepts, including an overall aggregate model of the economy are addressed. Students are encouraged to take a holistic view of how economic concepts impact the firm. Dual listed as MBA 611/MSF 611 Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Investment principles and practices are studied in the context of individuals or organizations operating in well- developed financial markets. The course will integrate accepted economic relationships and practices to provide students with an understanding of the current investment environment. Additionally, the course will survey the institutions and securities that make up the investment environment. Students will have an opportunity to understand and experience how individuals trade financial instruments, including: stocks, options, bonds, futures, and other derivative securities. Dual listed as BA 616A/MSF 616/FP 616 Prerequisite: MSF 624

Cash Management, also known as treasury management, short-term financial management, or working capital management addresses fundamental principles and practices concerning cash management for businesses operating in today’s financial markets. This course challenges students to understand and assess fundamental principles, practices and applications relevant to efficient and effective cash management and to understand why cash management is a critical success factor for businesses of any type. Topics addressed: the role of cash management, credit, accounts receivable, collection management, accounts payable and disbursement management, electronic commerce, information and technology needs for cash management, forecasting, short term investments and borrowing, international cash management, relevant relationship management, and other contemporary issues. Dual listed as BA 618/MSF 618 Prerequisite: MSF 624

The use of a variety of business analytics techniques, including quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis tools, to support informed decision-making serves as a major focus of this course. Techniques addressed include tabular and graphical displays of data such as the bar chart and histogram, numerical measures such as the mean and standard deviation, and linear regression. Critical evaluation of actual business scenarios will be conducted during this course. Cross-listed with MSF 624 MBA 624 Prerequisite: MBA 500 and MBA 520

Students develop the knowledge of accounting information concepts that enable them to develop recommendations for improving the performance of the firm. Students gain skills and knowledge in topics such as cost-volume-profit analysis and the balanced scorecard to support budget preparation and variance analysis to improve company performance. Dual listed as MBA 641/MSF 641 1. Students may waive MSF 641 under the following conditions: a. Students have an undergraduate degree in accounting, or b. Students have 21 credit hours of accounting that include an undergraduate cost or advanced managerial accounting course. Student must have earned a grade of C or better in these courses. c. If students meet the conditions (a) or (b) above, they must complete a graduate-level elective for any course waived to reach the 36-hour program requirement. The elective may be chosen from the MBA, AC, BA, or MSF disciplines (course prefixes), or from any of the MSSF concentration course options. Prerequisite: MSF 624

This course provides an integrating summary of the core elements of the program and solidifies the strategic leadership perspective of the finance discipline in networking and communicating with diverse internal and external stakeholders to maximize firm value within the financial, economic and political environments in which the firm operates. Topics include emotional intelligence, self-management, leadership competencies, macro-economic analysis, capital budgeting, financial asset valuation, value optimizing decision-making strategies, and effective communication. Prerequisites: MSF 520, 602, 616, 624, 641, 611, and 655

Students acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities to evaluate financial performance and strategies to utilize limited resources to optimize the financial value of a business. Key elements of the course include assessing financial performance, understanding financial and economic markets, computing the value of money and cash flows over time, performing risk analysis and project valuation. Dual listed as MBA 655/MSF 655 Prerequisite: MSF 624