Individualized concentration proposal development and implementation

Concentration

My proposal is for an individualized concentration in finance. This concentration would consist of the following courses: International Finance, Investment, Valuation and Marketing Analysis & Strategies.

The existing concentrations do not meet my intellectual needs because I feel that I want to pursue finance as an educational focus and my future vocation. Having become exposed to the concepts at the heart of finance, I feel that this is the best direction for me to take in my academic career. A concentration in finance would best reflect this focus. When I graduate, I intend to pursue finance as a career. The field is burgeoning, and there is great demand for talent that can step into corporate finance departments and help manage risk at the highest levels. Securing this type of employment, however, typically requires a degree in finance. I feel that a concentration in finance from Marshall will be sufficient, allowing me to pursue my dreams and my chosen vocation on the strength of my Marshall education. A concentration in another discipline would not only fail to recognize the core of my education but would also send the wrong signals to potential employers.

The courses that I want to form the heart of this concentration are all important to the study of finance. International finance provides a background in key concepts like foreign exchange rate risk and FDI, the Investment course highlights issues like capital budgeting. The Valuation course will allow me to properly value companies and projects. Marketing Analysis & Strategies highlights some of the principles that finance professionals will use, such as estimating demand, setting prices and determining market entry costs -- all key inputs into financial models.

These four courses, when put together, will give me the ability to build financial models that take into consideration all of the fundamental aspects of the finance profession. Financial models derive not only from the strong financial techniques but from a keen understanding of the different qualitative factors (strategy, marketing) on which the numbers in financial models are based.

Finance is becoming an increasingly important function in business, so it is important to bring more financial professionals to the employment market. The internationalization of business makes it all the more important that we graduate students who are capable not only of identifying market opportunities but also of understanding quickly and easily the financial issues that go into making the best investment decisions, especially when doing business overseas where the risks are higher.