Nov 24, 2024  
2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Quantitative Finance Major with a Minor in Economics and Mathematics, B.S.

Dr. Hui Sono, Department Head
Phone: (540) 568-6530
Email: sonohh@jmu.edu
Location: Zane Showker Hall, Room 335
Website: www.jmu.edu/cob/finance

Professors
P. Drake, J. Fink, K. Fink, A. Hamilton, Q. Liu, D. Thomas

Associate Professors
J. Chowdhury, E. Semaan, H. Sono, C. Ullrich

Assistant Professors
C. Larsson, K. Schumann, A. Usman, W. Zhang

Lecturers
W. Collier, M. Graham, D. Parker, R. Rubin

Mission

The Department of Finance and Business Law, together with our partners in the business community, is committed to preparing students to be principled, productive contributors to business and society.

Values

To support its mission, the Department of Finance and Business Law is committed to the following values:

  • Ethics:  Develop decision makers who are respectful of stakeholders and the rule of law.
  • Engagement: Connect students and faculty with stakeholders in the local and global communities.
  • Critical Thinking:  Foster intellectual curiosity and analytical skills to enable an understanding of the role of finance and business law in the global economy.
  • Innovation:  Challenge students to develop their own solutions to financial issues in a dynamic economy.

Career Opportunities

The finance major is designed to prepare students for careers in the financial management of industrial and commercial enterprises; commercial, retail and mortgage banking; investment analysis and portfolio management; real estate; insurance; finance positions in federal, state and local governments; and graduate study.

Job titles held by graduates of the programs include:

  • Analyst, Real Estate Development
  • Analyst, Structured Finance
  • Assistant Treasurer
  • Associate, Forensic Technology
  • Business Systems Analyst
  • Consultant
  • Consultant/Engineer Analytics
  • Corporate Model Analyst
  • Credit Manager
  • Director of Risk Management
  • Director, Investor Relations
  • Financial Planner
  • Financial Analyst
  • Financial Engineer
  • Financial Management Analyst
  • Internal Auditor
  • Junior Analyst
  • Lending Officer
  • Loan Analyst
  • Manager, Capital Budgeting
  • Manager, Pension Fund Investments
  • Manager, Project Finance
  • Mortgage Analyst
  • Operations Analyst
  • Portfolio Analyst
  • Pricing Analyst
  • REIT Analyst
  • Securities Analyst

Co-curricular Activities and Organizations

  • Beta Alpha Psi
  • Financial Management Association
  • Madison Investment Fund
  • Madison Venture Group

Degree and Major Requirements

The Department of Finance and Business Law  offers programs leading to the Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance and the Bachelor of Science degree in quantitative finance. As part of the JMU assessment program, graduating seniors are required to participate in assessment activities. Assessment information is used to assist the College of Business  and department faculty in curricula.

Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance

The B.S. degree with a major in quantitative finance is designed to prepare students for careers in financial engineering, structured finance, financial modeling, securitization, actuarial science, financial analysis and portfolio management. The focus of this major is on problem solving in the quantitative areas of finance with an added emphasis on the application of complex securities to a variety of financial situations.

The quantitative finance program, which is a cross disciplinary major with many courses co-listed with the math department, is a highly structured program requiring minor fields in both mathematics and economics, though many students choose to double major in mathematics and quantitative finance. If the double major is selected, students are required to take ECON 200 , ECON 201  and ECON 331 , but are not required to complete the economics minor. Students electing this program should consult with their major adviser as early as possible to identify the appropriate course sequencing. Students electing to double major in mathematics and quantitative finance should also consult with a mathematics adviser as soon as possible.

Students enrolled in James Madison University who wish to change their major to quantitative finance must first complete the change of major form, available from the Registrar’s Office website, signed by either the Department of Finance and Business Law department head or the quantitative finance major adviser.

Quantitative Finance Major with a minor in Economics and Mathematics

Degree Requirements

  • General Education  41 Credit Hours 1
  • Scientific Literacy requirement 3 Credit Hours 2
  • Electives 11 Credit Hours
  • Major requirements (listed below) 65 Credit Hours

Total: 120 Credit Hours

Footnotes

1 The General Education  program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.
2 In addition to course work taken to fulfill General Education requirement .

Major Requirements

General Required Course: 3 Credit Hours

Finance Courses: 27 Credit Hours

Plus one of the following:

Mathematics Courses: 27 Credit Hours

(Four of the 27 credits count for General Education )

Economics Courses: 18 Credit Hours

(Six of the 18 credits count for General Education )

Total: 75 Credit Hours

Footnotes

1 General Education requirement Cluster Three  .
2 General Education requirement Cluster Four .
3 Satisfies the scientific literacy requirement.

Risk Management Concentration

Though not required, quantitative finance majors may elect the risk management concentration. Student electing this concentration will be taking specific electives and two additional electives. Students may add this concentration to their program when they progress to FIN 380  .

Quantitative finance majors who wish to declare the risk management concentration may do so after successfully completing FIN 250  or any semester following.

A focus in risk management is designed for qualitative finance majors pursuing a more in-depth review of the issues facing organizations and the tools needed to address those uncertainties. In the risk management concentration, students focus on the theory of risk management, risk identification, risk measurement and applications in the form of risk modeling techniques such as Value-at-Risk and Monte Carlo simulations.

Required Courses

Total: 12 Credit Hours

Additional Information

FIN 450  is a requirement for quantitative finance majors and FIN 451  and FIN 475  are possible electives for this major. Students electing this concentration take two courses beyond the typical quantitative finance major.

Transfer Credit

In general, all finance course work must be completed at JMU. Transfer credit for finance courses is awarded only in certain circumstances. In no case will transfer credit be awarded for FIN 488. Advanced Financial Policy . Contact the department head for more information on transfer credit.