Finance Major, B.B.A.

Major-Field Requirements

The requirements for a major in Finance are as follows: complete 9 credit hours of Finance core courses (FIN 353 Introduction to Investments, FIN 360 Financial Markets and Institutions and FIN 362 Introduction to Corporate Finance) beyond FIN 351, 21 credits of finance elective courses and one 3-credit course from a department approved list of courses. Please consult with a department chair for specific recommended courses. The Finance major must earn at least a grade of C or better in FIN 351 Introduction to Financial Management and in the three required core courses in the major (FIN 353, FIN 360, and FIN 362). The Finance major must also earn a grade of C or better in the finance elective courses.

Honors Program/University Scholars Requirements

The following upper-division requirements apply for honors/scholars students who select a major in either the BBA or BSCIS programs in the Monte Ahuja College of Business Administration.

Students will be required to take a minimum of 15 credit hours of upper-division (i.e. , 300- and 400-level) honors courses in the College of Business Administration. General guidelines for these credit hours are given below. However, the specific courses that each student takes will be agreed upon by the student and the student’s honors/scholars  advisor.

Honors Courses

A minimum of 15 hours of honors credits will be taken as follows:

• Honors Thesis (required in senior year, three credit hours). Each honors/scholars student will conduct a piece of original research and write and present a thesis in his or her major area under the supervision of a faculty member from that department. This new Honors Thesis course will be available in each department and designated with the following titles and course numbers for each major as appropriate: ACT 499, Honors Thesis in Accounting; CIS 499, Honors Thesis in CIS; FIN 499, Honors Thesis in Finance; INB 499, Honors Thesis in International Business; IST 499, Honors Thesis in Information Systems; MLR 499, Honors Thesis in Management and Labor Relations; MKT 499, Honors Thesis in Marketing; and OMS 499, Honors Thesis in Operations Management and Business Statistics.

• Honors Internship (required in either junior or senior year, three credit hours). Each honors/scholars  student will engage in an internship experience in which the student will gain work experience in an organizational environment related to the student’s area of interest. The student may choose to either sign up for the regular internship experience within the departments that offer such courses already (i.e. ACT 490, FIN 490, MLR 490, MKT 490, or OMS 490), or enroll in a new course, BUS 490, that will serve those majors that do not already have an internship available.

• Honors Courses (minimum of nine credits). Honors/Scholars students in business will also be required to take at least three honors courses within the College of Business Administration, with at least one course (minimum of three credit hours) within the major. These honors courses will be created via a contract between honors/scholars student and a cooperating faculty member. The contract allows for any 300- or 400-level business or computer science course to be modified to become an honors course. The honors/scholars · student and the faculty member agree to a contract that spells out how the course will be modified to provide an appropriate learning experience for the honors student. The contract, including a copy of the revised syllabus and an explanation of how the honors version of the course differs from the regular version, is then submitted to the department chair for approval. The student then registers for the honors version of the course, but attends a regular section of the course that the cooperating faculty is teaching. The honors section of the course is designated with the regular course number with the letter H added to designate that the student is enrolled in the honors version of the course (e.g., MKT 301H, Introduction to Marketing). Only the approved honors/scholars student is allowed to register for the course under the honors number. The designation of an H course needs to be approved by the director of the university’s honors/scholars program.
   
• Honors credits can be used to replace a maximum of 16 credit hours of required major courses, major electives, or free electives, with the approval of the honors advisor.

Honors/Scholars Advisor

Each honors student will select an advisor from among the approved honors/scholars advisors in the department. The advisors will advise honors students and supervise the honors thesis course as well as the honors internship. The honors/scholars  advisors will assist the students in designing their honors experience, including choosing their honors courses, identifying a thesis topic, and arranging for an internship.