Earlier this fall, the Department of Finance and Real Estate hosted a student welcome event led by department chair, Tom Berry, finance professor, Vahap Uysal, and associate director of academic programming and student engagement, Heather Bosworth. Student attendees ranged in academic year and levels of internship experience. Students were able to share their internship experiences, goals, and pose questions to the faculty. The faculty offered an array of knowledge and resources for them in return.
Dr. Vahap Uysal kicked off the event by introducing all the upcoming events for autumn quarter, including: an all-day career fair hosted by the DePaul Career Center Career, the addition of a Faculty Brown Bag series with the first event led by finance professor, Jim Valentine. This new brown bag series will feature different finance and real estate professors throughout the academic year, where students will be able to hear about faculty professional experiences and ask for advice related to academics and future careers paths. Uysal emphasized the importance of staying plugged in and connected throughout the academic year and the department’s commitment to offering a variety of engagement opportunities for students.
Dr. Berry also spoke about the increase in scholarship opportunities this year and the department’s increased focus around student event offerings to help students in their job search and a successful approach to professional networking opportunities. Berry emphasized the department’s commitment to helping finance and real estate students during this difficult and unprecedented time. Professor Sonya Lim, director of the Finance Honors Program, explained that the Honors Program recruits in January and encouraged students to reach out to her if interested in applying or had any questions regarding the program. Professor Sanjay Deshmukh, who has been at DePaul for twenty years, serves as the director of Graduate Program. He is available for graduate advising as well as advising for the CFA program. Professor Rob Ryan, director of the Undergraduate Program, also has plenty of experience helping students find their way and is committed to helping students achieve their goals. Students can reach out to him if they are interested in the 4 Plus 1 program, where undergraduate students can begin master’s classes their senior year and finish the graduate degree program in a fifth year.
Christina Madyun, the coordinator of operations for the department, urged students to reach out to her if they have any questions or concerns regarding course schedules. She can connect students with the right individuals to help them with future planning. Eric Holst, associate director of the research institute, oversees center operations, including programs, seminars, conferences, and guest speakers for the department. He counseled students to attend as many events as possible in order to dig deeper into the world of finance.
The event also highlighted two new student organizations that launched this fall, the DePaul Females in Finance Initiative, founded with the aim of providing women interested in careers in finance opportunities to develop confidence and networking skills. The initiative has been capitalizing on momentum, and now has almost 50 new members. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis, so students are still being encouraged to apply. DePaul Inclusion in Finance is the other new club, which was established with the aim to address the need for diversity and inclusion in the professional finance arena. DePaul Inclusion in Finance has approximately 30 new members and looks to provide students with connections to diverse industry professionals, as well as opportunities to learn how to address challenges for diverse candidates in the workplace. All students interested in finance can apply by searching the organizations on LinkedIn.
Now more than ever, it is vital that students network and stay open to every opportunity that the department, college and university has to offer. Professors and student leadership in attendance urged students to take advantage of every possible resource and to hang in there through these challenging times. We are all in this together.
By Brigid Curran-Hackett