Lowell M. Glenn, Chair, Department of Finance and Economics

Welcome to the Department of Finance and Economics in the Woodbury School of Business.   There are degrees in three different disciplines available to students within the department. These degrees will prepare you for careers in the increasingly complex business and societal environment that is placing a high priority on your ability to identify, analyze and implement decision making skills as a business professional. The quantitative and analytical skills you will obtain in the courses offered in the department are challenging, but as you master those challenges considerable achievement is possible. You will be working with outstanding faculty who will stimulate and challenge you to learn new ways of thinking and applying your best intellectual and analytical capabilities.

Both the Economics and Finance disciplines provide Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts options as well as minors and an emphasis in integrated studies. The third degree is a Personal Financial Planning (PFP) bachelor of science. Although the first two degrees have only been operational for three years as we move into the Fall Semester of 2011, several graduates have successfully moved into graduate programs at such institutions as Columbia University, Utah State University, University of Utah, and UVU, as well as varied professional career initiating positions in the private and public sectors.

The PFP degree is accepting its first cohort of students in the Fall Semester of 2011.   It will be one of only a few PFP Programs operating in an AACSB accredited school of business unlike most other prominent programs of this type that are housed in family science schools. Graduates will have all the AACSB courses appropriate to prepare a business professional, but will also have a wide variety of professional counseling, financial planning, and a paid internship program that prepares them for a career as a fee-for-service professional.

Your learning experience will be enhanced as you participate in a variety of student organizations associated with the degrees offered in the department.   A state of the art finance computer lab is available with sophisticated finance and investment software applications that will prepare you with real-world analytical skills. Upper division courses move beyond the academic theory appropriate to the discipline to include the application of concepts in active projects, working with clients, and case analyses that will prepare you to be successful as a business and planning professional.

In addition to the degrees offered in the department WSB students of other majors will have the opportunity to broaden their business perspective with courses in statistics, business calculus, operations management, and basic economics and finance courses as a part of their core business curriculum. We encourage you to accept the challenges of these quantitative disciplines and improve your analytical skills for whatever your chosen major.

As you move through your learning experience please consult with the Woodbury Advising Center in WB 257 to assist you in identifying appropriate course sequencing and other related matters. We also encourage you to consult with department faculty about issues that arise regarding your preparation as a business professional.

If there is anything I can do to assist you please feel free to contact me at lowell.glenn@uvu.edu or by telephone at 801-863-8385.