Corporate Finance

Why Study Corporate Finance at Fisher?

The Accounting/Finance Department at St. John Fisher College is known for providing exceptional graduates to the professional and business community because of our commitment to achieving excellence in business education. To do this, we prepare students with an understanding of the current accounting, finance, and management theories, the practical applications of those theories, and the ethical problems which they might encounter in their professional lives. Our graduates are also prepared to adapt to the rapid changes of a global economy. The department members strive to be involved with all aspects of the students' preparation for embarking on their professional careers.

Gain a Competitive Edge at Fisher

In today's increasingly competitive global environment, employers are finding themselves searching for creative and skilled employees to help lead their businesses through the coming challenges. The Corporate Finance major at St. John Fisher College provides our students with an outstanding educational program which gives them just that competitive edge. Based on the right blend of liberal arts and professional education, our Corporate Finance program produces graduates who have lifelong learning skills, the ability to lead others, critical thinking skills, team-building skills, and a commitment to ethical decision-making.

"The liberal arts approach Fisher has to business prepares the whole person for leadership in our economy."
Germaine Knapp, President, WORDSmart

Students obtaining the Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Finance may pursue any one of the following career opportunities:

• Financial Analyst
• Credit Analyst
• Portfolio Manager

A Holistic, Balanced Approach to Curriculum

Each of our courses is designed with an eye to educating the "whole student." The curriculum receives continual scrutiny of faculty, an advisory board of leading managers in the Rochester area, and alumni. The Corporate Finance curriculum provides students the opportunity to develop integrative, holistic perspectives into real world business scenarios.

The Corporate Finance major is designed to provide a well-balanced education; it emphasizes practice as well as theory, implementation as well as diagnosis and decision. Fisher's Corporate Finance faculty focus on educating tomorrow's financial managers with the belief that management is not just a set of quantitative and functional skills, but a profoundly human activity. Such an approach gives our students the ability to understand and integrate the whole enterprise, rather than merely portions of it.

It is our practice to use full-time faculty to teach our courses. We also rely on adjunct faculty, who are expert practitioners, to teach in their areas of professional expertise in our program.

Highly Trained and Educated Faculty

Our faculty are committed to teaching as their first priority and are highly qualified in their fields. Besides teaching, all members of the departmental faculty are also involved in many scholarly activities; they conduct research and publish in respected peer-reviewed journals. Some are involved in consulting activities, and most have extensive experience in the "real world" of business.

Diverse backgrounds of faculty members further enrich both their teaching and the learning experiences of their students. This diversity is reflected in the Corporate Finance faculty's academic backgrounds (ranging from Finance to Law, with many holding multiple advanced degrees or professional qualifications) and their heritages, making ours a truly multinational department. In today's global economy with diverse organizational work forces, this type of exposure helps to give our students an added edge.

The Advisory Board

The Accounting/Finance Department Advisory Board is comprised of prominent members of the accounting and finance professions and provides input to the faculty on changes occurring within the profession. This information allows our faculty to continually change and improve the curriculum so that graduates are best prepared for the business environment they will enter upon graduation, or during their internship opportunities.

Career Success

Upon graduation, management majors enjoy an excellent job placement record. Employers of our recent graduates include, among others:

• Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
• Xerox
• Frontier Cellular
• Frontier Communications
• Merrill Lynch
• Nuclimate International Ltd.
• Manning and Napier
• M&T Bank
• Wilmorite Inc.
• Mass Mutual
• Catholic Charities
• Unimail Corporation
• Morgan Stanley
• Wegmans
• Eastman Kodak Company
• U.S. Army
• AXA Financial Advisors

Placement survey feedback indicates that the mid-range of starting salaries for our graduates varies widely, but it is not uncommon to see starting figures in the mid-$40,000 range.