By Marc R. Masferrer, University Communications and Marketing
USF Sarasota-Manatee's pioneering Bloomberg Lab, which has given finance students an invaluable edge as they enter the workforce, is getting a makeover this summer, complete with 12 new Bloomberg Terminals, a new scrolling stock ticker and other enhancements. Meanwhile, the Muma College of Business is preparing to open an identical Bloomberg Lab on the Tampa campus this fall.
The upgrades and expansion will allow faculty members to incorporate the myriad financial and other data available via the Bloomberg Terminals into courses on finance and investing. Students will also be able to use the new machines to prepare for investment competitions against classmates and counterparts at other universities that measure their ability to analyze financial conditions and provide investment advice — skills that prepare them for careers on Wall Street and elsewhere in the financial services industry.
USF Sarasota-Manatee's Bloomberg Lab, which has given finance students an invaluable edge as they enter the workforce, is being upgraded this summer.
“We will show them how to do stock analysis and how to form a portfolio,” said Assistant Professor Vikas Soni, who is joining USF Sarasota-Manatee in the fall and will oversee the Bloomberg Lab and the investment competitions, as well as teach courses on the Principles of Finance and the Principles of Investments.
“Bloomberg Terminals provide a wealth of data that our students learn to use, analyze and turn into relevant information to prepare a pitch that a particular company is the right firm to buy or sell,” said Gary Patterson, the director of the Kate Tiedemann School of Finance and Business and the USF St. Petersburg campus dean for the Muma College of Business.
“USF Sarasota-Manatee has been at the vanguard of this in providing products, equipment and a learning platform for our students,” Patterson said.
Many students have been able to use the lab at USF Sarasota-Manatee, which opened in March 2017, to earn a Bloomberg certification that helps them stand out against other job candidates. Patterson and Joni Jones, the Sarasota-Manatee campus dean for the Muma College of Business, said opening a lab in Tampa would not have been possible without the success of the existing lab at Sarasota-Manatee.
Having two Bloomberg Labs at USF “will create a synergy,” Jones said.
“We are at a point where the Bloomberg Lab facilities are ready to explode as far as competitions, outreach to community and the combined efforts of our campuses,” she said. “That will make our students stand out from other students who are graduating with finance degrees.”
The overhaul at Sarasota-Manatee, which is expected to be completed by the fall, is being funded by the original gift from David Kotok and Cumberland Advisers that was used to create the lab.
“To be a small campus and have such a resource for our finance students and our finance faculty, thanks to the support of our donors and supporters, is groundbreaking,” Jones said. “The Tampa campus wouldn't be installing a lab if they hadn't seen the value of ours.”
The Bloomberg Lab has been the centerpiece of the annual “Wall Street Trading with Bloomberg Day,” when USF Sarasota-Manatee brings to campus local high school students to learn more about how USF can help prepare them for careers in finance. During the event, faculty have demonstrated the power of the Bloomberg Terminals and the edge they give users.
The Muma College of Business is planning a more extensive outreach in Tampa this summer with a weeklong USF Bulls Finance Camp for high school students interested in learning about personal finance, corporate finance, financial planning and financial technology. There will also be an investment competition and chance for participants to meet college students, USF faculty and experts from USF Federal Credit Union and others in the financial services industry.