Center for Excellence in Finance Seeks Permanent Access to Bloomberg Terminals

The Center for Excellence in Finance (CEF) is committed to bringing students, faculty, and the Chico community together to further the understanding of finance. The center has proven its commitment continuously since its inception in 2017 under the direction of professor Emily Huang.

In its first year, the CEF hosted California State University, Chico’s first-ever stock pitch competition, then later offered free financial planning to the Chico community via its Chico Financial Planning Day event, and most recently opened a Financial Wellness Clinic in Glenn Hall to regularly offer free financial planning throughout the school year.

The center hopes to offer even more to its students in the near future, with one of its main goals to provide student access to a Bloomberg Terminal lab. The software prepares students with hands-on knowledge and real-world experience through live market data and simulated market environments.

“A Bloomberg lab is becoming indispensable for Finance students, because of the company’s unrivaled data, analytics, and markets coverage,” College of Business Dean Terence Lau said. “Access to the terminals also opens up certifications for students, helps faculty and students with research, and makes obtaining a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) certification much easier. More than 800 universities worldwide have Bloomberg labs, and I hope Chico State will join that group on a permanent basis soon.”

At least 27 universities in California already offer the Bloomberg Professional Services solution, making it a growing mainstream necessity.

“The hands-on learning and live data on a Bloomberg Terminal that students might have seen only in movies may better stimulate student interest and motivation in learning,” Huang said. “The Bloomberg experience would also bolster student resumes and increase our student competitiveness in the job market.”

Due to a recent competition participation, the CEF was able to secure a temporary Bloomberg Terminal workstation in the Meriam Library for about two months. Finance students jumped at the chance to earn the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) Certificate in order to compete with other graduates for top jobs.

“The BMC Certificate is a great resume builder,” said business finance major Tyler Stoll. “It is an eight-hour program that walks you through how to use the Bloomberg Terminal, and also has you work on little projects to master success.”

With Bloomberg Professional Services being the world’s leading platform for global business and finance news, data, analytics tools, and research, many hiring companies are prioritizing students that have experience with the program.

“In the investment segment of the finance industry, a Bloomberg Terminal is used by everyone every day,” said business finance major Francis DeMartini, who is graduating this May and entering the workforce as a fixed income portfolio analyst at Wells Fargo. “Being that I will be using one at my job, the experience I have had at Chico State using the terminal has given me a leg up. Completing the BMC Certificate encouraged my employers because it meant less training time for me.”

In addition to bolstering student experience, a permanent Bloomberg Terminal would also attract more prospective students, as well as more experienced faculty.

 “The Center for Excellence in Finance has made an instant impact on campus and in the community,” said Ben Witt, director of development for the College of Business. “They have done this without having a Bloomberg lab unlike many campuses that excel in this space. For example, Sacramento State recently acquired twelve Bloomberg Terminals and now their students even have an investment fund to manage. My hope is that we will find a donor with the vision to see how impactful a permanent Bloomberg presence will be in taking our programs to the next level.”

Annually, the cost of the program would be about $75,000 for access to twelve terminals.

Current students are especially enthusiastic about the idea after having just two months of access.

“Permanent access to a terminal would be great because of the opportunities to relate classwork and projects to the terminal for real-world experience,” said Stoll. “This would also help show potential employers that we have some time into the terminal and are ready to move up right when we start.”

For more information on giving, please contact Ben Witt at 530-898-6365 or email  bpwitt@csuchico.edu. 

Kelsey Horne
College of Business
khorne3@csuchico.edu530-898-4255

Emily Huang
Director, Center for Excellence in Finance
CEF@csuchico.edu 
530-898-6188