Kelli Plasket

Admission into the finance major program within the College’s School of Business is temporarily closed this semester while the College re-evaluates its acceptance process after a recent surge of applicants, which has nearly doubled in enrollment since 2005.

“This often happens when you have significant growth in a particular program where the resources to support that growth aren’t effectively in place. This is particularly common right now in finance, which is happening at many institutions across the country,” Jack V. Kirnan, interim dean of the School of Business, said. “What it’s going to require on our part is not only to direct more of our resources into these high-growth areas to service our students, but to also impose a higher standard for students entering into such programs.”

The School of Business, which also hosts such majors as accountancy, economics, international business and marketing, has grown from 935 total students enrolled in 2005 to 1,118 students in 2007. Meanwhile, the finance major alone has grown from 152 students in 2005 to 281 students in 2007, accounting for just over 70 percent of the school’s overall growth. Students have been entering the finance program from within the School of Business, from other schools within the College and from other four-year institutions, Kirnan said.

“We’ve decided that until we have our new procedure and policy in place, we can’t physically fit any more students into the (finance) program until we get that framework laid out,” Kirnan said.

Assistant professor of business Andrew Carver said interest in the finance major stems from the job opportunities.

“Much of the interest in the finance major is driven by the relatively strong job prospects in the finance industry,” Carver said when asked about the rising trend of new finance majors at the College.

Kirnan said he is working with faculty to develop the framework of the new admission policies and that they should be in place by early March, in time for students to apply and be considered for entrance into the finance major before registration begins in April for the Fall 2008 semester.

“We need to take a step back and make sure we’ve got a handle on our resource allocations so that we continue to develop and provide the best quality education for students that are choosing (the finance major),” Kirnan said.

Kirnan said the School of Business will likely develop an application for students wishing to enter the finance program, which may include requirements for letters of recommendation, a personal essay and prerequisites.

“We will have a procedure laid out that will be very transparent to the entire student body so that they will know what we will be looking at as we evaluate candidates that are choosing finance as a major,” Kirnan said.

He said there will be separate procedures for new students, students from within the School of Business, transfer students and others.

Once the changes are in place, the new procedures will be communicated clearly on the School of Business’s Web site as well as in the “This Week in Business” section of the Web site, Kirnan said.

These changes do not affect the finance minor, according to Kirnan. Students who are unable to major in the program can still minor in finance or take courses in the program.

Nick Filippis, sophomore interdisciplinary business major, is one of the students waiting for the new policies to be implemented.

Filippis said he has wanted to major in finance for a while, but was advised last semester, after requesting a change of major form, to wait since he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do yet.

“I heard that the School of Business stopped accepting finance majors when I walked into my adviser’s office to switch my major from general business to finance,” he said, adding that he is angry the School of Business did not inform students about the hold until after it had been implemented.

“I am very worried about my schedule next year because I planned on taking finance as well as 300-level courses and was informed that many of the seats in these classes are possibly being reserved for finance majors,” Filippis said. “I am planning to apply for a spot as soon as the option becomes available because I want to try to place in finance requirement courses for the next semester.”

Filippis is also currently looking for a summer internship in the financial services field.

“(I) find it rather dismaying when recruiters see ‘interdisciplinary business’ on my résumé and/or transcript,” he said via e-mail.

“I just hope that the School of Business resolves this issue quickly and allows for a smoother transition for students seeking a finance major,” Filippis said.