Amari Lindo ’27 came to college searching for a major that would tap into her creativity, draw on her love of analyzing data and harness her innate understanding of digital platforms.
She found all that and more in a class that introduced her to the growing field of marketing. “I absolutely loved it,” she said. “I thought, oh, this is what I want to do. It’s super interesting and right up my alley.”
She was thrilled to learn that Roanoke College is rolling out a new major in marketing, part of a forward-thinking expansion of one of the College’s most in-demand academic departments.
The Business & Economics Department contains some of Roanoke’s most popular degree programs as well as a new MBA track that marked the College’s much-anticipated return to offering graduate degrees.
The MBA program was ushered in last year and earned full accreditation from SACS. Now, faculty leaders are following up that milestone by announcing three new options for undergraduate majors: marketing, finance and economics-finance.
The new majors expand the paths open to business students. Their development is the result of a strategic review of student experiences and job market needs.
Job opportunities in business, finance and marketing are only expected to grow in the coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Marketing and finance, previously offered as concentrations, were already rising to become two of the most frequently cited areas of academic interest by incoming freshmen at Roanoke.
The introduction of the economics-finance major adds another distinctive offering to the curriculum. The major blends the two disciplines in a way that few other liberal arts colleges match. The approach allows students interested in both economics and finance to pursue those passions simultaneously in one degree.
“For years, there has been great interest in the combined economics major and finance concentration. The two fields complement each other wonderfully,” said Alice Kassens, Roanoke’s John S. Shannon Professor of Economics. “The drawback was that a student needed to know early in their career that they wanted to pursue this combination because it required so many courses and planning.”
“We developed the economics-finance major to pull the crucial classes from both programs that would set students up for jobs as financial analysts, including those in health care and financial institutions, and other applied economics positions in the financial realm. The major does all of this in just 13 courses, making it manageable for students to complete and still have space to explore other topics, making it an excellent fit in a liberal arts environment.”
Building on that push to design rigorous programs tailored to student interests and career readiness, Roanoke’s new finance major also offers two tracks: corporate finance and personal financial planning. Each provides a strong foundation in financial instruments, decision-making and ethics.
Then, students can delve deeper into studying large-scale corporate financial management or personal investment oversight and estate planning. Courses specific to the corporate finance track include Fixed Income & Derivatives, Money & Banking and International Trade & Finance.
On the personal financial planning track, a sampling of courses might include Income Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning and Insurance & Risk Management.
Roanoke’s personal financial planning program was approved by the Certified Financial Planner Board that sets the standard of excellence for financial planning professionals. The distinction means that graduates will have met the education standards required to sit for the CFP® certification exam.
The degree program was accepted as just the fifth CFP Board Registered Program in Virginia that offers that benefit in a classroom/blended environment.
“Graduates of our new program can be confident in their industry knowledge and should enjoy a remarkable leg up as they begin their careers,” said lecturer Mike Smith, who shepherded the program through the CFP Board’s approval process. “Big things are happening at Roanoke College. The new CFP Board Registered Program is just one example of our dedication to continuing to provide students with only the best educational experiences.”
The department’s wide-ranging work has extended to bolstering support for students’ educational opportunities beyond their Roanoke experience. For example, a newly inked agreement secures eligible students guaranteed admission to William & Mary’s Master of Accounting and Master of Business Analytics programs.
Under the William & Mary partnership, students nominated by Roanoke are assured admission and guaranteed a minimum scholarship of $7,500 (in-state students) to $10,000 (out-of-state students).
The agreement follows close on the heels of another guaranteed admission partnership reached with West Virginia University’s Master of Economics program.
These multi-layered initiatives serve a larger goal of deepening the opportunities available to Roanoke students, campus leaders said. The impact is already starting to make itself felt among the newest generation of Maroons who just arrived on campus this year.
Lindo, a freshman who came to Roanoke from South Carolina, said she felt energized by the new opportunities looming on the horizon.
“It’s exciting,” she said. “Having these new programs and majors seems really helpful because it means there’s a lot more that you can explore and learn.”
-The Salem Times-Register