Message from the Chair

I continue to be very excited about opportunities that our financial planning track at Murray State affords our students. Successful completion of our program makes our students eligible to sit for the CFP Certification Examination. The CFP designation greatly increases career opportunities. Certified financial planners are considered competent to give advice to clients in areas including investments, income tax, insurance and retirement funding. This certification is more important than ever for students pursuing a career in financial planning. Several of the well-known financial service firms are beginning to demand that their employees have this designation. As such, graduates with this certification are very marketable.

I am currently working to expand this very popular program. My goal is to register a Certificate Program in Personal Financial Planning with the CFP Board. The new program will benefit professionals already working in the industry who want to pursue the CFP designation. It would also be attractive to individuals in unrelated professions who seek a potential career change.

We are working to create employment opportunities for our students. With tremendous assistance from Alumni Affairs and the Office of Development, we have renewed a relationship with a multi-billion dollar financial services firm in the Midwest. We submitted a proposal for an internship program to help develop our students who want to work in the financial services industry. The internship proposal was approved and will be implemented in Summer 2007.

I am also working to procure grant opportunities with non-profit organizations to develop and distribute personal finance educational resources to the rural populations in this region. I hope to leverage the resources made available through the Bauernfeind endowment to develop a financial planning education curriculum that can be provided to churches and other non-profit agencies who support our rural populations.

David W. Durr
Arthur J. Bauernfeind Chair in Investment Management