Our Approach to Your Financial Education

Our Philosophy

• Education is an active process, not a passive one.  Let's be honest:  your education is one place that the old adage, "You get out of it what you put into it" fits.  You have to be an eager, active participant in your education.  We promise not to spoon-feed you too much material if you promise to join us in learning by more active ways.
   
• Most learning takes place outside the classroom. The classroom does not have a monopoly on locations where you can learn. The classroom is a place to come and share ideas, get direction for your learning efforts, and synthesize what you have learned.  It is, however, a poor substitute for observing, searching, reading, and analyzing what goes on in the real world.  (Not that classrooms aren't part of the real world; they just shouldn't be your only, or even primary, source of learning about a subject.)
   
• Students should learn to pull learning resources toward themselves rather than having the instructor merely push information at them in the class. Intellectual inquiry is one of the more satisfying parts of your college education.  Learn as much as you can about a subject without instructions from your professors; then let your professors guide you and focus your efforts.
   
• The instructor's primary function is to organize the resources for this effort and to serve as a discussion leader, motivator, and catalyst for change. Your professors will conduct lectures where appropriate, but their main job is to challenge your thinking and to point you in the right direction.  This is a fun procedure when you approach it with the right attitude. Let your professor be a coach and mentor for you and to help you see how much fun learning can be.

Responsibility of the Instructor

• create an environment that encourages the development of strong research, analytical, and team-building skills.
• organize a wide variety of resource materials into a format that the students will find stimulating, informative, and entertaining.  Much of this material should be in a format that is available to students 24 hours a day (web sites, assigned readings, cases, etc).
   
• develop supplementary materials to fill in gaps in the literature or resource base where materials cannot otherwise be found.
   
• develop a grading (or reward) system that encourages students to actively seek out and learn the information.

Responsibility of the Student

• read as much as you can about a subject; follow news events that affect your chosen field of study; talk with professionals who work in positions that you would like to have; talk with your advisor about your career plans.
   
• improve critical thinking ability by actively seeking the answers to key questions for the subject area being studied.
   
• develop strong communication skills by participating in class discussions, questioning (tactfully) other's positions on issues, and working effectively in teams.
   
• improve your analytical ability by adding the necessary skills to your repertoire.  Examples would include expertise in spreadsheet construction, quantitative methods, and database usage.

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