Bloomberg machines
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A new lab in the College of Business enables students to access Bloomberg Professional
Services, providing them with access to real-time business data in use by financial
specialists for intense business analysis. John Cresson, director of Southeastern’s
Executive MBA program, observes student Vernon Blackledge working at one of the terminals.
Wayne Crawford, graduate student
John Cresson, Director, Executive MBA program
Southeastern graduate student Wayne Crawford has come to appreciate the fine tools of modern day finance.
As an MBA student and coordinator of a new computer lab at Southeastern, he sees the
advantages professional services provide for students, such as the new Bloomberg lab
in the College of Business that includes a special software platform that links to
immediate stock quotes and related data needed for intense business analysis.
"Although I am not a finance major, I believe this is a great way for students to
gain an advantage," he said. "The students who use the Bloomberg lab for projects
or research and dedicate the extra time are definitely gaining an advantage."
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| EMBA Director John Cresson observes senior Toni Bonura of Madisonville as she works at a Bloomberg terminal in the new, highly specialized computer laboratory in the College of Business. The new lab gives business students a competitive edge by exposing them to one of the modern tools used in business today. |
It's the same kind of equipment and access to data that high powered stock brokers
are using to analyze fast moving markets, explained John Cresson, associate professor
of finance.
"It's all about the students separating themselves from the competition, said Cresson,
who is the director of Southeastern's Executive MBA program. "They can use this system
for their projects – where they get real-time, up-to-the-minute data – or they can
use the Internet, which is what was being used 15 years ago."
The new lab, located in a reconfigured portion in the College of Business' Garrett
Hall, features 11 terminals that link to Bloomberg Professional Services, a major
global provider of 24-hour financial news and information, including real time and
historic price data, financials data, trading news and analysis, as well as general
news. Bloomberg services also offer analytic tools that are typically used by financial
specialists.
The Bloomberg Lab, according to Cresson, gives Southeastern students valuable experience
in working with one of the high-tech tools of the modern financial world.
"At a recent conference in New York, the participants using Bloomberg commented on
how it helps separate them from other schools of business," Cresson said. "With our
smaller class sizes, our students are getting more opportunities to work on these
specialized terminals."
The new lab – which includes licenses and computers – was financed with self-generated
funds by growing enrollments in the EMBA program, as well as a grant from the Southeastern
Student Government Association.
The look and feel of a Bloomberg keyboard is similar to a standard computer keyboard,
with the addition of several yellow "hot keys" that identify market sectors, such
as government securities, money markets, preferred and equity shares, commodity markets
and currency markets. The terminal functions as an application in the Windows environment.
While Bloomberg is known primarily in the financial world, it's not just used for
finance. It's also used for business.
"There is supply chain management information, economics, accounting, and statistical
data. Students can research a company they may be interested in working for in the
future," Cresson said. "Bloomberg has in-house analysts. It's not a substitute for
finance; it compliments it. It allows the students to take theory and put it into
practice. We don't have to make up numbers or give them cases that happened five years
ago. It's all current information. It's a tool that allows the students to put into
practice what we teach in the classroom.
"We have the resources that major private institutions offer, but at a considerably
lower tuition," he added. "We have the best of both worlds because we have professors
and people with real-world experience, not just graduate assistants, teaching our
students."
