Georgia College’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology cut the ribbon Oct. 5 to its new trading rooms.
The rooms are located on the second and third floors of Atkinson Hall. These locations house six Bloomberg Terminals that may be used by students of any major. Bloomberg Terminals will allow students to analyze, extract, and compare stock market data in real time. According to the Bloomberg website, the terminals are meant to bring the real world into the classroom using the same platform as the world’s leading banks, corporations and government agencies.
“The top business schools have Bloomberg Terminals. So, with the introduction of a finance major last fall, we began preparations to have terminals on campus,” said Dr. J.J.
Arias, an economics professor.
According to Arias, there are five terminals in the trading room and one terminal located in a preexisting computer lab.
Three to four students can use a terminal at once and for classes, the terminals will be used for group related work and projects.
“We have about one to two classes that will likely use the terminals this semester, but that use will grow entering the spring semester,” said Arias.
Arias stated that prior to having the terminals, a large challenge for economic majors was access to financial data. He expressed that the terminals will now provide that access in depth, and it will be a great benefactor for senior research projects.
“For economics, we require them to do a senior project. They start it in the fall and it’s a two-course sequence,” said Arias. “In the fall, they take a class on econometrics, so they learn a lot of statistical tools and determine their research question and research their data. So, while they may not be as familiar with Bloomberg, the terminals allow them the freedom to choose a financial topic and access the data necessary to answer their question.”
Similarly, finance majors will have an advantage being able to access the wide variety of data to complete necessary research and assignments within their courses. According to Finance Professor Xiaomeng Lu, the terminals offer comprehensive data that students can explore and evaluate or research for a variety of majors.
For finance students, the terminals will be essential to their studies.
“Later we will be able to hold classes within the terminals so I think this integration will directly benefit upper-level finance students. They will be able to connect their textbook to the real-world and watch the effects of the data in realtime,” said Lu. “This is an experiential learning component that will offer an intuitive understanding of what the financial world is actually like.”
Another benefit of the terminals are the certificate courses that students and teachers may take. These selfpaced e-learning courses teach the basics of financial markets, economics, and how to master the Bloomberg Terminals.
It’s a great addition for a resume and an added educational resource for a student pursuing mastery in the subject.
Currently, two professors are certified, and the school is looking to certify a third full-time finance professor.
“Those who take the course will learn a lot about stocks, bonds, currencies, exchange rates, and how the global market functions. It offers hands-on experience, which is a big deal for preparing to go into the finance industry,” said Lu. “It will show their employer they are very well-prepared for the job market.”
With its official debut, the trading rooms are already in-use and will be incorporated into the curriculum of multiple majors come spring semester. Both Arias and Lu expressed their gratitude for being able to have so many terminals and offer this experience to students.