Booth School of Business celebrates opening of Finance Trading Room

Booth School of Business celebrates opening of Finance Trading Room

The Northwest Missouri State University community gathered Thursday to celebrate the completion of a new space to enhance students' learning about finance and economics.

A morning ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorated the opening of the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business's Finance Trading Room in Colden Hall.

Northwest President Dr. Lance Tatum noted it as a significant addition to the Booth School of Business and an innovative space on the campus. While the room will primarily serve finance and marketing students, it will be available to anyone interested in accessing its resources.

"It is a space that I know is going to support that which we consider to be the bedrock of our educational mission at the University, and that is profession-based learning," Tatum said. "I can't think of any better example of what profession-based learning looks like than to be able to walk into that trading room and participate in those activities."

With funding support from the Perry Business Education Foundation and the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth Endowment Fund, the converted classroom is now equipped with a series of computers, television monitors and a ticker display that enable students to track financial markets.

Several walls in the room are dry-erase boards, and mobile furniture in the space will foster collaboration. At a central computing station, a class instructor may operate software and team with students using other monitors.

The room also is equipped with Bloomberg software that provides students with access to the industry leader's finance databases for services such as company filings, government securities, money markets, commodities and economic calendars as well as events and certification programs.

"We don't just talk about this," Tatum said of Northwest's emphasis on profession-based learning opportunities. "We actually do this, and it is embedded in our curriculum, and it is integrated into every aspect of what we do in the classroom. The trading room is a perfect example of that commitment in action. That state-of-the-art space is going to provide our students with hands-on experiences in financial analysis, marketing strategy and real-time trading simulations."

The Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business equips students with essential skills such as critical thinking, effective written and oral communication, ethical decision-making, teamwork, and problem-solving. The Booth School of Business is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs. For more information, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/business/.