Upgrading the Traditional Experience

• By Joseph A. DiAngelo
• 06/04/04

The Erivan K. Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University mission is to provide students with a program that enables them to bring the most innovative business practices to their professions. To simulate a real-work environment for teaching principles of business, the Haub School of Business created a state-of-the-art Trading Room, joining only a handful of similarly equipped business schools in the world. The Trading Room resembles what one would see on the floor of any major stock exchange and includes capabilities to display real-time price data on many financial instruments. Included in the room are a Trans Lux Ticker Board, Picture Wall, Data Wall, and IBM ThinkCentre desktop computers with 17-inch flat screens.

Students enrolled in courses in subjects pertaining to investments, portfolio analysis, financial statement analysis, and information systems have the opportunity to take advantage of the real-world financial simulation environment provided by the Trading Room.

Using the Financial Trading System software installed on each of the room’s IBM ThinkCentre desktops, students can participate in mock trading transactions, create simulated portfolios, access past and present financial data, and obtain news coverage from domestic and international markets.

To ensure the availability of technology applications to students, Saint Joseph’s University uses innovative manageability tools, such as IBM’s ThinkVantage Technologies, which diminish downtime and maintenance of PC networks. Technologies like System Migration Assistant, which quickly migrates user-specific data and settings and Rapid Restore, which recovers data, settings and applications after a software failure, ensure that students’ time and effort is not wasted or lost when completing research and assignments.

By investing in technology, Saint Joseph’s University has invested in its students, differentiating them from their peers and placing them a step ahead in their future professions.