Course Descriptions

Focuses on the acquisition, analysis, reporting and use of both external and internal financial information about business events important to managers and the organization. The course emphasizes the transformation of information into basic financial statements; an introduction to knowledge and skills relevant to the internal use of accounting information; techniques in support of planning and control management decisions and budgeting for business operations; and management accounting methods, terms and practices. Formerly ACCT 6300.

3 Credits   

Classroom/Online 

An in-depth coverage of the accounting system and basic financial statements with an emphasis on topics of interest to financial managers including revenue recognition, statement of cash flows, working capital, cash and receivables, and long-term liabilities. Prerequisites: ACCT 5323, ACCT 6300 or equivalent.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online 

This course is a continuation of Intermediate Financial Accounting I. Covers selected accounting items with an emphasis on the topics of interest in corporate financial reporting including investments, leases, pensions, deferred taxes, stockholders equity and earnings per share. Prerequisite: ACCT 5325 or equivalent.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Focuses on the basic theories and practices of individual income taxation. Involves hands-on experience in preparing individual tax returns and research projects. Prerequisite: ACCT 5323 or ACCT 6300. 

3 Credits

Classroom (Saturdays)

Studies the manual and automated records, documents, procedures, and controls used in accounting systems. Emphasis is on the use of technology in financial accounting, decision-making, and auditing. Prerequisite: ACCT 5323 or ACCT 6300.

3 Credits

Classroom

 Focuses on an audit of financial statements used for external reporting. Focuses on developing skills relevant to effective to written and oral communication in applied business contexts. Applications will be drawn from corporate reporting, financial statements and audit opinions. This course counts for one credit hour of communications. Prerequisites: ACCT 5326.

3 Credits 

Classroom

Focuses on the analysis of statements including shareholders’ equity, income, balance sheet, and cash flow. Topics include the analysis of financing and investing activities, profitability, growth, and economic value. Prerequisites: FINA 6305 or ACCT 5325.

3 Credits

Classroom

Focuses on the development and preparation of an opinion on the audit of financial statements used for external reporting. Topics will continue and further the Auditing course and include preparation of audit work papers, planning, audit risk assessment, gathering of audit evidence, evaluating audit evidence, concluding the audit and preparation of the audit opinion. Focuses on developing skills relevant to effective written and oral communication in applied business contexts. Applications will be drawn from audit cases and analysis. This course counts for one hour of communications. Prerequisite ACCT 5375.

3 Credits

Classroom

Develops a framework for addressing ethically challenging situations in management and synthesizing the individual’s personal values with sound management practice.  The course offers an integration of ethical reasoning, objectivity, independence, and other core values into the development of accounting professionals.  Formerly BUAD 6390.

3 Credits

Classroom

Focuses on cost accounting and control. The course emphasizes cost-volume-profit relationships, standard costs and variance analysis, cost techniques, relevant costs, budgeting and activity-based costing. Prerequisite: ACCT 5326.

3 Credits

Classroom

Covers research methods for solving complex accounting and reporting issues including both financial accounting and tax accounting cases. Prerequisites: ACCT 5326, ACCT 5380. Co-requisite ACCT 6375.

3 Credits

Classroom

Course covers traditional management science / operations research concepts, models and methods that are employed to make better, objective, verifiable, communicable, and more informed decisions for problems routinely encountered in business by decision makers. Emphasis is on application, interpretation, and use of results to make better decisions for planning and operations. Prerequisites: TECH 5F70 and BUAD 5350. 

3 Credits 

Classroom/Online

 This course provides an introduction as well as hands-on experience in data visualization. Students will learn to analyze the context of data visualization, to identify, access and prepare data for visualization, to apply best practices in visual analytics, to design user-oriented visualizations based on essential cognitive and perceptual principles, and to create dash board and data stories that effectively communicate data insights to facilitate managerial decision-making. Students will complete data visualization assignments as well as a final project featuring an interactive dashboard and datastory. Co-requisite: BANA 6350.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

 This course addresses tools and techniques required for analyzing business data for forecasting. Topics include time series analysis and time series forecasting. Students will learn to apply these techniques to support business decision makers. Prerequisite: TECH 6360. Co-requisite: BANA 6350. 

 3 credits.

The course addresses practices related to predictive modeling (decision tree, regression, neural network, ensemble and boosting models, among others). Topics include modifying data for better analysis results, model training and testing, machine learning methods, comparing and explaining complex models, generating predictions, and communicating results to help make better business decisions. Prerequisite: BANA 6350, TECH 6360.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

This course addresses tools and techniques required for creating predictive models to support business decisions and techniques for communicating results of advanced analytics techniques. Topics include selecting and engineering predictive features, creating preliminary scorecards, performing inference techniques, determining scorecard performance, and communicating the results. Co-requisite: BANA 6350.

3 Credits 

Classroom/Online

  This course addresses concepts, tool and techniques for using large datasets to address business problems. This includes understanding big data concepts, common architectures, and using industry-standard tools to store, query, transform and analyze large datasets. Techniques related to importing and working with diverse types of data across different technical environments are discussed and practiced. Prerequisites: TECH 6360

 3 credits

Focuses on the analysis and presentation of quantitative information in a manner that facilitates understanding and decision-making.  The course covers basic sampling, statistical analysis, reporting, and data presentation techniques. Formerly BUAD 6300.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

A member of the resident faculty, with permission of the Associate Dean, supervises these special research studies. Students must submit a proposal, outline, and an approved Independent Study Contract in order to register. A copy of the contract must be on file with Office of Student Records. 

3 Credits

Classroom

Facilitates the development of interpersonal and team skills leaders need to function effectively. Focus is on the integrated behavioral competencies that organizations value today; self awareness, communication, collaboration, and relationship-building.  Students will plan and implement new behaviors relevant to individuals who hold leadership positions, as well as those who informally assume leadership roles as they work with others to achieve business goals.  

3 Credits

Classroom/Online 

University-directed experience in a professional employment setting appropriate to the student's professional objectives. The supervising instructor, based on the Internship Contract, monitors the internship. Approval of the Associate Dean is required prior to course registration. The Internship Contract must be on file with the Office of the Registrar.

1 Credit

Classroom

Examines the social, political, legal and regulatory environments that constitute the background in which a for-profit business firm conducts its activities in domestic and global contexts. Corporate social responsibility and the ethical dimensions of decisions that impact stakeholder groups and corporate sustainability in a competitive environment are discussed.  Prerequisites: MANA 5F50.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

The Capstone Experience is taken in the last semester and designed to integrate all earlier course work. Under the guidance of the professor, each student participates on a team that is assigned to work with a real organization on a comprehensive client consulting project. Teams are expected to develop a scope of work (or proposal), research the firm/industry, interact with the
client on an appropriate basis and present their project findings/recommendations to the client in the form of a report, presentation and/or debriefing near the end of the semester. Capstone Approval is required to enroll. Prerequisites: ACCT 5323 or ACCT 6300, BUAD 5350 or BUAD 6300, FINA 6305, OPER 6305, MANA 5F50, and MARK 5F50.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Provides a working knowledge of fundamental data protection techniques for protecting data at rest, data in motion, and data in processing. Techniques include encryption algorithms and systems (symmetric, asymmetric, standard, digital certificates, and hashes), Steganography, data masking, and data obfuscation. Examines access controls, availability, authentication, confidentiality, data integrity, and non-repudiation as well as defenses against DDOS and other data attacks. Security by diversity and security in depth are presented as fundamental requirements. Prerequisite: TECH 5F70. Equivalent to TECH 6350.

3 Credits

Online

Examines legal, privacy, and compliance environments facing organizations globally. Students build an understanding of the complexities of security, compliance and legal obligations starting with a general foundation of laws and industry standards that apply across most organizations that handle sensitive data. Examination of industry verticals expand students’ knowledge of particular federal and state regulatory and industry-based obligations. It also examines how security and compliance obligations can be used to establish the security, compliance, and risk management programs for an enterprise. Prerequisite: CYBS 5F70. Co-requisite: CYBS 6350.

3 Credits

Online

Focuses on developing skills relative to an understanding of the business risks that exist when proper cybersecurity access controls are not effectively implemented. Students will study breach cases and have the opportunity to interface with security experts to gain an in-depth understanding of current risks, threats, and vulnerabilities organizations face.  Lab simulations will be completed and each lab will be analyzed for its meaning and purpose in increasing security knowledge.   Students will create a cybersecurity breach report and as a team project create an access control plan with recommendations for overcoming or minimizing cyber breach situations through the use of proper controls, the control framework, lab experiences, and other resources explored in the course. Co-requisite: CYBS 6350. Equivalent to TECH 7350.

3 Credits 

Online

Provides a comprehensive explanation of network security basics including how hackers access networks and the use of network security tools to provide countermeasures. Strategies for meeting the challenges from expanded network boundaries are developed through active hands-on exercises in networked lab environments. Prerequisite: CYBS 5F70 and CYBS 6350.

3 Credits

Online

Provides an in depth understanding of penetration (pen) testing and "ethical hacking", including requirements and reporting. Examination of the business impact of testing and conducting security testing (including network and web application penetration testing) in the lab environment including: intelligence gathering, identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities, conducting post-exploitation exercises, and reporting results. Students are required to create a comprehensive report summarizing the findings including recommendations to mitigate the risks identified. Topics include social engineering, web application testing, managing a security test, and tools of attack. Prerequisites: CYBS 7350 and CYBS 7357.

3 Credits 

Online 

This course provides an in-depth analysis of the use of industry tools, technologies, and practices involved in gathering, protecting and analyzing digital evidence. The class uses industry tools to perform forensic analysis and examines how various operating systems store data on storage media such as hard disk drives and other digital media. Highlights how computers are used in crimes and how to focus on a digital investigation. Prerequisite: CYBS 6355 and 7350. Equivalent to TECH 7358 and TECH 7359. 

3 Credits

Online

This course is taken in the last semester and is designed to integrate all earlier coursework. This course examines Cybersecurity at a program level by developing strategy that includes components including mission, values, organizational structure, network structure, policy, risk assessment, vulnerability management, metrics, business continuity, awareness, education, culture, staffing, mobile device management, and threat analysis. Students will complete detailed strategic road maps that they will present to an executive board for approval. This course is only open to MS students in Cybersecurity. Approval is required to enroll. Prerequisites: CYBS 6350, CYBS 7350 and 7357.

3 Credits

Online

This course is designed to help managers make informed decisions with the aid of economic analysis. It applies micro concepts of supply, demand and cost, and methods of industry analysis, that assist the manager in making quantitative decisions. Macro concepts involving the banking system, monetary policy, and tax policy are addressed as they relate to inflation, unemployment and business fluctuations to allow managers to have a better understanding of the environment in which a firm, its competitors and customers operate. 

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Course focuses on risk-return analyses that managers use to maximize firm value. Topics include time value of money (review), valuation of financial instruments, capital budgeting, cost of capital and capital structure, working capital management, and dividend policy.

Prerequisites: ACCT 5323 or ACCT 6300, BUAD 5350 or 6300, and ECON 5F70.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Builds on Managerial Finance and presents additional concepts and models for financial decision making. Topics covered include capital budgeting, lease financing, working capital management, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, capital structure theory, dividend policy, and multinational financial management. Prerequisite: FINA 6305.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online 

Policies and practices required to manage foreign exchange risk, finance international trade, and meet working capital and investment needs of multinational companies.  Prerequisite: FINA 6305.

3 Credits 

Classroom/Online

A thorough overview of investments, providing students with knowledge of basic types of securities (bond, stock, foreign exchanges and derivatives) and how the markets for these securities operate. The principles of finance, including arbitrage, market efficiency, asset pricing models and portfolio theory. Specific topics include risk-return and mean-variance efficient frontiers, diversification and pricing of risk, security, pricing, etc. Students apply skills in modern investment pricing techniques, including the pricing of fixed-income securities, equities, foreign exchange and derivatives. Principles of portfolio selection and management and risk control will also be covered in relevant topics. Finally, the course looks at how banks and other financial institutions make money by bringing issuers and investors together. Prerequisites: ACCT 5325 & FINA 6305.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online 

Theoretical and applied understanding of key methods and tools used in valuing companies in order to evaluate mergers and acquisitions, new projects or make strategic decisions. Analysis of the factors that drive corporate value will be emphasized. Builds upon the concepts covered in FINA 6305 Managerial Finance and FINA 7310 Intermediate Managerial Finance. Prerequisite: FINA 7310.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Development of an understanding of financial derivative instruments (forwards, futures, options and swaps) and their applications to investment strategy and risk management. Throughout the course, we cover material in the contracts, hedging, arbitrage, pricing and risk management of financial derivative instruments. Derivatives pricing models such as Binomial Tree Model and BSM Model are discussed in detail. Students learn how to apply futures strategies for long and short hedge and how to apply option strategies such as covered calls, spreads and butterflies and options Greeks for financial engineering and risk management purpose. Students will also use options and futures contracts for tactical portfolio strategies purpose. Relevant topics such as securitization and real options are covered. Prerequisite: FINA 7322. 

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

This course serves as the final class of the M.S. Finance program. The objective of the course is to apply all of the theoretical finance knowledge students have learned in other MS Finance courses. By studying the empirical evidence relevant for portfolio management, we will cover investment strategies and risk management of equity portfolios, such as estimation of capital market parameters, trade-off between risk and return, equilibrium asset pricing models, portfolio construction, optimal portfolio selection and random walk as applied to portfolio management, etc. Prerequisite: FINA 7310 and FINA 7322. Approval required – final term.

3 Credits

Classroom

This course introduces the fundamentals of leadership, both its challenges and opportunities. We will study key examples of good and bad leadership.

3 credits

Online (Fall)

We are now living in a world that is increasingly complex and dynamic. Leaders are challenged with the task of adapting their organizations to a new reality that is volatile, uncertain, chaotic, and ambiguous (VUCA). This requires a new approach to leading. In this course we examine the new reality and develop appropriate strategies for leading through the adaptive challenges faced by contemporary organizations.

3 credits

Online (Spring)

This course examines the important role of spirituality in the life of a leader. Attention will be given to the development and integration of the leader's spirituality in the practice of leadership. The course will emphasize images of leadership developed in the Christian scriptures. In addition, the course will focus on the lives and leadership processes used by several biblical leaders including Moses, Joshua, Nehemiah, David, and Paul. Particular emphasis will be placed on the life and ministry of Jesus as a model of servant-shepherd leadership. Students will be invited to use biblical images of leadership and the biographies leaders as presented in scripture to explore their own motives, gifts, and approaches for leadership in a variety of contexts.

3 credits

Online (Summer)

Designed to provide a basic exploration of organizations in their environments and provide an introduction to the management process. The foundational tools of planning, organizing, directing and controlling are examined with an emphasis on the strategic management process.

1.5 Credits

Classroom/Online

An employee-centered analysis of organizational value creation through the leadership of human resources. The intersection of organizational theory, behavior, development and change serves as the context in which students are challenged to develop knowledge, skills and ability necessary to plan,evaluate, implement and improve human resource initiatives.  Emphasis is placed on critically evaluating multi-dimensional value creation perspectives. Prerequisite: MANA 5F50, or LDRS 6320 or BUAD 6305.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Overview of the technological, economic, political/legal, cultural and financial dimensions of the global business environment with special focus on international trade and foreign direct investment. An experiential simulation is used to develop students’ skills in coordinating the strategy and operations of a multi-national enterprise in a high velocity, global environment. Prerequisites: ACCT 5323 or ACCT 6300, BUAD 5350 or BUAD 6300, FINA 6305, MANA 5F50 and MARK 5F50.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Surveys the marketing activities and decisions of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations involved in providing need-satisfying products and services to consumers in domestic and global markets. The overall goal of the course is to provide students with a working knowledge of the fundamental marketing concepts.

1.5 Credits 

Classroom/Online

Connects marketing decisions with their financial implications. It expands marketing's traditional customer-centric focus with an emphasis on marketing's value to the organization. Study and application of ROI concepts and practices for delivering higher levels of marketing productivity and profitability. Prerequisite: MARK 5F50.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

This class introduces the students to the basic concepts involved in professional selling in a Business to Business setting. Skills such as building rapport, planning the call, active listening, effective questioning, overcoming objections, and closing the sale are addressed. Students apply the sales process through the use of experiential exercises and role-plays. Basic negotiations skills and dealing with emotions in negotiations is covered as well.

3 Credits

Online (Fall)

This course is intended for anyone interested in the concept of managing the brand as a strategic asset. In addition to students contemplating careers in brand management in product or service markets for traditional brick and mortar businesses, the course is relevant to future consultants, entrepreneurs, investment bankers, and venture capitalists who seek a better understanding of the brands they will create, acquire, and leverage for customers of the new economy. The course exposes students to the contemporary challenges of creating and maintaining brand equity in both large and small organizations as well as different types of consumer markets. In addition, the brand’s role in sponsorships is examined covering sponsor fit, sponsorship inventory and activation.

3 Credits

Online (Summer)

In the business world, digital media is no longer merely a buzzword; rather, it is a key strategy that businesses use to achieve marketing and public relations objectives. Given the growing selection of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and blogs, companies and individuals alike are struggling to keep up with this new way of doing business. This class will explore how business professionals can harness digital marketing strategies, platforms, and tactics in order to achieve firm objectives.

3 Credits

Online (Spring)

Focuses on the operations function, which creates an organization's products and/or services. The focal point of operations is the efficient acquisition, management, and transformation of resources into products and services. Operations strategy, operations' impact on profitability, and important strategic and tactical decisions that affect operations are studied. Prerequisite: BUAD 6300 or BUAD 5350.

3 Credits

Classroom/Online 

This course examines the global issues facing IT and Cybersecurity organizations today by providing an understanding of IT infrastructure, services, and technologies for competitiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness.  Students investigate security threats faced by enterprises through the tenets of cybersecurity of confidentiality, integrity, availability, and governance.  

3 Credits

Classroom/Online

Introduces the student to programming and scripting. Upon completion of this class, the student will be able to write non-trivial programs using Python and Bash. Topics include language components, control flow constructs, strings, input/output, classes, packages, matrix expressions, regular expressions, data processing and visualization, mode deployment, command-line scripting and automated pipelines. The course includes hands-on labs requiring students to bring a PC to class. Prerequisite: TECH 5F70. 

 3 Credits

Emphasizes the relational database structure and the use of relational databases for retrieving and reporting information to support business decisions. It covers Structured Query Language (SQL) extensively. Applications of relational databases in many areas of business will be discussed. Topics include relationship database concepts, the relational data model, entity relationship modeling, introductory, intermediate and advanced SQL queries. 

3 Credits

Classroom/Online