New Specialty Master's Class Diverse in Many Ways

More than 550 specialty master's, including Master of Science, students representing 21 countries came together recently for orientation activities at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

China, United States and India are home to the majority of these students. But they also have arrived from the likes of Nigeria, South Korea, Poland, Lebanon, and Chile. “As you begin to meet one another, please keep in mind that you represent a diverse incoming class, which rivals our full-time MBA program in that respect,” said Executive Director of MBA and MS Admissions Cliff McCormick as he addressed the incoming the class on Aug. 21, 2017, in the Colony Ballroom of UMD’s Adele H. Stamp Student Union.

McCormick told the class that it’s comprised of 310 (56 percent) women and the 85 U.S. students represent 31 states, including from California (eight) and New Jersey (seven). And, he noted that degree holders from the fields of finance, economics, accounting, engineering, information systems, marketing, and management are joining new classmates who had majored in tourism, psychology, sociology, journalism, education, and English, Russian and Chinese languages.

McCormick’s presentation followed introductions from Dean Alexander J. Triantis and Associate Dean for Master's Programs Michael Faulkender. They spoke of rigor and reward ahead in Smith specialty master's programs in finance, accounting, information systems, marketing analytics, supply chain management, business analytics, quantitative finance, and business and management. The latter three are new programs for 2017.

Additionally, a forthcoming 4+1 dual bachelor's master's program will allow for undergrads to enroll in classes from the finance, accounting, information systems, or supply chain management programs. Added advantages include undergraduate tuition rates for up to 10 graduate credits and the potential for completing the MS degree in one year after bachelor’s degree completion.

Faulkender told the students to prioritize “developing communication skills and getting involved in co-curricular activities while you are here, in addition to your coursework.”

Triantis noted to the class its new access to faculty “experienced from Wall Street and at the highest levels of marketing and business analytics and at the leading edge of research.” He cited recent No. 1 rankings by the Economist, globally, for student-rated teaching quality and by CEO Magazine, among U.S. public schools, based on published research in top journals.

Among the new programs, said Faulkender, the STEM-eligible Master of Quantitative Finance degree will complement the school’s Master of Finance program, ranked No. 4 nationally by the Financial Times, and will cater to students pursuing such mathematically complex fields as risk management, market regulation, institutional asset management and hedge fund management, said Faulkender. “This new degree aligns with our faculty, which is well regarded in the academic realm for its strength in quantitative finance.”

McCormick suggested the class is matched for the programs’ high standards and faculty. For example, he said, “nearly 30 [students among you] registered perfect, scores of 170 in the quantitative section of the GRE (Graduate Record Examination)."

The gathering at Stamp included a twist -- a break for a large-group viewing of that day’s milestone solar eclipse and complemented, among orientation-week activities, workshops for career development and job search strategy. 

For more information about specialty master's programs at Maryland Smith, visit: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ms.