There\u2019s a reason for the throngs of people staring and snapping photos outside a Hipp Hall classroom these days.<\/p>\n
In what appears to be a scene from Wall Street, the visitors can\u2019t help but notice the Joe and Diana Hurley Finance and Business Analytics Lab, a 600-square-foot space equipped with dual-screen Bloomberg terminals, a stock ticker (both inside and outside the lab), several flat panel displays flanking wood-paneled walls, and large atomic clocks showing times for major trading cities around the globe.<\/p>\n
Drawn by the sideways looping ticker, students, parents and other passersby gathered recently outside a class taught by Furman finance professor Tom Smythe. \u201cIt literally felt like we were in a fish bowl,\u201d Smythe says. But that attention-grabbing look is all part of the plan. \u201cWe want this to be a showcase for the university\u2026so the lab is already achieving part of what we set out to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new lab had its official unveiling April 1 when university officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the innovative, high-tech facility.\u00a0 It is named for Diana and Joe Hurley, a 1978 Furman graduate and CEO of Chi-Rho Financial in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
As stunning as it is, what makes the lab remarkable is the wealth of things that can be done with the technology. By summer, the space will be equipped with seven Bloomberg stations, which serve as conduits for lots of easy-to-use, real-time, big data.<\/p>\n
Smythe says, \u201cI brought my Equity Valuation class in here and we watched Fed Chair Janet Yellen give her comments after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. At the same time, we could watch what the markets were doing in response to what she was saying. That\u2019s as real world as you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smythe goes on to point out other ways the lab enhances the classroom experience. He describes the beefed-up teaching workstation (a \u201cMaserati version\u201d) on which he can pull up Bloomberg stock data, demo a calculation with the doc cam (like a digital overhead projector), and have students link Excel spreadsheet data to the teaching workstation\u2014all at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s say a student is having a problem with a spreadsheet,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cThe student can log on (via AirMedia) and I can project the spreadsheet for all to see, \u2018OK, here\u2019s the problem, now you\u00a0guys solve it.\u2019 It becomes a much richer learning experience \u2026 we can have up to six different views on panels at the same time.\u201d A traditional setup would only allow one view at a time.<\/p>\n
Junior business major Alex Brannan of New Canaan, Conn. says he likes the connections that can be made with so much data at his fingertips. Having finished the Business Block and now in the Investments class, Brannan says, \u201cWe are looking at bonds, and when rates change, that\u2019s what influences bonds immediately. So we can see that connection (in real time) and be able to draw conclusions\u2026I couldn\u2019t have asked for anything more \u2013 it\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bloomberg is the industry standard for all things financial, but the subscription also serves lobbyists and others in the political arena. \u201cWe had folks from the economics and political science departments come over for a presentation. The Bloomberg database tracks entire bills being proposed in Congress, how people have voted\u2014a whole host of things,\u201d says Smythe.<\/p>\n
The depth and breadth of data available through Bloomberg is only part of the arrangement orchestrated by Furman\u2019s information technology team. State-of-the-art video-conferencing makes the space even more attractive across campus. Says Smythe, \u201cWe are able to bring up to 10 experts on the screens for interactive conferencing.\u201d And the lab is the only classroom setting on campus where that can be done.<\/p>\n
So the possibilities are endless in terms of making the space available university-wide. Smythe, whose department is integrating the lab across the entire curriculum from Integrated Marketing Communications, to Business Analytics, to Equity Valuation, Auditing, Investments and others, says, \u201cWe want people to use the space till we break it \u2026 we want it to be well-worn.\u201d<\/p>\n
At peer schools and larger universities, Smythe says he\u2019s not aware of any lab across the country that uses the space like Furman intends. \u201cThe lab has a finance look and feel, but we can do a lot more than investment\/portfolio management with the technology we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard not to notice the sparkling glass entry wall for the Joe and Diana Hurley Finance and Business Analytics Lab in Hipp Hall. But Smythe wants students, regardless of academic track, to notice something bigger. \u201cFurman supports its students, and this cutting-edge lab is just one example of it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n