iMBA Fall 2009 Residency

The fall Whitman iMBA residency was fun and it was great to see our Syracuse friends again.
(Snapshot left- initial reception at the Sheraton)

This semester we’re taking Managerial Accounting with Professor Alex Thevaranjan (who prefers to be called Coach T by graduate students); and Investment Analysis with Professor Ravi Shukla, an engineer by training but now a PHD in finance, who is very passionate about trying to make sense out of the randomness of the market.

Managerial Accounting is focused on internal information that facilitates decisions about the future. It uses projection tools to sift out relevant information and identify risk and return before decisions are made. (By contrast Financial Accounting is after the fact and aimed at telling a story to people outside the company, usually investors.)

The second course, Investment Analysis, deals with the analytical methods to portfolio management. It touches on the different approaches to investment- Ad hoc (intuition), Bigger Fool Theory, and systematic approaches. It also addresses the different asset classes and diversification methods. One of the interesting subjects we discussed during the residency was the way poor quality mortgage securities infiltrated the US economy and produced last years economic melt down.

On the first day of classes, the faculty announced some changes during a town hall meeting. Future residencies will be shorter by one day to lessen the burden of travel, and as a result, classes will be extended from 90 minutes to a full two hours per day. The other major change involves new students. Previously new students were only required to start together with Financial Accounting and Strategic Management during their first semester. After that, they were free to choose their classes based on preference and availability. Now the school will try to keep students together in a cohort group for a longer period (I think it’s the first three semesters).

Students near graduation will be allowed early registration, and additional courses may be added in May to facilitate areas of concentration.

The bad news announced was that costs are going to continue to go up, an average of six percent per semester, despite the current state of the economy. This was an issue as many students complained that their employers were no longer reimbursing their tuition, as companies cut back on benefits. We also noticed the iMBA group looked smaller, possibly due to job losses.

During our week in Syracuse, we visited all our regular haunts- Lake Onondaga, Joey’s Italian Restaurant, Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub; and visited a few new places. We drove up to Lake Ontario for the first time, went hiking at Highland State Park, ate clams at the Clam Bar (on Brewerton Road) and shopped at a charming farm market called Ontario Orchards (in Oswego).

I want to also express special thanks to Dennis Hay, of Joey’s Italian Restaurant. After a very favorable experience last year, we postponed our 19th wedding anniversary dinner by about a week in order to celebrate it at Joey’s. Once again, my wife had flowers waiting for her at the table, and once again we had a great flaming desert of strawberries cooked in brown sugar and butter, yum. Kudos to Joey’s.

John P.

Professor Alex Thevaranjan (PHD in accounting) and myself after class. (Professor Ravi Shukla is in the top photo, fourth from the left.)

Me, Sari and Craig at the Whitman iMBA town hall.

Sue by some flowers at Highland State Park.

At Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub after hiking all afternoon at Highland State Park.

Click here for more information on the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management iMBA program.

-JP