SFU
S.12-4
OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND PROVOST
University Drive, Burnaby, BC
TEL: 778.782.3925
vpacad@sfu.ca
Canada V5A 1S6
www.sfu.ca/vpacadcmic
MEMORANDUM
ATTENTION
Senate
DATE
December 14,2011
FROM
Bill Krane, Acting Vice-President, Academic
PAGES 1/1
and Provost, and Acting Chair, SCUP
RE:
Beedie School of Business: Change of Degree Name from Master of Financial Risk Management to
Master of Science in Finance (SCUP 11-56)
At its December 7, 2011 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved the proposal to change the degree name
from Master
of Financial Risk Management to Master of Science in Finance, within the Beedie School of
Business, (effective January 2012)
Motion:
That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the change of degree name from Master
of Financial Risk Management to Master of Science in Finance, within the Beedie School of Business.
Encl.
c: C. Collins
A. Pavlov
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
thinking of the world
MEMO
Dean of
Graduate Studies
STREET ADDRESS
Maggie Benston Student
Services Centre 1100
Burnaby BC V5A 1S6
Canada
MAI I.INC. ADDRESS
8888 University Drive
Burnaby
BC V5A 1S6
Canada
SFU
SCUP 11-56
TO Senate Committee on University Priorities
TEL
FROM Wade Parkhouse, Dean, Graduate Studies
r^jgXJI
RE Beedie School of Business
Change of degree from Master of Financial Risk Management to
Master of Science in Finance
[GS2011.27]
CC C. Collins
DATE November 28, 2011
At its meeting of 7 November, SGSC reviewed the "Change of Degree" for a Masters
degree in the Beedie School
of Business and is recommending it to SCUP.
Master
of Financial Risk Management Program (MFRM)
[GS2011.27]
Change of degree from Master of Financial Risk Management to Master of Science
in Finance
There was unanimous support for this change from SGSC members and the Faculty of
Science representative spoke strongly in support of the proposed change.
Z-
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
SFU
MEMO
Beedie School of Business
Segal Graduate School of
Business
500 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6C 1W6
BEEDIE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ATTENTION: Wade Parkhouse, Dean of Graduate Studies
FROM: Colleen Collins, Associate Dean Graduate Programs
RE: SGSC agenda Nov. 7. 2011: Change of Degree Name
DATE: December 15, 2011
Updated rationale for MFRM name change
The
following request has been approved bythe Master of Financial Risk Management Program
Committee and the Faculty Graduate Studies Committee for consideration by the SGSC.
The Beedie School of Business requests a Change of Degree Name
from: Master of Financial Risk Management
to: Master of Science in Finance.
Cc: A. Pavlov, D. Shapiro
3
Change of Degree Name request
Rationale:
The Beedie School would like to change the name of the Master of Financial Risk Management to
Master of Science in Finance for several reasons:
1. MSc's in Finance/ Business/ Management are distinct from MBA's in that they indicate
specialization and depth in the field of designation unlike MBA's that demonstrate a
breadth of business knowledge across the business disciplines. As the list below
demonstrates, it is a widely held practice not only in Canada, but also at very good schools
internationally.
2. Recognition in the business community of the degree- while MSc's in business,
particularly finance, are fairly common and well understood as distinct from more general
MBA degrees, the MFRM has no broad understanding in the business community. About a
third of this year's graduating class has delayed graduation in the hopes of a new degree
name.
3. Recognition by students searching for a specialized finance degree will help our efforts in
recruiting top candidates - most directories/ rankings/ listings list specialist finance
programs as Master of Science or Master of Finance.
4. A Master
of Science designation is not incompatible with the nature of the program. A
highly quantitative and analytical program, it informs us about financial markets in testable
ways that include explanations and predictions. Finance theory provides the basis for
models of market performance that predict and explain market performance based on
market characteristics and firm strategies.
5.
Master of Science degrees at SFU
offered outside the Faculty of Science:
• Faculty
of Applied Science - Master of Science in Computing Science
• Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology- Master of Science in Interactive
Arts and Technology
• Faculty of Environment - Master of Science in Geography
• Faculty
of Health Sciences - Master of Science in Health Sciences
6.
Master of Science degree requirements
at SFU
While most MSc degrees require a thesis, several programs (Computing Science, Applied
and Computational Mathematics, Mathematics, Statistics, Actuarial Science) require a
project, and one (MSc Kinesiology) has a course work option that requires a directed
studies course.
The MFRM program requires 45 credit hours (12 courses plus project). The MFRM project
is supervised by two readers. It is not defended like a thesis.
H
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
Appendices
Appendix 1- MSc programs in Finance outside SFU
Masters
of Science in Business are very common in Canada, Europe and the US. For example:
Canada
UBC (Robert Lee Graduate School) has an MSc in Business Administration with specializations
in Finance, Management Information Systems and Logistics.
Queen'sUniversity: MSc in Finance, in Marketing, in Management
Concordia (John Molson School
of Business): MSc in Finance
University of Western Ontario (Ivey): MSc in Management in International Management
U Ottawa (Telfer): MSc in Management
Laurier: MSc in Management (Including an MSc in Technology Management)
HEC - Montreal: MSc in Adminstration (Finance)
Europe
USA
London School of Economics: MSc Management and Regulation of Risk; MSc Finance
Oxford (Said School of Business): MSc Finance
(Britain generally uses the MSc Finance designation)
BI Norway: MSc in Financial Economics
Grenoble: MSc Finance
New York University: MS in Risk Management
City University of New York (Baruch): MSc Finance
University
of Texas: MSc Finance
University
of San Francisco: MS in Risk Management
Carnegie Mellon:
MSc in Computational Finance
DePaul University (Kellstadt School of Business): MS Finance
Drexel University (LeBow College of Business): MS Finance
Florida State University (College of Business): MS Finance
George Washington University (School of Business): MS Finance
Golden Gate University (Ageno School of Business): MS Finance
Northeastern University (GSB): MS Finance
Appendix 2- MFRM curriculum
Semester 1 - Fall
Financial Modeling Tools
Financial Economics I
Equity Security Analysis and Portfolio
Management I
Derivative Securities I
Accounting for Financial Instruments
-OR-
Equity Security Analysis and Portfolio
Management II
Semester 2 -
Financial Economics II
Spring
Financial Econometrics
Market Risk Management
Fixed Income Security Analysis
Derivative Securities II
Semester 3 -
Numerical Methods in Risk Management
Summer
Law and Regulation of Financial Institutions
Credit Risk Management
Enterprise Risk Management for Financial
Institutions
-OR-
Strategic Asset Allocation
Research Project
5"
SIMON ERASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
Semester 1 - Fall
Financial Modeling Tools
Introduction to elements of mathematics and computational techniques essential for risk management. Introduction to
programming tools employed in financial institutions, e.g. Microsoft VBA, Matlab, and an object oriented programming
language, (e.g. C++).
Financial Economics
I
An introductory course in financial decision making under uncertainty.
Equity Security Analysis and Portfolio Management I
Introduction to capital market expectations, equity and fixed income portfolio management, risk management,
rebalancing strategies, and portfolio performance and attribution are discussed.
Derivative Securities
I
An introductory course on pricing and the use of derivative securities in portfolio management and structured
transactions.
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO:
Accounting for Financial Instruments
Comparison of FASB, IASB and AcSB. Accounting for derivatives. Hedge accounting. Accounting for securitization.
Equity Security Analysis and Portfolio Management
The valuation of equity securities, including company and industry analysis, financial analysis, and valuation models.
Semester 2 - Spring
Financial Economics II
Extends concepts in Financial Economics to various estimation and empirical issues in capital markets.
Financial Econometrics
Reviews econometric methods for testing asset pricing models and performance measurement.
Market Risk Management
Includes a survey of value-at-risk and other risk metrics methodologies used by leading financial institutions worldwide.
Fixed Income Security Analysis
Theories of the term structure, measures of fixed income return, yield-spread analysis and sources of risk in fixed
income securities.
Derivative Securities II
Emphasis is placed on the further use of analytical methods for valuation, replication, hedging and continuous-time
mathematics.
Semester 3 - Summer
Numerical Methods
An introduction to the numerical mathematics of financial models to provide an overview of the basic computational
tools and associated mathematics that are used by financial analysts, financial engineers and risk managers.
lo
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
Law and Regulation of Financial Institutions
Review of securities law in Canada, US and the EU. Asurvey of how and by whom financial intermediaries are
regulated.
Credit Risk Management
Examines techniques of credit risk management, with emphasis on portfolio models. Models measuring probability of
default and loss given default are covered.
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO:
Enterprise Risk Management for Financial Institutions
An assessment of the risk management practices of financial institutions. A survey of best practices withinfinancial
institutions with respect to enterprise risk management, including risk architecture and risk communication and
disclosure within the organization.
Strategic Asset Allocation
Assumptions underlying the Capital Asset Pricing Model are relaxed to allow for specific views on asset returns, and to
allow for the expected future consumption needs of a given investor to be considered at a strategic level.
Research Project
The final project requires students to research a topic in risk management. This project may be based on ideas
generated in previous academic terms. Projects are supervised by faculty members. The format of this course consists
of in-class sessions as well as regular meetings on an individual basis with the designated project supervisors.
"7
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
