Finance Lab

What is the Finance Lab?

Established in 2011, in large part through a generous donation from RIC alumnus Ken Weakley, Class of ’89, the Finance Lab is the primary center for financial literacy and education for the college community. The Finance Lab houses dual-monitor Bloomberg Terminals, a primary software tool of Wall Street that provide access to Bloomberg professional data and information services. These terminals are the industry standard, used by finance professionals. RIC is one of a select group of schools that house Bloomberg Terminals, which means that our students have access to up-to-the-minute news and real-time financial market data.

Founded on These Objectives 

Enhanced Learning and Professional Development

Bloomberg software was integrated into our finance courses to enhance student learning and professional development. 

Bloomberg Certification

We redesigned our core finance course to be a 4-credit course that is inclusive of Bloomberg certification. All students in Rhode Island College's School of Business now have the opportunity to become Bloomberg certified at no additional cost. This credential will give our graduates a comparative advantage in any career in the financial services industry.

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Curriculum

The Bloomberg platform has helped us integrate the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) curriculum into our finance program, making our program one of the few programs in the state to be recognized by the CFA Institute.

Student-Managed Investment Fund

The Finance Lab has provided an ideal venue for an ongoing student-managed investment fund. This enables students to include large portfolio management with Bloomberg technology as their primary financial research and trading tool in their list of experience when speaking to potential employers.

Faculty and Student Collaborative Research

Our progress toward this objective has been significant:

• Use of the lab for research has become a part of many upper-level finance courses. 
• Economics and Finance Student Club members have used the lab for club activities, including the Stock Market Game challenge for research and trading purposes. 
• The lab has been used as a tool in our personal finance course – a class that is open to anyone in the college community to promote financial literacy and education. We plan to offer more classes, workshops and student activities to the broader RIC community, to bring about broad financial education. 

Extending our Relationship with Local High Schools and Businesses 

• Promotion and tours of the lab to local high schools, businesses and colleges has generated strong awareness of this RIC resource

The Future of the Finance Lab

We believe that the Finance Lab can be dedicated to providing first-class financial education and can serve as a vital component of growth for both our finance program and the college at large.