Graduate School of Banking at LSU vs MBA

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Graduate School Choices

In an article from the Wall Street Journal, For Newly Minted M.B.A.s, a Smaller Paycheck Awaits, the ever-popular MBA was given a hard look in terms of return on investment and impacts in climbing the corporate ladder.  The MBA has many winning attributes and can advance an individual’s career trajectory.  But, as the WSJ explores, the MBA is no longer the only game in town and it’s also not viewed as the same accomplishment it was up until the early 1990s.

MBAs have historically been a fail-safe way to get noticed by upper management and a great segue into executive levels of a corporation.  However, virtually all schools are offering MBA programs now in full time 2 year, part time, and executive curriculum.  Adding to the decreased illustriousness of the degree, online MBA programs can allow for questionable academic input for the once valuable document.  The flood of MBA students has been swollen by the recent recession sending students and laid off professionals back to school in droves, seeking advanced degrees.

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5 Leadership Qualities To Develop For The Future

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Banking Industry Leaders

Like most industries today, the banking industry is experiencing seismic shifts in consumer demands and expectations.  Customer behavior, technology, and competition are all in transition.  The most challenging part of these changes is that they are all happening at the same time.  Whether it’s the change to regulations or the swift demand in technological advancements, the banking sector is faced with huge challenges all at once.

The bank leaders of today and tomorrow must think through these growing challenges.  It will be the progressive and successful executive who will look at these encounters as being interconnected, as opposed to viewing them as silos. For example, innovative products in the industry may often times be developed as a result of customer expectation.  However, there are also times when similar products are developed in response to changes in the regulatory environment.  Either way, these developments and innovations create a cycle of cause and effect.

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Graduate School of Banking at LSU is for Female Bankers

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In looking at the fields of medicine and law, compared to business related arenas, the numbers of women seeking out education and beginning their professional lives in previously male dominated callings have been increasing for decades.  With 48% of medical school graduates being female in 2011, as stated by statehealthfacts.org, and from 2009-2010, 47% of law school students being female, reported on the ABA Journal’s website, the banking school average of 20% females shows a large disparity in the male – female ratio but also represents a HUGE opportunity for females.

Business schools have become the new “go-to” for females seeking out graduate degrees, and in light of this unbalanced ratio, business schools are starting to recruit females more aggressively as well.  According to Fortune.cnn.com, the number of women seeking out MBAs in 2010 was the highest it has ever been (1 in 3), and with record numbers of women seeking out graduate degrees in business fields like accounting and finance, the imbalance of genders will certainly continue to see a narrowing margin.

What Glass Ceiling?

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Curious About US-Mexican Economic Relations?

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US Mexican Economies

Where are the United States and Mexican economies headed in the near future?  Curious about US-Mexican economic relations? This interesting and important topic was addressed by school faculty member Dr. Thomas Payne at the school’s fourth annual economic forum to be held in Monterrey, Mexico on December 5, 2012.

The forum was attended by bankers and business leaders in northern Mexico and south Texas.  Bankers presently enrolled in the school as well as graduates were all represented at the program.  Many in the banking and financial sectors have an increasing interest in the US- Mexican economic relations, as Mexico is the third largest trading partner with the US.

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Graduate School of Banking at LSU News

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Board of Trustees

Graduate School of Banking at LSU News.

At its annual meeting on October 11-12 in Point Clear, AL, the Board of Trustees of the School elected new administrative officers for two-year terms.  Elected President was John H. Jordan, President and CEO of the Community Bank of East Tennessee, Clinton.  John has served on the school BankSim faculty for many years and will continue serving the school in this capacity.  The new President-elect is H. Watts Steger, Chairman and CEO, Bank of Botetourt, Buchanan, Virginia.  Watts also serves on the BankSim faculty and will continue in that capacity.

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2013 Banking Outlook Conference

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Panel Discussion

The Graduate School of Banking at LSU has been invited by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to co-sponsor the 2013 Banking Outlook Conference which will be held February 28, 2013 at the Fed’s office in Atlanta.  We are pleased to have a role in presenting this important and timely program which is described in the attached brochure.

The School will sponsor a panel discussion entitled Banking Outlook: A Regional Perspective, moderated by immediate past president of the School, John Womack, President and CEO, Arvest Bank, Little Rock.  Panelists are faculty member Carl Chaney, President and CEO, Hancock Bank, Gulfport, MS, Grayson Hall, President and CEO, Regions Bank, Birmingham, AL, and Paul Willson, Chairman and CEO, Citizens National Bank, Athens, TN.

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