The Alan I. Greene '51 Fund was established as a permanent endowment fund to support a diverse set of program initiatives to inform students about the financial markets and to engage them in discussion about how current issues and information associated with the markets will affect their personal and professional lives. The program is linked to the First-Year Experience, the Sophomore-Year Experience, and the efforts of the Center for Career Services.
These programs, conducted outside of the classroom but knit together through a combination of class-based and residential education program efforts, are designed to help students shape successful personal and professional lives.
Utilizing the experience and perspectives of outside speakers, who are talented practitioners in their fields, the Alan I. Greene Program will support those initiatives that orient and inform students to the information and perspectives they need to understand about financial markets and investing.
There are four components to the Alan I. Greene Program – a Campus Speaker Series, the Weekend Certificate Workshops, Transition Workshops, and an Externship Program.
The Campus Speaker Series – "What Investing Is All About"
The Campus Speaker Series consists of two to three speaker events per semester on broader topics in the field of finance and investments. Speakers are invited to campus for a presentation about a current topic and to answer questions. These events are promoted to the entire Colgate community and held in one of the larger lecture halls at Colgate.
The Campus Speaker Series topics are broad-based and focus on current events, personal investing, introductory finance, financial markets, ethics, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
The primary goals of the Campus Speaker Series are to provide broad exposure to the field and a general understanding of investments and financial markets.
The Weekend Certificate Workshops
The Weekend Certificate Workshops will consist of one to two small group day-long seminars with alumni in the field during the semester. The Weekend Certificate Workshops will involve further exploration of the Campus Speaker Series topics and include some practical skills development and training in the field. Speakers are encouraged to share personal perspectives about their investment philosophy, career-related advice, and engage in conversation about current event issues related to the financial markets. This program will be open to all students. To attend, students are encouraged to have participated in the Campus Speaker Series events.
Examples of topics for the Weekend Certificate Workshops include: introductory bond/equity/stock analysis, exposure to the specifics of the field, understanding case studies, advice and training in public speaking and communications, and further exposure and exploration of current events and ethics in the field.
The primary goals of the Weekend Certificate Workshops are to begin the networking/mentoring process, provide further exposure and exploration in the field, and allowing opportunities for some practical skills development and training in the field.
Students participating in any of the Greene Weekend Certificate Workshops will receive a certificate outlining the details of that individual workshop. The certificate can be cited on a student’s resume as pre-professional training in the field of finance and investments.
Transition Workshops
The Transition Workshops will focus more closely on hands-on experience in the field along with the development of a mentorship arrangement with alumni in the field. The Greene Fund would support a series of workshops tailored to groups of 15-20 juniors and seniors and the content would build on the other program elements referenced but focus more directly in a discussion of the personal steps they need to take for successful personal investing lives.
Transition Workshops will involve how to execute a job search and action plan in the field – refining the cover letter and resume, preparing for the interview process, marketing the liberal arts experience, and fostering a mentorship relationship; and further practical and technical skills training in the field, such as learning Excel, doing oral presentations, and leading team projects.
The primary goals of the Transition Workshops will be developing a mentorship relationship with an alumnus in the field, refining career development skills and preparing for the job search process, and providing further hands-on practical and technical skills training in the field.
Externship Program
A highlight of the Greene Program would be the Externship Program over the breaks and/or early summer months where 10-20 students would travel to New York City or other major metropolitan areas to meet with alumni and make other contacts in the financial market field. This program will be open to juniors and seniors and involve a competitive application process. The program will require the participation in one to two Transition Workshops to orient the students to the subject matter and resources the program will provide. Students will also participate in a follow-up meeting on campus upon their return to discuss what they have learned and provide feedback for future sessions.
The primary goals of the Externship Program will be hands-on experiences in the field, further refinement of career development skills, additional networking and mentoring opportunities, and applying the skills learned on-campus to the externship experiences.