Oscar Cisneros

Which classes do you teach online?

FIN 5320: Financial Institutions and Markets

What types of projects and work do you typically assign for these courses?

The course consists of weekly discussion questions, a weekly writing assignment and a final exam.

What do you want students in your courses to learn? What are the learning outcomes or objectives?

As stated in the University course catalog, this course will expose you to “the various aspects of interest rates: the relationship between interest rates and security prices; instruments and functions of money; bond and stock markets; financial derivative markets; government influence on financial markets; the role of commercial banks and the regulatory system; international banking operations; and non-bank financial institutions.” To accomplish this, we define the course objective as the study of financial markets, domestic and international, as well as the institutions that play a vital role in the functioning of the financial markets, the setting of interest rates, as well as the institutions and specific rules that provide regulatory oversight to ensure the safe and sound functioning of financial markets. The course will also allow you to understand the interaction between savers, investors and lenders (simply referred to as providers of capital) to borrowers and other users of that capital. Finally, the course will explore the risk-and-return characteristics of various financial instruments and will familiarize students with the pricing of these instruments.

What advice would you give to those considering the online MBA in International Banking and Finance program?

Keep up with the readings and participate in the discussion questions to engage the professor and students so that all can share practical experience.

How can an MBA help students prepare for the challenges of the field?

This class can prepare students by providing them a good foundation on the workings of financial markets and institutions and their application to real-world scenarios.

What is the value of an MBA?

The goal of this class is to provide students an understanding of the role of financial markets and institutions not only from an academic perspective but also from a practical perspective. This way students can apply the concepts learned to their personal lives and investments.

Why did you start teaching?

I started teaching due to my desire to share the knowledge and experience I have accumulated for over 20 years as a practitioner in accounting and finance. My goal is to bridge the gap between the academic side and the practical side so that students can see, understand and apply the concepts learned during class to real-life examples.

What is the one book you think everyone should read?

One book that finance students should read is “Too Big to Fail” by Andrew Ross Sorkin, a good read on the causes of the Great Recession. “When Genius Failed” by Roger Lowenstein would be a close second.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that your students might not know.

I enjoy reading history and nonfiction books and trying out tech gadgets like tablets, etc. I also enjoy keeping up with current finance and economic events.