Philanthropist Gives UCCS Business Students Free Subscription to Wall Street Journal
Contact: Jana Hyde, College of Business, (719) 262-3755, jhyde@uccs.edu
When businessman and former Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris was a young man, he spent a part of each morning speed-reading The Wall Street Journal.
He credits part of his business success to the broad financial picture he developed from gleaning the pages of the financial paper. Now, he’s offering that same chance at success to business students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
This fall, thanks to a grant from McMorris, the Wall Street Journal delivers 200 copies of the paper daily to Dwire Hall and gives 1,100 MBA and undergraduate business students access to subscriber-only online content. The pilot program is similar to one he began at CU-Boulder several years ago. Professors in the college are using the paper to enhance discussions in their classes, and students are finding the headlines have more meaning when they understand the concepts at play.
Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, assistant professor, Business, uses The Wall Street Journal in her graduate-level business, government and society course.
“I’m very happy to have it,” she said. “Especially with the current business headlines, it brings immediate relevancy to what we’re covering in class.”
Gonzalez-Padron asks her students to select an article that reflects class topic and start a discussion on the class’s electronic discussion board.
“This sort of interaction is possible because every student has access to the paper and its online content,” she said.
“This gift from Mr. McMorris will go a long way in pursuing our vision of building successful futures for our students,” said Venkat Reddy, dean, College of Business. “The Wall Street Journal gives our students an opportunity to stay current with the latest happenings in the business world and discuss these issues in the classroom with faculty and fellow students, thereby tying theory and practice.”
Students already recognize the value of the program.
“Please pass on to Mr. McMorris my sincere gratitude,” wrote Michael Britt, a distance MBA student, shortly after receiving an email alerting him of the gift. Britt, who lives in Virginia, is specializing in project management and finance.
The College of Business has more than 1,100 undergraduates and 450 MBA and Distance MBA students. The college is accredited by AACSB International, an organization that accredits less than 15 percent of business schools worldwide.
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado, and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 18 masters’, and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,000 students annually.