Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• QST FE 829: Futures, Options and Financial Risk Management
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - This course covers the theory of futures, swaps and option pricing and develops a framework for analyzing hedging and investment decisions using these instruments. Attention is paid to practical considerations in the use of these investments, tax and accounting issues and the institutional features of the market in which the various instruments are traded.
• QST FE 833: ESG Equity Investing
  ESG Equity Investing is an introductory course that provides the appropriate tools to analyze and undertake investments in publicly listed companies taking into account the social impact of these financial decisions. Different dimensions of social impact -- Environment, Social, and Governance -- are discussed along with corresponding ESG metrics available to investors. The core of the course deals with the integration of (quantitative-based) portfolio allocation models with (qualitative-based) ESG scores and objectives. The course also discusses how impact investing may affect the behavior of firms, as well as alternative channels through which investors can provide impact (private investments, activism).
• QST FE 850: Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE713 OR QSTFE820) - Private Equity (PE) is a major force in the capital markets, acquiring household names such as Dell, Toys R Us, Neilson, Nieman Marcus, and many more. This course exposes students to, and de-mystifies, the PE world. The focus is centered on LBOs and their position in the alternative asset class. Students learn about the activities of PE firms including formation, fundraising, investing (deal structure, terms, due diligence, governance) and exiting. We also discuss how other industry sectors serve or are affected by PE and who the players are. This is a capstone course that integrates marketing, strategy and finance to further the understanding of business evaluation. Case study and class participation are the primary modes of learning. Course offered jointly with undergraduate course SMG FE 450.
• QST FE 854: Entrepreneurial Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: QST AC710 or AC711, QST FE712 or FE722 - The focus of FE854 is on the development of financial and business skills to identify, evaluate, start and manage new ventures. A comprehensive understanding of finance is an essential ingredient in the "recipe" for business success. No longer can the assumptions underlying financial projections be treated as "black boxes." In many cases, the answer is less important than the analytical process used to calculate it. Readings for the course will primarily be in the form of case studies, and will be supplemented by guest speakers, presentations, and readings from academia and industry.
• QST FE 870: Analysis and Management of Financial Risk
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE712 OR QSTFE722) - This course introduces the analysis and management of risk in the context of financial institutions. The objective of the course is to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about financial risk, covering both theoretical background and practical implementation
• QST FE 875: Advanced Valuation Methods (Valuation Boot Camp)
  Pre-requisite: QSTFE 712 or QSTFE 722. This course will provide students the opportunity to learn about valuation methods other than the discounted cash flow plus weighted average cost of capital method taught in the core curriculum, including adjusted present value, the method of comparables (multiples) and (time permitting) the equity cash flows method.
• QST FE 895: Action Learning Directed Study in Finance
  ALDS: FINANCE
• QST FE 898: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 899: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 918: Doctoral Seminar in Finance
  This doctoral course, is designed to provide students with an introduction to financial economics. This lecture-based course will cover no arbitrage conditions, preferences and risk aversion, portfolio selection, the capital asset pricing model, asset pricing and dynamic asset pricing. In addition to lectures, this class will include readings and assignments. Open to MBA students with faculty member's permission. Must have strong quantitative background and several courses in finance or economics.
• QST FE 920: Advanced Capital Markets
  This course provides a comprehensive and in-depth treatment of modern asset pricing theories. Extensive use is made of continuous time stochastic processes, stochastic calculus and optimal control. In particular, martingale methods are employed to address the following topics: (i) optimal consumption- portfolio policies and (ii) asset pricing in general equilibrium models. Advances involving non-separable preferences, incomplete information and agent diversity will be discussed.
• QST FE 998: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 999: Directed Study: Finance
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Finance. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST HM 703: Health Sector Issues and Opportunities
  This course provides a dynamic introduction to the health sector, beginning with the burden and distribution of disease and current patterns of expenditures. While the emphasis will be on the American system, a global context will be developed. The basic elements of insurance and payment, service delivery, and life sciences products will be described, and put in the context of the unique economic structure of the sector. The intense challenges of the sector will be explored, as well as both the ethical issues presented and the opportunities that emerge. Public policy and technological and practice development as drivers of change will be addressed throughout.
• QST HM 710: Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTHM703) - The overarching theme of this course is health care organizational transformation. The course will provide knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement high performing health care systems capable of delivering accessible, high quality, efficient services. It will draw upon relevant information from disciplinary areas of study including strategy, operations, marketing, finance, law, human resources, quality improvement, and information technology.
• QST HM 717: Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution
  Graduate Prerequisites: QST HM703, QST FE712 or FE722, QST MK723 or MK724, QST SI750 or SI751 - This course will examine issues and opportunities in life sciences focused on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices sectors and the life sciences service industry supporting these sectors, through the eyes of the CEO. The course will investigate who manages these companies and what are the strategies that are used to build successful enterprises. Students will be introduced to individuals and institutions at every stage of the development cycle from idea generation and start-up fundraising to manufacturing, commercialization and global expansion. We will specifically look at key elements of strategy and the execution by examining companies, that have either succeeded or failed, by discussing the pros and cons of different approaches and teasing out the lessons one can derive from leaders in the field and case studies examining their approaches.
• QST HM 801: Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
  The subject of the course is the translation of medical technologies into new products and services for the healthcare system. The course begins with a rigorous study of university research commercialization including intellectual property, licensing and planning, creating, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures. Concepts and tools are presented for assessing new technologies and their potential to be the basis for commercialization. Cross- disciplinary teams of students will be formed which will evaluate translational research projects currently being developed at Boston University and other local academic research institutions, to develop a go-to-market strategy. There will be a case studies and guest lecturers to discuss examples of both success and failure in technology commercialization.
• QST HM 817: Advances in Digital Health
  Graduate Prerequisites: QST HM710 or HM717 - Digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the health sector. Health information technology now permeate every segment of the health value chain, starting with the search for health information, to improving patient outcomes, to improving health. In this course students explore the evolving digital health landscape through a mix of case studies, practitioner talks, individual papers and team projects. Students will enhance their digital health requirements and systems selection toolbox. They will develop competence in current digital health technology standards, gain a deeper understanding of the strategic drivers of digital health through the eyes of the healthcare CIO and CMIO, the operational challenges from the perspective of the end user and the healthcare providers, and challenges of incorporating digital health technologies into existing workflows.
• QST HM 820: Strategy, Economics, and Policy in the Health Sector
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTPL727 OR QSTPL730) - This course studies the strategic and economic issues facing insurers, providers, and life-sciences companies in the healthcare sector. The course will adapt tools from health economics, strategy, and finance to understand the problems faced by these firms. The course will also examine the problems faced by regulators, who must craft policies that shape the healthcare sector: which hospital mergers to allow; what procedures health insurers must cover; how public programs ought to reimburse life-sciences companies; how quality of care is measured and rewarded; and so on.
• QST HM 833: Health Sector Marketing
  Graduate Prerequisites: QSTMK723 or MK724 - This course provides an understanding of health sector marketing for health care services delivery (e.g., health systems, independent hospitals, hospices, pharmacies), for private business (e.g., life sciences, pharma, and biotech), and for insurance (e.g., commercial insurance and government). The course explores marketing insights and marketing strategies in the context of the evolving health sector. Topics addressed include the marketing of health care services by providers, insurance product marketing, marketing to physicians, new product development, particularly for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and consumer adoption of medical and service innovations. The course will build students' knowledge of the unique challenges of health sector marketing and will build facility with applying the principles of marketing to situations across this vast landscape.