There is a big difference between listening to a finance professor talk about how markets work and being able to see those markets work in real time. With the grand opening on Friday, Sept. 19, of the Koch Global Trading Center, students at Wichita State University are getting the kind of applied learning experience that WSU's strategic plan promises.

Though classes have been taking place in the new facility in Clinton Hall since summer, the grand opening event officially dedicated the center. Among those speaking to donors to the facility as well as WSU faculty, staff and students was President John Bardo, who said students will enter the workforce better prepared than ever before.

“Wichita State is very fortunate to have the Koch Global Trading Center, a simulated trading center with equipment and software that can supply real-time quotes and international feeds,” he said. “It’s here that students will learn and understand the complexities of trading in the commodities and financial markets, and be able to apply that knowledge as soon as they land their first jobs upon graduation.”

Elizabeth King, president and CEO of the WSU Foundation, noted that private donations covered most of the cost of establishing the trading center, which is located on the main floor of Clinton Hall.

“This support came from our engaged alumni, many of whom were business school graduates, and from companies and corporations that are committed to the quality of education our students receive,” King said.

Students who take classes at the trading center will have access to live market data and market research that come from the same sources that professionals use, said Timothy Craft, director of the center and an associate professor of finance for the W. Frank Barton School of Business.

“This first-hand experience and knowledge will help differentiate our students from graduates of other universities that don’t offer such a unique and valuable curriculum,” Craft said.

Koch Global Trading Center will provide broad education in markets, trading

He noted that employees from Koch Industries Inc., Cargill and other local businesses are helping develop new classes for the center to make the curriculum as relevant and comprehensive as possible. Some of the new classes will cover commodity trading, which previously hadn’t been taught, Craft said.

The center occupies 800 square feet on the main floor of Clinton Hall and features 30 work stations equipped with PCs supplying real-time comprehensive financial data. Each student's work station has a computer with two monitors. The room has five flat-screen monitors on the walls carrying live market data and television feeds. It also has a 60-foot-long digital financial ticker that runs along the ceiling showing stock prices. Another 30-foot-long circular ticker is suspended from the lobby ceiling of Clinton Hall.

Also giving remarks at the grand opening Friday was Rick LeCompte, chair of the Department of Finance, Real Estate & Decision Sciences in the Barton School of Business.

Media note: A photograph of the Koch Global Trading Center can be found at www.wichita.edu/foundationphotos.