Charles Schwab and Texas Tech University Name First Schwab Research Scholar

Written by: Georgia Godfrey

The Texas Tech University College of Human Sciences along with Charles Schwab Foundation on Tuesday announced Danielle Winchester, a doctoral student, as the inaugural Schwab Research Scholar. The announcement builds on an already existing partnership in which the college creates a new on-campus teaching facility that will be named the "Schwab Technology Complex." Both the research fellowship and the new technology complex are funded by a $1 million grant pledged to the Personal Financial Planning program by Charles Schwab Foundation in October on behalf of Schwab Institutional. "The Personal Financial Planning program is the national leader in research and educating students for the financial planning community" said Linda Hoover, dean of the College of Human Sciences. "With the support of Schwab, we will continue to provide the industry with excellently prepared graduates." As the Schwab Research Scholar, Winchester is conducting a job analysis study that will identify what employers in the industry expect from the next generation entering the workforce. The study will pinpoint topics employers expect financial planning majors to have studied, rank employers’ importance of these topics, and examine competence levels in each topic employers expect of incoming entry-level employees. The national study is designed to help academic institutions develop curriculums that will more effectively educate students studying to enter the financial planning industry. Winchester is expected to release the first set of findings in fall 2008. "This study will serve to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world. It will enable us to incorporate the knowledge and skills that today’s financial services firms demand into the classroom" said Deena Katz, associate professor in the Personal Financial Planning Division. The Schwab Technology Complex will contain the largest collection of professional software in any collegiate financial planning program in the United States. The facility will house a technology classroom, a technology work lab, and resource workspace that will be used by undergraduate and graduate students in the university’s Division of Personal Financial Planning. Winchester is currently a doctoral student in the Personal Financial Planning Division at Texas Tech. She earned both an M.B.A. in 2002 and a bachelor of science in international business from the University of North Carolina in 1996. From 2002 to 2007, she taught in the Department of Business Education at North Carolina A&T State University. Winchester is expected to complete her studies in 2009 and plans to return to North Carolina to teach at an institution of higher education. The Texas Tech Personal Financial Planning Division strives to educate students on the need to focus financial knowledge on families and the achievement of their goals. CONTACT: Georgia Godfrey, coordinator for college development and external relations, College of Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-3263, or georgia.godfrey@ttu.edu.