Experiential Opportunities

Learning is about more than sitting in a classroom taking notes. For business students at the Tobin College of Business, it's about the practical application of classroom knowledge - through innovative programs like these:

Our Programs

University Crest on the top of a sign

Executive-in-Residence Program

Provides to both the undergraduate and graduate students in-school opportunities to engage in real-world business consulting with actual business and non-profit organizations.

Floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Student Managed Investment Fund

Designed to give the students a hands-on experience at performing investment research, investing money and managing a portfolio prior to entering the work force.

Business School Students in computer lab

The Applied Finance Institute

The mission of the Applied Finance Institute is to promote the activities of the Tobin College that are related to the practice of finance for the benefit of our finance students. The Institute will provide a focal point, encouraging an applied and experiential learning environment, relevant to the practice of finance, in order to prepare Tobin finance students for successful careers.

Sculpture of the Globe during the sunset

Global Microloan Program

The GLOBE Graduate Affiliate Program actively engages graduate students in international finance and social entrepreneurship through their strategic support of undergraduate GLOBE managers in the provision of microcredit to small entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Street banner with St. John's University logo

Academic Service-Learning

Offered as part of required management courses sophomore year, students develop solutions to immediate short-term problems which organizations encounter while senior students focus on developing long-term strategies.

Male student studying

Undergraduate Internships

The Tobin College of Business offers internships for real life experience and we provide our students with opportunities with employers throughout the Metropolitan area.

Student Tax Volunteer working on tax returns on desktop

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)

The Department of Accountancy's premier academic service-learning opportunity for Tobin students is the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, a partnership with the Food Bank for New York City (FB). FB is NYC’s major hunger-relief organization. Since 2008 hundreds of St. John’s student volunteers have been preparing income tax returns for clients that have generated refunds of more than $22 million, which results in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact and significant savings in tax preparation fees.

Societies and Organizations

Alpha Kappa Psi (Business)

The objects of this chapter shall be to further the individual welfare of its members, to foster scientific research in the fields of commerce, accounts and finance; to educate the public to appreciate and demand higher ideals therein; and to promote and advance in institutions of college rank courses leading to degrees in business administration.

Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting)

The primary objective of Beta Alpha Psi is to ecourage and give recognition to scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field as well as encourage a sense of ethical, social and public responsibility.

Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma is the international honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in a business program accredited by AACSB International

General Information
Iota Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma was established at St. John's University in 1968 following the accreditation of the College by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.

Mission
The Mission of the International Honor Society Beta Gamma Sigma is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business, to foster personal and professional excellence, to advance the values of the Society, and to serve its lifelong members. For more information on Beta Gamma Sigma refer to betagammasigma.org.

Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics)

Omicron Delta Epsilon, one of the world’s largest academic honor societies, honors outstanding students in the area of economics, encourages collaboration and scholarship, and publishes The American Economist.

To qualify for membership, undergraduate students must have completed at least 91 credits with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and at least 12 credits in economics and finance with a minimum 3.5 GPA in those courses. Graduate students must have completed at least 12 credits in economics or finance with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in those courses and a minimum 3.0 

Academic Affairs Commission
The Academic Affairs Commission of SGA organizes and presents the concerns of students with regard to academic issues. The Commission addresses academic program concerns and serves as a liaison to faculty and the Peter J. Tobin College of Business.

Gamma lota Sigma
The Alpha Iota Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, National Collegiate Insurance Fraternity, is located at the College. Its membership is open to all students interested in insurance as a career. The fraternity sponsors industry lectures, national symposiums, corporate field trips, and participation in regional and national fraternity conferences. The fraternity is dedicated to providing a link between the insurance industry and students on college campuses nationwide.

Graduate Business Association
The Graduate Student Association of St. John's University is designed to serve as a forum for opinions and suggestions concerning education, progress, empowerment, experience and the quality of life as a graduate student.

Organization of Resident Students (ORS)
This organization is comprised of students who assist in developing programs and activities for the students residing at the campus. ORS voices the concerns of residents and strives to create a sense of community for those living at the College.

Student Government Association (SGA)
The Student Government Association is the representative body of all students, undergraduate and graduate, part-or full-time. It meets regularly to discuss issues and affairs of the students and the campus. Any matriculated student in good academic and social standing may run for election as an Executive Board officer or Program Representative, as outlined by the SGA Constitution. SGA meetings are open to all students.

Institute of Internal Auditors Student Chapter (IIA)
The purpose of the IIA Student Chapter is to develop student leadership skills, to raise awareness on campus about the internal audit profession, educate members about the roles and opportunities available in the profession, and to connect students with internal audit professionals.  This Student Chapter is affiliated with the New York Chapter of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

ISACA Student Group
The purpose of the ISACA Student Group is to develop student leadership skills, to raise awareness on campus about the information systems auditing profession, educate members about the roles and opportunities available in the profession, and to connect students with information systems professionals.  This Student Group is affiliated with the ISACA New York Metropolitan Chapter.

Lesley and William Collins Business Analytics Lab

The Lesley and William Collins Business Analytics Lab boasts state-of-the-art learning tools including 40 computer workstations.  Every computer is equipped with the latest FactSet financial workstation software and 17 computers are also Bloomberg terminals.  These state-of-the-art software tools and databases provide access to financial markets information, financial statement data, news, and worldwide economics indicators to enrich every student’s understanding of the business world.  Classes can monitor and discuss the latest financial news and information with DirecTV Channels including Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business News, and the other cable news channels.

The Tools

  • The Business Analytics Lab offers state-of-the-art software systems and databases to support hands-on, real-world student learning as well as faculty research.  
  • Its core application is FactSet, an extremely flexible set of applications which processes accounting data, securities prices and performance, portfolio analysis, earnings estimates, expansive economics data series, fixed income, and information on mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, and private placements. 
  • Seventeen of the computer stations are also equipped with the Bloomberg terminal system. 
  • Thirty stations offer the Stata statistical analysis software.
  • The Business Analytics Lab is equipped with Certiport which the Department of Accountancy uses for students to earn certification on Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Associate and Expert certification in Excel. The Lab is a certified testing center for MOS.  

Audio/Visual Features

  • 3 digital display screens, which can serve to show the instructor’s screens during class instruction, or one of the news channels available on the DirectTV subscription, or include the “audience” that is participating via teleconferencing software.
  • Audio piped through speakers in the ceiling.

Competitive Advantage

Building on our traditions of producing business practitioners who recognize opportunities and use these to competitive advantage, the College is moving in a direction that will further build visibility for programs in all of our major areas of study.

  • Students have easy access to downloadable versions of firms’ financial statements.
  • Risk management students can simulate scenarios using multiple variables to determine the best risk coverage formula.
  • Finance and economics students have access to real-time business data and news from around the world aggregated to make the soundest investment and portfolio management decisions. 
  • SMIF students use FactSet and Bloomberg to analyze stock recommendations and build their research reports.
  • Business Analytics students can utilize the lab to draw from databases and databanks around the world in making decisions within or across business disciplines.
  • Students of organizations and organizational behavior use the lab to derive the most contemporary business cases for use in strategic and operational analyses.
  • Marketing students use the lab for research and planning relative to new products and services for consumers, or to evaluate the implications of a marketing plan.
  • EIRP students perform research in support of strategic business plans.

Establishing the Business Analytics Lab at the Tobin College contributes significantly to our reputation as a leader and innovator in business education, thereby raising the profile of the Tobin degree worldwide.

The lab enables faculty to provide instruction that is exciting, informative and engaging. Equipment and tools in the room support numerous applications, some of which are:

  • Direct analysis of a business case with up-to-the-minute financial information
  • Follow news with a class of major corporate mergers or financial market events via one of the business cable news channels on the LCD screens
  • Perform research in support of strategic business plans (EIRP)
  • Access a mergers and acquisitions database for case analysis of accounting treatment
  • Chart and/or download thousands of global macroeconomic variable series
  • Download historical price data for financial instruments for analysis·
  • Download historical financial statement data into Excel instantaneously
  • Evaluate the implications of a marketing plan
  • Create stock analysis research reports
  • Track the performance of a stock portfolio    

The Lab environment holds virtually unlimited promise as a mechanism for provision of training, updating of skills or corporate education in many fields of business, such as financial services, business journalism, e-commerce, management of risk, insurance and quantitative finance.

For more information about this exciting new venture, please contact John Neumann at 718-990-5554 or [email protected].

Competitions

The Peter J. Tobin College of Business and the St. John's University Office of Alumni Relations invite students to enter the 2024 James and Eileen Christmas Business Plan Competition and Pitch Event.

Interested students must submit a business plan by March 6, 2024 to be eligible to compete for one of eight cash prizes, with a grand prize of $5,000 – all underwritten by James W. Christmas '70CBA and Eileen Christmas.

The Competition and Pitch Event is open to all undergraduate and graduate St. John's University students from all majors. Students (maximum team of five) can submit a 15-page business plan and win a chance to present plans on Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m in The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, rooms 201-202.

Any business plan not selected to be one of five finalists in the competition may still be selected to take part in the Pitch Event. Selected pitch contestants can pitch their business idea in three minutes to compete for cash prizes.

For competition information and videos from previous competitions, please visit http://jecbpc.com/resources.

For competition rules, please visit http://jecbpc.com/rules.

For additional questions, please contact the competition's director, Assistant Professor of the Practice Roy Weissman, at [email protected]

James W. Christmas '70CBA began his professional career by securing an internship at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen when he was still an undergraduate at St. John’s University.  His internship led to a paid position at the firm, which he immediately started on a day between his last final examination and commencement. During his career at Arthur Andersen, Christmas worked with a variety of clients, primarily in the energy areas of oil, gas and electric utilities.

Christmas left Arthur Andersen as Senior Manager in March, 1978 to accept the position of Corporate Controller at National Utilities and Industries, a diversified gas utility company with a variety of ancillary energy businesses. While at National Utilities and Industries his responsibilities included troubleshooting problems at a number of subsidiary companies, and his success led him to also serve as President and/or Vice President at several of these subsidiaries.

Christmas had been serving as Vice President of Planning and Development when he orchestrated the spinoff of National Utilities and Industries’ non regulated businesses in 1988 and became President and CEO of KCS Group, a newly created company which later became KCS Energy.  Under his leadership, KCS grew from a tiny startup to a nearly $2 billion enterprise.  In 2006 KCS Energy merged with Petrohawk Energy Corporation, an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, production, exploration and development of oil and gas, with properties concentrated in North Louisiana, Arkansas, East Texas, South Texas and Oklahoma. Petrohawk became one of the premier oil and gas companies involved in the new shale gas technology which is adding significantly to the nation’s gas supplies.  In 2011 Petrohawk was acquired by BHP Billiton for $15 billion.

Christmas is retired and currently serves as a Director of Petrohawk Energy Corporation and as Chairman of its Financial Reporting Committee.  In addition, he is a Director of Halcon Resources, Inc. and serves as Chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of its Audit Committee. He is also a Senior Financial Advisor to a private oil and gas company and a member of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business Advisory Board.

Eileen Christmas also shares a commitment to the mission and students of St. John’s University.

Growing up in a devout family that stressed the importance of religion, she attended her parish elementary school, followed by high school at The Mary Louis Academy and college at Niagara University. It was at Niagara that she met her husband, and they married at the completion of her Sophomore year.

The couple relocated to Queens and Jim transferred to St. John’s University to complete his degree while Eileen began teaching at a local Catholic elementary school. She put her career on hold to raise her family, and over the years has put her Vincentian ideals into action by devoting herself to countless volunteer activities within the Catholic Church.

She has taught Pre-Kindergarten and Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (C.C.D.) classes in her parish school, served as a member of the Religious Education Committee and shared her faith with those in need as both a Eucharistic Minister and a Consolation Minister.

Both James and Eileen Christmas are committed to providing opportunities for hardworking students to secure a quality education by taking advantage of all that St. John’s has to offer.