CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – The University of Northern Iowa is handing its students cutting-edge tools for their trades with a new finance and real estate analytics lab, funded in part by donations to the university’s fundraising campaign.
The university announced online this week that money from 32 donors totaling nearly $25,000 will go toward the new lab space alongside other funding sources, where students can learn and utilize necessary software and equipment to simulate being in a real workplace environment.
“This lab will give our students access to the same tools used by professionals in the field,” said Brett Olsen, head of the UNI finance department, in the release. “It’s a game changer for how we prepare students for internships and careers.”
Housed in the Curris Business Building, the release stated the lab will house 12 double-monitor computer work stations equipped with different software tools used in their areas of study, including real estate market research tool CoStar, real estate transaction modeling and analysis program Argus and stock and trading analysis platform Eikon.
A ticker tape display and “collaborative seating” will make the lab feel like a finance department where students could find themselves working in one day, according to the release.
Student organizations will be able to use the space, the release stated, as well as those completing research and industry work. UNI spokesperson Adam Amdor said in an email the lab will open for business this fall.
UNI student Kylie Patterson said in a video released by the UNI Alumni Association many entry-level jobs in the finance and real estate industries require at least some experience with the software that will be made more accessible through the new space. Being able to learn these programs while a student will give UNI graduates the “upper hand” in finding their career path, she said.
“Having a finance and real estate analytics lab will really help students be able to grow in their respective fields,” she said.
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