Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements The 2016 Monash University Handbook will be available from October 2015. This document contains interim 2016 course requirements information. Description Course outcomes Course requirements Progression to honours Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 1 of 6
Description This course provides professional education for those wishing to become actuary, economic or finance professionals. It has a strong emphasis on developing analytical skills and offers a solid grounding and professional competence in the aspects of commerce required for careers in the corporate sector, government and the professions. There are three specialisations in the course: Actuarial Science Economics Finance The course allows to you focus your studies from the start, blending a conceptual theoretical framework with practical applications and covers broad discipline material through to more specialised discipline requirements. Bachelor of Actuarial Science: Actuarial Science will prepare you for a career as an actuary. To provide professional actuarial advice in Australia and in most other developed countries, you must become a Fellow of the local Actuarial profession. This involves developing basic technical skills, learning how to apply these skills in a general setting, developing deep specialist knowledge and completing a professional course following two years relevant work experience. Students will have the opportunity to gain industry-based experience as part of this specialisation. Graduates will be able to seek employment in international finance and business fields dealing with life, general or health insurance, superannuation, risk management and financial consulting. Many actuaries and actuarial graduates work on investment operations for asset managers, brokers and banks. There is a range of government-related jobs in regulatory control, workers' compensation, education and others. Some actuaries work with large companies on long-term strategic planning. Bachelor of Economics: Economics is the science of allocating scarce resources to maximise people's welfare. Economists study both the microeconomic decisions of individuals, business and government, and the macroeconomic behaviour of the economy as a whole. This specialisation provides a professional education in two streams: economics and economics policy, and mathematical economics and econometrics. It is designed to encourage logical thought and detailed analysis of economic issues that can be adapted to a range of careers. Bachelor of Finance: The finance specialisation offers you the opportunity to complete a professional, highly focussed qualification in finance. It is quantitatively oriented and provides both depth and breadth in finance. You will learn and apply theory and concepts in finance to enable you to critically evaluate and make decisions regarding capital investment, mergers and acquisitions, foreign exchange, valuation of financial securities and firms, money market dealing, financial forecasting, bonds and stocks and gain a comprehensive exposure to options, future and other derivatives. With this qualification you can aspire to a large number of roles in finance, including Group Finance Director, Commodities Trader, Derivatives Trader, Investment Banker, Project Finance Analyst, Trade Finance Specialist, Stockbroker, Chief Financial Officer, Mergers and Acquisitions Specialist, Commercial Banker, Credit Analyst, Risk Manager, Corporate Finance Analyst, Finance Director, Investment Advisor, Derivative or Commodities Trader, Investment Banker or Corporate Treasurer. Some specific or additional units may be required for professional recognition. Please refer to the Faculty Professional recognition page for more information regarding accreditation for each of these specialisations. Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 2 of 6
Course outcomes These course outcomes are aligned with the Australian Qualifications Framework level 7, the Bologna Cycle 1 and Monash Graduate Attributes. Upon successful completion of this course it is expected that you will be able to: be critical and creative scholars who: produce innovative solutions to problems apply research skills to business challenges communicate effectively and perceptively be responsible and effective global citizens who: engage in an internationalised world exhibit cross cultural competence demonstrate ethical values demonstrate broad knowledge and technical skills in the area of their specialisation and be able to provide discipline based solutions relevant to the business, professional and public policy communities that we serve, in particular: Actuarial science graduates will be able to identify, analyse and quantify risk and opportunity using mathematical, econometric and financial analyses in a wide range of business settings; Economics graduates in the Economic and economic policy stream will have an extensive knowledge of both economic theories and additional fields of specialisation, including mathematical modelling and/or econometrics, with an emphasis on applying core economic theories and analytical tools to economic policy outcomes Economics graduates in the Mathematical economics and econometric stream will have acquired the ability to formulate testable economic propositions in diverse and complex economic settings and to evaluate the empirical validity of such propositions Finance graduates will to able to analyse and interpret financial data, demonstrate the use of fundamental financial models and empirical techniques and formulate and present investment and financing decisions and justifications thereof, to comply with the Australian Business Dean s Council endorsed Finance Learning Standards of knowledge, application, judgement, communication and teamwork, and reflection. construct conceptual frameworks and use these to analyse complex issues in the corporate sector, government and the professions. Course requirements The course comprises 144 points, of which 96 points must be focussed on commerce study and 48 points are used to provide additional depth or breadth. The course develops through four themes: A. Foundation commerce knowledge, B. Specialist discipline knowledge, C. Capstone experience and D. Elective breadth/depth study. Free electives may be at any level but in choosing your units, note that no more than 10 units (60 points) at level 1 can be credited to your Commerce specialist degree and a minimum 36 points must at level 3, of which at least 24 points of level 3 units must be from those offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics at the Clayton campus. The typical course map will assist you to plan how to meet the course requirements. Unless otherwise specified, units are 6 points. A. Foundation commerce knowledge (24 points) All students complete: ECC1000 Principles of microeconomics ECC1100 Principles of macroeconomics Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 3 of 6
ETC1000 Business and economic statistics ETC2410 Introductory econometrics B./C. Specialist discipline knowledge with capstone (72 points) ACTUARIAL SCIENCE a) The following eight units (48 points): ACX1100 Introduction to financial accounting ETC2420 Statistical methods in insurance ETC2430 Applied stochastic modelling ETC2440 Mathematics for economics and business* BFC2000 Financial institutions and markets BFC2340 Debt markets and fixed income securities BFX2140 Corporate finance 1ETC3530 Contingencies in insurance and pensions (capstone) * If an actuarial science student completes MTH1030, for example within a major in mathematics, then ETC2440 will not be required. You should substitute either ETC3400 (Principles of econometrics) or ETC3410 (Applied econometrics), as one of these is required to progress into honours in econometrics and business statistics. b) Four of the following units (24 points): ETC2520 Probability and statistical inference ETC3400 Principles of econometrics** ETC3410 Applied econometrics ** ETC3420 Insurance mathematics ETC3430 Financial mathematics under uncertainty ETC3460 Financial econometrics MTH3251 Financial mathematics ** One of ETC3400 or ETC3410 is required to progress into honours in econometrics and business statistics. ECONOMICS Economics and economic policy stream a) The following three units (18 points): ECC2000 Intermediate microeconomics ECC2010 Intermediate macroeconomics ECC3690 International economics (capstone) b) Three units (18 points) from List A below and two units (12 points) from List A or List B below. List A ECC3660 Monetary economics ECC3670 Economics of developing countries ECC3710 Labour economics ECC3810 Public finance ECC3830 Industrial organisation and regulation ECC3840 Mathematical economics List B ECC2300 Current issues in macroeconomic policy ECC2360 Environmental economics ECC2450 Sports economics ECC2600 Behavioural economics ECC2610 Game theory and strategic thinking ECC2800 Prosperity, poverty and sustainability in a globalised world ECC3640 Economics of climate change Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 4 of 6
ECC3800 History of economic thought ETC3410 Applied econometrics c) Four additional units (24 points) selected from those offered by the faculty at Clayton and not already completed. ECONOMICS Mathematical economics and econometrics stream a) The following three (18 points): ECC2000 Intermediate microeconomics ECC3840 Mathematical economics ETC3400 Principles of econometrics (capstone) b) One of the following pairs of mathematics units (12 points): ETC2440 Mathematics for economics and business and ETC2520 Probability and statistical inference for economics and business ETC2440 Mathematics for economics and business and ECC2610 Game theory and strategic thinking MTH1020 Analysis of change and MTH1030 Techniques for modelling MTH1030 Techniques for modelling and one of either MTH2010 Multivariate calculus or MTH2021 Linear algebra with applications c) Three units (18 points) from the following or any unit not taken in b), with at least two units at level 3: ECC2010 Intermediate macroeconomics ECC2360 Environmental economics ECC2600 Behavioural economics ECC3660 Monetary economics ECC3670 Economics of developing countries ECC3690 International economics ECC3710 Labour economics ECC3810 Public finance ECC3830 Industrial organisation and regulation ETC2450 Applied forecasting for business and economics ETC2520 Probability and statistical inference for economics and business ETC3410 Applied econometrics ETC3450 Time series analysis for economics and business ETC3460 Financial econometrics MTH2032 Differential equations with modelling MTH3051 Introduction to computational mathematics MTH3140 Real analysis MTH3241 Random processes in the sciences and engineering d) Four additional units (24 points) selected from those offered by the faculty at Clayton and not already completed. FINANCE ACX1000 Accounting for managers or ACX1100 Introduction to financial accounting BFX1001 Foundations of finance BFC2240 Equities and investment analysis BFC2340 Debt markets and fixed income securities BFX2751 Derivatives 1 Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 5 of 6
BFX2140 Corporate finance 1 BFC3140 Corporate finance 2 BFC3240 International finance BFC3340 Derivatives 2 BFC3540 Modelling in finance ETC3460 Financial econometrics* BFC3999 Finance and society (capstone) * Required unit for admission to the Bachelor of Commerce (Honours). D. Elective breadth/depth study (48 points) Elective units may be chosen from the Faculty of Business and Economics or across the University so long as you have the prerequisites and there are no restrictions on admission to the units. The units may be at any level, however, no more than 10 units (60 points) are to be completed at level 1 in the course. Enrolment in Faculty of Business and Economics units at campuses other than your campus of enrolment is subject to there being spare capacity after students from that campus have enrolled. You should also be aware of travel and timetabling limitations. For students in double degree courses, some units required for the other degree are credited as electives towards the Commerce Specialist degrees. Progression to honours Students successfully completing any of the specialisations in the Bachelor of Commerce Specialist may proceed to a one year honours program leading to the Bachelor of Commerce (Honours). Applicants must have completed a bachelor degree, with a specialisation in the related discipline and have achieved an average equivalent to at least 70% in relevant second and third level units. In addition, some fields require particular level 3 units to be taken for admission to honours. Students who may wish to proceed to honours should check the Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) website. Bachelor of Commerce Specialist Detailed Course Requirements January 2015 v1.0 Page 6 of 6