WSU takes over UD’s RISE with LIFT

By: Grace McCormick – Staff Writer

This spring, the University of Dayton will not be holding the Redefining Investment Strategy Education Forum (RISE), as it has the previous 14 years.

According to a Dayton Daily News article from Aug. 7, Paul Bobrowski, dean of the school of business administration, said UD is taking this upcoming year to build other opportunities for students. He said the department of economics and finance is examining some alternatives.

“It’s having the opportunity to have conversations rather than hearing lectures or panelists talking about things,” Bobrowski told Dayton Daily News. It’s possible, he added, there will be opportunities to partner with other schools in the future.

“Nothing is concrete yet,” Bobrowski said. “The challenge, I think, is to task the faculty and get them thinking creatively.”

The article mentions that over the years, RISE  hosted influential leaders of the financial industry that would speak and partake in panels. CEOs and strategists from some of the top investment firms also attended the event.

Bobrowski said that logistics and staff time generated high costs for the forum.

Even though Dayton will not be hosting RISE this year, Wright State University will be hosting a program called Leading Innovation in Finance Today (LIFT), which is similar in nature to RISE.

LIFT, according to Bill Wood, senior lecturer and program director for financial services at WSU, is a program designed for those in the banking, insurance, accounting, investing and financial planning industries. He said that the program will touch on current topics.

On Wright State’s business website, it says the program will focus on four contemporary issues: the role of social media in client recruiting and retention, financial planning for and by women, the advisor’s practice succession planning and the financial advisor’s role in meeting the non-financial needs of clients throughout their life, especially as they enter their new career: retirement.

Wood said LIFT is different than Dayton’s RISE program. RISE is specifically research and investment orientated, with a more academic approach. LIFT, on the other hand, is more client  oriented.

This year at LIFT, Wood said there are a number of well-known speakers that will attend. The keynote speaker will be LaVaughn Henry.

Henry is vice president and senior regional officer of the Cincinnati branch of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank,

“[Henry] serves as senior executive branch leader to 140 plus employees operative in the banking supervision, cash management, law enforcement, facilities management and community development,” according to Wright State’s business site.

Other speakers include Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, a wealth psychology expert, Elizabeth Jetton, founder of Elizabeth Jetton Coaching and Consulting Services and Crystal Thies, founder and CEO of Crystal Clear Buzz, LLC, to name a few.

The LIFT Symposium will take place Friday. It begins at 8 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. in the Student Union at Wright State University.

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