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Live Cases

At Butler, we partner with the business community to provide students with a hands-on, relevant business education.  Students have the opportunity to work on live cases with local companies in their business classes.  This extension of real life, real business provides students with an unparalleled learning experience.   

The Student-Managed Investment Fund

Finance students manage a $1 million portfolio of large cap stock using a state of the art trading room.  Student teams work with a panel of advisors (real money managers) to make investment decisions, which is complemented by guest speakers such as Jim Cornelius, CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb .  Since the fund's inception, our students have beaten the performance of the S&P 500 each semester. 

The investment fund gives students a unique opportunity to learn by doing and to network with some of the area's top investment advisors and money managers.
Steve Dolvin
Assistant Professor of Finance

The fund has consistently outperformed the S&P 500, which is evidence that this type of hands-on, experiential learning works.  I am impressed by the quantitative and qualitative skills that the students have developed.
John Perry
Senior Vice President, Morgan Stanley

The best part of the class was being able to touch real money. Knowing that I was affecting the real returns of our portfolio created a completely different perspective.
Kimberly Linton
Class of 2009

The Finish Line Project

For the last several years, Butler marketing students have studied different aspects of the marketing strategy of retailer Finish Line. Students analyzed the merchandise and pricing strategies, went undercover as secret shoppers to examine product layout and store service, toured the retailer's distribution center, and developed ways for the company to attract college-age customers.   Student recommendations were presented to Finish Line's top company executives. 

Kevin Flynn, Senior Vice President of Marketing, said student research confirmed some of Finish Line's findings while also bringing new insights.  "The fact that these students happen to be in our core target audience [ages 18-24] lent credibility to their findings and made their opinions valid and relevant to us," said Flynn. "It energized us to continue the research on our own. Butler is a great school, and this class is a terrific way to give students a view into a real company. It's a great win for both us."