Siamack Shojai, dean, William Paterson University’s Cotsakos College of Business, accepts “Heart of Financial Planning” award from Diane DeOliveira, president, Financial Planning Association, New Jersey chapter. [Photo: Tim Miller]

William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., has been given the Heart of Financial Planning Award by the Financial Planning Association of New Jersey, the first time an institution, rather than an individual, has received the award.

The award is given to an individual or institution that shows outstanding leadership in the field of financial planning. It was presented Thursday to Siamack Shojai, an international economist and dean of the Cotsakos College of Business at the university.

“We have one of the best financial planning programs in the nation,” Shojai says. “Many business schools offer financial planning as a concentration within a business degree, but we decided we would build a financial planning degree program. We are in the heart of the financial world here in New York City and New Jersey and have many opportunities for employment for our graduates.”

Students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in financial planning have met the academic requirements to sit for the CFP designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

They have the opportunity to work in a financial lab with up-to-date software and hardware and the opportunity for undergraduate internships, Shojai says. Many of the students have a double major with financial planning and professional sales. With the professional sales courses, the students learn the softer people skills that they need in financial planning, Shojai adds.

The university works closely with FPA New Jersey and brings professional planners into the classrooms, says Dr. Kathleen Waldron, university president. Waldron worked at Citibank for 14 years where she directed strategic planning for the Global Private Bank and served as president of Citibank International in Miami. She is also a frequent speaker on women’s issues.

The university program was founded in 2009 and now has about 60 students. A team of university students working toward the financial planning degree competes each year in numerous national competitions. The 2016 team won top place in the FPA’s financial challenge.

Many national studies have been done highlighting the need for young people, women and people of color to join the profession at the same time older white males, who for the most part founded the profession, begin to retire.

“The university has a diverse student body, many with strong ties to New Jersey,” says Waldron. “A lot of the students do not know at first what a career in financial planning is. We spend time showing them the different paths they can take in addition to corporate finance.”