Outlook for Queensborough Business Department Students is Solid
Queensborough’s Fed Challenge Team demonstrates prowess for monetary policy in an academic competition
Queensborough Community College Business students earned top points and high interest from The Federal Reserve Bank, having won third place among 40 colleges and universities in the annual College Fed Challenge held this month.
“We competed against students from some of the city’s top Economics programs. They were all suited up and it was very intimidating,” explained Queensborough team captain Jessica Schuler, 22, a business major from Freeport, Long Island.
Schuler, Christian Ramjas and Saif Khan portrayed monetary policymakers. They interpreted data, analyzed economic conditions, and recommended a course for monetary policy to a panel of Reserve Bank judges.
Khan, a Business Administration major, applied what he had learned in Macroeconomics to the team project.
Picture, from left to right: Saif Khan, Dr. Roumen Vragov, Jessica Schuler, Professor S. Benjamin Murolo and Christian Ramjas.
“Our group divided up the data into three aspects of the economy. Jessica had unemployment, Christian took inflation, and I had gross domestic product. I had a great time working with everyone,” Khan said.
The trio collaborated for several months, developing their public speaking skills and deepening their understanding of the complexities of the nation’s economy.
“We wanted to practice what we were going to say and how we would present our charts and figures to the judges. We all played our parts to ensure we were on point with everything,” Ramjas explained.
The team squeezed in extra rehearsal time when they could and achieved perfect scores for Communication, Teamwork and Analysis in a preliminary round of the Challenge.
In contrast to many other participating college and university students, Queensborough team members worked full-time jobs while studying, according to Professor S. Benjamin Murolo, CPA MBA lead advisor to the team.
“They each carried a heavy course load and personal load yet diligently practiced scripts during the week and on weekends,” said Professor Murolo. Dr. Roumen Vragov, from the Business Department, advised students as well.
Ramjas, an Accounting major, will attend CUNY’s Baruch College in spring 2020. So will Schuler. After that, she wants to establish her career at the Fed.
The Challenge reinforced each student’s appreciation of the College and their “hands-on” professors, who contributed their personal time and shared valuable practical experience.
“When I came to Queensborough Community College, I wasn’t ready to commit to a four-year college,” said Khan. “Now because of Queensborough I am able to enhance my skills, and prepare myself for the real world.”
Ramjas agreed. “I first enrolled because of how close the campus is to home, and I wanted Queensborough to be a stepping stone. I didn’t know then about all the opportunities the college offered.”
For team leader Schuler, the payoff is immediately measurable. “Queensborough really introduced me to a new world.”
Flushing Bank has generously sponsored Queensborough’s Fed Challenge Team since 2011.
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Contact:
Michael Donahue or Alice Doyle
