Senior Lecturer Mea Ahlberg has been nominated for the 2025 HOPE Award

We are excited to share that Senior Lecturer Mea Ahlberg has been nominated for the 2025 HOPE Award. HOPE stands for Honoring Our Professor’s Excellence and is the highest recognition a student can bestow on a faculty member. The winners of the 2025 HOPE Award will be announced at the annual HOPE Banquet.

Opportunity for students to publish in the Student Monthly Labor Review

There is a new publishing opportunity for students with an established and respected journal, the Monthly Labor Review (MLR), which is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The MLR publishes a wealth of research in a wide variety of fields. Subjects include the labor force, employment, inflation, productivity, occupational injuries and illnesses, wages, prices, and more. The new Student MLR department is intended to complement our current MLR offerings in which students have an opportunity to publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal.

To help introduce faculty and students to this new opportunity, there will be information sessions on September 10, 2024, at 3:00 pm eastern time and on September 11, 2024, at 6:00 pm eastern time. Registration for the events is required and is available online at the following links: session 1 and session 2.

If you are unable to attend, let us know. Respond to this email with your name and university to receive submission information. See the MLR for authors page for more information about submitting articles or email Justin Holt, Economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics at holt.justin@bls.gov. Click these links for a factsheet and video about the Student MLR.

 

 

ECO Student Spotlight on Ritney Coleman

Ritney Coleman was recently featured in an article by the SMU Pathways to Business and Industry team. Ritney is a rising senior pursuing a B.S. in Economics with Financial Applications. A military veteran, he initially aimed to major in accounting and become a CPA, but decided on a different career path where he felt he could make more of a societal impact.

Ritney credits SMU’s vast resources with helping him focus on his passion for research and non-profit leadership. He’s gained practical experience by collaborating with local non-profits through community events. Ritney’s goal is to develop a non-profit that serves disadvantaged youth by providing various opportunities through field trips, seminars, sports programs, and college access support.

Ritney emphasizes the importance of networking and engaged actively with professors to uncover learning opportunities. This summer, he is a research assistant for Dr. Elizabeth Wheaton-Páramo, Research Associate Professor in Economics through the Office of Engaged Learning’s Summer Research Intensive. Ritney is using the SMU human trafficking data warehouse to gather data on organized crime groups transition between smuggling and human trafficking. Ritney noted that the knowledge obtained in his Introductory Econometrics class has helped him “feel confident analyzing data.”

When asked about his advice for incoming first-year students, Ritney said, “the opportunities are available, but students need to be active, not passive, in their networking pursuits. I was able to get an internship by simply asking my professor.” Ritney recommends first and second year undergraduate students schedule an appointment with the Hegi Family Career Development Center early for resume prep and to build their LinkedIn profile. He also credits his peers in the Economics department for providing him with useful resources.

For students interested in data analysis and practical skills development, Ritney suggests exploring the Bloomberg Terminals in the Business Library, where he is currently pursuing the Bloomberg Market Concepts Certificate.

To find out more information about the SMU Pathways to Business and Industry, please contact pbi@smu.edu. Full article can be found here.

Celebrating the Achievements of our Economics Graduates!

On May 11, 2024, we proudly celebrated a significant milestone for the Department of Economics as 142 bright minds were awarded their degrees. Among them were 133 undergraduates, 7 master’s students, and 2 PhD students, each marking the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and passion for the field of economics. Congratulations to each and every one of them as they embark on the next chapter. Their time here has equipped them with the analytical tools and critical thinking skills needed to navigate and influence the global economic landscape.

Watch a video of the ceremony here.

  

ECO Career Blog is Live!

The Economics department is excited to announce that our new ECO Career Blog is now live! In addition to job opportunities, the blog will contain information about internships, webinars, graduate school, conferences, etc.  Please visit the site as often as you’d like to learn more about professional development opportunities, which are updated often.

You can navigate to the blog using this link: https://blog.smu.edu/ecocareers/, or by clicking on the highlighted link on the Undergraduate Programs page :

Reynolds Presented the 2023 Extra Mile Award

Dr. Helen Reynolds, Senior Lecturer and Maguire Teaching Fellow is one of three winners of the 2023 Extra Mile Award for exceptional work helping and inspiring students who learn differently.

She is known for her engaging teaching style, dedication to teaching and learning, and her caring demeanor. Students say she explains topics thoroughly and uses visual aids to help visual learners. She also helps students with accommodations for testing, working around their schedules and making herself available to answer questions. Congratulations on this well deserved award!