PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 5, 2021) – This summer, Prairie View A&M University’s College of Business (PVAMU COB) launched the PV Summer Banking Academy (PVSBA) with a group of well-known partners from the banking industry. Partners include the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Texas Bankers Association, JPMorgan Chase, and Union Savings Bank of Cincinnati. The Summer Banking Academy provides four weeks of information about the banking industry, preparing students for internships, mentorships and, eventually, careers in financial institutions.
“The PVSBA will attract new partnerships between PVAMU and local financial institutions and constitute an opportunity for these institutions to solidify their diversity and inclusion initiatives,” PVSBA Coordinator and COB Assistant Professor of Economics Erick Kitenge, Ph.D., said. “It will also constitute a clear path for PVAMU students to enter the U.S. banking workforce.”
Nine students who participated in the program studied topics ranging from the U.S. financial system and monetary policy through banking operations to data analytics, personal finance, financial products, universal banking, risk management, financial technology, and cybersecurity.
During an initial Zoom meeting, COB Dean and Professor Munir Quddus, Ph.D., opened the academy with promising words.
“The COB is committed to preparing our graduates to be employment-ready on the day of their graduation,” he said. “To attain this goal, I have worked to make as many internships, externships, and certifications available to our students as possible. Hence, the idea of a banking academy as a summer boot camp to train a select group of students for a career in banking was inherently appealing to me. I fully expect that in the coming years, we will have multiple banks participating with the academy, providing financial resources and internship opportunities, which is an integral part of the academy.”
“We would like to give a special thanks to Dr. [James] Palmer, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Quddus for funding the pilot program for the PV Summer Banking Academy,” PVSBA Co-coordinator and COB Finance Lecturer Audria Ford said. “We would also like to give a special thanks to Dr. [Moosa] Khan, department head of Accounting, Finance, & MIS, for his support and active role in the implementation of PV Summer Banking Academy.”
Industry partners who have also been instrumental in launching the program include JPMorgan Chase’s John Stucker (Managing Director, Head of Multinational Corporations), Sharnell Delmohammed (Vice President, HBCU Relations, Advancing Black Pathways) and Meredith Hopson Beaupre (Market Executive); Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Vice President Donald Bowers; Union Savings Bank and Guardian Savings Bank Chairman Louis Beck and Vice President Community Development Keith Borders; and Texas Bankers Association President and CEO Chris Furlow and Vice President Brent Cox. Kitenge was part of a similar banking pioneered at Central State University in 2017. That program has successfully placed more than 80 minority students in banks across Ohio since it began.
“We are excited about the program [at PVAMU],” Ford said, “and we hope to offer this opportunity to more students in the future.”
Organizations and students interested in the PV Summer Banking Academy can contact Dr. Erick Kitenge (program director) at emkitenge@pvamu.edu or Ms. Audria Ford (program co-director) at anford@pvamu.edu.
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