UD Certificate in Financial
Planning inaugural class graduates
September 18, 2007
The University
of Delaware's Division of Professional and Continuing Studies
celebrated the graduation of the first class of its Certificate
in Financial Planning on September 18. Twenty-three students
in the year-long program received their certificates in a
ceremony attended by Dean of the Lerner College of Business
and Economics, Dr. Bobby Gempesaw, and Associate Provost for
Professional and Continuing Studies, Dr. James Broomall. Many
family and friends attended the event to show their support.
The Certificate in Financial Planning fulfills
the education requirement for those seeking the CFP® designation.
The certificate is co-sponsored by the Division of Professional
and Continuing Studies and the Lerner College of Business
and Economics.
One of the program graduates, Franklin Varone,
is a 40 year veteran of the insurance and financial product
business. Mr. Varone commented on the need for continued education
to keep up with the changes in today's complex society. "We
need to continue to expand our horizons to accomplish our
objectives while providing valuable service for others,"
Varone said. "The Financial Planning Certificate offers
a solid base for those seeking the knowledge to become more
diversified in the financial arena."
Another graduate, Michael Givler came to the
program seeking a career change upon finding himself out of
work due to a reduction in workforce after 28 years in the
human resources field. "I had two objectives in mind,"
said Givler, "to increase my knowledge to be fully prepared
for my retirement years, and to acquire a new skill that will
enable me to change careers. I'm pleased to say that both
objectives were fulfilled, and while I haven't changed careers
yet, I am working in an HR role in the insurance industry
and the courses have provided a technical knowledge which
has helped me be a better business partner and contributor."
Givler was returning to UD 29 years after earning his bachelor's
degree. His daughter is a 2004 UD graduate in nursing.
A third graduate, Emily Woodson, had been
thinking about making a career change into the financial planning
field for some time. "As a grade school teacher with
no background in finance, I entered the program hoping to
gain some basic knowledge about the world of financial planning
but ended up with so much more," said Ms. Woodson. "I
especially liked that the instructors are all practitioners
and experts in their field which allowed us to balance out
the information from the textbooks with "real world"
experiences. I feel confident about entering this career after
this intensive and comprehensive program."
At the ceremony, two students were recognized
for completing the certificate with a 4.0 grade point average-Deborah
Garber and Mary Holland. Several other students were previously
recognized on Honors Day for maintaining a 3.5 average: Michael
Givler, Stephen Kantner, Richard Mayo, Scott Schaffer, Frank
Speace, Angela Temann, Emily Woodson, and Eugene Yanek.
Others graduating were Thomas Cutonilli, Jon
Gardner, Dan Gennusa, Irvin McGhee, Joseph McGowan, Patrick
McKeefery, Tom Minto, Cheryl Thomas-Etienne, Franklin Varone,
Donald Voltz, Fred Welch, Bradford Winton, and David Zane. |
