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Courses

Four courses have been developed for the Minor in Risk Management (officially approved!), and these will be available to upper-level undergraduates as well as first year graduate students. These four will be combined with one existing course to form the “core” of the new undergraduate minor. Students will need to take 9 credits from amongst these courses, as well as 6 additional credits from a list of suggested electives (or approved substitutes). The new courses will be cross-listed across the minor’s home unit, the School of Data Science and Society (DATA), the Environment, Ecology and Energy Program (ENEC) and the Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering (ENVR). The minor is also supported by the Kenan-Flagler Business School through the inclusion of an existing course (BUSI 600 Risk Management).

There is no required order to taking the courses, however we recommend starting with the Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance course (DATA/ENEC/ENVR 540) or taking it concurrently with another course.

Please submit any questions about courses and the minor to irmii@unc.edu.

 

The new courses include:

  • Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance (DATA/ENEC/ENVR 540 | 3 credits)
    SPRING 2025 – TR 12:30-1:45 at Hanes 0112
    This course introduces students to the motivations, objectives, and principles of financial risk management through the lens of insurance, reinsurance and financial institutions. Students will become familiar with key concepts that shape the insurance, reinsurance and finance industries so they can effectively communicate using industry vocabulary, metrics and concepts, while also learning basic related mathematical tools

 

  • Natural Hazards and Financial Risk (DATA/ENEC/ENVR 541 | 3 credits)
    SPRING 2025 – MW 10:10-11:25 at Gillings SPH
    This course designed to give students exposure to the quantitative analytical techniques used in financial risk evaluation and management of natural hazards.  The emphasis is on developing interdisciplinary systems-based computational models that consider natural variability, engineered/managed structures and financial/economic systems. Students are introduced to methods of assessing financial risk and some general discussion of its impacts on private, commercial and public sector organizations.

 

  • Insurance: Balancing Risk and Return (DATA/ENEC/ENVR 542 | 1.5 credits)
    SPRING 2025 – TR 2:00-3:15 at Greenlaw 317
    This course is designed to give students exposure to the challenges of managing the market-based financial risk driven by uncertainty in the value of both liabilities and assets.  In contrast to 541, which focuses on evaluating the risks an insurer faces from its liabilities (i.e. insured natural hazard risks), this course focuses on how a(n) re/insurer internally manages these risks to its organization through the investment of premia in a portfolio of assets with variable value which must balance its unpredictable liabilities.  Students will develop a quantitative understanding of concepts that underlay actuarial science, including discounted cash flows, net present value and uncertainties related to inflation, interest rates and taxation.  This 1.5 credit course will be paired with an existing 1.5 credit course (BUSI 600 Risk Management) that will advance the students understanding of the tools and strategies used to manage market-based financial risk, including options, swaps, derivatives.

 

  • Risk, Data Science and AI (DATA/ENEC/ENVR 543 | 3 credits)
    SPRING 2025 – TR 11:00-12:15 at Gardner 0001
    This course introduces students to advanced techniques in data sciences, machine learning, and artificial intelligence and their application to the management of both natural hazard and market-related financial risks. Students will learn to discover, process, and visualize high-quality natural and financial data. Students will be taught how to use advanced machine learning/AI techniques to evaluate the financial impacts of natural hazards and market uncertainties, and design risk management strategies to mitigate negative outcomes.  Students will develop sophisticated computational models with the goal of applying data analysis and machine learning/AI techniques to multi-objective complex systems.

 

Pre-/Co-requisites for these four courses include two or more of the following classes (or permission of the instructor):

    • MATH 231 (Calculus I)
    • MATH 232 (Calculus II)
    • STOR 151 (Introduction to Data Analysis)
    • STOR 155 (Introduction to Data Models and Inference)
    • BIOS 511 (Introduction to Statistical Computing and Data Management)
    • BIOS 512 (Data Science Basics)
    • BIOS 600 (Principles of Statistical Inference)
    • ECON 400 (Introduction to Data Science and Econometrics)  
    • BIOL/ENEC 562 (Statistics for Environmental Scientists)

 

List of Suggested Electives (6 credits required)*:

    • ECON/ENVR 570, ECON 423, ECON 425
      ENEC/EMES 414, EMES 590
    • ENEC/ENVR 635, ENVR 468, and ENVR 575
    • MATH 560
      PLAN 655, PLAN 656
    • STOR 471, STOR 472, STOR 565, STOR 566

*students may request elective credit for additional courses that expand their domain knowledge in areas related to risk management

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. What courses do I take first?
    It’s up to you – there’s no required sequence for the courses. We recommend starting with the Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance course but you can take that concurrently with others.
  2. How do you officially sign up for the minor?
    In the Spring, you can reach out to your student services manager (if your major is in a school outside of the College of Arts and Sciences) or academic advisor (you were assigned one as a first year in the College of Arts and Sciences) and they’ll be able to do that for you. Any courses you take in Spring 2025 (or any other time) will count towards the minor, regardless of your official assignment of the minor. 
  3. How do courses double count between the major and minor?
    You can double count 2 courses from the Minor in Risk Management with your major. It’s a bit more complex than that and depends on the major and minors, so for the details, check out the full UNC policy (scroll to the bottom).