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insight on higher education By S ean Johns on Student savvy Real world pressures net endowment growth for UWO fund P aul Wojahn knows a bit about pressure. As a member of Oshkosh West's powerhouse basketball teams earlier this decade, he's been in pressure-packed situations where every possession, every shot and every decision could swing the outcome between a win and a loss. Despite that experience, he readily admits he wasn't fully prepared for the pressure he felt as one of the analysts making investment decisions on behalf of the Student-Managed Endowment Fund for the University of WisconsinOshkosh. It was no longer just a game, but each investment opportunity he recommended could earn or cost the fund real dollars and affect real people. "It was pretty sobering to realize 36 | Insight • J u n e 2 013 that you could cost someone a scholarship," says Wojahn, now a senior at UW-Oshkosh pursuing a degree in finance. "That's about as real as you can make that experience." Still, he and his team members were up to the challenge. In 2013, assets for the SMEF fund at UW-Oshkosh surpassed more than $500,000 for the first time. Since its founding in 2000, earnings from the fund have been used to pay out more than $41,000 in scholarships for UW-Oshkosh students, and an additional $34,000 to university-related organizations. The fund began humbly enough in 2000, with an initial endowment of $25,000. Wojahn and the team of students who work as analysts and fund managers recently reported their results to the UW-Oshkosh community, explaining to faculty and investors the moves they had made, and how they planned to balance opportunities for growth with the need to preserve the funds gained for future investments. "I don't know how much more relevant you can get," says William J. Tallon, dean of the College of Business. "This is a clear example of where the classroom and the real world intersect. These are real dollars and real returns." And certainly, real risks. A group of 13 students act as managers and analysts for the fund. Since its founding in 2000, earnings from the Student-Managed Endowment Fund have been used to pay out more than $41,000 in scholarships for UW-Oshkosh students, and an additional $34,000 to university-related organizations. w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m