Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reps speak with SFA business students

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Employees from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently met with Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business students to share their insights.

OCC representatives Jennifer Pena, national bank examiner and Longview field office analyst, and C. Welch, assistant deputy comptroller, spoke to students about their work with the federal government. The OCC charters, regulates and supervises all national banks and federal savings associations, as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.

Pena began her career as a banker before joining the OCC in 2008. As a national bank examiner, she has led training teams and training for newly hired examiners.

Welch, a 20-year OCC veteran, worked for many years in Washington, D.C., within the problem bank/resolution division. In her current role, Welch leads a team of 18 bank examiners and supervises 26 banks chartered by the OCC operating in East Texas.

SFA’s Finance Club hosted the event in partnership with the Student Success Passport program. David Kaiser, director of SFA’s Chadwick family banking program, explained this presentation helped introduce students to new career options.

“I believe one of the main takeaways for students is that banking supervision is a viable career and is very attainable for Rusche College of Business graduates. There are real opportunities not only in Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C., but also in places like Longview,” Kaiser said.

SFA offers a Bachelor of Business Administration in banking to help prepare students to fill the growing need for qualified bank and financial services industry personnel. The program combines core coursework in business and finance with a variety of industry-specific courses and learning opportunities. To learn more, visit sfasu.edu/cob.