Dr. Al Kamienski.
A career spanning corporate finance and academia. Al spent years in industry before joining North Park University in 2002, where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in finance, economics, and strategy for over 24 years. His students consistently rank his modeling course as the most useful class they take.
He believes the gap between “knows accounting” and “can build a model someone will trust” is wider than most curricula admit, and the only way across is to build, line by line, with someone who has done it before. That is what this OER is.
Why this course exists.
I spent the first part of my career building models and consulting for the kind of board-meeting decisions where one wrong sign in a formula could cost real money. The second half I have spent watching students try to learn this craft from textbooks and YouTube videos that show the what but never the why.
This OER is my attempt to close that gap. Every lesson is shot from the perspective of someone sitting next to me, watching me build. I walk you through each step by manually clicking through every menu and option. I pause when I make mistakes, because you will too, and I want you to see how to recover.
It is free because it should be. Financial literacy is a public good, and a $400 textbook is not a public good.
Made with these people.
Coordinated the OER grant and advised on Creative Commons licensing.
Managed project logistics and budget administration for the OER grant.