What do enterprise risk management and tutoring have in common? Both have an enormous potential to impact people’s futures.
Oscar Manchego is a Columbia SPS CUNY Fellow, a student in the M.S. in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, and an award-winning tutor. While helping students achieve their study and career goals as a mentor, Manchego is also working in the risk management field, helping companies make the right decisions for their firms—decisions that could mean the difference between massive growth or total collapse.
Manchego holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baruch College, where he majored in finance and minored in economics. He also works as a college assistant and master’s tutor supporting business students taking math, finance, and economics courses at Baruch, where he was named Tutor of the Year in 2024.
The Columbia SPS CUNY Fellowship program was launched in early 2024 to provide high-achieving recent City University of New York (CUNY) bachelor’s or master’s degree recipients with access to Columbia’s vast academic, professional, and community resources. The fellowship provides a full-tuition scholarship for six semesters in any one of the School’s graduate programs, helping to remove the financial barrier to earning a master’s degree.
In a recent interview with SPS, Manchego shares his motivations and ambitions in the field and the value of giving back through teaching.
What led you to the Enterprise Risk Management program at SPS?
I’ve always had a strong interest in finance, particularly in the world of markets along with mergers and acquisitions. Did you know that Blockbuster was extremely close to purchasing Netflix back in the day? Imagine what could have been. As for what led me to ERM, I’ve had a friend at Baruch College who graduated from the ERM program at Columbia who told me all about its benefits and how it propelled his career forward. Now he works at Morgan Stanley.
I saw the ERM program as the perfect opportunity to balance my passion for finance and curiosity for risk management, with the ultimate goal of making better decisions. My friend took me to the Morningside Heights campus for the first time, and being there inspired me to do everything I could to apply and get accepted.
What are your specific interests within the field of risk management? What is most exciting about the work you do?
My interests lie in the strategic risk side of management, particularly in making an impact when it comes to the really big, important decisions for a firm. My main focus lies in the structure the ERM program provides me with whenever I’m working on a new problem, strategy, or plan. You really start to notice and view the world differently, and you always get to contribute to any conversation, since virtually every decision involves risks.
Currently I’m doing two internships in private equity, and I’m using the skills I’m learning in my Value-Based ERM class, taught by Sim Segal, to conduct thorough risk assessments of the private companies that firms are working to acquire and to carry out research on behalf of a client. The work is constantly changing, and I’m conducting deep market research on multiple industries, from tree care to email marketing. I really enjoy the structured framework that ERM provides that I can tweak to meet the demands and needs of clients. The most important aspect of my work is the ability to drive real decision-making. I can actually feel my work move the needle and influence outcomes. The impact is what matters most to me.
What does the CUNY SPS Fellowship mean to you, and what do you hope to accomplish during your time at SPS?
What the fellowship means to me is access to opportunity that can be shared with others around me. It provides me with an opportunity to connect the CUNY system and Columbia University to achieve greater success through integration and collaboration. The fellowship is all about giving back to students and supporting others in their career goals. During my time at SPS, I hope to leave a lasting impact on my new Columbia family and a legacy for my CUNY Baruch College students and alumni to inspire them to continue being ambitious and to take advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves.
You were named Tutor of the Year 2024 by the Student Academic Consulting Center of Baruch College. Can you speak about your approach to tutoring and tell us about your tutoring experience?
It’s definitely one of my proudest achievements. My approach to teaching students is to first examine what they already know. Most students tend to understand more than what they let on. Second, always set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals with your students, as this will help keep you and the student on track toward the main objective. Third, you must test the student’s understanding without using a yes-or-no question, and it must be tied back to those SMART goals you set earlier. Take note of the emotional and mental state of the student, and be an empathetic ear to them. And don’t forget to have the student summarize the session and follow up in a future meeting!
My experience tutoring has been phenomenal. You get to know so many people, develop your communication skills, and understand so many different perspectives on the same topics. You end up learning new approaches, skills, techniques, and material that you might’ve never thought about before. It’s made me a lifelong learner, expanded my horizons, and pushed me to keep on seeking knowledge.
Do you have a favorite experience or lesson learned during your time at Columbia?
That’s tough—there are so many notable ones. For right now, I would have to say the recent Columbia Private Equity Conference was gold. As someone who’s very interested in private equity, I got to meet so many notable industry professionals from Oaktree Capital and other firms to gain current in-depth insights and conversations that I carry with me and reflect on to this day. I also loved not being the smartest in the room, as I always left more knowledgeable and informed.
What’s next for you after graduation?
After graduation, you can catch me with a finance role at hopefully one of my dream banks and, if time permits, keeping my role as a tutor at Baruch or even starting a role as a TA for an ERM class to give back to Columbia.
About the Program
The Master of Science in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program at Columbia University prepares graduates to inform better risk-reward decisions by providing a complete, robust, and integrated picture of both upside and downside volatility across an entire enterprise. For both the full-time and part-time options, students may take all their courses on Columbia’s New York City campus or choose the synchronous online class experience.
The final fall 2025 application deadline for the M.S. in ERM program is May 1, 2025. Learn more here.
