They came, they collaborated, they crunched the numbers and were rewarded for their efforts in a grueling regional business competition sponsored by Goodman & Company, a major Virginia accounting firm.
A team of Eastern Mennonite University senior accounting majors tied for fourth place in the final round of competition with a team from the University of Virginia in the ninth annual Goodman & Company Accounting Challenge.
Heidi A. Boese, Hesston, Kan.; Jason D. Ropp, Iowa City, Iowa; Brittany S. Snyder, Raphine, Va.; and Eric B. Yoder, Narvon, Pa., were one of 33 teams from colleges and universities from Virginia and Maryland who took a six-hour business exam the second week of October. The EMU team was one of only five to advance to the final round of the competition held Nov. 5 in Richmond, Va. Here, the EMU students took another intensive, six-hour exam of practical business questions.
For finishing tied for fourth place, the team was awarded $750 for the EMU business and economics department, and each student received $250 from Goodman & Company. Another team from U.Va. finished first in the contest, followed by teams from William & Mary and James Madison University.
“Participating in the Goodman Accounting Challenge was hard work, but very rewarding,” said Eric Yoder. “We’re extremely excited with our accomplishment and the recognition we have brought to the accounting program at EMU.”
“I’m really proud of these students,” said Ronald L. (Ron) Stoltzfus, professor of business and economics and MBA program co-director at EMU. “It was definitely a team effort.
“It’s great to have this kind of external validation of our business program and our students, Dr. Stoltzfus added. “It’s an affirmation of our curriculum and says that our students are well prepared to enter the job market or to go on to graduate school,” he added.
EMU around 90 students currently enrolled in its undergraduate business and economics department, which offers majors in accounting, business administration, economics and international business.
Story by Jim Bishop. Jim can be reached at [email protected].
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