CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A team of accountancy students from the University of Illinois has won a national competition sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional services firm.
The team was the youngest in last weekend’s finals in New York City, which required students to solve complex, real-world accounting and auditing problems.
The members of the U. of I. team are juniors Julie Buhnerkempe, Jared Marchiando and Adam West, and sophomores Kassandra Hasty and Allison LaBelle. All are accountancy majors and members of the College of Business Honors Program.
John Hedeman, an assistant dean in charge of the honors program, is the team’s academic adviser and accompanied the students to New York.
The U. of I. team won a campus competition in November then submitted a video of its winning presentation that was among five finalists chosen by PricewaterhouseCoopers, earning $10,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to New York. More than 40 universities submitted entries.
Finalists were scored based on critical thinking, presentation skills, teamwork and responses to questions from a panel of judges who challenged their solutions. Other finalists were Hampton University, LaSalle University, Louisiana State University and Villanova University.
It was the second straight year that U. of I. students competed in the finals of the annual accounting contest.
