McCoy Makes A Case For Competition

On November 5, a team of RMU accounting students (Amanda Choma, Michael McCoy, and Danielle Silofau) competed against 19 undergraduate student teams from area Universities in a case competition organized by the Pittsburgh Chapter of two prominent professional accounting organizations: IIA (The Institute of Internal Auditors) and PICPA (Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs). Eight of the teams made it to the second round and the RMU School of Business team came out on top winning first place!

The Case Competition is an interactive, educational, collaborative event that challenges students to work with their peers to analyze data, develop ideas, and communicate their findings. Michael McCoy, learned much from his participation in the event and has these words to share with fellow students about his experience.

“For me the IIA/PICPA case study competition was an interesting opportunity. It gave me the chance to engage in an academic competition and explore my interest in auditing. The competition was an experience that I look forward to repeating next year. There was a lot of work involved in trying to perfect the written and oral presentations. I think in the future there will be significantly less time involved in completing the project though. This year none of our team had completed an audit class or had any practical auditing experience, so we invested a significant amount of time in teaching ourselves auditing principles and practices. One of the primary reasons that I was interested in completing the competition is that I enjoy a challenge. Having about a month to teach yourself a topic that you are not familiar with on an academic level is definitely a challenge. But, I feel like Robert Morris does a great job of encouraging students to push themselves and strive to meet their potential. Which is exactly what Dr. Fratto and Dr. Peng did for us during the competition. They took time out of their schedules to critique our writing and presentation strategies. It wasn’t something that they had to do, but if you have a goal that you want to pursue there’s always someone here willing to mentor you.”

Perhaps hearing Michael’s story will encourage you to join the competition next year, and hopefully experience the same sense of accomplishment and success.

Congratulations to this team of students and their faculty advisors on a job well-done! 

Networking Dinner for School of Business Students

Meet executives and entrepreneurs from the Greater Pittsburgh Area for a Networking Dinner! These area professionals want to share their career success story with you. Use this opportunity to expand your network, even if you already have a job or internship. You never know when you'll need to rely on a connection!

The dinner will be December 2, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ferris Ballroom, Yorktown Hall. The dress code is business professional or business casual.

To attend you must be a member of the Financial Management Association, American Marketing Association, Association of Future Accountants or Phi Beta Lambda.

Already a member?  CLICK HERE to R.S.V.P.! 

If you aren't currently a member, you can still join by emailing one of the following contacts and become eligible to attend the dinner.

• Financial Management Association: Leslie Wolford 
• American Marketing Association: Natalie Roche 
• Association of Future Accountants: Jordan Frazier 
• Phi Beta Lambda: Justina Chin 

In case you've ever wondered!

Why Beta Alpha Psi? from Beta Alpha Psi on Vimeo.

Practice Your Meal-Time Manners!

The Office of Student Life is offering an Etiquette Dinner program for students from 4:30 - 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 in the Sewall Center. This dinner workshop is an excellent opportunity for students to learn valuable information about dining and business etiquette. The cost for the program is $10 per person and resident students may deduct this cost from their campus meal plan.

Ms. Karen Litzinger, owner of Litzinger Career Consulting will lead the workshop. Ms. Litzinger has presented dining etiquette, power mingling, and business etiquette to major corporations in the area and at over 25 colleges in Western Pennsylvania.

Interested students should contact the Office of Student Life for more information or to make a reservation and dinner selection at 412-397-6489 or studentlife@rmu.edu . Please RSVP no later than Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. 

Professional attire is recommended.

BETA ALPHA PSI: Now accepting applications for Officer Candidates!

If you are interested in applying for an officer position on the board of the inaugural leadership team of Beta Alpha Psi, please review the the application on the Beta Alpha Psi Blackboard site. (uploaded in pdf and MS Word formats).

A completed application, letter of intent, and resume must be submitted to Theresa Hilliard either by email at hilliard@rmu.edu or hardcopy to Massey 215 by Sunday, November 1, 2015.  We will be appointing officer positions as well as officer-elect positions; so whether you are a sophomore or senior, there is a place for your leadership skills.  Participation as a Beta Alpha Psi Officer meets requirements of Leadership for the Student Engagement Transcript (SET).

Please review the following eligibility criteria and officer descriptions. If you have have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at hilliard@rmu.edu.

Eligibility criteria:

• Declared concentration in accounting, finance, or information systems.
• Have completed, in addition to two years of collegiate courses, at least one upper level course beyond the business core.  If you are a sophomore and interested in an officer position, please still apply as you will meet the academic requirements by your junior year.
• Attained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in upper level courses, in declared area of concentration, beyond the business core and attained at least an overall cumulative grade average of 3.0.