Smith Undergrads Win NABA Case Study Competition

For the second year in a row, accounting students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business took home first place in the student case study competition at National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) National Convention & Expo, held in Washington, D.C., June 18-20, 2014. 

Twelve schools participated in the competition, which was sponsored by KPMG. Other schools included: Baruch College - The City University of New York, Howard University, Louisiana State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Penn State University, Prairie View A&M University, Temple University, University of Central Florida , University of Connecticut, and University of Wisconsin. 

The UMD-Smith student team consisted of four accounting students: Carmen Harley (rising junior), Nkem Nwogbo (rising Junior), Sharita Ray (rising sophomore), and Sharon Rozario (rising senior). Students were advised by Jim McKinney, Tyser Teaching Fellow of Accounting and Information Assurance. 

“The team spent numerous sessions prior to the convention practicing and rehearsing with myself and KPMG professionals,” said McKinney. “At the convention, the team had slightly less than three hours to receive a strategic management type case (their case was on sustainability efforts of Unilever in Turkey), read it, analyze it, and prepare a final PowerPoint.” 

Rehearsals went into the early morning hours. After only a few hours of sleep, the team presented their case in the first round and was selected to move on with three other teams to the finals.  After another late night of rehearsals, “The team presented a nearly flawless presentation,” said McKinney.  “To add icing on the cake, our University of Maryland student chapter won NABA Student Chapter of the Year and one of our former NABA presidents, Teonna Lonon, won a rising star award.” 

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