ATLANTA – Mercer University Master of Accountancy students Trish Gray, Christine Gregory and Malina Fital won first place at the seventh annual Internal Audit (IA) Case Study Competition at Kennesaw State University on Nov. 10.
The competition, open to college students around the state, challenges three-person teams to evaluate a complex business scenario that illustrates the importance of business processes, controls and analysis as well as Internal Audit review. The event is sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Atlanta chapter.
Mercer's team submitted a written response to the competition and was one of 10 selected as finalists to present its recommendations before a panel of judges at Kennesaw State. By virtue of winning, each of the three students received a $1,000 check from IIA Atlanta.
Other finalists included Emory University, Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, Middle Georgia State University and Wesleyan College.
Doug Mims, partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC, served as the team's business mentor, while Dr. Julie Petherbridge, associate dean and associate professor of accounting in Mercer's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, was the team's faculty adviser.
Established in 1941, the Institute of Internal Auditors is an international professional association of more than 122,000 members worldwide. The IIA Atlanta chapter, founded in 1947, has more than 1,900 members from a wide range of industries, educational institutions and local, state and federal government agencies. For more information, visit chapters.theiia.org/atlanta.
About the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics
Established in 1984, Mercer University's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics is named for Eugene W. Stetson, a 1901 Mercer graduate and business pioneer who helped negotiate the first major leveraged buyout in corporate history. Over the past 80 years, Mercer has granted over 12,000 business degrees, and many of its graduates hold senior leadership positions in companies around the world. Mercer's business school delivers career-focused business education programs and develops entrepreneurial leaders and responsible global citizens. It holds accreditation from the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which places it among the top five percent of all top business schools worldwide. Mercer's business school has been recognized by the Princeton Review for “Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students” and “Greatest Opportunity for Women” as well as being one of its “Best Business Schools.” In addition, it has been recognized among the “Top 15 Schools in the Nation for Marketing and Accounting.”
The School offers the following programs: Atlanta (Evening BBA, Full-Time (One-Year) MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Professional MBA, Master of Accountancy, M.S. in Business Analytics), Macon (Traditional BBA and Evening MBA), Douglas County and Henry County (Evening BBA). www.mercer.edu/business
