Last month, the NIU Department of Accountancy hosted 18 Elgin Community College (ECC) students, as well as eight NIU accountancy students, at its Plante Moran Accounting Case Competition. The competition was hosted in Barsema Hall’s De La Vega Innovation Lab, allowing students a comfortable and collaborative home base.
During the event, the students were asked to apply the Institute of Management Accountant’s Ethical Framework to a real-world case, identify an ethical dilemma and describe how organizational culture affects a participant’s ability and willingness to “do the right thing.”
When they arrived, students were given a case about a controller who, on her first day in her new role with the company, is faced with an overstatement of revenue and an inflation of the prior month’s income. Students were asked to analyze the ethical dilemma this person might face, especially examining the influence of organizational culture, and apply the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice (Code of Conduct) to recommend a professional and ethical resolution.
Students spent about two hours on the case and then presented their 10-minute analysis and recommendations to a panel of Plante Moran and NIU professionals, with each students taking a turn to actively present.
The focus of this competition was to help students build skills in:
- Applying ethical reasoning to real accounting dilemmas.
- Gaining hands-on experience with professional case analysis.
- Networking with Plante Moran professionals and NIU faculty.
- Strengthening their résumés with a high-impact experience.
- Competing for prizes and recognition.
“It was exciting to see so many students become invested in making ethical decisions,” said Department of Accountancy chair Brad Cripe. “In our department, we weave ethical decision-making and conscientious work into every class we teach. It was meaningful to be able to share that focus with students at ECC and see the teams get a fuller understanding of what ethics looks like in an accountant’s everyday work.”
The first- and second-place teams were honored as the competition’s winners. The first-place team included ECC students Travis Becker, Liv Brown, Emily Krasinski and Cian McKenna. Second place went to NIU students Luke Harvey, Hayley Ocotl, Arizeth Rodriguez and Kristen Tang.
“I thought the Plante Moran Case Competition was very fun, and it was a great first experience!” said NIU accountancy student Kristen Tang. “I really enjoyed working and competing with students from NIU as well as Elgin Community College, and it was nice knowing more about Plante Moran.”
For more information about the Plante Moran Case Competition and other ways students partner with our NIU Department of Accountancy, please email accy@niu.edu.
