Business Undergraduate Newsletter
Undergraduate Student News, Programs, Faculty, Alumni & Staff Spotlights
April 2009
Paris Study Abroad Partnership Set to Begin Spring 2010
Warrington undergraduates will have the opportunity to participate in a study abroad partnership in Paris beginning Spring 2010. The format and scope of this opportunity will be similar to the successful partnerships Warrington has in London, Madrid, and Rome. At each of these locations, students have the opportunity to take courses at the partner institution as well as electronic platform courses offered by the University of Florida. The London program is unique in that it allows students to participate in a professional internship.
Each year, Warrington's study abroad advisors provide support for over 300 undergraduates who study in countries all over the world. These advisors also work with over 150 international students who choose to study business at the University of Florida. Detailed information on Warrington's many international opportunities is available at warrington.ufl.edu/sb/intlprograms.
Warrington Undergraduates Shine at Leadership Conferences and Case Competitions
The Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semesters saw scores of Warrington undergraduates attend leadership conferences and compete in case competitions. The following is a list of various conferences and competitions that had Warrington undergraduate participation:
Leadership Conferences
- Beta Gamma Sigma Leadership Conference: San Antonio, Texas
- Undergraduate Business Leadership Conference: Emory University
- National Conference on Ethics in America: United States Military Academy
- National Conference on Student Leadership: San Diego, California
Case Competitions
- Asian Business Case Competition: Nanyang University of Singapore
- Business Strategy Challenge: Georgetown University
- Citi International Case Competition: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
- CBS Case Competition: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition: Nova Scotia, Canada
- Fisher Biz Quiz National Challenge: Ohio State University
- International Ethics Case Competition: University of Arizona
- John Molson Business Case Challenge: Montreal, Canada
- McCombs International Business Challenge: University of Texas at Austin
- USC Marshall International Case Competition: University of Southern California
- Wake Forest Marketing Summit: Wake Forest University
Warrington Undergraduates Continue to Score Among the Top Five Percent
During the 2008-2009 academic year, hundreds of Warrington's graduating seniors in business and accounting completed the ETS Major Field Exam in Business (ETS-B). The ETS-B is an exam that is taken each year by tens of thousands of graduating students at over 500 American colleges and universities.
The '08-'09 scores of Warrington's seniors were outstanding and are a testament to hard-working students and world-class faculty. The collective score of graduates placed Warrington among the top five percent of institutions in the nation. In addition to the overall score on the exam, subscores are provided for nine content areas: accounting, economics, management, quantitative business analysis, finance, marketing, legal and social environment, information systems, and international issues. In each of these nine content areas, Warrington's graduates scored in the top five or top ten percent among all test takers.
Warrington Hall of Fame Inductees Share Passion for Mentoring Fellow Students
At the 2009 School of Business Awards Banquet, Jebi Mathew (BSAc, '09) and Rachel Kane (BSBA, '09) were inducted into the Warrington College of Business Administration Hall of Fame. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed on an undergraduate in business or accounting. Students are selected based on their outstanding contributions to the Warrington community and mentorship of their peers.
Rachel Kane
Throughout her undergraduate career at the University of Florida, Rachel Kane demonstrated her aptitude for academics as well as her passion for extracurricular involvement. As a finance major and a Spanish minor, she maintained a nearly perfect GPA of 3.98. Rachel's academic achievements earned her recognition as a Warrington Finance Scholar, an Anderson Scholar of Highest Distinction, and membership in Beta Gamma Sigma. In addition to her required coursework, Rachel completed a honors thesis entitled, "Investing in Commodities as a Long Term Investment Strategy." She also served as the Head Teaching Assistant for Business Finance, overseeing thirty-five teaching assistants who served 900 students.
Rachel's passion for leadership was fueled through her involvement with the Florida Leadership Academy (FLA). After graduating from the year-long program for the college's top 100 sophomores, Rachel became a FLA mentor and served as Vice President of Warrington Diplomats, the student ambassadors for the Warrington College of Business Administration.
Recently, she has represented the Warrington College of Business Administration at the Undergraduate Business School Leadership Conference at Emory University and the Beta Gamma Sigma Student Leadership Forum in San Antonio, Texas. In October, Rachel competed in the University of Arizona's Eller Ethics Case Competition, winning the Bright-Line Award for the most soundly written ethical argument. The culmination of her undergraduate case competition career was this past February, when she participated in the Copenhagen Business School Case Competition in Denmark. Rachel's undergraduate experience was further enriched as a result of an executive management summer internship with Target, a summer study abroad in Seville, Spain, and a Corporate Finance Summer Internship with Johnson and Johnson.
In Fall 2009, Rachel will begin a Ph.D. in organizational behavior at Florida State University. She eventually plans to pursue her passion of teaching and working with undergraduates.
Jebi Mathew
During his undergraduate career, Jebi Mathew demonstrated outstanding commitment to leadership and community service. Through Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), he led two projects designed to increase financial literacy. Jebi helped expand Managing Money Matters, a program that teaches freshmen students personal finance skills. Jebi also started the SIFE Financial Literacy Challenge, a national program that reached over 4,200 high school students. This project was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative and SIFE USA for its innovation and impact.
Additionally, Jebi served the campus community through involvement in other student organizations. He was the Programming Director for the International Business Society, Co-Director of the GatorTeens Mentor Program, and an advisory board member for the Florida Leadership Academy. While on the FLA Advisory Board, Jebi helped develop an alumni database to increase connectivity and mentorship between current students and alumni. He also served as a student representative on the WCBA Undergraduate and Teaching Committees.
Jebi represented the college at case competitions and conferences in Hong Kong, Seattle, and New York. He was a member of two winning teams in the PricewaterhouseCoopers xTax Case Competition, and received an Honorable Mention in the national competition.
Beyond academics, Jebi took advantage of study abroad and other professional development opportunities. In Spring 2007, Jebi participated in the college's study abroad program in Madrid, Spain. During his summers as an undergraduate Jebi participated in professional-level internships. He completed internships with Wachovia Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Deloitte Consulting. After graduation Jebi will start as an Advisory Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Operations, People, and Change practice in New York City.
The Warrington Wire is a quarterly e-mail newsletter distributed by the Warrington College of Business Administration School of Business.
