UW Foster students win silver at national accounting competition

A team of Foster accounting students won second place in the national KPMG-sponsored Association of Latino Professionals in Finance & Accounting (ALPFA) competition in Florida this August. The UW was one of only 28 schools invited to participate in KPMG’s prestigious national competition.

The Foster team, Richard Clough, Nick Colmenero, Marilu Cruz, Vincente Silva and Veronica Talavera, received a case study about Alcoa Corporation in January 2010. For six months, the students worked on an in-depth analysis of Alcoa’s strategic risks, business processes and accounting issues. They made recommendations to Alcoa’s audit committee, and suggested ways the company could manage strategic risks. Case questions included complex probing on financial derivatives, hedging activities, risk assessment and management as well as corporate governance.  In August 2010, the team traveled to Florida and presented their case findings to a panel of KPMG judges at the ALPFA convention.  After winning second place, the UW team was honored at the convention’s leadership luncheon. 

The ALPFA convention provided the students an opportunity to network with accounting professionals and attend Microsoft Excel learning sessions. They also explored potential career paths at a national job fair.

Foster’s 2010 team had three mentors: UW faculty member Patricia Angell, KPMG manager Matt Quint and Foster graduate Jacob Brownfield.