PRACTICING WHAT WE TEACH

We believe that for students to be ready to add value to an organization on day one, they must have multiple opportunities to practice what we teach. For that reason, we encourage and support student participation in student organizations, hands-on learning opportunities, and intra-and inter-collegiate competitions . This provides them with real world application of the skills they have learned, meeting and building networks with students and practitioners around the world and prepares them for a career where they will be called upon to pivot, work in and lead diverse teams, and defend their solutions in front of C-suite executives .

We challenge our students to actively participate in one of our over 40 organizations, including five co-ed fraternities and two honorary societies, and more than sixty percent of our students are members of one or more of these organizations . That might be because there is truly an organization that’s a good fit for all our students .

In 2024, students from 34 university chapters across the nation competed at the Pi Sigma Epsilon business fraternity’s national convention Members of the Farmer School’s Gamma Gamma chapter placed first or second in 11 competition categories

The chapter also won the Lewis F Gordon Top Chapter Award for the 18th time in the last 26 years, and the sixth time in the last seven years .

“PSE has afforded me the opportunity to grow as a business professional, enhancing my experience as a Farmer School of Business student,” Grace Hogshead said . “I have undergone a variety of sales and marketing experiences, such as this National Convention, that will benefit me as I go off into the work force ”

The John W . Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship’s venture capital investment team competed in the 2024 Undergraduate VCIC (Venture Capital Investment Competition), winning the regional finals for the eighth consecutive year, and placed second overall in the global finals for the second year in a row .

This year’s team was comprised of Kaylee Fickle, Gillian Louiso, Katherine McIntosh, Kia Molaei, Dev Patel, and Mason Seitz .

“I have never learned as much in a class as I have in VCIC . Miami’s program is one of the best in the country and that has consistently been shown to me . Professor Theresa Sedlack has created the most incredible curriculum as well as given this team the best opportunities to learn from real venture capital investors along with founders, CEOs, and more,” Louiso said

The VCIC annually features teams from more than 100 of the top business schools around the world .

This year’s Cleveland Research Stock Pitch Competition provided an opportunity for students to demonstrate their investment ideas and knowledge of the financial markets . Each team of two - four students assembled a slide deck to pitch a long or short equity position with a 3-12 month horizon

33 teams from 16 universities submitted first-round pitches, and the top eight teams advanced to the in-person finals at the Farmer School of Business The Farmer School team of Robert Nahigian, Mickey Fanella, and Nick Mack took first place, while teams from the University of Dayton and the University of Texas came in second and third, respectively

“It’s a very valuable experience because it’s all very real We are pitching real ideas to make real money and identifying certain factors that the equity markets are not pricing into a particular stock,” Nahigian said .

Students from across Miami University came together in March at Social Innovation Weekend, a 48-hour event that integrates key public and private stakeholder organizations at the state, county, and local city-level with students to solve significant societal issues . This year, a dozen teams of students worked within the theme of building and supporting thriving communities

Economics department chair Jenny Minier is one of 16 professors nationwide to be selected to participate in a Fulbright-Hays seminar for university faculty in Colombia this summer. The faculty members will participate in the seminar, which focuses on climate change and sustainability in Colombia. They’ll visit Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, and Leticia, meeting with scholars and leaders throughout the country.

“Being a biology major, I joined this weekend knowing next to nothing about business or entrepreneurship . All I wanted was to meet new people, challenge myself, and learn something new,” Sophia Bick said . “I think I did just that!”

Farmer School students competed in the 16th annual William Blair Investment Banking Competition, which drew more than 50 teams of three to four students

The competition, which includes both written and oral presentations, seeks to “bring to life what a career in investment banking entails . ”

Nineteen accountancy majors participated in the 6th Annual Douglas Millett Forensic Accounting Case Competition in February Student teams were asked to research and identify public firms that were exhibiting warning signs of fraud and suspicious business activity, develop at least one theory for how a potential fraud could be perpetrated, propose alternative explanations for the observed pattern of red flags, and detail how they would investigate the situation to reach a conclusion .

In the PWC Challenge Case Competition, students were tasked with delving into the business obstacles encountered by a rapidly growing workout equipment company . Their objective was to craft strategies that would fortify the company’s position in a highly-dynamic market

Students formed cross-disciplinary teams, leveraging their diverse skills and knowledge to tackle this real-world business challenge Participating in the competition helped students advance their critical thinking, presentation, and teamwork capabilities, and fortify their resumes to better position them for future job opportunities . Additionally, participants had the chance to network with industry professionals and accountancy professors, as well as gain valuable insights from PwC’s partners and managers .

Four Farmer School students took part in the Deloitte FanTAXtic case study competition in January Created in 2002, FanTAXtic is designed to familiarize students with the tax profession early in their academic careers The competition includes role playing and presentations to help students better understand the types of experiences and business challenges they can expect from a career working with taxes .

Miami University students Mirza Mujtaba Baig, Siddhant Singh Karki, Luke Koulouris, and Carter Pratt took part in the 2024 Econ Games at the University of Kentucky with 18 other teams -- and won!

The Econ Games is a team competition that incorporates economic skills with data analytics to solve problems presented by a corporate sponsor Students gain valuable technical skills, as well as essential soft skills such as teamwork, communication, and persuasion

“Participating in the Econ Games was a challenging yet rewarding experience,” Baig said . “Despite the hard-work, the Econ Games offered understanding of data visualization for actionable insights, making it a valuable learning experience for myself and the team . ”

A Miami University real estate and public administration student is the new leader of a group that works to grow and support impact funds that are run by undergraduate students. Una Marijan became president of the Undergraduate Impact Investing Society in mid-February.