Maryland Smith Students Advance to Finals of Deloitte’s Audit Innovation Campus Challenge

Caption: Top row, from left, Maryland Smith students Brianna Bauer, Michael Gordon and Jack McGrinder. Bottom row, from left, Breena Rettig, Marianne Feng and Ryan Gotkin

A six-member student team from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland has advanced to the finals of Deloitte’s Audit Innovation Campus Challenge (AICC). 

The students, Brianna Bauer, Marianne Feng, Michael Gordon, Ryan Gotkin, Jack McGrinder and Breena Rettig, represented Maryland Smith among teams representing 52 schools across the country participating in the virtual competition. These students now advance among 12 teams to compete in the 2020 National Competition of the AICC in April 2021.

Hosted by Deloitte’s Audit Innovation group and the Deloitte Foundation, the AICC is a nationwide program, which accelerates innovation in education by helping institutions of higher learning keep pace with the rapidly changing marketplace and evolving technologies impacting the audit profession. The program engages students and faculty from campuses across the country, providing an educational experience designed to help students develop skills for success in professional services and sharing the culture of innovation at Deloitte with academia and potential future employees.

The Maryland Smith undergraduates had four weeks to respond to a challenge statement released in early October. The team was supported by Deloitte professionals and a faculty adviser -- Clinical Professor of Accounting Gary Bulmash. Submissions were judged by an evaluation panel of Deloitte & Touche LLP Audit & Assurance professionals. The students from the finalist teams each received $100.

The National Competition grand prize will be $10,000 for the first-place school and a $2,000 scholarship for each student on that team, $5,000 for the second-place school and a $1,000 scholarship per student, and $2,500 for the third-place school and a $500 scholarship per student.