Alumni Newsletter Fall 2019

ACIS Junior Selected for KPMG Global Advantage Program

Maria Keener was selected to participate in KPMG’s Global Advantage Program in Budapest, Hungary. Global Advantage is an elite international leadership development program which includes 120 student leaders from top universities across the United States and around the world. Students are selected for Global Advantage based on their exceptional academic performance and for being recognized as leaders on campus and in their communities. This year’s Global Advantage Program in Hungary consisted of classroom sessions in the mornings and activities around the city in the afternoons. Classroom sessions focused on building leadership skills; specifically personality flexing and cultural flexing. Some of the activities included a monster roller e-scooter tour around the city, wine tasting, client visit, strudel making, boat tour, and a visit to the St. Stephen’s basilica. The program also allowed time to socialize with program members to see the city independently. Maria said, “My favorite part was meeting the other students that were there. It was great to be able to network with future interns from all over the world. The whole trip was really beneficial to me because it was culturally eye opening, I learned new leadership skills, and I got to meet lots of great people.” Maria is from Northern Virginia and a rising junior at Virginia Tech double-majoring in ACIS and BIT. Maria is involved in Collegiate Women in Business (CWIB) and the Women’s Club Lacrosse Team. For this upcoming year she will be the Vice President of Finance for CWIB and the Vice President for Women’s Club Lacrosse.

Inaugural KPMG Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics Cohort Graduates with Master’s Degree in Accounting and Information Systems Virginia Tech’s Accounting and Information Systems (ACIS) Department joined forces with one of the Big 4 public accounting firms, KPMG LLP, to develop its KPMGMaster of Accounting with Data and Analytics (MADA) Program, and our inaugural cohort of KPMG MADA students graduated at the end of Summer 2019. Per KPMG, “this award-winning program offers an innovative experience for accounting professionals in the data age. The demanding coursework goes beyond traditional accounting principles to include technologies and methodologies used in today’s highly complex, data-centric accounting environments, ensuring that accounting students are equally comfortable in their data and analytics skills, as they are in their traditional accounting skills.” Per Nadia Rogers, Associate Professor of Practice in the ACIS Department and Director of the Master of Accounting and Information Systems (MACIS) Program, “It is an honor to have been selected by KPMG as one of nine high quality universities in the country to participate in its MADA Program. This Program directly aligns with our department’s longstanding mission of providing a world- class education that combines accounting and information systems knowledge, and we have been very pleased with the associated benefits of our participation.” The benefits experienced by faculty and students are as follows: • Intensive, continuous faculty training provided by KPMG on data analytic concepts and techniques as well as using KPMG proprietary tools • KPMG sponsorship entails (1) KPMG paying tuition, fees, books and a stipend to help cover room and board, (2) an internship with KPMG during the entire Spring semester, and (3) upon graduation, sponsored students are hired by KPMG as Experienced Associates with a three-year, full-time employment contract (opportunity for an accelerated career path) • All Virginia Tech Master of Accounting and Information Systems (MACIS) students, regardless of KPMG sponsorship and regardless of the option chosen within our MACIS Program, have exposure to KPMG’s proprietary tools, data sets and case studies The inaugural cohort of KPMG’s program participants graduating from Virginia Tech is comprised of James Chisholm, Kellee Griffin, Jason Ksanznak, Omar Rivera and Nick Stegmuller. We are extremely proud of all that these students have accomplished while at Virginia Tech. Each of them has positively impacted the classroom dynamic with his/her diverse background and strong desire to learn and participate in classroom discussions. We look forward to learning of the many successes of their careers within KPMG and the accounting profession.

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