TN Students Win Second Place in AICPA Accounting Competition!
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants today named students from the University of Tennessee second place winners of a national case competition focused on enhancing sustainability practices at a luxury hotel, awarding $5,000 to the four-member team. 
The University of Tennessee team had three primary ideas to improve environmental sustainability at The Umstead: Add LED lighting; make enhancements to the heating and cooling system; update turndown service. The students explained the environmental and financial benefits of each. By turning on an iPod with soothing music instead of an LCD television during turndown service, for instance, the students said the hotel could enhance the customer experience and reduce electricity consumption significantly without have a material impact on the balance sheet.
“Accountants today must be dynamic, balancing the values and philosophies of an organization with sound financial guidance,” said Ben Campsey, director of finance at The Umstead. “We saw this as an opportunity to be involved in an exercise that would challenge students to think critically on relevant business topics, while continuing to promote our belief in responsible luxury.”
The Umstead plans to incorporate the results of the competition into its capital budgeting process.
Members of the University of Tennessee team are:
* Camille Crumpton (captain)* Daniel Aycock
* Johannah Reed
* Richard Lusk
Update - December 1, 2010 - The University of Tennessee's Team Titans has been named FINALISTS for the AICPA competition!! They are going to New York City to present in front of the executive board of the AICPA!
The University of Tennessee’s Department of Accounting & Information Management is proud to announce that a group of UT students (“Team Titans”) were named Top 10 in the 2010 AICPA Accounting Competition. Team Titans consists of team captain, Camille Crumpton-Accounting major, and team members Daniel Aycock-Accounting and International Business major, R.J. Lusk-Logistics major, and Johannah Reed-Environmental Studies major.
The competition required teams to pose as the Umstead Hotel & Spa’s Director of Finance and submit a proposal to the hotel manager (i.e. competition judges) suggesting three hotel sustainability initiatives, along with a justification for those initiatives. The initiatives should not compromise guest’s five-star experience at the North Carolina luxury hotel.
Team Titan’s proposal and video will be available on November 12 for viewing on the AICPA website at www.thiswaytocpa.com/vote. Beginning on November 12, simply log on to the website to view each semi-finalist’s proposal. You will have the option to vote for the team of your choice. We strongly encourage individuals to log on and support the Titans with their vote. Public voting will be available from November 12-19. Public voting will be combined with the AICPA judge’s scores and 3 finalists will be selected to travel to New York, NY to present their proposals live on January 20-21. The first and second place teams will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.