CBA Financial Planning Team Scores a Win

Fall semester will be barely under way when the three members of the Financial Planning Challenge Team head to Seattle to test their skills against seven other college teams in a national competition at the annual conference of the Financial Planning Association.

Jessica Rorar, Thomas Minnick and Danielle Molyet comprise the first UA team to make it beyond the first round of this competition. The team's faculty advisor is Suzanne M. Gradisher, assistant professor of business law in the Department of Finance in the College of Business Administration.

The unique competition for undergraduate degree programs registered with the Certified Financial Planning Board requires teams to advance through three phases. The top three teams will be awarded monetary scholarships for their schools.

"The first round of the competition required us to submit a written financial plan based on a given case," explains Molyet, the team captain. "We had about six weeks to write the plan, which involved identifying client goals and objectives, analyzing their situation, exploring available options for improvement and making recommendations."

At the FPA conference, scheduled Sept. 19-22, teams will do oral presentations of their financial plans and participate in a "quiz-bowl-like" style competition of financial planning questions.

The other qualifying teams represent Kansas State University, Texas A&M, University of Georgia, Utah Valley University, Virginia Tech, Western Carolina University and William Paterson University.