Ohio Wesleyan Creates New Accounting Fellows Program
Initiative Provides Students with Enhanced Internship, Research Opportunities
DELAWARE, Ohio – The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship at Ohio Wesleyan University is launching a competitive Accounting Fellows program to provide students with new opportunities to link academic theory with real-world practice.
“This program will provide opportunities for students to further develop their accounting, leadership, critical-thinking, and communication skills beyond the classroom,” said Justin P. Breidenbach, assistant professor of accounting. “The accounting environment is constantly evolving and higher-order thinking skills are being demanded more than ever from graduates and accounting professionals.”
Students selected as Accounting Fellows will participate in faculty-escorted study trips funded by The Woltemade Center to domestic and international locations that have significance to the study and practice of accounting.
In addition, Accounting Fellows will complete at least one accounting internship and research project. The research will consist of an independent study or directed reading supervised by an OWU professor and either an outside accountant or finance professional approved by The Woltemade Center. Fellows will document their experiences to show how they connect to theories covered in class.
Accounting Fellows also will be required to complete an external professional development activity, such as an accounting competition, leadership program or conference, or business tour.
Finally, fellows must sign-up for student membership in both the Ohio Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to ensure they understand the evolving roles and responsibilities of professional accountants.
“I am excited to help guide the Accounting Fellows and join them in their experiences as they put theory into practice,” said Breidenbach, MAcc, CPA, CFE. “I am excited to see students’ passion for accounting come alive as they interact with faculty mentors, network with professionals, engage in professional development and research activities, and travel as a group to better understand how accounting is utilized domestically and globally.”
Ohio Wesleyan’s Accounting Fellows program will be open to sophomores who have declared a major or minor in accounting, successfully completed both ECON 110 “Principles of Economics” and ACCT 217 “Principles of Financial Accounting,” and achieved a minimum overall GPA of 3.0.
Applicants also must provide a written statement reflecting on why they are interested in the fellowship and what they hope to gain from it, as well as submit a letter of support from a non-accounting faculty member.
As it launches, Breidenbach said, the program will accept applications from both sophomores and juniors this year only. After two years, The Woltemade Center will evaluate the fellowship to discuss making it a permanent part of the OWU experience.
The Center already has a competitive Economic Management Fellows program that accepts between 15 and 20 first-year students annually. The benefits of being an Economics Management Fellow include enrollment in a special seminar and taught by the entire OWU Department of Economics faculty, as well as a fully paid, faculty-escorted study trip to New York City with visits to the New York Federal Reserve and New York Stock Exchange.
Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s Woltemade Center at www.owu.edu/woltemade and more about the Department of Economics at www.owu.edu/economics.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers nearly 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.