CBA Accounting Student Takes First Place in Project Run With It Competition

Katelin Dittman, a senior accounting student at CBA, and her team won first place in Beta Alpha Psi’s (BAP) Project Run with It competition. The International Honor Organization for Financial Information Students and Professionals started Project Run With It (PRWI) in 2008 as a way to further the community service component of Beta Alpha Psi and provide student members with an opportunity to engage in a real-world consulting project.

This year, coordinators selected Opportunity Village as one of the local non-profits to participate in the project. Opportunity Village has supported the community of Las Vegas since 1954 by providing resources and support for intellectually disabled adults. They provide assisted living, health care, and jobs so that these adults can embrace life fully and be a part of society. They host many fundraisers throughout the year as well as sell cookies made by the organization at the local gas stations.

Dittman's group developed the idea of utilizing the universities involved in BAP to facilitate these passive income streams, not only to help the nonprofit but as another way for college students to give back to the community. They presented how social media will facilitate further donations and traffic to Opportunity Village’s website and the fine art department could host art exhibitions, including the art of some of the residents of the nonprofit to raise donations. They also hit on utilizing March Madness and other sporting events to raise more money by donating a portion of the proceeds from concessions and tickets. Lastly, they addressed how partnering with a Greek life organization to host further fundraisers and gather more volunteers for Opportunity Village.

The other students in Kate’s group were not from Omaha or Nebraska but from other US states and Australia. Kate says, “I was nervous leading up to the conference and the event but after being able to work with such an outstanding group of people and an amazing nonprofit, I would do it all again. This project was not about journal entries but provided an accurate look into how business functions and how to approach consulting with a firm. I hope this experience will help me finish the Capstone class.”

Kate also mentioned that she would not have been able to make it this far without the faculty of CBA, Beta Alpha Psi, or her fellow members of Beta Alpha Psi.