Back Row (from l to r): Laura Delaune, Scott Safron, Olufunmilayo Soetan; Front Row (from l to r): Heidi Giles, Christopher Calvin, Sarah Miller

TEAM OF LSU ACCOUNTING STUDENTS ADVANCES TO NATIONAL FINALS

December 5, 2007

Team Synergy Plus, winner of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ xAct Competition at LSU, will now compete as a national finalist in New York City, Jan. 17–18, 2008. This will be the fifth consecutive year that a team from LSU will compete as a finalist in the event.  
           
Team Synergy Plus is composed of E. J. Ourso College of Business students Christopher Calvin, Heidi Giles, Sarah Miller, Scott Safron, and Olufunmilayo Soetan. Laura Delaune, an instructor in the E. J. Ourso College Department of Accounting, serves as faculty advisor to Team Synergy Plus. The team will share a total of $16,500 for winning both the local competition and advancing to the national finals.
           
The final round of the competition will include five teams from schools across the country that have been chosen to present their proposals to a panel of PwC executives. The four teams Team Synergy Plus will compete against are University of California-Berkley, University of Illinois, University of Texas, and Wake Forest University.
           
"I am so proud of the team,” Delaune said. “They worked really hard to earn this recognition. In preparation for the New York competition, we will focus on the question and answer session following the presentations. The team will have to answer challenging questions from some of the national partners of PwC."
           
Teams from LSU won the competition in 2004 and 2005.
           
“My heartfelt congratulations go to these outstanding representatives of our college and of LSU,” said William Lane, interim dean of the E. J. Ourso College. “This is a testament to the quality of our undergraduate students and programs. Success stories such as this demonstrate the returns we are receiving from the Flagship Agenda and are what will lead LSU to increased recognition for the excellence it deserves.”