Peyton Elmore is the president of Beta Alpha Psi, an honors organization for accounting majors. Elmore, a finance, marketing and accounting triple major at the Moore School, is a senior from Spartanburg, South Carolina, who joined Beta Alpha Psi her sophomore year to start building her network and meet new people with similar interests. 

Dedicated to providing quality programming, networking opportunities and workshops for its members, Beta Alpha Psi hosts monthly panels with firm representatives, monthly professionalism workshops like etiquette dinners and monthly community service events in Columbia.

“Accountants have fun, too, and we plan monthly social events from bowling and ax throwing to end-of-the-year banquets and golf tournaments,” Elmore added.

Elmore became president of the organization after serving in smaller leadership roles since her sophomore year. She said she learned the operations of the organization in these roles and felt confident stepping into the role of president. Through her involvement in Beta Alpha Psi, Elmore gained an advantage in internship recruitment because of the organization’s network. 

“I was able to find my fit and secure my first internship with Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLC a year earlier than I normally would have, and I now have a full-time job offer from that experience,” Elmore said. “ I have also had the opportunity to build my professional network and learn from people currently in the field.  I have had the opportunity to attend conferences, school and accounting department events and gain so many professional skills critical to my future career that I would not have gotten otherwise.”

In addition to her personal testimony, Elmore said that all members of Beta Alpha Psi gain valuable and unique professional development experiences that set them up for success in the accounting profession. 

Beta Alpha Psi has two levels of membership depending on how many accounting classes potential members have taken, but as long as prospective members meet the organization’s GPA and participation requirements, they are welcome to join. Students interested in joining Beta Alpha Psi in fall 2020 should visit their website.

 

 

Carolina Finance and Investment Association president Haley Dietsch is a senior finance and international business major from Shawnee, Kansas. Dietsch leads the finance organization that bridges the gap between what students learn in the classroom and the professional world. 

Dietsch joined CFIA when she was a sophomore because she wanted to learn more about a career in finance and the finance profession in general. The main programming that CFIA offers is weekly meetings with a variety of speakers who share their experiences and career paths. This helped Dietsch discover her passion for finance.

“CFIA put me in touch with many different [Moore School] alumni that helped me in the recruitment process at their respective firms,” Dietsch said. “Without these contacts, I would have never gotten my foot through the door at many of these firms.”

Dietsch added that CFIA offers more to members than weekly guest speakers. She said other useful resources that she obtained through the organization were professional development and networking opportunities like resume workshops and mock interviews for its members to prepare them for the job/internship application and interview process. 

“CFIA gave me the resources I needed to be successful [in a career in finance], and I wanted to be able to provide those resources for younger students,” Dietsch said. “When I was asked to be president in my senior year, I was ecstatic because I would be able to give back to an organization that has given me so much.”

Dietsch interned at Credit Suisse in the Global Industry Group in summer 2019 after meeting an alumnus at a CFIA meeting who encouraged her to apply for and guided her through the recruitment process at the global wealth management company. As she prepares to graduate in May 2020, Dietsch will be moving to New York City to work as an investment-banking analyst at Credit Suisse. 

Although CFIA focuses on the financial industry, the organization is open to all majors. Students interested in joining should visit their website and sign up to be added to the organization’s email list.

 

 

Delta Sigma Pi president Luke Trotter said that being a member of the fraternity offers students, “a family while you’re here at UofSC and a network that extends far beyond that.”

A senior international business and finance major from Knoxville, Tennessee, Trotter joined Delta Sigma Pi as a freshman and met most of his close friends through the business fraternity. As he prepares to graduate in May 2020, Trotter said he is grateful for the connections he has made through Delta Sigma Pi.

“[Delta Sigma Pi] begins building [members’ networks] the minute you become a pledge by assigning you an alumni big brother [mentor] in your desired career field,” Trotter said. “This serves as a great connection in industry and the first true networking opportunity for many freshman. We also have a fantastic network at the Moore School. Multiple department heads and even Dean [Peter] Brews are brothers in our fraternity. This gives us unparalleled connections in the Moore School, which has led to some incredible opportunities. Additionally, we have a huge national network of more than 300,000 members that are constantly posting jobs and referencing Delta-sigs through our online channels.” 

Trotter also credits Delta Sigma Pi for the internship opportunities he and other members have obtained. 

“At one internship I was offered, the interviewer was an alumni brother, and I think that sealed the deal on my offer,” he said.

Delta Sigma Pi members are exposed to company representatives and industry experts through their chapter meetings. The fraternity has recently hosted Pete Selleck, president of Michelin North America, and Robert Stevenson, a popular business keynote speaker who previously owned five companies and was an international entrepreneur.

The fraternity also encourages members to get involved in leadership positions as soon as they are initiated. Trotter ran for office his freshman year. Although he didn’t become an officer until his sophomore year as senior vice president of the fraternity, he said the mentorship interest older members took in him inspires his leadership as president.

Delta Sigma Pi recruits twice a year at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. Potential recruits should follow the organization on Instagram @uofscdsp.

 

 

As the student manager for the Darla Moore School of Business Student Ambassadors, Madison Roberts has the unique opportunity to network with other students, Moore School faculty and a variety of professionals.

Student Ambassadors work all of the Moore School events — including but not limited to the alumni Shuck and Shag annual gathering, twice-yearly Career EXPO job fairs and the first-day-of-class Business Bash fall welcome event — and give building tours to prospective students and their families, alumni and donors. The students also work as support staff for the building by working at the second floor welcome desk, the Center for Business Communication front desk and the IT help desk full time, as well as staffing many other desks as needed. 

Roberts, a senior finance and marketing major from Dallas, Texas, joined Student Ambassadors her freshman year. As she realized her passion for the organization and began working her way up in its leadership, she became assistant student manager during her junior year and was then promoted to student manager in fall 2019.

“The personal and professional development that Student Ambassadors has offered me is unparalleled,” Roberts said. “We have the incredible opportunity to network with CEOs and VPs of companies as well as create personal relationships with the faculty and staff at the Moore School. In addition, working with a team of highly motivated individuals pushes me to be my best, and being able to serve as their leader has been incredibly rewarding.”

Roberts added that the leadership and professional growth opportunities offered by the Student Ambassadors organization help students develop skills that can be transferred to their careers. 

Being some of the first people to greet visitors to the Moore School, Roberts said that Student Ambassadors are, “able to network with many influential people as they come to visit the school, and many of them offer future opportunities to connect or to help set us up with jobs and internships.”

This network has helped Roberts secure a job as a financial services consultant at Ernst & Young in Charlotte, North Carolina, after she graduates in May 2020. 

The Student Ambassador application will open in fall 2020 around Thanksgiving and close before the fall semester ends. Interested students should visit their webpage or stop by the welcome center located on the second floor of the Moore School. 

 

The Moore School Student Organizations Council is made up of delegates from every active student organization in the Moore School and strives to enhance the extracurricular experience of all students pursuing degrees in business.

Mary Kate Gelzer, the president of the Moore School Student Organization Council, served as a delegate to the council for two semesters before becoming a member of its executive committee as its vice president of operations. Having found a passion for uniting the various student organizations within the Moore School, Gelzer continued with the council as its president for the 2019-2020 academic year. 

“The council's vision is that the shared energy, knowledge and resources of its member organizations will better enable each one to reach its goals while collectively contributing to the Moore School's culture and reputation,” said Gelzer, an accounting and history major from St. Louis, Missouri. “The council also aims to provide a channel of communication between involved students and the Moore School's administration.”

The council meets twice a month, and each delegate has a chance to share events their organization is hosting and other programming they have been doing. The council also helps plan case competitions by connecting professionals to executive members of student organizations and works to promote the Moore School organization fair each semester.

“The council has taken on many initiatives including hosting the State of the Moore School Address in the spring and creating a Moore School student organizations handout that can be found at the welcome center for current and prospective students who are interested in getting involved,” Gelzer said. “We have also collaborated with the Office of Career Management to reformat the current email communications sent to students regarding upcoming career-related events.”

Gelzer encourages any student organization that does not currently have a delegate on the council to join by visiting its Garnet Gate page.

 

 

Gamma Iota Sigma president Elaina Reck reminds students that they don’t have to be a business major to be a member or leader in a business organization. 

A statistics and geography double major from Greenville, South Carolina, Reck has been a leader in Gamma Iota Sigma, the insurance, risk management and actuarial science business fraternity, since her junior year. She was previously secretary and co-president of the fraternity. 

Dedicated to helping members gain insight into insurance and risk management companies, Gamma Iota Sigma hosts weekly chapter meetings with a variety of guest speakers. Additionally, the fraternity offers personal development opportunities, like resume review workshops and social networking events.

“We [also] attend conferences all over the country supported by the Gamma Iota Sigma Grand Chapter and other insurance organizations,” Reck said. “Personally, I’ve gotten to attend conferences with travel and room covered by the chapter to Chicago; Tallahassee, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas and Atlanta.”

Members are also offered a variety of closed networking events. This allows them exclusive access to many professionals in the insurance, risk management and actuarial science industries to network and learn about job opportunities.

“We regularly send out job opportunities and scholarships that are not advertised to the rest of the business school,” Reck said. “Members are offered free memberships to many useful services that lead to certifications in the insurance industry. We also have a mentor/mentee program to help underclassmen with figuring out exactly what they want to do and help with classes.”

Although she has changed her career path and is no longer pursing a degree in business, Reck said that many members of Gamma Iota Sigma have gained both internships and jobs through the fraternity. 

“Many members gain jobs through the conferences we attend because they have extremely good job fairs,” Reck added.

Membership costs for Gamma Iota Sigma are “low compared to the benefits, and we don’t have a rush process.” The fraternity recruits through the Moore School during the first two weeks of both fall and spring semesters. Interested students may visit the fraternity’s website or find their Garnet Gate page.

 

 

 

The Women in Business Council’s goal is to “connect, empower and educate women so that they may become respected leaders in the business community.” 

Marley Rolston, the WIBC president and CEO, said they are achieving this goal by providing a variety of activities for members to sharpen their business skills. These activities include resume, LinkedIn and negotiation workshops and networking opportunities on campus and with women-run businesses in the Columbia-area.

“We often host guest speakers from different companies who are eager to recruit our members,” Roston added. “We also often hold internship panels where our members can network and connect with those who have held or currently hold a position that they are interested in.”

Through these numerous opportunities, women gain solid business skills and the opportunity to network with other students in the organization and companies in Columbia. These experiences empower the council’s members to be confident businesswomen. 

Dedicated to empowering all women, the WIBC has a strong relationship with the Columbia Women’s Shelter, and members volunteer for the shelter regularly. The WIBC holds an annual goods drive to collect supplies for the Columbia Women’s Shelter and members volunteer at the shelter’s annual Thanksgiving “Souper” event every November.

The WIBC recruits at the beginning of both the spring and fall semesters; women are welcome to attend the first two meetings of the semester to gauge their interest in joining, and then they may become a member and pay dues.

However, Rolston said the WIBC will be restructuring its membership process to better equip new members with business skills earlier in their membership. 

“We hope to provide a more skills-focused transition into becoming a member of WIBC,” she said. “To do this, we are rolling out a ‘WIBternship’ in spring 2021 where our new members must attend several workshops to form basic skills such as resume building, presenting and interviewing before they join as a [full] member of WIBC towards the end of their first semester.” 

Rolston said she hopes these changes will enhance women’s membership in the WIBC. Interested students can learn more on the WIBC’s website or visit their Garnet Gate page.