A team of finance students from Appalachian State University took on the RISK Challenge, an international case competition sponsored anually by the Spencer Educational Foundation and the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
The team, composed of Carolina Davidson, Tom Phillips, Caroline Reeder, and Ashley Weisser, and coached by Dr. Lori Medders, spent the Winter Break conducting enterprise risk management research and formulating real-world solutions for problems uncovered.
This year’s case champion is the government of the City of Tukwila, Washington — a municipality located between SEATAC Airport and Seattle. The students were tasked in the first stage of the competition with submitting a report of recommendations that included risk treatment recommendations along with supporting risk identification, assessment and analysis findings.
"The work required a deep-dive analysis of the city government’s strategic, operational, hazard and financial conditions, risk drivers, and critical uncertainties," said a faculty representative. "The detailed content of the report remains proprietary as the team awaits the second stage of the competition – a formal presentation and Q&A on the team’s recommendations and supporting analysis at the Annual RIMS Conference & Exhibition to be held this year in San Diego, California."
The Spencer-RIMS RISK Challenge is one of four recent competitions for finance, banking and insurance students at App State; the others are: CFA Research Challenge; UGA's Stock Pitch Competition; and Catastrophe Insurance Underwriting Profitability. Read about all the competitions on the department's webpage: FB&I Students Make the Most of Their Break with Competitive Challenges.
About the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance
The Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance develops leaders for business, government and education by offering a Bachelor of Science in business administration in two specializations: finance and banking, and risk management and insurance. Learn more at https://finance.appstate.edu.
Spencer-RIMS RISK Challenge: Evaluating Municipal Risks
From left are Carolina Davidson, Caroline Reeder, Ashley Weisser and Tom Phillps