News Articles

Southern Adventist University School of Business Students Excel, Rank as Top Performers

four college students in a classroom

After researching and preparing for their presentation (as seen here), the Southern Adventist University team made it to the finals, along with six other teams, in their first time participating in the HSI Battle of the Brains. Photo provided by Southern Adventist University

Students in Southern’s School of Business have been working hard, participating in competitions and tackling projects simulating real-world business scenarios both regionally and worldwide.

In a simulation of managing a startup company in the MGMT 364 International Business course, one of Southern’s teams placed first out of the five locally competing teams, and in the 99th percentile of more than 1,000,000 simulation teams worldwide in 2024.

In another business strategy challenge, three of Southern’s teams ranked as Global Top 50 Performers out of 685 teams from 58 colleges and universities worldwide for the performance of their GLO-BUS business strategy simulations during the week of June 17-23, 2024. 

Southern’s team of finance students also placed second among the 10 participating colleges and universities in last year’s Greater Tennessee Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Research Challenge.

In the Fall 2024 semester, Southern participated for the first time in the HSI Battle of the Brains, a national intercollegiate pitch competition for Hispanic-serving Institutions. Southern’s team of students made it to the finals along with six other teams after formulating and presenting strategies to solve a business challenge that was presented at the start of the event.

Fabian Lubis, senior finance major, participated in the CFA challenge last year and shares how the practical experience helped him further develop his skills. “Beyond the competition, the experience was invaluable. It was one of the truer tests of putting what I learned in the classroom into practice,” he shares. “From late-night financial modeling to presentation prep, we continually had to think on our feet; defending our valuation, adjusting forecasts based on new data, and ensuring our story aligned across all financials. The CFA Challenge pushed me to develop sharper critical-thinking skills, refine my ability to communicate complex assumptions, and recognize the reality that finance is never just about the numbers, but the story they tell.”

Southern’s $20 million School of Business Leadership and Innovation Campaign supports a new building and program endowment that benefits students in endeavors like these. Learn more and watch a livestream of construction progress on the new Ruth McKee School of Business at southern.edu/gobusiness.