USI Romain College of Business student team places fourth, wins Spirit Award at Alberta Not-For-Profit Case Compeition
This February, a group of students from the University of Southern Indiana’s Romain College of Business had the opportunity to travel to Canada and returned home with not one, but two distinct accolades from participating in the 2025 Alberta Not-For-Profit Association External Case Competition in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
A student team made up of seniors Rachel Ha of Evansville, Gracie Madison of Montgomery, Indiana, Sydney Mancini of Brownsburg, Indiana, and freshman Olivia Talley of Evansville, competing as SOAR Consulting, placed fourth in the External Case Competition. In addition to placing in the top five, the team also received the Spirit Award. USI was the only team from the United States in the competition. This trip was made possible through generous donations to the USI Foundation.
This was USI’s first trip to this competition since 2021 and seventh overall appearance. USI placed first in 2015 and also won the Spirit Award in both 2014 and 2017.
“The students used what they learned from all their case study practices and delivered an outstanding presentation at the competition,” said Jeanette Maier-Lytle, Faculty Advisor and Instructor in Accounting. “I was amazed at their level of comfort as they presented in front of the judges. Other coaches and students shared that they were very impressed with the team’s presentation as well.”
The students worked with case competition sponsor Bison Lodge, a non-profit association in Edmonton which serves as a community hub hosting a variety of events such as weddings, corporate functions and cultural gatherings. The team had 24 hours to research and develop a recommendation and prepare their presentation for a panel of judges. The participating teams were split into different cohorts with the top team from each cohort advancing to the final round–SOAR Consulting was victorious in Pool B.
Leading up to the main case competition, the USI team placed second in a fun case competition with students from other universities by coming up with side hustles for superheroes. USI’s student team also placed second in a non-profit trivia competition.
“Competing was an amazing opportunity to challenge ourselves and showcase our skills,” Ha said. “Placing fourth was a great achievement, but winning the Spirit Award truly reflected our teamwork and enthusiasm.”
In addition to the competition, the team had the opportunity to explore Edmonton and the University of Alberta. They also had the chance to listen to a speaker panel of industry experts, network with students from other universities and participate in extracurricular activities like laser tag and trying new food, including BeaverTails, a Canadian restaurant specializing in fried dough pastries.
Overall, the students were grateful to have the opportunity to travel outside the country while getting to showcase their skills on an international stage.
“We had an amazing time–I’m very proud of our team and our performance in the competition,” Madison said. “I absolutely loved the experience and am so grateful to the Romain College of Business and Professor Maier-Lytle for supporting us and providing us this opportunity!”
Mancini added: “This trip was one that I will remember forever, these girls feel like family now. I’m so proud of them.”
Learn more about USI’s Romain College of Business online.
