Stickel named first Goodman & Company accounting fellow at UVa-Wise

Suzanne Stickel is the first recipient of the Goodman & Company Fellowship, a program established by Goodman & Company for accounting majors at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

The Goodman & Company Fellowship program encourages, supports and promotes development of exceptional accounting majors at UVa-Wise. Fellows will participate in several professional development activities with Goodman & Company.

Goodman & Company fellows at UVa-Wise receive a $2,500 scholarship each semester and earn three hours of college credit. The students receive valuable mentoring from Goodman & Company partners and managers.

“We’re very excited to be partnering with UVa-Wise,” said Melissa Stanley, a Goodman & Company partner.

Special seminars and workshops presented by Goodman & Company and UVa-Wise faculty are available for Goodman & Company fellows. In addition, significant work experience and management training the fellows receive typically results in advanced career placement with the company upon graduation.

Stickel, a Springfield resident, recently completed an internship with Goodman & Company. She has accepted a position with the company after graduation.

“This is really an honor,” Stickel said. “I’m excited about working for Goodman & Company. I want to pursue a professional career in accounting because I value the importance of the job. With rules changing frequently, accountants are constantly learning something new and then applying it to their work.”

Goodman & Company employs several UVa-Wise graduates in its offices throughout Virginia. In 2006, a team of UVa-Wise won the Goodman Accounting Challenge, a competition that challenges undergraduate accounting students to apply classroom knowledge to real world accounting problems.

“We’re very proud of our accounting majors,” said UVa-Wise Chancellor David J. Prior. “They have to be problem solvers, agile learners and powerful communicators.”

Robert Meixner, Jr., director of recruiting for Goodman & Company, says his organization has had tremendous success with UVa-Wise students.

“The students here are being well-prepared,” Meixner said. “We are confident that the Goodman & Company Fellowship program will be a great asset to future accounting students.”

David Kendall, chair of the College’s Department of Business and Economics, said the Fellowship would provide tremendous opportunities for UVa-Wise students.

“This is a powerful vehicle to attract the brightest and best to UVa-Wise,” Kendall said.

With over 80 partners and more than 500 professional staff, Goodman & Company is one of the largest certified public accounting firms in the Mid-Atlantic. Accounting Today lists the firm among the Top 100 accounting firms nationally. The company is headquartered in Virginia Beach.

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise offers Virginia's only undergraduate degree in software engineering, among 28 other degrees and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Posted October 3, 2008