Montana State University

College of Business News

Accounting Student Receives Scholarship

 

Erin Mohr
Erin Mohr of Joliet, a senior here at the College of Business, was one of 15 students nationwide awarded a Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The scholarship, valued at $1,000, was announced in the association's bimonthly journal, "The White Paper: Topical Issues on White-Collar Crime."

Mohr will receive a business degree with an option in accounting this spring.

After graduation, I plan to do an accounting internship with Campus Crusade for Christ in Orlando, Mohr said. The internship is not paid and funding must be raised on an individual basis. The money from this scholarship will greatly contribute to the funds needed to complete this internship. Mohr will return to MSU-Bozeman in the fall 2003 to earn a master's in accountancy.

Criteria for receiving the ACFE award required that the student must be taking at least 12 semester hours with a declared major in accounting or criminal justice. Recipients were selected on several factors, including overall academic achievement, a short essay explaining why the applicant deserves the scholarship and how the awareness of fraud will affect the student's career. Bonita Peterson, MSU associate accounting professor, advised Mohr to apply for the scholarship.

"This is a prestigious scholarship," Peterson said. "Only 15 were given nationwide, and Erin is the second MSU student to receive one. As noted by the Chair of the Scholarship Committee, it is getting more difficult every year to decide to whom to award the scholarships. The quality of the applicants is increasing because more universities are offering fraud-related education."

A letter of recommendation from a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) was also required. Peterson referred Mohr to Tom Gibson, a CFE and treasurer at MSU-Bozeman. Gibson met with Mohr, discussed her career plans and then wrote her a letter of support.

To answer the demand of teaching awareness and prevention of fraud, the MSU College of Business will add an accounting graduate elective course in fraud examination next fall, a course developed and taught by Peterson.