This Summer, a group of 21 students traveled to Australia with a twofold mission: to gain a better understanding of the global marketplace and to work with Australian students at James Cook University. The group, led by accounting department head Brett Wilkinson and faculty member Jane Bloodgood, was also accompanied by two distinguished alumni, Barry and Marcia Robinson (Barry was the Accounting Hall of Fame inductee for 2015). The team spent five days in Sydney and five days in Cairns.
Prior to the trip, the K-State students worked in teams with Australian students from James Cook University on a transfer pricing related case. In Australia, the students met up with their Australian counterparts and presented their project conclusions. In addition to working with the Australian students, the team visited major international accounting firms and corporations, attended a briefing at the U.S. Consulate, and toured a sugar mill in northern Queensland.
Cultural highlights of the trip included a cruise on Sydney Harbour, a private tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House, a visit to a crocodile farm and a snorkeling excursion to the Great Barrier Reef.
This was a life-changing experience for our students, the majority of whom had never previously been outside the US. We are especially grateful to the alumni and friends whose scholarship support defrayed some of the costs and thus assisted our students in making this amazing trip. In particular, we thank Phillips66, ConocoPhillips, the Cole Family, the Day Family, and the Morrison Family for generous scholarship support.