Graduate Student Makes a Name for Adrian College in the Accounting World
Posted Thursday, January 18, 2024
Author: Braden Musser
Emily German, an Adrian College (AC) graduate student, has been a standout in the AC Master of Science (MS) in Accountancy program. Donna Baker, a professor in the accounting department at AC, has overseen the success of numerous accounting students and knows a good student when she sees one.
“She is an awesome student, in every way. Very academically strong, very strong leadership, great personality,” she said in regards to German’s success. “She will make a name for Adrian College in the accounting field.”
German, a Brunswick, Maryland native, was a four-year member of the AC Synchronized Skating and AC Figure Skating teams as an undergraduate as well as a member of the Alpha Phi sorority, where she spent time as the director of academics and director of community engagement. She was also president of the accounting club and earned Class of 2023 Alpha Phi Outstanding Scholar and AC Outstanding Senior in Accountancy, Business and Economics awards.
Currently, she is an assistant coach for the AC Synchronized Skating team. German was a standout on the ice, where she captained the Figure Skating team and helped lead the Bulldogs to a fourth-place finish at the 2023 National Intercollegiate Final in Los Angeles.
“[She] has always been a kind person and a gorgeous and graceful skater… as a teammate she has always been supportive and optimistic,” said current AC Skater Anna Blaski.
Over the past two summers, German had success in two internships with top Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms. She has already passed two sections of the CPA exam and recently accepted a full-time position with Deloitte, one of the top four accounting firms in the world, whose list of notable accounting and consulting clients includes, among others, the United States Golf Association, Dell EMC and Marathon Oil.
In the summer of 2022, she worked as an audit intern with regional firm Rehmann out of their Traverse City office.
“I had a really great experience,” German said of her time with Rehmann, “It was a smaller office but I got to know people well and I really enjoyed the work I was doing.”
In the summer of 2023, she worked as a tax intern out of the Grand Rapids offices of Deloitte, which led to her accepting a full-time position there as an audit assistant.
“You kind of have to pick your service line, so I wanted to try both [tax and audit] before I made an official decision,” German said. “I ended up not liking tax very much but I really liked Deloitte and the opportunities that the firm could give me.”
The AC MS in Accountancy program includes 30 credit hours and helps to prepare students for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, the exam required to obtain a CPA license in Michigan. The exam includes four sections that must be completed within an 18-month window. So far, German has passed the Financial Accounting and Reporting as well as the Business Environment and Concepts sections of the CPA Exam and is looking to have both the exam and her degree program completed by the end of the current school year.
In Baker’s nine years with AC, she has helped to revamp the department and launch the Master’s program, which boasts CPA exam passage rates that are higher than both the Michigan and national averages.
“We teach the same subject matters, but it's because of the way that we have formatted the program,” Baker said. “They intensely study audit and we incorporate CPA review into that, and then we encourage them to take that section [of the exam].”
“She [German] definitely has set a great example for other accounting majors to follow,” Baker said.
For more details regarding the MS in Accountancy program, email Professor Baker at donnabaker@adrian.edu.
