NIU Today

6,400 students, 1,100 universities, 91 countries

Few can claim the title Champions of the World. But Paula Veyhle, Nicholas Stone and Nolan O’Rear achieved that right while they were NIU College of Business Department of Finance students. And they did so, soaring to epic heights, all while keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground. 

During spring 2022, the three competed as a team in a prestigious two-semester-long global industry event, the Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) Research Challenge. CFA Institute, host of the competition, describes the event as such:  

The CFA Institute is a worldwide network of CFA Institute member societies that lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society. Local CFA® Societies work with universities to assemble teams of three to five undergraduate and/or graduate students. Teams research and analyze a designated publicly traded company; prepare a written report on that company that supports a buy, sell or hold recommendation; receive advice and support from a faculty advisor and an industry mentor; and present and defend their findings to a panel of industry experts. 

This year, participants included more than 6,400 students, 1,100 universities and 91 countries. All of which represent the highest participation ever in the 16 years of the challenge. The competition was staggered at the local, subregional, regional and global level in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. In the Global Final, only one team emerged as world champion. 

2022 CFA Research Challenge World Champions (left to right, seated outside the NIU College of Business): Nicholas Stone, Paula Veyhle, Nick O’Rear.

Which means that Veyhle, Stone and O’Rear competed in – and won – each stage of a multi-level event: local, subregional, regional semi-finals, regional finals and global. While confident in their abilities, the trio remained aware of the depths associated with the overall challenge. Even during the competition, O’Rear knew the event would be career transforming and described it as the ultimate “capstone of my education.” Stone regarded the experience as singly “the most intense and exciting” of his academic journey thus far. Veyhle, an international student native to Germany, called the experience “extremely valuable” in the enhancement of many aspects required for success.  

To advance beyond the first round, the team beat out 12 teams from five other local universities before competing in the next series of rounds. Consider that their road to victory also included defeating well-branded institutions with a reputation the world over as among the best in the field of finance. Consider also that now NIU is solidly a member of that esteemed group.

“I am beyond thrilled that our NIU College of Business CFA research team is the 2022 world champion. We began this journey over five years back with the goal of winning it all. To see this become a reality is a point of great pride for all of us. This is NIU’s first-ever win in this prestigious competition,” said NIU College of Business Dean Balaji Rajagopalan. “Few students have I met in my career that can match Paula, Nick and Nolan’s talent, hard work and determination to succeed. They personify the NIU Huskie spirit. They were undaunted by a competitive field in the thousands from public, private and ivy league institutions around the world. All along this incredible journey they were inspired and supported by their outstanding faculty coach Gina Nicolosi. There’s no question that she instills the ‘can do the impossible’ mindset in them. I am proud of the team.” 

The trio began their team activities in earnest in fall 2021, as did their competition. Their initial activities included researching, drafting and publishing a professional valuation report of a locally headquartered, publicly traded company. Motorola Solutions served as this year’s Chicago-area firm. After submitting their 20-page research report, the team prepared a slide deck, based on an updated valuation they conducted, then presented and defended their updated findings and reasoning to a panel of CFA judges. For each subsequent round, they conducted an updated valuation and revised their slide deck, presentation script and anticipated Q&A responses. Along the way they received feedback from Department of Finance Chair Gina Nicolosi who served as the team’s faculty advisor, as well as from Crowe Corporate Development Manager Ian Long, CFA and 2014 finance alumnus, who served as the team’s industry mentor.  

2022 CFA Research World Champions with their NIU faculty advisor (left to right): Nick O’Rear, Department of Finance Chair and faculty advisor Gina Nicolosi, Paula Veyhle, Nicholas Stone.

“As their faculty advisor, their professor and their friend, I couldn’t be prouder,” said Nicolosi. “There is just something about these three. I think we all had this feeling from the get-go that this was a possibility; we just didn’t want to voice the thought aloud. Their drive, intelligence, passion and poise are strikingly apparent as soon as you begin interacting with them. I have never coached a team that displayed this level of initiative, all while maintaining such a positive and congenial spirit. I am so honored to have been part of this journey with them and have no doubt that their future holds even bigger and brighter accomplishments.” 

The team’s industry advisor Ian Long, a CFA Charterholder and corporate development manager at Crowe LLP, agreed wholeheartedly. Indeed, his passion for and first-hand knowledge of the demands of this challenge extends well beyond this year’s effort. During his undergraduate years in the NIU finance program, he served as one of a handful of high-performing finance team members in the finance department’s Student Managed Portfolio course, which charges students with the responsibility of managing actual investments made by the NIU Foundation. He also directly faced the CFA Research Challenge himself, along with two other team members, under the guidance of former NIU Professor of Finance Gerry Jensen. 

Speaking from first-hand experience, Long said, “The CFA research challenge gives students access to key company stakeholders and professional equity researchers, and allows them to really explore the nuances of a deep dive sell-side analysis. This team proved they understand the complex cornerstones of developing, articulating and defending an investment thesis. Nick, Nolan, and Paula were thoughtful and strategic with their presentation, always staying a step ahead of the judges. This kind of success doesn’t happen overnight. It was a direct result of their focus and perseverance. I’m extremely honored to have worked with these talented individuals. They, along with Professor Nicolosi, deserve all the credit in the world.” 

“We at CFA Society Chicago congratulate the NIU Team on their amazing achievement,” said Deborah Koch, CFA, member of the CFA Society Chicago Research Challenge Committee. “This is Chicago’s first Global Research Challenge Champion and we could not be more proud! We would also like to thank our featured company Motorola Solutions and all of our dedicated CFA volunteers who have made this competition a success over the years.”

The first place finish by the NIU team marks CFA Society Chicago’s first global win and is the first time a team from CFA Society Chicago returned to the Global Finals since 2012. The final five teams competing in the Global Final were IE Business School (CFA Society Spain), Northern Illinois University College of Business (CFA Society Chicago), Polytechnic University of Milan (CFA Society Italy), University of British Columbia (CFA Society Okanagan, CFA Society Vancouver, and CFA Society Victoria), and University of Sydney (CFA Society Sydney).

Few doubt how remarkable it is to be a global champion in a multi-stage, nearly year-long event that attracts thousands of outstanding students from every corner of the world. It’s altogether astounding to do so while simultaneously completing rigorous academic programs. 

Indeed, the degree areas from which the three students graduated in May 2022 include the Bachelor of Science in accountancy, the Bachelor of Science in finance, and the Master of Science in finance. Yet, their academic tenure extends to several areas in the college. Stone completed his Bachelor of Science in finance in December 2021, his Master of Science in finance in May 2022 and is on track to complete his Master of Science in data analytics in December 2022. Veyhle completed her Bachelor of Science in management in May 2021 and her Master of Science in finance in May 2022, at which time she was on track to an unheard-of perfect GPA in the graduate program. O’Rear completed his double-major Bachelor of Science in accountancy and Bachelor of Science in finance in May 2022.  

True to form, Stone, O’Rear and Veyhle also managed to keep calm and carry on after learning they were CFA Research Analyst Global Champions a few handful of hours before they walked across the stage for their diplomas at NIU’s spring 2022 commencement ceremonies. 

Perhaps Veyhle best encapsulates her takeaway and that of her teammates Stone and O’Rear on the impact of what they experienced and achieved when she said, “The global CFA Institute Research Challenge has been an extremely valuable experiential learning opportunity encompassing many important aspects that it takes to be successful in the future: analytical, financial, and strategic knowledge, presentation skills, as well as dedicated teamwork. I am proud to have represented NIU with such an amazing team and I am certain that this competition marks a milestone and shapes each of our careers in very special ways.” 

Stone, O’Rear and Veyhle: Champions of the World. But even more — Masters of their Future. 

Looking to add real-world program management experience to his résumé, accelerated MBA student Dylan Lonteen found an opportunity through the IGNITE program that piqued his interest.  

“I had started out looking for part-time jobs on Indeed and found a position with the DeKalb County Community Gardens. It turned out that they didn’t have a need for that position, but they told me they were partnered with IGNITE. I was very interested in that, and after I interviewed, we got the ball rolling,” Lonteen said. 

IGNITE is an internship program at the NIU College of Business that allows students to work paid internships with local businesses and nonprofit organizations. The student works for their organization, and the college subsidizes the student’s wages. 

After a successful interview process, Lonteen joined DeKalb County Community Gardens (DCCG) as a program analyst and took charge of the GrowMobile project. GrowMobile is a joint initiative by DCCG, NIU, Volunteer Action Center, the DeKalb County Health Department, the DeKalb County Community Action Office, and Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Health and Wellness. GrowMobile is a mobile food pantry that delivers freshly grown produce to DeKalb County areas afflicted by food insecurity. Lonteen’s primary responsibility is overseeing the development of the program and drafting operating procedures to ensure its efficiency. 

“When I started in this position, I was able to attend a couple of the GrowMobile’s distribution events. I took notes and benefited from some hands-on experience running those events. Then, I came back to our office and started writing up a step-by-step plan for others to follow to run that distribution,” Lonteen said. “I work collaboratively with the GrowMobile program director. Together, we set up that plan so that if someone fills in for her, they can do so without any prior knowledge.” 

Lonteen, who played shortstop for NIU baseball, noted that the internship served as his first entry into the workforce.  

“As a college athlete, I hadn’t really had an opportunity to work before now. My mom worked with nonprofits, and I grew up around them. That made the position with the Community Gardens really enticing for me. Plus, the position provides a firsthand look at things you don’t usually learn in a classroom, like company culture and how to communicate on the ground, in the moment. Everyone here has been great,” he added. 

“From an organization’s perspective, a big part of being involved with IGNITE is the ability to have an intern for a year-long engagement. What’s very enticing for us is being able to work with graduate students like Dylan,” said Associate Director Jackie DiNatale. “Dylan’s impact has been great. He has been very open and flexible. Before he came here, we didn’t have many procedures put together for these programs. I had an idea, a framework for what we wanted. Dylan listened, gave us some great feedback and we worked together to put some solid operating procedures in place.” 

Lonteen is currently in the process of completing his work on the GrowMobile procedures and will begin work shortly at DCCG’s Walnut Grove Vocational Farm where he will create similar operating plans for the farm’s program offerings. 

“In my IGNITE internship, I’ve met a lot of new people and I’ve had a lot of hands-on experience,” Lonteen said. “I didn’t realize at first just how many volunteers DCCG gets. I hadn’t experienced a food distribution event before. When I’d go to distribution events, we often had 25 to 30 volunteers here to help. We also had cars lined up, full of people who needed our help. It was truly eye-opening for me to see just how much of an impact DCCG has on the local community. All I could think about was how incredible it was.” 

Michael Brady’s motivation appeared when he was in sixth-grade – in the form of a male teacher.

For Jocelynne Escontrias, the role models in those School District U-46classrooms shared her culture: “It was just great to see people lead by example in that way,” she said. “I just want to give back and be that representation for students.”

Jennifer Tovar also credits her teachers at Huff Elementary School.

“I just loved the way that they made me feel welcome in their classrooms, and they really inspired me to become a teacher,” she said. “I want to be like them to inspire other kids and to educate them as well.”

Danielle Lauritzen, meanwhile, appreciated the support she received from district speech-language pathologists and physical therapists. She thought it would lead her to a career in nursing, but a part-time job pointed her instead to teaching.

“Working in a little-kid daycare, I found that I really loved working with young people, and I ended up realizing that I really love seeing them grow and change and learn things,” she said. “Being able to see that change and growth was key for me in wanting to be an educator.”

No matter the reasons for pursuing NIU’s B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education with Bilingual/ESL endorsement, these four and their 16 classmates in the second PLEDGE cohort at Elgin Community College all are about to achieve their dreams to teach.

Graduating Saturday, May 14, with Brady, Escontrias, Lauritzen and Tovar are Mayra Carachure, Yolanda Chavez, Daisy Cintora, Alexie Corral, Alexandra Graham, Allison Hill, Karen Monraga, Nancy Mayen, Daniella Mejia, Lupe Moreno, Emily Neuman, Lisette Pena, Ana Dominguez Quevedo, Cassidy Sell, Yoseline Temores and Leslie Villa.

The 20 students gathered May 6 in the Elgin Community College Dining Room with family, friends, professors, academic advisors, clinical supervisors and administrators to celebrate those bachelor’s degrees and the bright futures that await them this fall.

Laurie Elish-Piper, dean of the NIU College of Education, told the audience that the PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) collaboration is mutually beneficial for both institutions and the broader community amid the Illinois teacher shortage and the need to supply classrooms with a culturally diverse workforce.

“Everyone is trying to figure out what we can do to prepare the teachers that we need for our schools today, and everyone’s saying, ‘It’s so complicated. How can we solve this problem?’ Well, I would argue that it’s not that complicated at all,” Elish-Piper said.

“It’s really a matter of coming together as partners and thinking about how to leverage community resources and support to be able to grow teachers who are from the community and who want to teach and live and work in the community,” she added. “That’s exactly what we’re doing here today. This is a model that works.”

David Sam, president of Elgin Community College, congratulated the students who started and completed their higher education on his campus through the PLEDGE model.

Teachers, Sam said, were the people who made the greatest impression on his life.

“You are entering this profession whereby you are going to impact the lives of so many people for years to come, and you may not get to see the impact on these students,” Sam said. “That’s OK. I can assure you that you are making those impacts.”

LAUNCHED IN THE FALL OF 2019, the PLEDGE program at ECC already has achieved something extraordinary: a 100% graduation rate. Every student who started has finished, including last year’s first cohort of 15, and the same feat is expected from the current third cohort of 18.

Tammy Scheibe, clinical supervisor in the NIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction, presents gifts to Lupe Moreno.

Such success is partially a result of creating an ECC-to-NIU College of Education path that is accessible, affordable and designed specifically to meet and support the needs of place-bound, working adults with family responsibilities.

NIU degrees in Early Childhood Education now have been added to the program, combining with Elementary Education to put dozens of future teachers in the pipeline.

Graduates will take jobs in the Elgin area to provide children with empathetic teachers who bring a lifelong familiarity and understanding of the community and its families.

And, Elish-Piper said, Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300 and Burlington-based Central School District 301 now are joining U-46 in PLEDGE participation.

“Before this partnership, a lot of students only wished that they could be elementary teachers because of their previous commitments, family commitments, jobs, funds, time,” said Elizabeth Herrera, an academic advisor at ECC. “We’ve been able to make that dream come true.”

Elish-Piper told the audience how the dream began.

“Lisa Freeman, the president of Northern Illinois University, oftentimes says that relationships are resources, and as I look at this remarkable partnership, it’s built on relationships,” she said.

“About six years ago, I walked into work and I had an idea: I thought, ‘What if we took our Teacher Education program to the campus of Elgin Community College?’ because I had heard that there were tons of amazing students here who would complete their associate degrees but then had difficulty figuring out a successful pathway to get their bachelor’s degrees and professional educator licensure,” she added.

“So I did what I always do. I thought, ‘Who do I know that can help us do this? Who can partner with us on this?’ And so I picked up the telephone and I called Dr. Parul Raval, who I knew from her doctoral program at Northern Illinois University. She answered the phone, and she said, ‘I think it’s a good idea.’

An apple for the teacher: Clinical supervisor Randi White presents gifts to Karen Monraga.

THE 2022 GRADUATES WOULD agree.

Brady currently works for UPS in Palatine, where he is a classroom facilitator for new hires and a lead trainer. Income from that job allows him to pay for college, he said, and offers a tuition reimbursement benefit as well.

Palatine is also near Elgin and home.

“I did not have to change my lifestyle to pursue this. I didn’t have to live in DeKalb. I just had to stay right here, and nothing really had to change,” Brady said. “It was a pretty easy transition from ECC to NIU.”

NIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction coursework offered immediate applications at UPS, such as the importance of positive reinforcement and explaining concepts in detail.

He also gained valuable knowledge and preparation for the fifth- or sixth-grade classrooms where he plans to teach.

“During that time period, kids are going through a lot of things, and I want to help nurture kids during those transition times,” said Brady, who student-taught at Heritage Elementary School in Streamwood.

“I got the most out of the social-emotional learning content,” he added. “It’s not something that is really talked about when you look at the profession; what you might be going through within the classroom, what they kids might be going through in their own lives. We were able to look at things from a cultural lens – a familial lens – and it prepared me for this career with things that I otherwise wouldn’t have.”

Escontrias said she is excited to begin teaching and grateful for the ability to do so.

“I come from a place where I would seek rides all the time, so I was really struggling to find my way,” Escontrias said. “ ‘How am I going to get out of community college and find a university that’s close? How am I going to do any of that when it’s not possible because I’m sharing a car, or I need to ask for a ride?’ And this wonderful opportunity came up. Dr. Raval mentioned it, I applied, and I was so lucky to get in.”

Her student-teaching with fifth-graders at Highland Elementary School taught her patience, slang and even TikTok. It also proved to her that her NIU curriculum “blends so flawlessly” into practice and “just feels so natural over time.”

She appreciated the support of faculty who were always happy to answer her questions without judgement – and of her family.

“I’m first-generation,” she said. “Growing up, they didn’t expect me to go after high school, even though I was a good student. But I was really determined, and they supported me, and I’m really thankful that I can make them proud.”

TOVAR ALSO IS A first-generation college student who is happy to set a positive example for her brother, Brian.

PLEDGE came “at the right time,” she said, relieving her concerns about commuting or living away from home.

Meanwhile, she added, her preparation “was amazing” as was her cooperating teacher at Garfield Elementary School.

“I learned that classroom management is very important at the beginning of the year for any new teacher as well as having a routine,” Tovar said. “I loved working with the kids. I built a relationship with them, and I’m going to miss them a lot because it’s my first year. I just bonded with them so well, and I hope I have that next year as well.”

For Lauritzen, benefits of PLEDGE included the “cohort of folks who really made the experience collaborative” and the group chat that kept those classmates connected electronically.

Her NIU coursework provided “the backbones of what I need to know,” she said, including the rationale behind teaching concepts and how to turn theory into practice for effective instruction.

She especially appreciated content related to English Language Learners and “being able to work with diverse populations of students: I’m fortunate to be in Elgin, which is filled with people from different backgrounds and different races. It’s nice to be in U-46.”

Lauritzen plans to teach in the upper grades of elementary school.

“The conversations you can have with them are pretty interesting because they have some grasp of what the world really looks like, and sometimes you can take those ideas they have and mold them or include them within your work as a teacher,” she said.

At the same time, she has learned, it’s important to examine data about students to better understand their strengths and struggles. It’s important to set high expectations – a growth mindset of trying and learning – and to accompany that with support.

“Being able to use those factors was very important to my cooperating teacher, and that’s something she made as a big emphasis on me,” Lauritzen said. “You need to use what the kids have under their belts before you can even think about what you bring to the table.”