Carleton DECA has record performance at DECA U Provincials

Student members of Carleton DECA recently competed in DECA U Provincials, earning several medals and the opportunity to compete at DECA’s international conference in Washington, D.C. in April.

Over 1,300 students from universities and colleges across the province took part in the two-day competition, which took place in Toronto from January 19 to 21.

Guy Slepoy and Marcus Sickert prepare their case resolution during the 2018 DECA U Provincials. (Photo credit: DECA U)

Jenna Nesbitt, fourth year Commerce student and president of Carleton DECA, said the executive team provided members with more training this year to help better prepare students for the provincial competition.

“We had two girls in charge of delegate development,” said Jenna. “They put in a lot of work throughout the summer and prepared a whole curriculum for the school year. We had training session every other week on Monday and Thursdays. We said if you want to go to Provincials, you have to go to four of those sessions.”

In November, Carleton DECA hosted their third annual invitational conference, Purpose, which served as another training opportunity for their members.

“We had 100 people come, including 20 students from other schools in Ontario,” said Jenna. “We got to show them our school. We wrote all of our cases and we hosted them for the weekend. It was really fun. That helped show the delegates what the competition is really like so they were better prepared going into Provincials.”

Carleton DECA’s Provincial Medal Winners:

1^st Place, Business to Business – Jenna Nesbitt (BCom) and Kamie Brooks (BCom)
2^nd Place, Stock Pitch Challenge – Xavier Luk (BCom) and Chris Chalmers (BCom)
3^rd Place, Marketing Management – Marcus Sickert (BCom) and Guy Slepoy (BCom)
3^rd Place, Management Consulting – Dannick Giguère (BIB)
Top 5, Corporate Finance – Ian Maclean (BCom)

The following delegates placed in the top 10 of their category.

Robert Fetzer (BCom) and Bruke Russom (BCom) – Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Megan Suitor (BIB) and Nikita Zurowski (BIB) – International Marketing
Kristina Giglietta (BCom) and Thomas Schubert (BCom) – Marketing Management
Ryan Baan (BCom) – Restaurant and Food Services
Nick Carson (BCom) – Fashion and Retail Management

In addition, the Carleton chapter came home with the Leaders in Diversity award.

Carleton DECA hopes to send 12 delegates to DECA’s international competition that is taking place April 11 to 14. They will be determined by the highest scores received at Provincials.

Jenna encourages Sprott students, especially first years, to get involved with DECA.

“When I joined in first year, it opened me to a network of older students and students outside of Sprott. Then, when I travelled to Provincials, I met really driven university students. I think it you want to be better, you need to surround yourself with people who are aiming for the same thing. I don’t think I would have been president without having surrounded myself around other students who were trying to become leaders within their student communities.”

With more than 215,000 student members across seven countries, DECA delivers educational and competitive programs that empower and prepare the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. The Carleton Chapter was founded in 2012 by Bachelor of Commerce students Ameer Baig. It has grown to more than 170 members and is open to students in all faculties.