Students from the University of Tennessee at Martin will compete in the finals of the 11th national 2025 CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition. A total of 35 student teams representing 27 colleges and universities from across the U.S. entered the competition. UT Martin’s team will join Illinois State University, Mercer University, Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Arkansas in the finals competition. UT Martin has previously won the competition twice.
The annual competition is open to undergraduate students in all fields of study to gain valuable first-hand knowledge of the banking industry. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors will announce finals competition results July 14 at www.csbs.org.
For the 2025 competition, the teams partnered with local community banks to explore the impact of interest rates and inflation on the business of banking, with a focus on planning for the future through branch strategy, technology and managing regulatory burden. Each team advanced through two judging rounds by banking professionals to reach the finals.
The UT Martin team members, all accounting majors in the College of Business and Global Affairs, are Aaron Bartholomew, Parsons; Anna Batte, Bruceton; Blair James, Milan; Hayden Weber, Puryear; and Makenzi Bouras, Bumpus Mills.
UT Martin team faculty advisers are John Clark, interim chairholder, Horace and Sara Dunagan Chair of Excellence in Banking; Dr. Nell Gullett, professor of finance; and Dr. Brittany Cole, assistant professor of finance. Traci Crawford, administrative support assistant for the Dunagan Chair of Excellence in Banking, assisted team members with competition preparation, and Carroll Bank & Trust, based in Huntingdon, is the team’s community bank partner.
“This is a very important national competition for universities and students interested in community banking,” Clark said. “We’ve done well in the competition each year, and reaching the finals is a significant accomplishment by these five extraordinary students.” In addition to invitations to present at the annual Community Banking Research Conference, each student member and faculty adviser of the first-place winning team will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Their work will be published in the annual Journal of Community Bank Studies. Teams placing second and third will also receive scholarships and have their work published in the journal.
PHOTO: UT Martin students will compete in the finals of the 11th national 2025 CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition. The UT Martin team will join Illinois State University, Mercer University, Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Arkansas in the finals competition. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors will announce finals competition results July 14 at www.csbs.org. Team members and bank officers pictured at the Carroll Bank & Trust headquarters in Huntingdon are (front row, l-r) Aaron Bartholomew, team member; Jourdan Allen, CB&T; Makenzi Bouras, Blair James and Anna Batte, all team members; Katelyn Spivey and Laura Jones, CB&T; (back row, l-r) CB&T officers Phil Fry, Phillip Moffitt, Mike Cary, Gerald Taylor, Bryan Rainey, Justin Oliver; and Haden Weber, team member.
