Warrington student places second in national business writing competition

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Iris Zhang, a senior finance major at the Warrington College of Business Administration, finished second in the Association for Business Communication 2010 Student Writing contest.

In this competition, students are presented a case scenario and are asked to construct a business correspondence in response. Entries are judged on clarity, appropriate tone and style, motivation to a desired outcome, organization and mastery of vocabulary among other factors.

A panel of academic readers reviewed the entries and selected 10 finalists. The finalists’ entries were passed on to a panel of business professionals who selected the winning responses.

“I’m delighted Iris came second as I thought her written response to the case was cogent, persuasive, and professional,” said Dr. Fiona R. Barnes, Director of the Center for Management Communication. “Her document epitomized everything we teach in GEB 3213— Writing for Business: That written communication in the workplace must be clear, specific, logical, purposeful and audience-focused.”

Zhang’s second-place finish marked the fourth time since 2006 that a Warrington student has placed in the top three of this competition. Nicole Thomas placed first in 2008 and Kimberly Holker (first) and Christopher Laden (third) were top finalists in 2006. Since 2006, no school has placed in the top three more often than UF.

“That we have done so well historically in the competition I believe validates the fact that our approach to teaching business writing here in the Center for Management Communication truly prepares our students to communicate effectively in the workplace,” Dr. Barnes said.

Zhang also received $200 for her second-place finish.