乐播传媒

乐播传媒 assistant professor of accounting Amanda Marino and two professors from Mexico鈥檚 Universidad Aut贸noma de Baja California (UABC) spearheaded a six-week learning program designed to give students hands-on experience with tax, trade and regulatory compliance issues within multinational companies.

The program was launched through the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative, which connects 乐播传媒 students to those in universities outside the U.S. to offer international learning opportunities.

As part of the program, 14 students from Marino鈥檚 Federal Taxation of Individuals course (ACCTG 503) teamed with 14 UABC students to study the tax structure across six different industries to develop efficient tax and business recommendations.

鈥淥ur goal was to move beyond the classroom and show students how cross-border business actually works,鈥� said Marino. 鈥淲orking with partners in Mexico helps them connect the rules to real-world practice in a meaningful way.鈥�

Marino originally planned something different. She sought to develop a short-term study abroad program in Bermuda, a well-known tax haven. In college, she studied on the island and later worked there, sparking her long-term interest in the field.

Travel and lodging, however, made the proposed North Atlantic trip too expensive.  鈥淚 wanted to design a program that would be accessible to our students, including those for whom cost is a real barrier,鈥�  Marino said. 

So she began focusing on a COIL program in Baja California, linking up with the transborder Program Development team at 乐播传媒 International Affairs. 

鈥淚 am very glad we made that pivot,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t allowed us to create a program that is more accessible, more directly relevant, and more connected to the communities that our students are part of.鈥�

UABC Professors Luis Alfredo 脕vila L贸pez and Jorge Alfonso Galv谩n Le贸n were skeptical about joining the program initially. They wondered if language and cultural differences would prevent students from connecting.

Those concerns proved unfounded. 鈥淚 can genuinely say that this collaboration has changed my perspective on binational programs, 鈥� said 脕vila L贸pez. 鈥淭he students鈥� response was outstanding. They were engaged, curious and very appreciative of the experience.鈥� 

Students from both universities traveled to Baja California for four days to meet with tax professionals, visit the port at Ensenada and attend meetings with several multinational companies including Sempra Energy, Medtronic and KPMG.  The excursion also incorporated social events and cultural site visits such as La Bufadora and the vineyards of Guadalupe Valley.

At the conclusion of the trip, the students held a final meeting to present their project outcomes which outlined their recommendations for tax, pricing and tariff implementations for the individual companies. They shared their findings with accounting professionals from both Tijuana and San Diego and the three professors.

The students reported takeaways that will carry over to their post-graduation careers.

鈥淲e were able to learn about international tax from both U.S. and Mexican perspectives and then experience it together in professional settings,鈥� said senior Claudine Caluza, a double major in accounting and psychology. 鈥淚t showed me the importance of collaboration and real-world application in the accounting industry.鈥�