Kim Bushnell, an instructor in the Berry College Campbell School of Business, took the top award in the “College/University Professor” category for the “Best of Rome 2020” competition organized by the Rome News-Tribune.
Business School Dean Joyce Heames says, “Kim is a wonderful teacher and colleague. She makes accounting easier to understand and real to students, drawing on her personal experience as an auditor.”
A Berry instructor since 2013, Bushnell earned a Master of Accountancy from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Mississippi where she graduated cum laude. She holds professional memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Bushnell gained experience in assurance and advisory practice at Elliot Davis, LLC, in Augusta, Ga., and Blackman & Sloop in Chapel Hill, N.C. She also worked as a financial analyst for the Duke University Health System. Bushnell developed a passion for the classroom while teaching accounting courses at a community college in Durham, N.C., where she integrated real-world examples with textbook knowledge.
Caroline Landers, who will graduate in 2021 with an accounting degree, commends Bushnell’s willingness to meet outside of class to assist with projects or offer further explanation so material is understood at a deeper level. “Mrs. Bushnell talks about her time as an auditor to provide students with some insights about auditing early in our accounting carriers,” she says. “She used real life examples of inventory systems while we were learning all the math inputs that go into an inventory systems.”
Heames notes that Bushnell supports the business school in several ways, saying, “Kim reworked the auditing class so that it would be the writing intensive class for the major.” Bushnell serves on the Berry College Enterprise Advisory Board and as a co-mentor for the Berry Center of Integrity in Leadership. Through these roles, she advises students on running a business successfully and building leadership skills — experiences that give them a competitive edge professionally.
