UCA Students Place First in Beta Alpha Psi Regional Competitions

BAPregional2017The Theta Lambda chapter of Beta Alpha Psi chapter at the University of Central Arkansas earned two first place awards at the organization’s Southwest Regional meeting in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, February 25, 2017.

Anastasiya Klimiankova of Belarus, Obed Onyemakonor of Nigeria, and Nathan Scheuter of Conway (all undergraduate accounting majors) competed in the Strategic Planning category of Best Practices using their project, “Building on the Past and Preparing for the Future.” The students competed against nine other regional teams and won the competition.

Emelyn-Doriane Djoké of Côte d’Ivorie (undergraduate accounting major) and Tuan Nguyen of Vietnam (post-baccalaureate accounting major) competed in the Community Outreach category of Best Practices using their project, “Diversity in the Accounting Profession.” The students competed against three other regional teams and won the competition.

The students who participated in the competitions earned the right to compete at the national meeting this August in Anaheim, California. Other UCA accounting students attending the conference were Jean Piere Leon Chavez of El Dorado, Kylie Garrett of Heber Springs, Jacob Hoelzeman of Conway, Johnathan Long of Bauxite, and Alyman Ouattara of Côte d’Ivorie (all undergraduates) and Sultan Faretdinov of Kazakhstan (graduate student). During the conference, students attended sessions on professional development, ethical behavior, leadership skills, service, and professional networking.

The UCA Department of Accounting received contributions from BKD, LLP which allows the students to travel to the southwest and annual conferences.

The UCA Student Government Association and the UCA Diversity Office also covered a portion of the registration fees for the conference.

Beta Alpha Psi is an honor organization for financial information students and professionals with over 300 chapters on college and university campuses. The Theta Lambda chapter is identified as a superior chapter by the organization for its commitment to professional and service hours.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact our chapter’s faculty advisors, Dr. Connie McKnight (cmcknight@uca.edu; 501.450.5076) and Dr. Karen Oxner (koxner@uca.edu; 501.852.0028).

Pictured left to right: Jacob Hoelzeman, Anastasiya Klimiankova, Nathan Scheuter, Emelyn-Doriane Djoké, Alyman Ouattara, Kylie Garrett, Obed Onyemakonor, Tuan Nguyen, Johnathan Long, Jean Piere Leon Chavez, Sultan Faretdinov, and Dr. Karen Oxner.