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Senior Kaddie Bailey Elected as FBLA Collegiate National Officer

On June 2, 2025, at the FBLA Collegiate National Leadership Conference held in Dallas, Texas, senior accounting major Kaddie Bailey was elected to serve as the 2025-2026 Vice President of Development on the FBLA Collegiate National Officer Team.

Currently, Kaddie serves as the FBLA Collegiate President at the University of Central Arkansas, where Kaddie leads with a passion for service, education, and empowering others. In this new role, Kaddie is responsible for advancing FBLA’s mission via their platforms by expanding financial literacy initiatives, strengthening national partnerships, and creating innovative opportunities for fundraising and growth.

Colin Williams, VP of Operations; Kaia Dolor, VP of Communications; Jonathan Nevenhoven, President; Meri Mikoyan, Executive VP; Kaddie Bailey, VP of Financial Development; (not pictured – Brianna Le, VP of Membership).

Kaddie says, “As Vice President of Development, I am excited to collaborate with my fellow national officers to create resources, build opportunities, and ensure that FBLA Collegiate continues to equip students nationwide for leadership, professional success, and lifelong impact.”

As a National officer, Kaddie will be involved in the planning and production of two conferences: the Career Connections Conference in November in Des Moines, Iowa, and the FBLA Collegiate National Leadership Conference, which will be held in Las Vegas next year.

Kaddie will lead professional development workshops with current members at these events, as well as travel to different chapters and states. Kaddie will also be working to promote financial literacy awareness and accessibility at the national level via their platform and the officers’ joint Program of Work.

‘Girls Who Code’ Shines at Tinkerfest 2025

Members of Girls Who Code at UCA brought their tech skills to the big stage on September 13 at Tinkerfest 2025, hosted by the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. The event drew hundreds of curious minds from across the state for a full day of hands-on STEM fun – think robots, rockets, coding games, and more!

Our UCA students ran interactive coding stations designed especially for K-6 participants, helping young kids (and their parents!) explore the basics of programming in a fun, friendly setting. It was a great opportunity to inspire future tech leaders and show that coding isn’t just for computer science majors – it’s for everyone.

Girls Who Code at UCA is open to all students and all majors. Big shoutout to our COB students who helped out! Bridging business and tech has never looked better!

UCA’s Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Takes First Place at National Conference, Earns “Gold” Status

Please help us celebrate and congratulate UCA’s Theta Lambda Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi for their first-place win at the Annual (international) Conference in San Antonio this weekend.

They competed in the Best Practices category “Impacting Your Profession,” presenting the game show “The Major is Right,” developed by the faculty advisors and many members of the chapter.

With 10 regional winners competing in this category, UCA came out on top! Several schools and the American Institute of Public Accounting have requested the game to be used to promote accounting as a great major and a great career. Lucas Hayes, Rebecca Gaither, and Izzy Saettele were the presenters of the project that brought home the win!

Also, while in San Antonio,

  • Two UCA students, Kaddie Bailey and Lakoda Caldwell, participated in Project Run With It, a case competition to solve a problem for a not-for-profit.
  • Also attending from UCA are Allie Wayne and Jaxson Adams, plus faculty advisor Ashley Phillips, and regional chapter advocate Connie McKnight.
  • UCA was recognized as a Gold Chapter for this past academic year. Gold is the highest recognition for professional and service activities by a chapter.
  • Three chapters of Beta Alpha Psi from Arkansas (UCA, UofA, and UALR) got together for a river cruise sponsored by the Arkansas Society of CPAs.

Business & STEM Students Participate in Eclipse Celebrations Led by CISA Prof. Susan Shaw

Monday was a beautiful day for Total Eclipse fun at UCA, and CISA Prof. Susan Shaw was out on the UCA Stripes with STEM students. The group included 17 “Girls Who Code” members, 11 College of Business students taking CISA classes, 3 Beta Alpha Psi Members, and 3 UCA sorority members.

At the Girls Who Code booth led by President Abby Bounds, the members taught about the significance of [Read more…] about Business & STEM Students Participate in Eclipse Celebrations Led by CISA Prof. Susan Shaw

Student Spotlight: Matt Moix

Matt Moix, Junior
Major: Logistics & Supply Chain Management (LSCM)
Minor: Honors Interdisciplinary Studies

Involved on campus:
Student Orientation Staff (SOS)
Student Government Association – COB Rep.
COB Student Ambassador
UCA Relay for Life
Bears Advancing Supply Chain and Operations Management (BASCOM)

Why did you choose your major?
I chose LSCM because I love problem-solving and efficiency. These are both important in LSCM, and the supply chain as a whole is an exciting concept to me. I enjoy the process of moving goods in all phases, and I’d like to help manage a supply chain as a career.

What do you want to do after graduation?
I plan to use my degree to go on and become a supply chain manager, [Read more…] about Student Spotlight: Matt Moix

COB Students Earn Awards at Arkansas Student Congress

On November 12-14, three COB students participated at Arkansas Student Congress, sponsored by the Arkansas Communication and Theater Arts Association. Because this is an activity that involves policymaking, Dr. Anthony McMullen, Associate Professor of Business Law and sponsor of the debate team, encourages business students to participate.

Dr. Anthony McMullen in shown is the photo along with the participating students:

Karlie Holland (front left): Received an award for excellent in caucus and was recognized as the best delegate for UCA. In addition, [Read more…] about COB Students Earn Awards at Arkansas Student Congress

UCA’s Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Wins First Place in International Competition

Pictured (R to L): Kaidan Zheng, Tristen Porter, and Harris Felton

UCA students traveled to Orlando, Florida during the last week of July 2022 for the Beta Alpha Psi annual meeting of all chapters.

Before the meeting started, the students enjoyed an Arkansas BAP Connection breakfast sponsored by the Arkansas Society of CPAs. During the meeting, the students networked, provided community service, attended professional development meetings, and participated in multiple competitions.

After their regional win earlier this year, the Chapter qualified to compete at the conference and brought home the INTERNATIONAL FIRST PLACE award in Best Practices in the Art of Engagement for the Resume Escape Room they hosted for students last spring. This is UCA’s 3rd international first place in Beta Alpha Psi Best Practices. Congratulations to students Harris Felton, Tristen Porter, and Kaidan Zheng for their excellent work!

Additional UCA Recognition at the Annual Meeting:

  • Beta Alpha Psi recognized UCA as a superior chapter.
  • Daniel Wheeler competed in Project Run With It, a real-world consulting project.
  • Dean Michael Hargis received the Outstanding Dean Award.
  • Dr. Connie McKnight became a Chapter Advocate for the Southwest Region.

The students also took advantage of their time in Orlando to have some fun!

Beta Alpha Psi is an honor organization for financial information students and professionals with over 300 chapters internationally. The organization promotes academic excellence, professional development, and responsible practices.

COB Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Places First and Second at Regional Conference Competitions

UCA’s Theta Lambda Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi earned a first place win at the 2022 regional conference in the category of Best Practices in the Art of Engagement. Several members worked to create an escape room with a resume theme and offered the escape to teams of students. Harris Felton and Tristen Porter presented the project for the virtual competition. Because of the first place regional win, the Theta Lambda Chapter will compete against the other regional winners in Orlando this summer.

UCA students also earned a 2nd Place regional win for Best Practices in the Art of Change. Chapter members Claire DeBusk, Yulia Lyubchenko, and Kaidan Zheng shared how the Theta Lambda Chapter changed in the face of covid and the increased demands of members.  [Read more…] about COB Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Places First and Second at Regional Conference Competitions

COB Dean Hargis Receives 2022 Outstanding Dean Award From International Honor Organization

The Dean of the UCA College of Business, Dr. Michael Hargis, has been selected to receive the 2022 Outstanding Dean Award by Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals.

Dr. Hargis was nominated by UCA’s Theta Lambda Chapter and will be presented with the award at the Annual Beta Alpha Psi meeting in Orlando in late July. In the nomination, UCA’s chapter called Dr. Hargis a “fierce advocate” for the College of Business and cited his “amazing impact” on the BAP Theta Lambda chapter. The nomination detailed his support of the chapter’s expansion as well as BAP members’ development and achievements.

In its letter notifying him of this award, the BAP National Office told Dr. Hargis, “while this year’s nominees were very competitive, you stood out based on your consistent and longstanding commitment to Beta Alpha Psi. Your selection was based on your hands-on engagement, and your significant financial and operational support to the chapter that positioned them to achieve their goals and objectives. Overall, the committee was quite impressed with your achievements considering the long history of outstanding performance of the Theta Lambda chapter.”

Beta Alpha Psi is an honor organization founded in 1919 for financial information students and professionals. There are over 300 AACSB- and/or EQUIS-accredited chapters on university campuses with over 300,000 members. Beta Alpha Psi recognizes scholastic excellence, offers professional development, and encourages ethical, social, and public responsibility.

The BAP Theta Lambda chapter of University of Central Arkansas focuses on honoring scholarship, professional development, and service to the community. Members have the opportunity to meet and get to know professionals from all areas of accounting, and they learn skills needed to be successful in careers in accounting, finance, information systems, and analytics.

Beta Alpha Psi Hosts Escape Room to Engage Students in Career Readiness

Two days in late January, Beta Alpha Psi hosted the COB Escape Room for which the RSO created intricate puzzles students had to solve to “escape” the (unlocked) room. Over 115 people participated in the escape experience with 99 undergrads and 16 graduate students, alumni, and faculty. Most participated in person, but a few were able to take part virtually.

During the experience, participants found clues around the room and used them to solve puzzles all in an effort to build a proper resume. The engaging exercise directed teams of two to discover common mistakes and recommended practices for creating a great resume.

“It felt like the full escape room experience,” said Junior Business Administration major Noah Willis. It showed me how to get my resume in order, what to put, what not to put. I think this has taught me how to create a better resume.”

Escaping required problem-solving, teamwork, and critical thinking. Even the most experienced resume writers learned a thing or two.

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