(from left): Lakoda Caldwell, Katie Boysen, Caitlin LaCerra, Erich Green and Preston Hessee were among students who participated in the University of Central Arkansas’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) preparers course during the spring 2026 semester. During the 2026 filing season, UCA students volunteered with the United Way of Central Arkansas to prepare approximately 450 tax returns for community members, resulting in more than $490,000 in tax refunds and an estimated $80,000 savings in tax preparation fees.
Students at the University of Central Arkansas made a significant impact on the Conway and Central Arkansas community during the 2026 tax season through participation in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Dr. Ashley Phillips oversees UCA student participation each year.
Students enrolled in the VITA for Preparers course during the spring 2026 semester volunteered with the United Way of Central Arkansas, which serves as a local site for the Internal Revenue Service’s VITA program. Through the initiative, IRS-certified volunteers provide free, high-quality tax preparation services for qualifying low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
During the 2026 filing season, UCA students prepared approximately 450 tax returns for community members. Student preparers included Katie Boysen, Jetson Busbea, Lakoda Caldwell, Erich Green, Treavor Green, Preston Hessee, Asher Jackson and Caitlin LaCerra.
The financial impact of the students’ work is expected to exceed $490,000 in tax refunds returned to local families. In addition, by offering free tax preparation assistance, the students helped residents save an estimated $80,000 in tax preparation fees.
“These students are making a meaningful difference in the lives of families across Central Arkansas,” Associate Profressor of Accounting Ashley Phillips, who runs the VITA program at UCA, said. “Not only are they gaining valuable hands-on experience, but they are also helping individuals and families keep more of their hard-earned money for essentials such as housing, food and utilities.”
The program is open to College of Business students who would like to volunteer or earn college credit in accounting. VITA volunteers receive training and can either prepare returns or do intake. Experienced CPAs then review each return.
The IRS requires all VITA volunteers to complete extensive annual certification training that includes tax law education, quality review procedures, and privacy and confidentiality standards. This training ensures returns are prepared accurately and securely while providing taxpayers with confidence throughout the filing process.
The United Way of Central Arkansas partners with community volunteers each year to provide trusted tax preparation services through the VITA program.
More information about the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is available at irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers.
For the second time in three years, UCA had a winning team in the Governor’s Cup Business Plan competition. The UCA Governor’s Cup team, Clara Vision Clinic, placed 3rd place in the Small Business Category for their Plan/Pitch with an additional win in the Small Business 90-Second Pitch. The winning team members are Aydia Haymond and Eden Adams with Dr. Duggins serving as their advisor.
Lakoda Caldwell and Caitlin LaCerra (both accounting majors) received the Exceptional Achievement in Service Learning Award from CETAL for their participation in VITA this Spring.
The UCA Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi and Landmark joined together for a service activity. They created snack bags for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock.
The genAI paper published in April 2024 by Drs. Mike Ellis, Mike Casey, and Jeff Hill, “
The new Finance Club was awarded as 
The Conductor continued its workshop series and pitch competitions. Chris Brown took home a cash prize as the “Judges Choice” while Alejandra Alvarez won the “Audience Choice” prize.
Doug Voss invited Brian Evans, Arkansas Speaker of the House to talk to his Safety & Motor Carrier Policy class. He represents District 68 which includes the city of Cabot, as well as portions of Lonoke County.
Students from UCA competed in business-related events at the State FBLA Collegiate Leadership Conference in El Dorado, and we had 2 winners! Kaddie Bailey won 1st place in Computer Applications, 1st place in Customer Service, AND was elected State President of FBLA Collegiate for the upcoming 2026-2027 year. Marcella Leon-Colon won 3rd place in Public Speaking. They will both be eligible to compete at the National FBLA Conference this summer. Thanks and congrats to Marsha Carson for successfully advising this student organization.
Four UCA faculty members and ten MBA students had their research presented last month (March 18-21, 2026) in Dallas, Texas, at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Southwest Decision Sciences Institute (SWDS) and Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD) Conference. Drs. Saif Bhuiyan, Alex Chen, Connie McKnight, and Mark McMurtrey participated as well as MBA students Lauren Brogden, Mavis Deku, Samuel Emery, Grant McKnight, Joseph Somervell (also a UCA employee), Erinn Stone, Amy Streett, Julia Vanderwarf, Robert Walker and Nick Watson, as well as recent MSADA graduate Dr. Parvinder Singh, Many of them were able to attend and their research will be published in the forthcoming Proceedings of the Conference. The students represented both UCA and the COB well and did a fantastic job.
The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) College of Business will host 
Lucas Hayes, Rebecca Gaither, and Izzy Saettele won first prize in the Deloitte Best Practices competition for their creative presentation at the Beta Alpha Psi annual conference; also, the chapter was recognized as ”Gold” status.
Many thanks to the Conway Chamber for allowing some of our Student Ambassadors and Girls Who Code Officers to attend the Women in Business ceremony this fall.
The Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame held its annual induction banquet on campus on October 16. Six Arkansans were inducted, and five scholarships were awarded to UCA insurance students.
Ivan Hudson, Director of the UCA Center for Insurance, was recently sworn in as the Treasurer for the Arkansas Association of Realtist, the local Board of 
As this fall’s Allison Entrepreneurship Series Speaker, Jakob Michaelis, a partner at Dave Creek Media, shared lunch and his extensive experience identifying timely solutions, including a new app, with students and faculty.
Undergraduate students, Oluwadamilola Osundolire (Economics) and Robert Walker (Finance), mentored by Dr. Alex Chen presented their artificial intelligence research at the DSI conference in Orlando, FL. Dr. Ming Li also presented her research.
Conductor hosted a widely attended series of workshops throughout the semester, including a student pitch competition. Local CPAs Zee Barfoote and Austin Malone discussed handling a startup’s early finances in their Conductor session called “Your Startup’s First CFO: YOU!” as part of the Conductor series.
Members of 
Senior Da’Mya Brittian, Marketing major with a minor in Computer Information Systems
I learned about the opportunities and joy that arise from taking the path of doing research. I did not know much about how to take this path, but presenting at the Atlantic Marketing Association conference in September increased my interest. 
For the second year in a row, a UCA student team has competed in the business analytics competition at Manhattan College. Students in the CISA 4V71 Project Course began in February to analyze the dataset provided by the competition. After months of preparing, teams presented their results to a UCA committee in the form of a poster on May 1. Once the winning team was announced, they began preparing for competition against other university teams in New York City.