UB’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter earns top honors at annual meeting

By Alexandra Richter

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Management’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi continued its legacy of success at the organization’s annual meeting, held Aug. 3-5 in Las Vegas.

Founded in 1919, Beta Alpha Psi is an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals, with more than 300 chapters nationwide. UB’s Zeta Theta chapter was chartered in 1981.

In the Best Practices competition sponsored by Deloitte, the School of Management’s “Reimagine Community Service” team won first place for developing innovative programs to engage and support the community. For their project, the team designed and participated in nine class visits that impacted 130 middle and high school students at Buffalo Collegiate Charter School and Amherst Central High School. Through a variety of activities, students learned key accounting concepts and put their knowledge into practice by creating a business together in class.

Undergraduate accounting students Sunny Chen of Ithaca, Rachel Iavicoli of Garrison, Keqing “Kristina” Jiang of Brooklyn, and ZengZeng Mu of Long Island made up the winning team. In addition, the students benefited from the mentorship of MS Accounting student Katriel Agregado of East Amherst. The team brought back a $1,500 prize for the chapter.

“This is another example of how our students are serving as positive role models in the community,” says Brittany Bartula, CPA, new faculty advisor of Beta Alpha Psi and clinical assistant professor of accounting and law. “We look forward to watching these partnerships continue to grow in the future.”

In addition, Rose M. Hu, CPA, clinical assistant professor of accounting and law was named Outstanding Faculty Advisor for her contributions to the professional growth and development of students. Hu recently concluded six years as Zeta Theta’s advisor.

“I am so humbled and honored to receive the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award,” says Hu. “It means a great deal to me to know that my investments in the chapter have impacted our Zeta Theta members through the years in a meaningful way.”

The School of Management’s chapter was well represented throughout the annual meeting. Evan Li, a business senior from Monroe-Woodbury, was selected to participate in Project Run With It, a unique competition that provides students an opportunity to engage in a real-world consulting project while furthering Beta Alpha Psi’s community service mission. Alongside teammates from other universities, Li developed and presented a solution to a pressing issue facing this year’s nonprofit client, Project S.A.F.E. House.

During the chapter operations portion of the annual meeting, Edward Holyat, an accounting senior from Lake Ronkonkoma, and Sonia Lee, a business senior from Manhattan, presented on UB chapter’s unique social and community service events.