Our accounting student organizations have had a fruitful and busy year, enhancing the knowledge and experience of their members while bettering the community.

Accounting Ambassadors represent the School at every level, from meeting high school students in the process of selecting a university to hosting our accounting alumni. October and April saw the Ambassadors helping out with ASAC Advisory Council meetings. At the fall and spring MSU Preview Days, they gave tours to potential Bulldogs and told them about the accounting programs as well as campus life in general. In February, they assisted with Academic Insight, an event in which incoming freshmen, transfer students and parents can learn more about the College of Business and the Adkerson School of Accountancy. The Ambassadors also aided freshmen and transfer students during orientation and registration.

The biggest event for the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA) was a new one to the School – Speed Networking. At the fall event, which AFWA anticipates repeating annually, 40-plus students had brief, informal visits with representatives of financial institutions. Later in the fall, AFWA joined BKD and hosted its annual paint party at the Central Station Grill, offering a venue in which students get to know professionals without the pressure of formal interviews. In April, AFWA members heard from LaShern McEwen, an MSU alumna in accounting, who spoke about integrity/careers in accounting.

Nationally, Mississippi State’s Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) achieved Distinguished Chapter status once again, as it had in the previous year. The chapter’s goal for 2018-2019 is to achieve the Superior Chapter level. In the past fall and spring semesters, BAP hosted about 10 professional meetings, and employers who recruit MSU students were the main speakers. In the coming year, the goal is to add a 30-minute social period to provide more interaction and networking time before each speaker presentation. BAP also conducted several major service projects in 2017-2018, which it plans to continue next year: Operation Christmas Child, tutoring, exam proctoring and Salvation Army service. Chapter officers attended both the annual meeting in Anaheim, CA, in August 2017 and the southeast regional meeting in Birmingham, AL, in February 2018. For 2018-2019 the goal is to attend these meetings and make presentations as well. Five officers are attending the annual meeting in Washington, DC, this August.

The Empowering Minorities in Accounting Association (EMAA) in February hosted an information table in the Colvard Student Union regarding careers in accounting and notable African-Americans within the accounting profession. The following month, EMAA participated in MSU’s The Big Event, a campus-wide community service project for the city of Starkville. The group also hosted a paint party for the Boys & Girls Club in Starkville. Two of the group’s members, Kyanna Hollin and Jordyn Shipp, were selected to participate in KPMG’s Future Diversity Leaders program in Hollywood, CA, and to work as interns for the company next summer.

Thanks to advisers Krystle Dixon (Ambassadors, AFWA, EMAA) and Clyde Herring (BAP) for their guidance in helping these chapters succeed.