The University of Southern Indiana Accounting and Professional Services (APS) Club, a student affiliate chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), has received the Gold Certificate of Excellence, the highest rating awarded to a student chapter by IMA each year.
Dr. Craig Ehlen, professor of accounting and faculty advisor for the APS Club, surprised APS President Matthew Cooper by presenting the certificate to him during Ehlen’s Financial Reporting and Analysis class.
The award is presented to student’s chapters that emphasize promotion of accounting and financial management as a profession and encourage creativity. The USI APS Club created an accounting tutoring room. Staffed by accounting majors, the tutoring room is open to students seeking additional assistance with accounting concepts. The program has no cost and is located in the Business and Engineering Center, the home of the College of Business.
“It provides a sense of pride to see what we can accomplish with team work in giving back to the College of Business and USI,†said Cooper. “It’s all about collaborative effort, and it’s rewarding to watch our groups go from good to great.â€
The APS Club and a nationally known society, Beta Alpha Psi, both made up of accounting, finance, and computer information systems majors, hold a joint bi-monthly meeting. Participants get a chance to learn about both groups, get involved in more activities on and off campus, and exchange ideas across business disciplines. Cooper said the members of the APS Club and Beta Alpha Psi hope to eventually offer student-led tutoring labs in other business disciplines, including computer information systems and finance.
In addition to the creation of the tutoring room, other goals met by the APS Club included increasing membership by 36 percent and community service work. These accomplishments were also a significant part of the IMA Gold rating.
“Having USI’s student chapter receive a Gold Award of Excellence demonstrates the great effort our students placed into their activities for the year,†said Dr. Brian McGuire, IMA’s global chair and the associate dean of USI’s College of Business. “I really want to thank our students for making USI’s accounting program a stronger and more active program.â€
IMA is one of the largest associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the Certified Management Accountant program, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 60,000 members in 120 countries and 200 local chapters. IMA provides localized services through its offices in Montvale, New Jersey; Zurich, Switzerland; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Beijing, China
