Two FIU Business student organizations focusing on professional development for accounting, finance and other business fields came away from their August national conferences with high recognition for excellence and achievement.
Beta Alpha Psi – FIU, the honor society for accounting, finance and management information systems, was one of only eight student chapters out of more than 300 internationally to win the Gold Challenge Award at the organization’s 2019 annual meeting in Chicago. It is the fifth consecutive year that the FIU chapter was awarded the prestigious Gold status.
The FIU chapter advisor, faculty member Jimmy Carmenate, noted that the organization was also singled out as a model for others, thanks to its focus on the future of the profession and innovative programs for student professional development. As the regional champion in the Best Practices competition, which showcased the FIU chapter’s new app for mobile devices, chapter members presented the app to the national audience.
ALPFA FIU, the college’s chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America, was recognized as the winner of the Best Chapter Award for the Southeast Region, one of six awards nationally, at the organization’s convention, held in Nashville, Tenn. It is the 11th time in 12 years that the FIU chapter has been named Best Chapter. Last year, the FIU chapter was named National Chapter of the Year, one of only three national award winners in the organization’s history.
Faculty advisor and FIU Business professor Tessie Brunken noted that at the conference, attended by 36 ALPFA FIU members and numerous chapter alumni, FIU Business student Giselle Gallardo received a scholarship from Goldman Sachs.
FIU Business Dean Joanne Li praised the chapters’ accomplishments.
“Beta Alpha Psi–FIU and ALPFA FIU are true champions of student success,” she said. “For years, these organizations and their executive boards have demonstrated how co-curricular involvement on campus is the pathway to professional success. I congratulate them on these great honors, and I wish both of these excellent chapters well as they start another year of great accomplishments.”
