UB’s Beta Alpha Psi recognized as a Platinum Chapter

By Alexandra Richter

BUFFALO, N.Y. —  The University at Buffalo School of Management’s Zeta Theta chapter continued its legacy of success at Beta Alpha Psi’s annual meeting, held July 25-27 in Orlando, Florida.

Founded in 1919, Beta Alpha Psi is an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals. The annual meeting hosts more than 300 U.S. and international chapters each year. 

At this year’s event, UB’s chapter received the KPMG Platinum Challenge Award. Given to up to 10 chapters per year, a Platinum Chapter is a consistently superior chapter that is truly extraordinary; takes every opportunity available to go above and beyond; and represents members that are innovative and out-of-the-box thinkers. Brittany Bartula, clinical assistant professor of accounting and law, currently serves as faculty advisor for the UB chapter, which was chartered in 1981.

Shaniyah Scott, an accounting senior from Brooklyn, was selected to participate in Project Run With It, a competition that connects students with nonprofit organizations to develop innovative solutions in a real-world consulting project. Scott, along with teammates from other universities, received first place for finding new ways to improve youth involvement for this year’s client, The Salvation Army.

In the Best Practices competition sponsored by Deloitte, accounting junior Thomas Banas of Grand Island, and accounting seniors Judy Chen of Utica, and Cynthia Weng of New York City, presented on the topic, “Empowering Community Service.” For their project, the team designed and participated in interactive classroom workshops to teach Google software to eighth grade students in the Buffalo area. 

Ai Wei Zheng of Buffalo, and Grace Wansor of Queens, both senior accounting students, presented on the topic, “Empowering Professional Relationships,” in which they analyzed the evolution of technology and how it impacts the workplace.

Other UB School of Management participants included Amy Shi, an accounting senior from Manhattan, and Zhi Wei Zhang, an accounting senior from Brooklyn. The pair presented during the chapter operations portion of the annual meeting, sharing insights on how UB’s chapter recruits new candidates and offering advice on how to implement similar strategies.