• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Fourth-year Max Unger is helping set up a Beta Alpha Psi chapter at UCLA.

For students seeking knowledge and networking opportunities in the fields of accounting and finance, a new campus honors society may offer them a professional experience unavailable in any other financial organization on campus.

The Beta Alpha Psi fraternity is currently in the transitional period, with a “start-up” group working to get it to the petitioning chapter status by this fall.

Beta Alpha Psi will stand out among other business fraternities, thanks to its “outstanding international network,” said Max Unger, a fourth-year geography and accounting student who is president of the group.

“Beta Alpha Psi has been around since 1919, and we have a very strong alumni network,” Unger said. “There are over 250 chapters internationally, so the alumni connection is very important.”

The academic requirements to join Beta Alpha Psi are similar to those for the accounting minor. All members must have at least sophomore standing, and need to have completed certain management and economics classes with a pending minimum GPA requirement.

“Beta Alpha Psi is an honor society,” said Brett Trueman, incoming chair of the accounting area in Anderson and a faculty co-adviser for Beta Alpha Psi. “So you need a certain average and you need to show more commitment to it than other accounting organizations.”

Trueman added that having a Beta Alpha Psi chapter at UCLA is appropriate because of the school’s excellent accounting program.

Once Beta Alpha Psi is a petitioning chapter, it will begin to hold various events designed to promote the study of finance, accounting and information systems.

“We will be speaking with accounting firms and will give lessons on interviewing skills, resume writing and interpersonal communication skills,” Unger said. “It’s important for business students to learn these things and I don’t think (the existing organizations) adequately address them.”

Beta Alpha Psi will not only benefit students, but also recruiters from accounting firms looking for qualified UCLA students.

“I expect students as well as recruiters will flock to this organization,” Trueman said. “Firms are always looking for top students, and they will be very interested in recruiting Beta Alpha Psi students.”

Thao Hoang, a second-year business economics student, agrees with Trueman. She hopes that joining an accounting fraternity can help her get an edge over other students.

“There is so much competition between business students,” Hoang said. “Beta Alpha Psi sounds like it may help me out a lot.”

The start-up group has approximately 20 members right now, but that number is expected to grow once official recruiting begins in fall.

But Unger said despite its recruitment and pledging, Beta Alpha Psi is not to be confused with a regular Greek fraternity. It has a strict no-alcohol policy, and its social events will be geared toward networking, not partying.

Unger said the other business fraternities put a stronger emphasis on their social events than Beta Alpha Psi will, but that he is not against the idea of a appropriate social activity, such as a golf tournament with members and some professors.

Beta Alpha Psi may not be an official chapter until 2006 because of all the tasks it needs to complete before getting chartered, but those involved are optimistic about its future.

“It’s so important to have a strong Beta Alpha Psi here because it improves the reputation of our accounting program,” Trueman said. “On most prestigious college campuses, Beta Alpha Psi is the predominant accounting society and I expect the same will be true at UCLA.”

Comments

Post a comment