Our Beta Alpha Psi students raced off to Indianapolis this weekend for the BAP Midwest Regional Meeting and Best Practice competition. 24 of our finest accounting, finance, and MIS students traveled in a Supercharged 15 passenger Ford Econoline Van and three trail cars.
We were recognized at the opening ceremonies as the largest contingent from any one school, which is amazing since our chapter size about 40 and several of the Big Ten schools and Notre Dame have over 200 members. But by the end of the meeting we would be known for much more than our mass.
Throughout the two-day event our students conducted themselves with integrity and professional that brought me great pride. They spread out among the other 250 participants at breakout sessions and meals with a genuine sense of interest and thirst for knowledge that was my privilege to behold. I felt like Dale Earnhart or Richard Petty as other advisors continually asked "What was my secret for BAP success?" and "How do you create such enthusiasm in your chapter". Of course I told them the driving force was having a great faculty advisor, but like you, I think they knew better.
We competed in two of the three Best Practice categories making Kent the only school to enter more than one. In the "Green Practices" category our reputation preceded us and we were unchallenged. It really was of no consequence because this was likely the best presentation in the entire competition. Hayk Ghazaryan and Jon Augustine were engaging and effective, and the presentation carries a real punch about environmental change. I thought it was rather ironic that on the biggest basketball weekend of the year one of our smallest members, Hayk, produced the highlight of this year's competition by using his poise, personality, and charisma to form a "Slam Dunk" response during the question-answer period. First place award is $500 and the opportunity to present our project again at the BAP National Meeting in Denver this August.
The award given to our second presentation in the "Promoting Financial Information Careers" category may be even more impressive. In the 10 year history of BAP Best Practice competitions no chapter has ever won both a first place award and any other award in another category. One of the motivations of the program is to encourage participation by rewarding the maximum number of chapters. This year they created a "Special Honorable Mention" award for our project because the judges felt that our students deserved recognition. Kortney Danas, Adam Martinson, Emily Lopick, Casey Frame, and Ray Dipre brought honor to our department with a well-organized, interesting, and inspiring presentation.
I have both 10 minute presentations on tape for anyone who would like to view them.
As a fitting end to our trip we got the 'yellow flag' as we sped out of town toward Ohio. Construction delayed us to the point that this aging bus driver personally "ran out of gas". I was forced to over the wheel to our newly certified student driver, Adam Martinson, who brought us home swiftly and safely just before the midnight hour.
Please thank our students for being great ambassadors for our department and college and thanks to all of you for allowing me to serve as their faculty advisor.
Don
Donald W. McFall, Jr., CPA, MBA, MS
Emeritus Lecturer
AA/BAP Faculty Advisor
330-672-1128