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K-State Today

January 22, 2014

Accounting students start a student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Kansas State University now has a student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants, all thanks to the leadership of Grant Wasserstrom and Roxanne Teixeira, both seniors in accounting.

The K-State Institute of Management Accountants student chapter is part of the Institute of Management Accountants, or IMA, which represents more than 60,000 accountants and financial professionals worldwide. The institute's mission is providing a forum for research, practice development, education, knowledge sharing and the advocacy of the highest ethical and best business practices in management accounting and finance.

The student chapter is open to students who are interested accounting, finance or management information systems. An informational session will be at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, in Room 227 at the K-State Student Union. More information is available by contacting faculty adviser Joseph Ugrin, associate professor of accounting, at jugrin@k-state.edu, or Wasserstrom at grant.wasserstrom@gmail.com.

The student chapter will engage with the national organization, firms in the region and professionals who work in the area of managerial accounting and finance. The student chapter also has applied to be formally sponsored by the Wichita chapter of the Institute of Management Accounts.

"The Wichita IMA chapter is excited for the opportunity to partner with K-State in the formation of the student chapter," said Jennifer Dowell, the chapter's president and a K-State alumna. "The chapter is a great way for students to gain valuable leadership and teamwork experience. IMA benefits from the student members becoming regular members in the future that can help lead the profession."

With the help of the accounting department in K-State's College of Business Administration and a donation from Union Pacific, Wasserstrom, Teixeira and Ugrin attended the Institute of Management Accountants Student Leadership Conference in Charlotte, N.C., where they had an opportunity to network with other students, faculty and professionals and attend sessions on starting and leading a student chapter, forensics, data analytics, career development and much more.

"With more than 100 schools present, the conference provided an endless chance to meet peers," Wasserstrom said. "The conference brought some very intelligent speakers and students from around the country to one great convention."

"Attending the conference was a great reward for Wasserstrom and Teixeira, who have put a tremendous amount of effort into getting the club off the ground," Ugrin said. "It was also a great place to gather ideas and network with others around the country."

The student chapter's first meeting will be hosted by the Farrar Corp. at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the company's high volume machine shop, 301 Levee Drive, Manhattan. The company also has a foundry in Norwich.

"What we primarily hope to accomplish at our chapter meetings is to see accounting and finance in action," Ugrin said. "We want to see how companies gather and use data for decision making. We have envisioned holding our meetings at firms so we can get a tour, a presentation and an opportunity to network with management. Thank you to Kraig Vondran and Farrar for offering to host our first student event."