The Valdosta State University student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants has been awarded the Gold Certificate of Excellence for the 2017-2018 academic year.

The IMA awards the Gold Certificate of Excellence to student chapters who engage in professional development, provide service to the community, and are involved in the accounting profession at a local level.

VSU’s IMA chapter earned the distinction for holding monthly meetings, which featured local and regional business leaders as guest speakers; conducting factory tours of Langdale Cattle Farms in Valdosta and Pilot Pen Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida; coordinating community service events with Second Harvest of South Georgia, Habitat for Humanity, and the Methodist Home for Girls; attending the 2017 IMA Student Leadership Conference in Houston, Texas; attending meetings held by the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants; participating in multiple IMA competitions, which allowed students to share their membership experiences and create a solution to a management accounting problem; and maintaining an overall chapter grade point average of more than 3.0.

“It is such an honor to receive this award. As the past president, I worked hard within our chapter to ensure we'd have the best chance possible to receive this distinction,” said David Hanna, who served as chapter president for the 2017-2018 year. He is a Valdosta native who earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting in Fall 2017. He expects to graduate with a Master of Accountancy in Fall 2018.

VSU will accept the Gold Certificate of Excellence in November at IMA’s 2018 Student Leadership Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. This marks the fifth consecutive year of the chapter being nationally recognized. 

IMA is the worldwide association of accountants and financial professionals working in business. Its mission is to provide 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.

VSU’s IMA chapter strives to help business students transition into the professional world and is open to all undergraduate and graduate business students at VSU. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, associate dean of the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration and professor of accounting, and Dr. Ron Stunda, head of the Department of Accounting and associate professor of accounting, serve as the chapter advisors.