On Feb. 18, the CSUF College of Business and Economics chapter of Beta Alpha Psi had a new reason to celebrate when a team of Business Titans defeated chapters from nine other universities to take the top spot in the Reimagining Leadership and Collaboration competition at the West Coast conference of the National Beta Alpha Psi organization in Seattle.

Beta Alpha Psi is a professional honors organization promoting professional development, networking and career readiness for accounting, finance and information systems students. It is among the most dynamic and active clubs at Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics.

At the competition, the CSUF team presented a report about their recent pivot in advertising and promoting events through weekly email marketing instead of multiple emails throughout the week. This new tactic made email communication with Beta Alpha Psi members more efficient and increased participation in their events substantially.

“We heard the concerns of our students and developed a new weekly marketing newsletter that would better fit their needs. Then we automated the system, saving time for our marketing chair,” says club president Brandon Ikari ’23 (accounting and finance). “During the competition, the judges were impressed with our statistics after implementing the new system. Average hours per active student in Beta Alpha Psi increased 40% because students could now view and RSVP for events through a single organized and easy-to-access document.”

The CSUF Beta Alpha Psi team supported their presentation with data and graphs, which were well-received by the judges.

Connecting With Fellow Chapters and Networking With Top Firms

When the 10 members of the executive board of the CSUF chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, along with two supporting students, met their peers from other universities at the Seattle event, many were impressed by both the size of the Titan chapter – which has more than 100 students – and the training and professional connections that the CSUF team provides.

“Having 100 students is really a milestone. Speaking with representatives from other chapters made me realize how large our chapter is, and how active our members are. A lot of chapters with 40 or 50 members were surprised at the size of our organization, and that we host nearly 100 events throughout the semester,” says Ikari.

“Beta Alpha Psi helps our members prepare for recruiting, develop a strong network, and learn about internship and job opportunities to become more refined business professionals,” he says. “Joining our organization means students will meet peers with similar interests and career goals. Our students also create close connections by taking classes and attending events together.”

In fact, firms actually pay the CSUF chapter to be a part of recruiting events, including Meet the Firms, thus giving many alumni of Beta Alpha Psi the unique experience of working for firms they once charged to attend their events.

Over the past three semesters, all Beta Alpha Psi graduates have secured full-time job offers at related companies.

A Continuing Tradition of Winning

2023 wasn’t the first year that Cal State Fullerton took first spot at Beta Alpha Psi’s spring conference. The Titan team came in first at the regional competition in 2022 and third nationally, adding to Cal State Fullerton’s name recognition in the organization.

In addition to competitive events, the conferences also include leadership workshop speakers who are alumni of Beta Alpha Psi. For instance, the CSUF delegation heard lectures on cybersecurity, personal branding and emotional intelligence, and even met members of the Seattle Seahawks finance team.

Funding for the trip was split between the chapter, the School of Accountancy and the College of Business and Economics.

For More Information

Interested in expanding your network and digging deeper into accounting, finance or information systems as a CSUF student? Want to expand your exposure to the latest industry talent as a professional or firm? The CSUF chapter of Beta Alpha Psi is your place to start! For more information, reach out to [email protected].