- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/tag/accounting/ ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:11:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Women to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Cynthia Taylor /news-archive/2022/03/07/women-to-watch-cynthia-taylor/ Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:11:50 +0000 /news/?p=81137 ...]]> accounting, has been breaking barriers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock ever since she stepped foot on campus. A native of North Little Rock, Taylor started at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 1986 as a member of the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program and was the first minority student to be accepted to the program. “My elementary school teachers always said I should become a teacher, and I started to think that I should become a professor,” Taylor said. “As a student here at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I realized I didn’t have any minority professors in accounting. I realized there was a shortage of minority professors, and that I could combine my love for accounting with teaching.” In 1993, Taylor’s department chair, Dr. Jim Gaunt, encouraged her to join the Teaching Enhancements Affecting Minority Students (TEAMS) program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. TEAMS started in 1992 to encourage and support minority students as they travel down the educational pipeline. The program offered tuition assistance, textbook grants, professional development, and a network to help students achieve their academic goals. As a part of the Teams Program, Taylor earned a Master of Business Administration from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Oklahoma State University. “I do believe I was the first TEAMS scholar to complete the program and return to campus as a faculty member,” she said. “It was a great program, and I think ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is to be commended for trying to increase the number of minority faculty on campus. Some might not know about the effort. I graduated with my Ph.D. in 1998, and I have been a faculty member since 1998.” During her 24 years as a professor at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Taylor is known on campus and in the School of Business as an advocate for students, receiving multiple awards for impacting students’ lives in a positive way. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Beta Alpha Psi Chapter, an international honors society in the School of Business that focuses on the recognition and success of financial information students and professionals. Taylor said that there is nothing in the world she enjoys more than helping her students. “Teaching really is my passion and my calling,” Taylor said. “I enjoy working with students. One of the most rewarding things for me is to see my students advance in accounting and do great things. A number of my former students are CPAs and CFOs at nonprofits and corporations, while many own their own businesses.” When Taylor received tenure in 2004, she became the first African American tenured professor in the former ��Vlog��ý Little Rock College of Business. She hopes her story has inspired other minority students at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to complete their education. “One of the objectives of the TEAM program was to have minority faculty in the classroom to encourage minority students to complete their degrees and to do good things in education,” Taylor said. “I think I have helped a number of minority students. I think it encourages them to complete their business degrees, particularly in accounting. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to encourage minorities to pursue accounting as a career.”]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Wins Legal Writing Contest for Exploration of Jock Taxes During COVID-19 /news-archive/2022/01/28/jock-taxes-pandemic/ Fri, 28 Jan 2022 14:02:09 +0000 /news/?p=79707 ...]]> Aleigha Smith, a senior accounting major and Donaghey Scholar from Cabot, received the second place award in legal writing from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. Dr. Casey Carder Rockwell, assistant professor of marketing and advertising, mentored Smith. “There exists a myriad of complications in the form of taxes beyond the standard federal and state,” Smith said. “These taxes, called jock taxes, have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as the rules and regulations on how the income is taxed have evolved.” In the United States, the jock tax is an income tax levied against visitors to a city or state who earn money in that jurisdiction. Professional athletes are the targets of the jock tax, which requires them to pay income taxes outside of the states they live in for the time they work in other cities and states. The jock tax can force some professional athletes to file income taxes in as many as 15-20 states per year. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a great upheaval to professional sports. When professional sports teams began to cancel events and stay home, states and cities lost the ability to earn income by taxing visiting players. In her paper, “What’s Up Jock?: Redefining Duty Days for Professional Athletes in the Wake of COVID-19,” Smith argued that the jock tax is even more cumbersome to professional athletes during the pandemic and should be simplified. “The jock tax helps pay for stadiums where professional athletes play, security, and extra police work during professional events,” Smith said. “The job of a professional athlete is much more than just playing games. It’s practices, spring training, workouts, and other publicity appearances. With the use of virtual workplaces, you have the potential for athletes to be double taxed on workdays, especially when athletes can zoom in to more than one meeting in multiple states on the same day.” Jock taxes are calculated by using the number of duty days that a person has income-related work in another state. The use of remote work during COVID-19 has reduced the number of duty days that athletes have in states. Some states and cities have added new restrictions to increase the number of duty days to ensure revenue is not lost when professional athletes work remotely. With players using technology to attend practices and workouts remotely, the athlete can be in a different state than the rest of the team. This causes confusion in which state is entitled to count that day as a duty day and may result in double taxation of athletes by more than one state. Such confusion calls for a simplification to the increasing complexity of the issue related to digital duty days. Smith suggested that individual states and cities should simplify their jock taxes to make it easier for professional athletes to file their taxes. Lawmakers could create a standard definition of a duty day that is applicable to all states and cities who require athletes to pay a jock tax. This definition would include both physical and digital duty days and eliminates the double taxation that occurs if an athlete, for example, has both a team meeting in person and a virtual workout with a team trainer in another state on the same day. “With the increasing complexity, simplifying the process to calculate jock tax liability would reduce the amount of complications and ensure the commerce provided by professional teams continues,” Smith said. A member of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Accounting Society and Beta Alpha Psi, Smith said she became interested in researching the impact of jock taxes on professional athletes by combining her accounting studies with her love of professional sports. “I have had an amazing opportunity to conduct my research, and through gathering information and examining tax code, I have a better understanding not only of the codes as well as problems faced by professional athletes, but also a myriad of other related topics,” Smith said. “This research started as an examination of tax codes as it related to the Super Bowl LIV, pre-COVID-19, and shifted given the unique situation created by the pandemic. I want to thank my research advisor, Dr. Casey Rockwell, for allowing me to explore those avenues and help me narrow down on what I truly wanted to explore.”]]> Academic programs from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock recognized for excellence /news-archive/2019/11/22/ua-little-rock-recognized-for-excellence/ Fri, 22 Nov 2019 18:02:55 +0000 /news/?p=75826 ...]]> Multiple academic programs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have been ranked among the best in the nation.�� , a student-focused comprehensive research guide, named six of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s programs among its top rankings, based on an assessment of 1,604 accredited colleges and universities. Each program was evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and employment after graduation.�� Vlog��ý Little Rock was recognized in the following degree programs:��

�� Master’s degree in communication, ranked second
�� Master’s degree in information science, ranked third
�� Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, ranked third
�� Master’s degree in criminal justice, ranked fourth
�� Master’s degree in social work, ranked eighth
�� Bachelor’s degree in accounting, ranked 22

The 2020 rankings are calculated through a unique scoring system, which includes student engagement, potential return on investment, and leading third-party evaluations.]]> Incoming ��Vlog��ý Little Rock freshman wins scholarship from Rotary Club of West Little Rock /news-archive/2018/07/03/freshman-wins-scholarship-rotary-club-west-little-rock/ Tue, 03 Jul 2018 20:08:55 +0000 /news/?p=71039 ...]]> An incoming University of Arkansas at Little Rock student has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship by the Rotary Club of West Little Rock.�� Armando Arellano, a 2018 graduate of McClellan High School who plans to study history and accounting at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, was awarded a $1,000 per semester scholarship for the 2018-19 academic year during a Rotary Club meeting on June 13. He was one of three local high school graduates who received a scholarship based on grades, financial need, leadership, and services to the community and/or school. The additional scholarship winners are Melissa Velazquez and Stephanie Chukwuanu. Scholarships are renewable for up to three years. Arellano graduated seventh in his class of 164 with a 3.58 GPA. While at McClellan High School, he has been involved in Student Council, Future Business Leaders of America, and High School Scholars, as well as a member of the soccer and athletics teams where he ran a 7-minute mile. Arellano has a form of primary autism, but he has never let this limit him. In the ninth grade, Arellano asked to be moved from the special education program at McClellan and be placed in regular classes. “He is self-motivated, sincere, hardworking, and wants to improve himself,” said Marc Sherman, co-chairman of Rotary Club of West Little Rock Scholarship Committee. “He impressed me by his desire to teach, a noble profession, and to serve his community by educating others. Armando is both faith and family orientated and takes great pride in his Latino roots. With a desire to improve himself and the world around him, nothing will stop him from reaching his goals.” The Rotary Club of West Little Rock, founded in 1958, has awarded more than $60,000 in scholarships through its Education and Charitable Fund to help students attend college and afford them the opportunity to continue serving their communities. In the upper right photo, Armando Arellano (left), is pictured with fellow Rotary Club of West Little Rock scholarship winners Melissa Velazquez (center), and Stephanie Chukwuanu (right).�� ]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students win free trip to New York City to explore African-American history /news-archive/2018/05/17/african-american-history-new-york/ Thu, 17 May 2018 14:23:19 +0000 /news/?p=70598 ...]]> Eight University of Arkansas at Little Rock students have won a free trip to New York City to explore African-American history after winning an essay contest.�� In honor of Black History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity held an essay contest in February for undergraduate students. In 600 words or less, students answered the question: How has any one organization, movement, place, or period in New York City’s history contributed to the African-American struggle for freedom and equality? Winners include McKenzie Baker, international studies major; Deuntay Bennett, economics major; Sean Corrothers, accounting major; Jessica Doyne, professional and technical writing major; Ravan Gaston, political science major; Kimberly Maurer, English-secondary education major; Tieranee Ransom, elementary education major; and Tori Williams, English major with a creative writing emphasis. The eight winners will visit New York City July 9-15. Airfare, lodging, meals, and entrance to site visits will all be covered. Students will stay at and visit sites such as the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the African Burial Ground National Monument, Black Theater of Harlem, Apollo Theater, Ellis Island, Louis Armstrong Museum, and Grant’s Tomb. The Anderson Institute began the essay contest in 2017 in which eight ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students won a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and other historical sites. ]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock honors employees, departments making a difference in students’ lives /news-archive/2018/05/17/student-advocate-awards/ Thu, 17 May 2018 13:09:47 +0000 /news/?p=70596 ...]]> The Division of Student Affairs hosted the Student Advocate Awards Ceremony on April 27. Through a survey, graduating seniors identified ��Vlog��ý Little Rock employees and departments instrumental in their success. The faculty and staff members honored include:

Charles Anderson, Rhetoric and Writing
Neveen Amin, Sociology and Anthropology
Aresh Assadi, Counseling Services
Thomas Barrett, Education
William Baltosser, Biology
Emily Bell, Study Abroad
David Briscoe, Anthropology and Sociology
John Bush, Biology
Cai Carvalhaes, Counseling Services
Kelly Chaney, Biology
April Chatham-Carpenter, Applied Communication
Catherine Crisp, School of Social Work
Jane Evans, Nursing
Erin Finzer, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Mark Funk, Accounting
Marc Glidden, Criminal Justice/Campus Living
Camille Guess-Mitchell, Financial Aid
Shannon Gwinn, Business
George Jensen, Rhetoric and Writing
Amar Kanekar,��Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation
Tara Kittrell, Counseling Services
Cheryl Kleeman, Military Student Success
Gaurav Kumar, Accounting
Jason Kushner, Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation
Katina Leland, Education
James Levernier, English
Ann Marie Lott, Disability Resource Center
Kristin Mann, History
Bradley Minnick, English
Steven Minsker, Computer Science
Robert Mitchell, Business Information Systems
La’Donnia Mothershed, TRIO Student Support Services
Charles Molsbee, Nursing
David Montague, eLearning
Ibrahim Nisanci, Systems Engineering
Yvette Palmer, Undergraduate Academic Advising
Mary Parker, Criminal Justice
Sonya Premeaux, Business
Bennie Prince, Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation
Ann Robinson, Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education
Jessica Scott, Donaghey Scholars Program
Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Rhetoric and Writing
René Shroat-Lewis, Earth Sciences
Amber Smith, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Bruce Smith, Education
Janea Snyder,��Counseling, Human Performance & Rehabilitation
Nick Steele, Concurrent Enrollment
John Talburt, Information Science
Cynthia Taylor, Accounting
Rachel Tennial, Psychology
Rikki Turner, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Hyginus Ukadike, Counseling Services
David Weekley, Mass Communication
Jim Winter, Arkansas STRIVE Program
Karen Wisdom, Criminal Justice
Paul Yoder, English

The departments and programs honored include:

African American Female Initiative
Accounting
Anthropology
Applied Communication
Art and Design
Business Information Systems
Chancellor’s Leadership Corps
Counseling Services
Charles W. Donaldson Scholars Academy
Donaghey Scholars Program
Early Childhood Education
English
Greek Life
Nursing
Philosophy
Psychology
Rehabilitation Program
Rhetoric and Writing
Science Scholars Program
School of Social Work
Theatre Arts and Dance
TRIO McNair Scholars
TRIO Support Services
��Vlog��ýLR Teach

]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock opens Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program on campus /news-archive/2018/02/16/volunteer-income-tax-assistance-program-campus/ Fri, 16 Feb 2018 14:10:39 +0000 /news/?p=69447 ...]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has opened a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to help members of the campus community and the public file their taxes free of charge.�� The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less, people with disabilities, and limited English speaking taxpayers who need help preparing their own tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals. Tax preparation and filing assistance will be available on a walk-in basis every Wednesday through April 4 (except during Spring Break on March 21) from 2-4:30 p.m. in Reynolds Business Center Room 104. Taxpayers have an option to prepare their own free simple federal and state tax return using web-based tax preparation software using an onsite computer. To have a return prepared by a volunteer, participants should bring a valid photo identification, Social Security card, W-2s, 1099 forms, a copy of last year’s tax return, and any other information and forms concerning income and expenses for 2017.�� Faculty members from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Accounting and students from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Accounting Society and Beta Alpha Psi have been training for months to provide tax help for the public. “We believe this service to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students, staff, faculty, and the general public will fill the needs of taxpayers who do not have the funds to pay for-profit tax preparers for simple returns,” said Cynthia Johnson, an accounting instructor in the College of Business and faculty advisor of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock VITA program. Beta Alpha Psi members discovered the VITA program while attending a conference in 2016. “A couple of the students trained and volunteered at a VITA center in downtown Little Rock during last year’s tax season to see how it works,” Johnson said. “Enough students were interested in training and volunteering this year that we decided we would be able to handle opening a center on campus. The students are getting really great experience dealing with real clients, and the taxpayers are receiving a very valuable service.” For more information, contact Johnson at cljohnson1@ualr.edu. ]]> Beta Gamma Sigma honors alumnus Earl Williams /news-archive/2017/12/23/beta-gamma-sigma-earl-williams/ Sat, 23 Dec 2017 21:10:16 +0000 /news/?p=68898 ...]]> Earl Williams, a 1978 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was honored as Beta Gamma Sigma’s Chapter Honoree Nov. 30 at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock College of Business.�� Beta Gamma Sigma, an international honor society for students within the College of Business, selected Williams, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Loeb Properties, for his career achievements and service to the community. “I am very honored to have been selected and grateful to have a chance to visit the campus,” Williams said. “It has been a privilege to get to know College of Business Dean Jane Wayland and see the remarkable impact she has made on the business school.” One of the highlights of Williams’ visit was a meeting with Dr. Robert Culpepper, a retired ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor who taught Williams when he was a student. “Dr. Robert Culpepper had a significant impact on me as a student,” Williams said. “His guidance was invaluable, and I was grateful to see him after almost 40 years. I told the students to take advantage of the relationships with their professors, as they have much to offer.” After earning an accounting degree from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Williams began his career with Arthur Andersen in Memphis, Tennessee. From 1985 to 1999, he worked as a corporate controller for privately held Belz Enterprises, a large Memphis-based commercial and industrial real estate developer, obtaining extensive real estate experience. He joined Loeb Properties as chief financial officer in 1999. Williams works closely with the senior vice president of asset management and senior vice president of brokerage and development to formulate leasing and property management goals, ensuring effective utilization and returns on company properties. He is also responsible for all internal and external financial statement reporting, management information systems, employee benefit programs, risk management programs, tax planning and compliance, along with long-term financial planning for all Loeb-related entities. Williams is also an active volunteer in his community. He just finished serving a two-year term as District Council Chair for Urban Land Institute-Memphis District and is a member of Lambda Alpha Real Estate Fraternity, past board chair and current board member of Memphis Leadership Foundation, and board member of Leadership Empowerment Center, an urban ministry. Williams and his wife of 36 years, Tina, have two daughters, Ashley (Patrick) and Alyssa (Caleb), two granddaughters, Mackenzie and Madison, and a great niece, Alexis. In the upper right photo,��Beta Gamma Sigma honoree Earl Williams (right) meets with his former professor, Dr. Robert Culpepper (left).]]> College of Business online programs ranked among most affordable in country /news-archive/2017/10/18/affordable-online-business-degrees/ Wed, 18 Oct 2017 13:36:28 +0000 /news/?p=68250 ...]]> Three online programs from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business have been ranked among the most affordable in the country.�� The educational resource website,, ranked ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s online degree programs in accounting, human resources, and management among its respective lists of the top 25 most affordable online college degree programs in 2018. All three ��Vlog��ý Little Rock programs ranked within the Top Ten on their lists. ranked fourth, while and, ninth. Rankings were based on program data from the 2016-17 school year collected from official school websites, including available degrees, tuition rates, and program coursework. Data on acceptance rates, programmatic accreditation, and profit status of the schools were collected from accreditation agencies or the National Center for Education Statistics. OnlineU is designed to aid students in obtaining college degrees without taking on the burden of massive debt. The website provides unbiased rankings based on the factors students care about most – affordability, accessibility, and quality – to help them find the best possible match. ��]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student earns prestigious accounting scholarship /news-archive/2017/07/03/accounting-scholarship-nathan-nalley/ Mon, 03 Jul 2017 13:03:54 +0000 /news/?p=67400 ...]]> Nathan Nalley, a senior accounting major, received a $1,100 scholarship from the . “The scholarship was a tremendous help for me,” Nalley said. “I am glad of the help to get me through my last semester of college.” Nalley, 33, of Benton, is an accounting clerk at Windstream. Once he graduates in December, he plans to work at an accounting firm and eventually open up his own tax and bookkeeping business. Since its inception in 1969, the National Society of Accountants’ scholarship foundation has provided more than $1 million to students pursuing an accounting career. Undergraduate and graduate students were selected based on academic achievements, leadership, activities, career goals, and financial need. “These students are the best and brightest candidates working to earn accounting degrees,” Scholarship Foundation President Sharon Cook said in a news release. “We are pleased to support them and look forward to having them join the accounting profession.” Nalley served as pastor of Gravel Hill Baptist Church in Benton for three years but left in 2016 to pursue a career to provide better for his growing family. Nalley and his wife, Carly, are the proud parents of four sons ages, 3, 5, 6, and 7. He’s grateful to Shannon Gwinn, director of the Center for Student and Career Services in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock College of Business, for helping him find a job as an administrative assistant at Frazier & Rickels, P.A., less than a month after he enrolled at the university. Since becoming a student at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in January 2016, Nalley has been active on campus, joining Beta Gamma Sigma, Beta Alpha Psi and the Accounting Society. He also received the 2017 Beta Alpha Psi and Accounting Society Scholarship. As a member of Beta Alpha Psi, for which he will serve as president in the fall, Nalley has given back by participating in service activities. The group hosts a Reality Fair in the College of Business that has students explore a career to find out what they can and cannot afford with the anticipated salary. Twice a year, the group gives speeches on careers in accounting to students enrolled in the Arkansas National Guard, a residential program for at-risk boys. ]]>