College of Business News

Montana State University and the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce honored two College of Business (CoB) alumni with the 2009 Community Excellence Awards. Each year the awards recognize a local man and woman for their dedicated service to the community and university.

Doug Alexander (’64) and Kathleen Tonkovich (’88) received the awards at the 27^th Annual Awards for Excellence banquet on Tuesday, February 17.

Tonkovich, vice president of First Security Bank, holds a B.S. in finance from MSU and is a member of the MSU Alumni Association. As a very active member of the MSU/Chamber relations committee, Tonkovich has participated in numerous Chamber and university events. She has also supported the university by making First Security Bank the local business pick-up site for Bobcat signs and posters. She has also been involved with the yearly MSU Move-In Day.

In addition, she has been a guest speaker for the CoB and served on the CoB Classic Open Benefit Golf Tournament planning committee for several years. Tonkovich has been a member of the Bozeman Business and Professional Women and the Prospera Business Network. She is currently active in Junior Achievement.

The CoB is proud that our alumni have received this award four years in a row. Two of those years, both honorees were CoB alumni.

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Forty of Montana State University’s top seniors and their faculty or staff mentors were recognized at this year’s annual Awards for Excellence banquet. The MSU Alumni Association and the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event, on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 in the SUB Ballrooms.

An award selection committee chose qualifying seniors nominated by faculty in their college or department. All students maintained a minimum 3.5 grade point average (GPA) as well as demonstrated campus leadership and community service.

The senior College of Business students and mentors honored at the banquet were:

Jackie Art, management and finance / Greg Durham

Christopher Baldus, finance / Greg Durham

Mara Hoefer, marketing / Dave Foster

Austin Owens, finance / Gary Caton

Drew J. Nash, mechanical engineering technology / Dave Foster

Clarissa Ivie A. English, psychology and Spanish / Carmen McSpadden

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Students are highly encouraged to participate in the third annual American Bank Professional Student Mixer to be held on March 11 at American Bank, 1632 West Main Street (across from Hastings). Business casual dress is required. Don’t miss this chance to meet, network and learn from a wide range of local business people. This event is open to all College of Business students and faculty. Please RSVP in the Bracken Center on the 4th floor of Reid Hall no later than March 3. If you have any questions, please email cairnclark@gmail.com.

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Accounting students at Montana State University will be providing FREE income tax help through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. These help sessions will be held on the MSU campus in Reid Hall 302, a computer lab. No appointment is necessary. The sessions are from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on the following Tuesday and Thursday nights: February 10, 17, 24; March 3, 5, 10, 24, 31; and April 2, 7.

Taxpayers whose income is $50,000 or less are eligible for the assistance. Those interested in free help should bring their 2008 W-2 forms and other tax documents and copies of their 2007 tax returns (if available). International students should also bring their passports.

VITA was established by the Internal Revenue Service to assist people who may find it difficult to pay for tax preparation services. The program also provides accounting students an experiential learning opportunity as they work with people in actual income tax situations.

Students will be available to prepare federal and state tax returns and answer tax questions. They have completed one or more semester-long comprehensive tax courses, received specific training related to common tax issues, have access to a variety of federal and state reference materials and have passed an IRS exam prior to preparing tax returns. The students are supervised by CoB accounting professor, Anne Christensen.

Another resource for students: The Montana Department of Revenue has a website set up where students can e-file their Montana Individual Income Tax return at no cost at www.mt.gov/revenue.

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