Joseph Atchison
  • Business Finance
  • Class of 2017
  • Texarkana, Honors Hall Council Outstanding Service Award.

Joseph Atchison helps SAU PBL earn 36 state conference awards

2017 Jun 1

Joseph Atchison was among Southern Arkansas University Phi Beta Lambda chapter members who earned a total of 36 individual and team awards at the PBL State Leadership Conference in April.

A total of 15 SAU students qualified to attend and compete at the National Leadership Conference, which this year is in Anaheim, California, in June.

Atchison is a senior Finance Analysis major from Texarkana, TX. He won first place in the Accounting Analysis and Decision Making category and in the Forensic Accounting category. Atchison will represent SAU at the national conference.

Under the guidance of advisors Dr. Gerald Plumlee and Sheryl Edwards, 27 SAU students competed against 300 members from 14 other colleges and universities in the state of Arkansas.

According to Plumlee, this year's trip to nationals is considerably more expensive than previous years when the chapter has driven to the host city. With the additional cost of airfare, the trip will cost $17,885. By the first week of May, the chapter had raised more than $10,000 toward its fundraising goal, and an SAU Development "Ignite" campaign has been set up to collect donations at https://ignite.saumag.edu/PBL. Only a few days remain in the campaign, and donations of any amount are appreciated.

"We're very proud of our members who have worked very hard this year. Our members earned more awards and we have more members eligible for nationals than we've had in many years. This is evidence of our outstanding students and high quality programs in the Rankin College of Business at SAU," said Plumlee, who was honored as the Outstanding Local Chapter Advisor at last year's state conference.

With a successful run at state, members of the chapter are eager to attend nationals.

"I'm excited to travel to my second National Leadership Conference with PBL this summer," said Cordell McDonald, a junior marketing major from Smackover. "Anaheim is a beautiful place and I can't wait to fly out." McDonald placed first in the Sales Presentation event.

Each year, around 2000 members from 40 states compete against each other on a national level, attend leadership development workshops, and hear motivational keynote speakers. This year's national theme is "A Legacy of Leadership," marking FBLA-PBL's 75th anniversary since the organization was founded in 1942.

Since 1974, Southern Arkansas University Phi Beta Lambda has earned 320 national awards.