Throughout this academic year, The Rider will explore the student organizations at UTRGV. This is the fifth in our series. The Rider interviewed Mauricio Alonso Yanez, president of The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business at Edinburg, for information.
Name: The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business at Edinburg
President: Mauricio Alonso Yañez
Executive Vice President: Oscar Medrano
Vice President of Academics: Javier Martínez
Vice President of Marketing: Jessica Aranxa Bañuelos
Vice President of Finance: Clarissa Fausto
Vice President of Community Service: Carolina Hernández
Vice President of Membership: José Luis Ramírez
Vice President of Public Relations: Maria Fernanda Martínez
Membership Director: Adriana Ulloa
Fundraising Director: Aaron Aldrete
Leadership and Training Director: Kayler Fajardo
Outreach Director: Maria Becerra
Social Media Director: Nereyda Salazar
Public Relations Director: Arturo Alfaro
Social Media Chair: Yamel Heredia
Public Relations Chair: Alexis Martinez
Advisers: Assistant Professor Christian Sobngwi, Lecturers II Linda Acevedo and Deborah Gonzalez and Lecturer I Delia Sanchez
What is the purpose of The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business at Edinburg? “The purpose of the organization is to develop individuals and we do that by bringing opportunities like internships, full-time positions [and] not only that, we also do conferences, a regional one. This year, we have one in Saint Louis. So, as I mentioned, everything is about developing students, our members, that way they can be great leaders in the future.”
What activities does The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business at Edinburg perform? “So, we have several activities during the semester. For starters, this semester we have the national conference … A lot of employers, like 100, will be there offering full-time positions [and] internships as well. What’s great about this conference is that even before you step inside, the recruiters already have your resumé … [and] you already have interviews. So, that is great. That on top of the interviews that you get on-site. So, that is one of the activities. We also, for this year, have planned our first social. That will be at the end of this month, Sept. 29. We also have community service as well. We do that every month. Next year, what we [will] do is volunteer income tax assistance with United Way of South Texas. What we do is income tax preparation to families for free. The only requirement for them is to have an income below 66k a year … We do that starting on January up until April. This year, I think that we managed to help at least 5,000 families preparing the returns and submitting them. So, that is one of the events. Also, we have a regional conference, but that is next year as well, on March. We bring local and sometimes national companies to the [Rio Grande] Valley that way they can, again, offer internships [and] job opportunities to our members. We also offer tutoring, we call it Ace The Test. In Ace The Test, we have tutors, our members, that teach subjects that are in high demand in the field of business. For instance, we have Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting [and] Cost Accounting. So, as I mentioned, we have these tutoring sessions and usually a lot of people go before tests, because they want to learn the material. So, we get a lot of members from there. We are a very complete organization. We do a lot of activities, socials, community service, tutoring [and] self-development events.”
When and where do The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business at Edinburg’s general meetings take place? “On Thursdays at 12:15 p.m in the College of Business Rm. 110 in Edinburg. So, no matter the week, you will see us there. Except on Thanksgiving.”
What are the membership requirements? “Anyone can be a member. We are open to all of the majors, but our focus is mainly on accountants, financieers and all of the business people… It’s not a requirement, anyone can join, [but] you will only have to pay to be a national member, a $25 fee. You get access to magazines every month, you get access to scholarships, you get access to conferences, discounts, all of that is included in the membership.”
For more information, email: imautrgv01@gmail.com or mauricio.alonsoyanez01@utrgv.edu
Facebook: IMA – Edinburg
Instagram: @imaedinburg
LinkedIn: IMA Edinburg
–Compiled by Joahana Segundo
