Two UAB Collat School of Business alumnae are serving as 2023-2024 alumni advocates on Beta Alpha Psi International’s alumni task force.
Kayla Dollar (left) and Mursilat Saquib (right)
Kayla Dollar and Mursilat Saquib represent the Southeast, Rocky Mountain and Atlantic Coast regions of the international honor society for finance, accounting, and information systems students. They help coordinate their regions’ mid-year meetings and help chapters within the regions with high-level duties, such as recruiting.
Having two alumni from one school serve on the task force is rare, said accounting professor Eddie Nabors, who also serves on Beta Alpha Psi International’s Board of Directors.
“We only pick five from the entire country to represent young alums and current students,” he said. “It’s an honor. They, through these activities, will make contacts and develop networks they would never develop otherwise. They’ll meet a lot of people that will be beneficial to them for the rest of their lives.”
Dollar is an audit associate at KPMG in Orlando, FL. She graduated from UAB in 2021 and earned her master’s degree in professional accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is serving as BAP’s Southeast and Rocky Mountain Mid-Year Representative.
She said she enjoys helping students in her region develop soft skills like working on their elevator pitches.
“I think a lot of students don’t focus on that because they’re focused on the nitty-gritty of having a resume filled up,” she said. “But you have to realize that the social skills are key as well.”
She said she wants to help students take advantage of opportunities and build their professional networks.
“Collat gave me so much,” she said. “There’s a lot of background work that goes into getting jobs or helping students get their career path established. Overall, I feel like helping others is the least I can do to represent where I came from.”
Saquib is a senior audit assistant at Deloitte. After graduating from Collat, she earned a master’s degree in accounting from Cornell University. She is serving as BAP’s Atlantic Coast Mid-Year Representative. Saquib said the friendships she gained through Beta Alpha Psi keep her involved with Collat.
"When I was in college, I was always looking for a community of like-minded people," she said. "For me, in accounting in the Collat School of Business, all of my closest friends were from Beta Alpha Psi. They connected me to people and resources that I could leverage to build my network and eventually get the job that I have right now.”
She said she wants to provide students with resources useful in building soft skills and landing a job post-graduation.
“I strongly support what Beta Alpha Psi stands for, which has a lot to do with inclusiveness and making sure that everyone, regardless of background, has a fair chance at the career that they want,” she said.
Saquib encouraged students to join Beta Alpha Psi and be active.
“You have so many resources at your disposal, and there’s so many people who want you to succeed. All you have to do is reach out and just let them know what you need from them."
Learn more about UAB's Beta Alpha Psi chapter.