Office of University Communications 

University awards first Public Affairs Professorship

Provost Belinda McCarthy, left, notifies Sandra Byrd of the award.
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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State University today (May 1) awarded its first Public Affairs Professorship to Dr. Sandra Byrd, professor of accountancy. Missouri State Provost Belinda McCarthy presented the award during Byrd’s Principles of Accounting class this morning.

The endowed professorship was established to recognize faculty members who have excelled at enabling the university to carry out its public affairs mission. The Public Affairs Professorship includes a stipend from the Missouri State University Foundation in the amount of $7,500 over and above the recipient’s base salary. One faculty member will receive the award each year.

“Sandra Byrd best personifies the public affairs mission of the university – community engagement, cultural competence and ethical leadership,” said McCarthy. “Her tax service program to low income individuals serves an extremely diverse part of the community in a field where the importance of ethics is paramount. The program she administers utilizes students in all that it does, ensuring that our graduates will have the skills and abilities to successfully carry out this mission in their own work and lives.”

In 2000, Byrd expanded the Missouri State Public Service Tax Clinic, which includes the Volunteer Individual Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs and the Low Income Tax Clinic (LITC). She also founded and coordinates the ATLS (Across the Life Span) financial network community coalition in 2001. Through ATLS, Missouri State students work with community organizations to assist families living in poverty and senior citizens.

Between January 2001 and April 2007, Missouri State students and senior community volunteers participating in ATLS’s VITA/TCE program, supervised by Byrd, have helped working families and seniors receive tax refunds of more than $6 million. 

Between January 2001 and December 2006, Missouri State students working in the LITC program closed 439 tax controversy cases involving 529 tax issues and provided service to 3,710 English as a Second Language individuals

Since spring 2001, Dr. Byrd has supervised 189 students working in the VITA/TCE program providing more than 14,000 hours of service to the community and 22 students who have worked in the LITC program have provided over 6,600 hours of service.

To be considered for the award, a faculty member must be at the associate professor, professor or distinguished professor rank; have a distinguished record of performance in teaching, research and service; and provide evidence of distinctive work and accomplishments in support of the university’s public affairs mission.