Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Every year, St. Mary's faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as community members, gather to help those in the surrounding area complete their tax returns. The volunteer invome tax program (VITA) volunteers filed 533 tax returns in 2009, resulting in refunds of $762,000 for clients. The VITA Program has been run by Thomas Madison, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Accounting at the Bill Greehey School of Business. This year he won the Faculty Community Service Award for his work with VITA. But Madison is always quick to point out that many others contribute to the program's success.

St. Mary's dedicated faculty members who made tremendous contributions to the program this year include Professors Kent Royalty, Gail Kaciuba, David Sommer, Suzanne Oliva, and Adrian Cowan from the Bill Greehey School of Business and Professors Ana Novoa and Chris Clapham form the St. Mary's University School of Law. Bill Greehey School of Business Professor Mark Persellin is also to be commended for his contributions toward training volunteers and Pamela Duffy for her dedicated help with many different aspects of the VITA program.