Lockman Honored by UM College of Business for Decades of Dedication to VITA Program

April 22, 2024

MISSOULA – At its spring Advisory Board meetings in April, the University of Montana College of Business honored UM alumnus Clem Lockman for his decades of dedication to the students of UM and the Missoula community. Lockman has volunteered his time as the site coordinator for the UM Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) for more than 20 years.

The UM VITA program runs annually every Saturday through the month of February, offering free tax help to those with low to moderate incomes. Each year, 300 to 700 federal income tax returns, and an equal number of state tax returns, are prepared under Lockman’s guidance. This results in total annual refunds to taxpayers in a range of $400,000 to $1 million, which flows back into the local economy.

The UM VITA program is one of the largest and most successful service-learning activities on campus. In addition to helping countless low-income taxpayers since the program began, Lockman has taught and supervised between 15 and 30 student volunteers each year. This has given hundreds of UM students their initial introduction to tax practice. In addition, the students get a lesson in the importance of giving back to one’s community.

In his role as site coordinator, he also acted as the liaison with the Internal Revenue Service in making this program available and compliant with all requirements, while ensuring each volunteer is qualified to participate in the program and all returns are properly e-filed.   Lockman has provided this service to UM and to the community during his busiest time of year as a professional CPA.

Lockman is committed to the mission of the Montana Society of CPAs (MTCPA) and has been an active member for decades, receiving the Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2019, and currently serves on the board of the MTCPA Legacy Foundation. He also has served on a number of society committees over the years, including the Membership Task Force (2005-2016), Financial Literacy Take Force (2007-2010) and the Professional Development Task Force (2010–present).