Minority High School Students Preview Accounting Careers

By Jacqueline Molik Ghosen

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo School of Management and the Foundation for Accounting Education of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) are collaborating to introduce minority high school students to career opportunities in the accounting profession during a five-day program.

Approximately 30 students from area schools are expected to attend the third annual Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession Program (COAP), which will take place on June 22, 26, 27, 30 and July 1.

The program will feature a comprehensive series of breakout sessions designed to provide participants with insights into all the components of an accounting education and career. Sessions will be held in the UB School of Management.

A number of area accounting firms will give presentations on campus, and students will make off-site visits to Lumsden & McCormick, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Rich Products, where they will take company tours and speak with accounting representatives from those firms.

A session entitled “The Accounting Profession -- 360 Degrees of Possibilities,” will be led Daniel Tirone ’81, CPA, president of A.J. Panneri Enterprises, and will feature a panel of accounting professionals.

Deena Vanderbosch ’94, MBA ’94, director of finance and operations for the Meszaros International Center for Entrepreneurship, will introduce the students to accounting concepts and will present a “Build Your Own Business” seminar, followed by group work sessions and student business presentations before a panel of judges. Several UB accounting faculty members will lead sessions as well.

The program also will include a wide variety of professional development opportunities, including a business lunch called “Putting Your Best Fork Forward,” which will feature etiquette tips for working meals; an “Accounting Jeopardy” game run by current students in the Beta Alpha Psi accounting fraternity; a “dress for success” session; a résumé-writing workshop; job-search strategies; interviewing sessions; public speaking; and ethics.

Students who attended last year’s program said they found it very worthwhile.

“It was COAP that made me decide on a career,” says Adrian Guadalupe of Leonardo da Vinci High School. “I’m going to UB for accounting.”

This year’s program will conclude with a banquet for students and their parents at 6 p.m. July 1 in the Jacobs Executive Development Center, 672 Delaware Ave.

“The goal of the program is to increase awareness of the many opportunities that an accounting education and career can provide,” says Ann Burstein Cohen, associate professor of accounting.

Cohen worked with NYSSCPA to organize the event. “It is our hope that if minority students realize early on that the accounting profession has a variety of interesting opportunities, we can increase the number of candidates who enter the field,” she adds.

NYSSCPA represents 29,000 CPAs and is the oldest state accounting organization in the nation. Incorporated in 1897, the society is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to establish and maintain high standards of integrity, honor and character among certified public accountants. The Buffalo Chapter, with more than 1,400 members, encompasses Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties. To learn more about the society, visit www.nysscpa.org.

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the UB School of Management No. 9 in the nation among schools with strong regional recruiting bases. In addition, BusinessWeek has ranked the school as one of the country's top 5 business schools for the fastest return on MBA investment, and Forbes cited it as one of the best business schools in the U.S. for the return on investment it provides MBA graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. UB’s more than 27,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.