Accounting Careers Committee

Present: Neil Keller, Kelly Miller, Robert Gruber, Michael Friedman, Diana Henke

Teleconferencing: Nicki Reed-Ziehr, Sandy Chapman, Andrew LaFontain, Laura Klocke, Aldo Lopata, Katy Karcz (Board Liason)

WICPA staff present: Leah Grunewald, Mary Murray and Dennis Tomorsky

Opening Remarks: 

• Neil welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially our newest members.
• Reminded the group of our goal “to promote, educate and excite students about the CPA’s changing role and unlimited career opportunities.”
• WICPA would like to remind us about committee participation/attendance. Each year, the committee chair is asked to evaluate each member based on participation and attendance. Those that do not participate will be removed from the committee the following year.

Past Business/Updates:

• High school speaking program –95 members spoke at 79 schools, which is an increase of 25 members over last year.   
• Career awareness grants – Teachers that attend the Symposium can apply. 10 grants were given out for various purposes. Video clips were shown citing examples of how grant funds were used. Madison schools used their grant funds to host an accounting day at MATC. Mary played a DVD showing the activities of that day. McFarland school district hosted a “Reality Store” and received news coverage on the Madison networks and a DVD of that coverage was also shared with the committee members.
• Speed networking – was for undecided business majors at UW-Whitewater. Attendance was down over last year, primarily due to location change from Carlson (business building) to Esker (dining hall), and possibly due to the change from pizza to snacks. Events are being planned for the 2007-2008 school year at UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse.
• Wisconsin School Counselors Association (WSCA) conference – WICPA had a booth at their conference in February, 2007.  There wasn’t a lot of traffic at the booth (there were a very limited number of career related booths).
• College visits – Leah and Dennis visited various university campuses and spoke to about 200 students.
• Young Professional group – 55 people attended the Nov. 2007 Forum for Young Professionals.  A committee of 19 members has been formed. They recently had an outing where 50 people attended.  They are planning a Brewer’s game outing on Aug. 17.

New Business:

• Financial Literacy
  • Reality Store –
    • during the next school year, there are approximately 30 Reality Stores planned.  The WICPA last year funded the cost to cover the manuals to train the teachers who were interested in this type of activity.  Mary surveyed schools about their expenses for these events in case the WICPA plans to fund future events like these.
    • Mike Friedman told the group about a program by Lloyd Levine called Make a Difference Wisconsin.  It runs once a week for 6 – 8 weeks and is currently attended by juniors at the MPS high schools.  The WICPA isn’t currently involved, but Dennis noted that the WICPA is keeping in touch with the organization.
    • Dennis also gave us an update about his visit with various legislative representatives & their staff about the WICPA’s involvement in Wisconsin Reality Stores.
  • Money Smart Week – October 8-13 and is a statewide financial literacy initiative which began with First Lady, Jessica Doyle. There are many activities planned.  The WICPA will be recruiting speakers and volunteers to participate in financial literacy activities.
  • Having a Ball on a Budget – is a new PowerPoint presentation to college students about balancing a budget during and after college. This will be coordinated through the Beta Alpha Psi chapters. Diana asked if we could somehow let the other campus students know where we will be, for those students that are interested in attending (even if their Beta doesn’t respond to the invitation).
  • Feed the Pig – is a financial literacy campaign sponsored by the AICPA and Ad Council. The mascot – Benjamin Bankes – targets 25-34 year olds and teaches savings.
• WBEA – Conference will be held in Eau Claire on Sept. 28.  WICPA will have a panel of with a UW-Eau Claire student, professor and professional.
• Symposium for high school business educators – held Friday, Nov. 9 at Ho-Chunk in Wisconsin Dells.  Mary is looking for volunteers to network with the teachers.
• E-newsletter to high school teachers – Mary and Neil introduced the idea of sending an E-newsletter (with short news paragraphs) to high school teachers  and requested ideas from the committee on what type of news, what teachers might want, web links to include - Ideas included:
  • Where the profession is at, what is happening currently
  • What is the job market like, what is it projected to be in 5-10 years
  • Focus on different careers in accounting
  • What are the current events in the profession
  • Link to Client Line (newsletter sent by Scribner Cohen to clients)
  • How to get students interested in the profession (it’s not just sitting at a desk all day)
  • Ask young professionals about interesting projects during their first few years in the workforce
  • “War stories” – counting items in a freezer and having your pen freeze up, assessing inventory in custom homes of local celebrities, etc.
  • What could a high school student do at an accounting firm (internship)
  • List those firms that might want to hire a high school student to do clerical/admin work
  • Financial literacy issues
  • Overview of symposium speakers
  • Links to the WICPA magazine or Journal of Accountancy
  • Web site of the month (i.e. accounting firm, accounting careers or cpa exam)

Mary asked that the committee e-mail her information, articles or ideas by August 15^th.  She anticipates emailing this newsletter in the middle of each month.  She is also looking for a name for the newsletter. There was a suggestion that it be put on the Web site for everyone to access.  Purpose of the newsletter is to promote accounting as a career (giving the teachers real-world information to use in the classroom). It was suggested that Mary ask the teachers what they would like to see in the newsletter. 

• High school speaking program – 95 members spoke in 79 schools this year.  We would like to increase both of those numbers this year.  Input from committee members is needed for:
  • Updates for the speaker packets (presentation information & activities)
  • Adding a financial literacy component

It was suggested that we promote the speakers in the monthly e-newsletter to the high school teachers.

Bob Gruber told the group about the UW-Whitewater speaker program.  They visited 26 schools and spoke to 550 students in Wisconsin.  Each August UW-W sends out 900 letters to the high schools offering to send students out to speak.  They send out 5^th year students (as they have the most experience in the program).  This will be their 4^th year presenting at schools.  Bob offered to include WICPA information with his letter.  He also suggested that the scholarship winners be required to make a high school speaking visit.

• WICPA Web site – The WICPA Web site is being redesigned to be more user friendly and will enable use of new technology. The new Web site will be launched in early 2008.  
  • Committee page – Currently our committee page includes the Roster and meeting minutes.  Mary would like to know what committee members would like to see on this page.  What would make it useful to you? What other items could be included there?
    • Student Programs pages – What could be added to these pages to make them more interactive…example, video clips, surveys, blogs…

Send Mary your suggestions for updates and additional information that could be added to the pages. 

Dennis added that they are hoping to measure and track where people go on the website.

Leah suggested that we include volunteer opportunities for members – what for, date, time, etc.

• Volunteers Needed – Mary reminded everyone that volunteers are needed for:
  • Symposium – Nov 9 – Wisconsin Dells
  • Speed Networking events in the Fall at La Crosse & Whitewater
  • Young professionals – Having a Ball on a Budget
  • Reality Stores (potentially 30 across the state next year)

Wrap Up:  Reminders to:

• Provide articles/ideas/Web links for e-newsletter to high school teachers
• Look at the WICPA website
  • Committee page
  • Students page
• High School speaking
  • Speak to schools and recruit others to do so
  • Review the materials and suggest updates
• Volunteers needed
  • Symposium – Nov. 9 – Wisconsin Dells
  • Speed Networking events in the Fall at La Crosse & Whitewater
  • Young professionals – Having a Ball on a Budget
  • Reality Stores (potentially 30 across the state next year)

Next Meeting will be in September

Meeting adjourned