Students: The Future of Our Profession

By Patrick D. Rogan, CPA

Our chapter is beginning its annual scholarship drive. So that we can award scholarships this academic term, the chapter decided to begin the application process during the fall semester, which means the application deadline is Dec. 10. The Scholarship Committee will meet by the end of January and recommendations will be made to the board of directors at the February meeting.

Following are the 13 community colleges and two universities that are located in our chapter’s sphere of influence: Cosumnes River College, Sacramento City College and American River College in Sacramento; Folsom Lake College in Folsom; Sierra College in Rocklin; Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe; Butte Community College in Orville; Feather River College in Quincy; Lassen Community College in Susanville; College of the Siskiyous in Weed; Shasta College in Redding; Yuba College in Yuba and Woodland College in Woodland. The two universities are California State University at Chico and California State University at Sacramento.

What Do I Need From our Members?
So that we can spread the word about the scholarships available to deserving college students, I need a few campus champions for each campus. The time commitment is minimal. You will visit the colleges and remind them about this wonderful opportunity for their students. If you are interested in being a campus champion or would like to work with any of these colleges and universities, be sure to update your member profile on the website by selecting “Join a Chapter Interest Group Today” and then check the Student Outreach Committee. If you live or work near any of these schools, contact me if you are interested, so I can add you as a campus champion. This volunteer opportunity is rewarding to you and helps promote CalCPA to these schools and the future members of our profession.

On a related note, we recently reviewed scholarship applications from a number of students attending colleges and universities in the chapter region. Congratulations to the following deserving students who were awarded scholarships: Fatoomata Dembele and Suzanne Carstensen from American River College; Steven Shields from Consumes River College (transferring to Sacramento State University); Jabulile Rankins from California State University; and Gurpreet Bains from Yuba City College. See more details in a separate article in this month’s Bulletin.

Upcoming Events
The chapter’s annual Student Outreach Luncheon is Wednesday, Nov. 18. Event chairs Amy Lehmkuhl and Robina Bennion have created a tremendous program, which will also serve to celebrate CalCPA’s centennial. Our special guest speaker is CalCPA Chair Andrea Cope. It would be wonderful if as many members as possible came to this event to meet the many students who plan to become CPAs. The luncheon will give CPAs an opportunity to network with both students and their peers. Sponsorships opportunities are available, as well. If you’re interested, contact Serena Trovoto. This is an event not to miss!

The Roseville Discussion Group had its inaugural meeting in September and will meet again Thursday, Nov. 12.

The Government Accounting and Auditing Committee will hold its first meeting Thursday, Nov. 12. See this month’s Bulletin for more details and check the chapter’s calendar of events for more details and other events.

I welcome your comments and suggestions and would like to hear from you. Contact me via e-mail. I read each comment and respond.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 1:08 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.