Accounting
AICPA Seeks Minority College Students to Apply for Leadership Workshop
During the three-day program, students get a sense of what life as a CPA is all about and learn how their own unique backgrounds and experience can add value to the profession. As part of this process, participants complete a behavioral assessment and ...
Dec. 17, 2018
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) encourages all qualified students to apply for the 2019 Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop (ASLW). The workshop is an annual invitational program for minority college accounting students who plan to pursue the CPA designation. The program, now in its 25th year, strengthens attendees’ professional skills and increases their understanding of the career possibilities earning the CPA credential affords. The application deadline is January 21, 2019.
This year’s program will be held at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center in Denver, Colorado from Wednesday, May 15 through Friday, May 17, 2019.
“The ASLW has a well-established history of helping minority students understand the various career paths available in the accounting profession,” said Kim Drumgo, director of diversity and inclusion for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and vice chair of the AICPA National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. “Participants will learn what it takes to pass the CPA exam and the steps necessary to make it happen. The workshop is also an opportunity for students to interact with accomplished CPAs and get honest answers to their most pressing career questions. And each year students leave the program inspired to start their journey to an accounting career, while the speakers and volunteers who attend are motivated to continue working towards their goals.”
The ASLW is an all-expenses paid event, with the AICPA Foundation covering the cost of attendees’ transportation to/from the workshop location, hotel accommodations, training experience and meals.
During the three-day program, students get a sense of what life as a CPA is all about and learn how their own unique backgrounds and experience can add value to the profession. As part of this process, participants complete a behavioral assessment and learn how to build productive teams, develop effective leadership skills and discover an understanding of change and conflict management.
The ASLW’s sessions help participants become aware of unconscious bias, teach them about business etiquette, heighten their interviewing and presentation skills, improve their professional networking skills whether face-to-face or communicating via social media, encourage students to make smart money decisions and help them prepare to take and pass the CPA exam.
Each student must submit the application, a video essay, two letters of recommendation (at least one must be either a faculty member or a licensed CPA), an unofficial transcript and a motivational quote.
To be considered for the ASLW, an applicant must be a sophomore, junior, senior, 5th year or graduate student for the 2018-19 academic year who has declared an accounting, finance or tax major and intends to pursue the CPA credential. Applicants must also be Student Affiliate AICPA members who have maintained at least a 3.0 GPA and are actively involved in campus and community activities. The ASLW is open to ethnic minorities (i.e., Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native American; or Asian, etc.) who are U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents (green card holders).
The Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop is one of a number of AICPA initiatives designed to promote increased diversity and a more inclusive environment in the accounting profession. And the AICPA has joined the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. More information about these efforts – as well as diversity and inclusion tools and resources for firms and CPAs – is available online.