January 2000

COAP Receives $10,000 Community Trust Grant

Additional Funding Needed to Expand Program

By Sanjay Paranandi

The Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) program recently received a $10,000 two-year grant from the New York Community Trust.
Sponsored by the NYSSCPA, FAE, academia, and the profession, COAP introduces minority high school juniors to the benefits of an accounting career and helps provide for a more diverse profession. COAP centers on college summer residency programs where students attend classes in accounting, business, and interpersonal skills taught by CPA role models and visit accounting firms and other businesses. Follow-up programs and mentoring provide guidance that helps alumni pursue careers in the accounting profession.

Since its inception in 1987, more than 800 students have participated in COAP. Many alumni have gone on to successful accounting careers and cite COAP as a prime motivator. Last year, 57 juniors from many different New York City high schools participated in the 13th summer residency at Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y.

The New York Community Trust will pay the grant in two installments of $5,000. The grant will help COAP continue to achieve its goal of reaching more minority students to further expose them to the opportunities in the accounting profession, and to continue to diversify the profession.

"We will use the grant to continue to expose minority high school students in New York City to opportunities in the accounting profession," New York City's COAP Chair Patricia Adams said. "It also is very important that we provide them with a support network as they move on to college."

COAP also sponsors a residency at Hofstra University on Long Island. The profession needs members' help to maintain the program and expand it to other sites. In addition to NYSSCPA funding, COAP is supported by donations from individuals, accounting firms, and corporations. The Society urges members and their firms or companies to contribute to help maintain the program and expand it to other sites. COAP's promotional materials include a list of the program's donors.

To contribute, send tax-deductible donations made payable to the Foundation for Accounting Education to COAP, NYSSCPA/FAE, 530 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor, New York, NY 10036-5101. For more information, contact Ed Parker at (212) 719-8382, (800) 633-6320, or eparker@nysscpa.org. *