April 2000

COAP Helps Aspiring CPA Reach Career Goals

By Sanjay Paranandi

In 1990, Gillann Napoleon was one of many students to sign up for Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP), a program that exposes minority high school juniors to careers in the business world. Now a successful auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP, she points to COAP as the impetus that solidified her career choice.

Business fascinated Napoleon from the time she entered Evander Child High School in the Bronx. She enjoyed working with numbers and knew from the start that accounting was the career she wanted to pursue. During her junior year, Napoleon's accounting teacher informed her about COAP; and she became one of several students from her school accepted into the program.

Sponsored by the NYSSCPA, FAE, academia, and the profession, COAP is now in its 13th year, with sessions at Pace University in Westchester and Hofstra University on Long Island. During the five-day summer residency, students participate in an intensive curriculum and learn about financial statement analysis, computers, goal setting, resume writing, and verbal presentation skills, among other business and personal development topics. CPAs and other business professionals, who serve as important role models to the students, teach all of the classes. An advisory board of accounting and business professionals oversees the program.

"Attending the COAP program further convinced me that I was destined to become a certified public accountant," Napoleon said. "I visited one of the then Big Six firms, and I distinctly remember saying to myself that in a few years I would be sitting in one of those seats."

She said that COAP taught her valuable networking skills and that she formed relationships with peers and professionals that have assisted in her career development.

"COAP gave me the tools that are essential to become an efficient and productive team player in a very competitive market," she said.

After completing COAP and graduating from high school, Napoleon received her bachelor's in accounting from Baruch College in 1996. Now in her fourth year with Arthur Andersen, she is an auditor with some supervisory responsibilities. She works with a variety of public and private companies, and her job includes financial statement analysis, financial reporting, and regulation compliance.

Napoleon has maintained involvement with COAP by serving as a residency counselor and a role model for aspiring young students for the last four summers.

"I think it is my responsibility to make others aware of the advantages that the COAP program has to offer," she said. "As I return to COAP every year, I hope to counsel, influence, and motivate prospective accountants and hope that my efforts will result in some future CPAs."

COAP is now finalizing plans for its 2000 residencies. For metropolitan New York area students, this year's program will take place June 25­29 at Pace University's Pleasantville campus. On June 24­28, Hofstra University will host its program for Long Island students. COAP selects participants based on GPA, extracurricular activities, and an interview with the program's advisory board members. There is no cost to the students to attend.

In addition to NYSSCPA funding, donations from individuals, accounting firms, and corporations support the program. To contribute, send tax-deductible donations to COAP, c/o NYSSCPA/FAE, 530 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036-5101. *