By Patricia P. Galley, CPA

The Buffalo Chapter’s Cooperation with Educational Institutions Committee held their annual Education Night awards dinner April 29 at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens. With over 150 attendees comprised of students and their families, educators and professionals, the dinner was a huge success.

A two-hour CPE session on New York State Empire Zones and Federal Renewal Communities preceded the dinner program. Over 45 professionals attended the session, given by Patricia P. Galley and Peter X. Bellanti, both CPAs from Dopkins & Company, LLP. A cocktail hour followed the CPE, providing an excellent opportunity for the students to network with professionals from their chosen career field.

The evening continued with the election of the Buffalo Chapter officers (see above list).

The chair of the One-On-One Committee, Professor Alex Ampadu from the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY at Buffalo), then spoke about his committee’s activities during the year. The One-On-One Committee has visited over 20 high schools this year, speaking to the students about the variety of careers available to CPAs. Professor Ampadu has recruited several students from the school’s accounting association to organize and update the committee’s high school database, contact schools and make arrangements for the presentations, and give joint presentations with an accounting professional at interested high schools.

Awards from the New York State Society of CPAs were then presented to the top graduate and senior students majoring in accounting. Each student received a certificate and a one-year membership in the NYSSCPA. The Buffalo Chapter also gave each award-winner an engraved business-card holder.

The Buffalo Chapter then presented the John T. Kennedy award to the top junior students majoring in accounting. Each award-winner received a certificate and an engraved pen and pencil set from the Buffalo Chapter. Finally, the chapter acknowledged four local area winners of the Excellence in Accounting scholarship.

The dinner speaker, Ronald Huefner, a CPA from SUNY at Buffalo, spoke about the many changes that have occurred in the accounting profession over the past few years. He also spoke about the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the need for all CPAs to continue to maintain the highest possible level of integrity.

The Cooperation with Educational Institutions provides invaluable links between high school and college students, local high schools and universities and CPAs. Committee members consist of a mixture of CPAs and educators from local colleges and universities. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact Patricia P. Galley at 716-634-8800 or pgalley@dopkins.com.