2000 TAX EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM.

The AICPA Tax Division is sponsoring the AICPA 2000 Tax Education Symposium, as part of the Division's continuing efforts to enhance the education of accountants entering the profession and to develop and maintain relationships between academicians and practicing tax professionals. The Symposium continues the 1998 Symposium's examination of the effects of technology on tax curricula and practice. In addition, the Symposium addresses e-commerce as well. Speakers are from major and local academic institutions, large- and intermediate-sized CPA firms and the AICPA. There will be demonstrations of tools for today's classroom, tools that enhance tax research and tools specifically for tax practice.

The Symposium targets the tax academic community, as well as practicing AICPA members with an interest in education and those who want to stay abreast of some of the best current uses of technology in tax practice. The program emphasizes small group breakout sessions, in which all participants can interact. It includes plenary sessions on topics of interest to the majority of registrants.

The Symposium opens with a series of plenary sessions. AICPA Chairman Robert K. Elliott will discuss the impact of the AICPA Vision on tax education, focusing on the rapid changes occurring in today's economy and the changes necessary in academia. Gerald Melican, Director of Technical and Psychometric Development for the AICPA, will discuss the current state of the CPA exam and its future. He will focus on the effects of computerizing the CPA exam and the connection between the Vision and the exam's structure. Finally, Cherie O'Neil (Colorado State University) will compare and contrast a range of class-management software packages, considering their usefulness in traditional classroom learning as well as in Web-based learning.

Following lunch are breakout sessions. Each session will be offered twice, giving participants flexibility. The sessions cover several topics, including the present state of managing traditional and electronic classrooms, the current and future state of tax practice, and the use of technology in academic and professional research. The sessions allow small groups of participants to interact with presenters knowledgeable in various areas.

The eight breakout sessions (each offered twice in the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning breakout periods) include:

* The use of commonly available software packages, presented by Ronald Tidd (Michigan Technological University), emphasizes how to enhance learning without having to purchase special software packages.

* The use of specialized software for managing and enhancing the classroom experience, a demonstration by Cherie O'Neil.

* The daily life of staff in today's large tax practices, presented by Theresa Cook and Ian Ross (Ernst & Young LLP), gives academicians an opportunity to learn what training will best serve their students' future careers.

* The challenges and rewards of offering courses through remote education, presented by Sharon Lightner (San Diego State University), discusses administrative issues, software selection and the use of both synchronous and asynchronous communication in remote education, and compares remote teaching and learning experiences with a traditional face-to-face experience.

* The use of technology in a modern tax practice, presented by Robert Abel and Eric Fletcher (BDO Seidman, LLP), includes a discussion of tax compliance software, research resources and practice management software.

* An in-depth comparison of the web-based CCH and RIA tax research services is presented by Barbara Karlin (Golden Gate University), author of a best-selling text on electronic tax research. Ms. Karlin also considers other, similar research resources.

* Structured on-the-job learning in the workplace, presented by Sara Lipe (Arthur Andersen LLP), considers the importance of instruction delivery techniques and module development.

* Tax knowledge management in the new millennium, presented by Harvey Fireman (Ernst &Young LLP), discusses why knowledge management is essential to a successful tax practice and how it fits with modern tax practice.

After the breakout sessions, there is a final plenary session on e-business and its implications for e-learning. Emil Gulick and Dennis Sheriff (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) will discuss e-commerce and, in particular, its effect on education.

The Symposium will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA, on June 9-10, 2000. The Symposium rate at the hotel for a limited block of rooms is projected to be $104 per night. The registration fee ranges from $195 for early birds to $245 for the latest registrants. The Symposium provides about 11 hours of CPE credit. In addition, for an additional $75, there will be a pre-Symposium workshop, Question Writing for the Uniform CPA Examination, for those interested in writing questions for the examination, from 2-6 p.m. on June 8.

For further information or to register, please call 1-888-777-7077 and mention brochure code G50001.

Editor's note: Dr. Weber and Ms. Kopplin are co-chairs of the Tax Education Symposium Task Force. For more information about this column, contact Dr. Weber at [phone] or [e-mail].

Richard P. Weber, CPA, Ph.D. Professor Michigan State University East Lansing, MI

Suzanne Kopplin, CPA Partner Ernst & Young LLP Vienna, VA