Lifelong leadership: Education Foundation celebrates 40 years of providing CPE.As the California CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. Education Foundation celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, it remains true to its founding mission: Providing quality CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) Communications equipment that resides on the customer's premises. CPE - Customer Premises Equipment and keeping up with the changing needs of financial professionals. The California CPA Foundation for Education and Research was created in 1966 following approval from CalCPA's board of directors to form a separate nonprofit corporation nonprofit corporation n. an organization incorporated under state laws and approved by both the state's Secretary of State and its taxing authority as operating for educational, charitable, social, religious, civic or humanitarian purposes. as a subsidiary of CalCPA. The driving forces were to protect education revenue from being taxed and to ensure that these monies be used only for educational purposes. During the early years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Foundation offered 125 classes each year, serving about 9,000 attendees. Growth skyrocketed in 1972 when legislation was passed that required licensees to complete 80 hours of acceptable continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). during each two-year period prior to license renewal. To meet the demand created by this mandate, Foundation offerings grew to more than 350 events in 1974. Today, the Foundation serves 50,000 attendees at more than 700 events each year. In the late-1980s and early 1990s, the Foundation found that it was not immune to the recession that racked the U.S. economy. The absence of any new major tax legislation, combined with a stagnant stagnant /stag·nant/ (stag´nant) 1. motionless; not flowing or moving. 2. inactive; not developing or progressing. economy, increased competition and CPA firm efforts to provide staff with in-house CPE, resulted in reduced attendance and the need to refocus Verb 1. refocus - focus once again; The physicist refocused the light beam" focus - cause to converge on or toward a central point; "Focus the light on this image" 2. the organization. RESTRUCTURING: PROVIDING DISCOUNT PROGRAMS Changes were made in 1993 to allow the Foundation to operate independently. The organization, a 501(c)(3), legally separated from CalCPA and with operations to be funded solely by CPE fees. No longer would CalCPA member dues be used to help fund the Foundation. With the new business structure also came a new name: the California CPA Education Foundation. In 1994, to revitalize re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. the business and provide more attractive pricing to attendees, the Foundation created the Value-Priced (VP) program, which offered unlimited CPE for one membership fee, reducing the per-class fee. "It was an innovative idea and has inspired several other state CPA societies to create similar programs," says Beverly Brautigam, president of the Education Foundation Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. . In 1995, the Foundation introduced a second discount plan, this one designed for firms--coupon books. Under this program, firms could distribute coupons to staff or clients and reduce the per-class fee to less than $200. Both programs continue to attract CPAs who want quality CPE at a good price. Today, more than 6,000 practitioners participate in the VP or coupon book programs annually. KEEPING PACE WITH CHANGE Throughout its 40-year history, the Foundation has worked closely with the California Board of Accountancy to track changing CPE requirements. In 1998, specific credit requirements in accounting and auditing, government, and ethics were announced, while a fraud requirement was added in 2005. The Foundation offers qualifying A&A, ethics and fraud courses throughout the state, as well as self-study and online courses. In addition to developing programs that qualify for specific credits, the Foundation has programs covering professional issues that affect CPAs, as well as courses that help them build their practices and keep up with new regulations. Some courses, such as tax law updates, have been a curricular mainstay, while other topics have ebbed and flowed in popularity over the years. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, for example, personal financial planning Financial planning Evaluating the investing and financing options available to a firm. Planning includes attempting to make optimal decisions, projecting the consequences of these decisions for the firm in the form of a financial plan, and then comparing future performance against and estate planning Estate Planning The overall planning of a person's wealth, including the preparation of a will and the planning of taxes after the individual's death. Notes: Contrary to popular belief, estate planning involves much more than preparing a will, and it is not only for the were hot topics, so the Foundation created certificate programs in both subject areas. Today, many courses focus on the various aspects related to the increased regulation imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act See SOX. . WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. .EDUCATIONFOUNDATION.ORG The Foundation has kept pace with technology over the years, developing computer-based services for attendees that started with the organization's first website, which allowed users to browse the CPE catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. . In 2001, the Foundation unveiled a redesigned website that improved the online catalog Similar to an online library or databases in the information storage respect, ‘’’online catalogs’’’ allow potential customers to browse a company’s items for sale from a different location using the internet. and offered real-time online registration. And in 2002, a CPE Tracker debuted on the website, making it easy for CPAs to keep track of their CPE history, view their CPE transcripts and print out a report for the CBA See Capital Builder Account. . Today, the Foundation's website, www.educationfoundation.org, processes more than 65 percent of all CPE registrations and offers various services. CPAs can view their upcoming CPE schedules in list or calendar format; print confirmation notices; and link to facility directions before class. They also can cancel a registration; submit an address change; and track their coupon usage, as well as order a self-study or online course; take their final exam Noun 1. final exam - an examination administered at the end of an academic term final examination, final exam, examination, test - a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge; "when the test was stolen the professor had to make a new set of ; see their grade instantly; and print out a certificate of completion. A VARIETY OF DELIVERY FORMATS Although the standard eight-hour live course or conference always has been its core offering, the Foundation has provided alternatives to CPAs who wanted to earn their CPE credit in different ways. Over the years, attendees could choose from Saturday classes, half-day classes, certificate programs, CE weeks in resort locations, self-study courses or on-site training. In 1999, the Foundation introduced its first online course (ethics). Today, there are 20 online offerings and more than 3,000 are completed each year. Because of the growing interest in computer-based learning, the Foundation recently launched the Online Learning Pass, an annual subscription program which allows users to access the entire line of online courses (totaling hundreds of CPE hours) for only $350. The most recent CPE delivery format is the webcast, which allows CPAs to earn CPE without having to leave their offices. This web-based group study combines audio and video of a live instructor with a PowerPoint slide presentation, downloadable materials and interactive exercises. GIVING BACK TO THE PROFESSION Throughout the years, the Foundation has been fortunate to be able to give back to the CPA profession in the form of free CPE to full-time accounting educators, one free CPE course to new CalCPA members and one free course to each of CalCPA's 14 chapters to enhance their scholarship fund-raising efforts Noun 1. fund-raising effort - a campaign to raise money for some cause fund-raising campaign, fund-raising drive crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported . The Foundation also has funded the CalCPA members' participation in the Management of the Accounting Practice Survey, contributed to CalCPA Institute's financial literacy Financial literacy is the ability of individuals to make appropriate decisions in managing their personal finances. Raising levels of financial literacy is now a focus of government programmes in countries including[1] Australia, Japan, the United States and the UK. initiative and hosted a leadership institute to identify and train new leaders for the profession. Most recently, the Foundation began funding an accounting doctoral scholarship program to address the projected shortage of accounting educators. THE FOUNDATION TODAY The Foundation continues to offer a wide array of topics and a pool of top-notch instructors made up of CPAs, consultants, professors, attorneys, business owners and professional presenters. After 40 years in business, the Foundation's mission remains to provide quality continuing professional education by keeping up with the changing needs of the financial professional. RELATED ARTICLE: education foundation timeline 1966 Incorporated as the California CPA Foundation for Education and Research 1972 Legislation passed making CE mandatory for all licensees 1973 Introduced CE Week (consecutive days of education offered in a resort locale (programming) locale - A geopolitical place or area, especially in the context of configuring an operating system or application program with its character sets, date and time formats, currency formats etc. Locales are significant for internationalisation and localisation. ) 1987 Name changed to California Society of CPAs, Education Division 1994 Name changed to California CPA Education Foundation 1994 Introduced the Value-Priced (VP) Program, initially named "ACE" 1995 Introduced coupon books for firms 1998 CBA issued new CE requirements: A&A, Government, & Ethics 1999 Developed 24 hours of self-study programs to qualify for A&A credit 1999 Released first online course (ethics) 2002 Created CPE tracking tool on website 2004 Converted all self-study courses to "interactive" to comply with new requirements 2005 Opened one customer service center to handle Education Foundation & CalCPA issues 2005 CBA issued new CE credit requirement: Fraud 2006 Began offering webcasts 2006 Introduced Online Learning Pass John V. Dunleavy is executive director of the California CPA Education Foundation. You can reach him at jdunleavy@educationfoundation.org. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion