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The organizer of the information session, Peggy Ruggieri, felt that making this presentation was important because of the vast number of undeclared students, i.e., those students who have not yet chosen a major, at Providence College who might be interested in and well-suited to accounting but are not well-informed about the profession or the accounting program.

Takin' Care of Business, a short video produced by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), was shown to the students at the beginning of the program.  The video documented the wide variety of career choices of available to accounting majors and CPAs.  

Most students are probably unaware that CPAs could work as a FBI agent, a controller for a professional football team (the New York Jets), a production accountant for a major film studio (New Line Cinema), or an Internet entrepreneur.

Following the video, several current accounting majors addressed several topics of interests to the undeclared students.  

Jessica Quinn '02 explained why she chose to major in accounting rather than finance.  The advice that Jessica received from a former faculty member was that an accounting major can work in accounting AND finance whereas a finance major (without a minor in accounting) can typically only work in finance.  This flexibility of career options was enough for Jessica to choose accounting as her major.

And apparently, that choice will serve her well.

After a successful summer internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Jessica accepted a job with PwC and will work in the Stamford, Connecticut office after graduation this May.  Already anticipating her advancement in the firm, PwC is even going to fund her graduate studies at Fairfield University.  Within a years time, Jessica will have a master's degree and be ready to sit for (and pass) the CPA exam.

Christine Isidoro '02, on the other hand, won't be waiting a year to take the CPA exam.  Being a resident of Massachusetts, she will be allowed to by-pass the 150 hour requirement and take (and pass) the exam this May!  Her class is the last graduating class that can take the exam without 150 credit hours, and by taking (and passing) the exam this May, she will be grandfathered in the state of Massachusetts.

Unlike Jessica, Christine declared accounting as her major upon her arrival at Providence College.  During her four years as an accounting major, Christine worked as a tutor for the department of accountancy and for the Office of Academic Services.  As a tutor, she's probably best known for teaching the department's Microsoft Excel workshops for Acc 101 and 103 students.

Before her summer internship at Hasbro, Christine didn't think that she wanted to work in a Big Five public accounting firm.  But after preparing Hasbro tax returns for every state in the country, she decided to give the Big Five a try.  After going through the often stressful on-campus interviewing process, Christine accepted an offer from KPMG, a Big Five firm, before the holidays.

Originally a math major, Nicole Mancini '02 became an accounting major in her sophomore year.  Because of her responsibilities as a captain of the PC swim team, President of the Accounting Association and student representative for the Becker CPA Review course, she has become, out of necessity, an expert at time management.

As President of the Accounting Association, Nicole organized programs with public accounting firms. Organizing programs such as the PricewaterhouseCoopers program on interviewing with an assurance partner (and PC Alum) from the Hartford, Connecticut office allowed Nicole to make valuable contacts with recruiters.  And that certainly helped her during the fall interviewing process.  Like Chrisine, Nicole accepted a job offer from a Big Five firm before the holidays.

But Nicole's work isn't finished. With a month to go before graduation, Nicole and the other Accounting Association officers are still working on programs for our department and accounting students, including the department's annual Senior Dinner.

After the "official" presentation was over, the undeclared students had an opportunity to speak with the majors and faculty members on a one-on-one basis about the opportunities available to an accounting major or minor.

"If I declare accounting as a major right now," asked one undeclared student from the class of '05, "will I be able to take part in pre-registration?"

To which Ann Kelley, acting department chairperson, could only respond, "I don't see why not!"