Master of Accounting Students Launch Financial Literacy Program
The new program is designed by students primarily to help fellow students across campus understand the concepts and practices of personal financial management so that they can be on better terms with all their financial accounts. One group of the MAC students is also planning to offer a workshop for a non-profit organization in the Raleigh area.
Over a dozen accounting professionals in the Triangle area, members of the Triangle chapter of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA) and the Young CPA Cabinet, are serving as mentors for students that are developing this project as part of a class in the NC State Jenkins MAC program.
“This is our first time partnering with a university on such an effort to promote financial literacy,” said Mark Soticheck, [in photo above] a CPA, audit manager with the regional accounting firm Dixon Hughes PLLC and a member of the NCACPA and the Young CPA Cabinet. “Without a doubt, this is our greatest outreach effort. It is something that everyone on the cabinet is passionate about,” he said.
The AICPA, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, recently launched the ‘Feed the Pig’ savings campaign and encourages its affiliated state associations to help with local financial literacy efforts.
“What the NC State Jenkins MAC students are doing has not been done anywhere else in the country that we know of,” Soticheck said. “I brought this up to the NCACPA Financial Literacy Council and they are extremely interested in seeing how this first round turns out. We will look at what we accomplish and hope that we can roll this out at different institutions across the state. In addition, the AICPA has been informed of this program and has expressed interest in the results so that it can explore similar opportunities on more of a national scale.”
Soticheck has a strong personal interest in helping others understand personal finances. “When I was eight years old, my parents experienced some difficult financial times, and it crushed them. I do not want to see that happen to other people. After seeing the effects that a financial strain or hardship can have on students and families, I came to believe that CPAs have a civic responsibility to help those who were not fortunate enough to be educated in financial matters.”
The Jenkins MAC project grew out of an idea suggested by an alumna of the program, Lisa Wheeler, who first had an internship at Dixon Hughes and now works there full time. “Her presentation on the topic sparked great interest from Kathy Krawczyk and others in the college’s accounting department,” Soticheck said. Krawczyk is a professor of accounting in the college’s Department of Accounting and director of the NC State Jenkins MAC Program.
“Lisa told me about the financial literacy project that she had completed for one of her classes in the MAC program, and soon thereafter, I received a call from Kathy,” Soticheck said. He discussed the idea with members of the NCACPA and they decided to work with current MAC students to get it started. More than a dozen professional accountants have been meeting with the MAC students since the start of the semester to help them develop content for the program, and the students are now ready to start offering sessions on campus at NC State.
Over 50 MAC students working in 11 teams will present their financially literacy program during the next few months. One of those students is Carey Stewart, member of the 2009 MAC class and president of the MAC Student Organization.
When asked about this new project, she said: “I have always wanted to give back to the community using my accounting degree. This financial literacy project is a great way for master’s students to get involved in the community and help people that do not have the chance to take all of the finance classes we take. This project will not only teach students or others in the community about financial literacy but it will teach accounting students how to teach and use their skills to help others. A lot of the students are excited to present to groups that will range from freshman to seniors to non-profits.
“Improving financial literacy in the U.S. is a major focus of the accounting profession,” Krawczyk said. “This project allows our student to find out more about the philanthropic efforts of accounting firms and enables them to give back to this university and city. Hopefully, the students will continue to stay involved with the NCACPA in financial literacy efforts after the class ends in December.
The NC State Jenkins MAC course which led to this new program is ACC 600, Managerial and Career Effectiveness, which helps students develop leadership, communications and other career building skills. One section of the course is designed for students who have not completed an accounting internship. The second section, for students who have completed an internship, includes special projects, such as developing and presenting this financial literacy program for fellow students.
The NC State Jenkins MAC program is a one-year program for those who have a bachelor’s degree and need to complete the 150 hours of professional education required to take the Certified Public Accountants examinations.
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