Catherine Collins and Daniel Gibbons
Tax season just ended so most people are probably not thinking about accountants or accounting right now. However, the Waubonsee Community College Accounting Program gives people a reason to think about accounting throughout the entire year. Because of this, it is recognized as a Waubonsee Student Success: Featured Faculty and Program.
Catherine Collins, Professor of Accounting, and Daniel J. Gibbons, Associate Professor of Accounting, were instrumental in starting the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) at the Aurora Downtown Campus. The program provides free tax preparation assistance to individuals and families with lower incomes. In 2005, the year the program began, 97 tax returns were completed with the assistance of VITA volunteers. Since then, 8,800 clients have been served and over 15,000 returns have been completed through the program.
In 2006, the Center for Economic Progress (CEP), an Illinois based nonprofit organization, partnered with the program to expand the hours and services offered to clients.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is currently in its 14th season. The continued partnership with CEP is an example of the accounting department’s commitment to collaborate and make a difference in the communities we serve. To date this year, the volunteers of the VITA program assisted more than 680 people with their tax returns resulting in more than $1.4 million in federal refunds; approximately $2,000 per return.
Students of the accounting program can also compete for a scholarship created specifically for community college students. Each year the faculty members of the Waubonsee Accounting Department nominate three high-achieving accounting students for consideration by the Northern Illinois University Accountancy Department for a $1,000 scholarship.
The Accounting Department also offers a CPA Preparation Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Achievement that gives students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree or higher the opportunity to complete the coursework necessary to meet the minimum accounting requirements to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination.
In addition to the Certificate of Achievement for the CPA examination, Waubonsee also offers a CMA Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Achievement that provides the requirements to sit for the Certified Management Accountant examination and a Certificate of Achievement in Payroll and Tax Accounting. Students without a bachelor degree can earn an Associate in Applied Science in Accounting or a Certificate of Achievement in Accounting at Waubonsee. Classes are available in the spring, summer and fall terms at the Sugar Grove and Aurora Downtown Campuses, as well as online.
All of the program’s instructors are Certified Public Accountants with years of professional experience and they teach the latest accounting techniques, software platforms and applications.
