AGA Des Moines Chapter Plan 2007-2008

 

2007-2008 Meeting Plan:  The Des Moines AGA Chapter will meet on the 1st Tuesday of each month from September 2007 through May 2008 for a luncheon, including a business meeting and program speaker.  Members will earn 1 CPE for attendance at each meeting.  The meetings will be held at Mercy Capital from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM through January, then at a location yet to be determined from February through May. 

A special evening program may be substituted for one of the February through May meetings, when spouses and guests will be invited to join us at a local restaurant.  Location and exact month are yet to be determined.

The Des Moines Chapter CEC will meet on the third Tuesday of each month from July 2007 through April 2008.  The meeting will be at the Lucas State Office Building from 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM.

Education and Professional Development Plan:

·        Monthly Luncheons:  A program speaker will be scheduled for each monthly luncheon meeting, presenting a topic of interest to members.  One CPE hour will be awarded.

·        Two Seminars:  The chapter intends to offer two separate 4 to 8 hour seminars during the 2007-2008 year featuring topics of particular interest to accountants in Federal, State and Local governments.

·        Audio Conferences:  The chapter will sponsor 8 audio conferences being offered by the National AGA.  The conferences will be purchased by the chapter at a discount as available.

·        Other Educational Opportunities:  The chapter also will inform members and non-members of continuing education opportunities available through National AGA, other AGA chapters, and other professional organizations.

CGFM Plan:   The chapter plans to encourage members to become a CGFM by providing a $500 scholarship for any long time member who successfully completes the CGFM exams and meets the following criteria: 1) has been a member in good standing for 5 years; 2) has served on the CEC for 2 of the 5 years; and 3) has attended at least half of the monthly meetings.   An additional $500 will be prorated annually among members who successfully complete the CGFM exams but do not meet the above criteria.  The Des Moines Chapter has all 3 study guides available for member’s use in preparing for the exams.  The Chapter will also inform members of the benefits of CGFM and promote Chapter scholarships in newsletters throughout the year.

The Des Moines Chapter plans to recognize March 2008 as CGFM month in the State of Iowa.  The Governor’s proclamation was obtained in the prior year for 2007 and future years.

The Chapter CEC will consider forming a committee to discuss ways to encourage State and Local officials to recognize and/or place a higher value on the CGFM certification.  Representatives from the committee would then meet with appropriate officials in State and Local government to encourage such possible practices as paying annual dues, paying for required CPE, paid time off to attend AGA meetings or classes, recognition of the CGFM and/or CPA certification with higher pay, or considering the CGFM certification as a substitution for “experience” relating to minimum position qualifications.

Community Service Plan:  The chapter has plans to volunteer their time and donate funds/goods for the following events:

  • Jolly Holiday Lights – This is a fund-raising activity for the Make A Wish Foundation.  The event opens in late November and runs through January 1st.  Our chapter has traditionally volunteered one night in Santa’s Village, where we sell merchandise, take pictures of Santa with visitors and direct traffic.
  • Food Bank – A change jar will be provided at each meeting for attendees to donate any loose change or money that they desire.  Traditionally, our chapter has matched any funds collected throughout the year, or has increased the donation to a specific dollar amount.  We send in our donation that we collect throughout the year at the end of our chapter year.
  • National PDC Charity Raffle – Our chapter will contribute an Iowa themed item at the national PDC to help in their charity raffle.
  • Other opportunities – The Des Moines Chapter will continue to look for other opportunities that come up throughout the year to donate time or money.

Membership Plan:

  • Check membership lists and contact suspended members to encourage them to renew.
  • Develop incentives to have current members bring in new members such as adding sponsors to a year end drawing.
  • Encourage membership by offering a reduced fee for seminars and audio conferences to members of AGA as compared to non-members.
  • Invite non-members who attend our seminars and audio conferences to our monthly meetings and to join AGA.
  • Encourage membership by emphasizing the CPE offered at the luncheon meetings and the ability to network with other governmental auditing/accounting/finance individuals.
  • Recognize new members at each meeting and in the Chapter newsletters.  Provide a certificate for a free meal at their first meeting as a member.
  • Recognize long time members (> 25 yrs) at Chapter meetings with a certificate of recognition.
  • Request that AGA educational events be included on agenda and mentioned during the States Quarterly Financial Mangers meeting.

Early Career Plan:  The Chapter plans to offer an academic scholarship at the undergraduate level to an individual accounting student.  A committee has been established to evaluate the application process for the coming year.  The chapter will invite the scholarship recipient to one of our monthly meetings and provide a free lunch.  The recipient will also be offered a free membership in AGA for one year.

The chapter will encourage members to speak to students in accounting classes/clubs at colleges in Iowa, telling them about working in the governmental accounting field, CGFM, and AGA. The chapter will also provide the new National AGA brochures about governmental accounting to the colleges/students during individual department recruiting efforts.

The chapter will encourage colleges to offer governmental accounting classes, including evening classes for the continuing education of current government employees.  Chapter members and colleges will be informed of National AGA scholarship opportunities.

Early Career Plan (continued) - The Chapter will also be considering the following:

  • Encouraging the participation by Iowa colleges/universities in the 2007-08 Government Finance Case Challenge.
  • Inviting junior/senior accounting majors, and their professors, to our audio conferences at a student rate.  Invite the same to our monthly luncheon meetings.
  • Encouraging May graduates to attend the May ethics conference.  Work with one of the area colleges to host the conference.
  • Look at other target markets that we are missing right now.