|
Students Give Back to Worcester Community Through VITA
Assumption students assist Worcester residents
with their taxes. From left, Glen Dolan, Plumley Village administrator,
Lindsey Cabral '06, Melissa Melillo '06, and a Worcester resident.
|
April,
2005—For the
past few months, 26 of Assumption's junior and senior accounting
majors have been taking the stress out of the tax season for residents
of Worcester's Plumley Village public housing complex.
Donating their time and skills to the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
(VITA) program, the Assumption students worked with residents to
prepare their tax returns quickly and easily, garnering maximum
refunds. These residents were eligible for the Earned Income Tax
Credit (EITC), a federal income tax credit for low-income workers
who are eligible for and claim the credit. The credit reduces the
amount of tax an individual owes, and may be returned in the form
of a refund. Assumption's volunteers were on hand to ensure that
these residents received their due monies.
In preparation for the spring tax season, the student volunteers
underwent extensive training beginning in the fall semester. They
completed eight hours of classes, plus another 10-20 hours in self-directed
study, before taking an IRS certification exam in January. Once
certified, they began their volunteer work in February, using IRS-provided
software at Plumley Village's computer center. Six to eight students
attended each session, for a total of 522 total logged hours. As
of April 8, the student group had processed close to 200 returns,
totaling several hundred thousands of dollars in refunds.
Jennifer Niece, assistant professor of Accounting, is directing
this program for the second year in a row. The success of the venture
has turned into a full interdisciplinary academic course, so that
students may receive credit for their work. In the fall of 2005,
Individual Income Tax Assistance will be listed in the undergraduate
academic catalog as a Community Service Learning elective.
"Plumley Village has been very happy with the partnership,
and they'd like to continue it in the future," she said. "They'
ve been very impressed with the reliability and professionalism
of our students."
Besides the satisfaction of helping others in the community, participating
students are also learning valuable skills in accounting software
to take into their future careers. Anthony Spano '05, who took part
in the VITA program last year, landed a full-time job with the accounting
firm of Carlin, Charron, and Rosen in January 2005. He reports that
the software skills he picked up as a VITA volunteer have truly
helped him in his new position.
"[Assumption is] definitely on the right track with the concept
of VITA and added teaching of software applications," he said.
"The greatest learning curve I have found [in my job] so far
is familiarizing myself with all the software. Paperless accounting
methods are definitely the future of accounting."
Another student, Joe Dunn '06, was accepted as
a summer intern with the firm of Alexander, Aronson, and Finning
in Westboro, partly because of his tax experience and familiarity
with software.
Niece believes that her students are learning valuable
lessons through participation in VITA.
"To me, this is the true meaning of service learning,"
she said of the program. "They are providing a wonderful service
to the people of Worcester, but at the same time, they're learning
valuable skills. This is a true community partnership."
Click here
for more photos.
|
