Thanks to you, we are off to a great start!  Last month’s meeting surpassed our expectations with over 70 members and guests in attendance.  Everyone enjoyed a wonderful meal at Vincent’s City Club and a superb presenter, Fred Siegel.  Dedicated chapter leaders who I am proud to work with made all this possible.  A special thanks goes to Vincent Parenti, Jim Julian, Gary Millet, and Barbara Smith.

Mr. Fred Siegel’s presentation was excellent in providing investment statistics and advice while we were each earning an hour of continuing professional education credit.  For those of us that are federal employees, Fred provided us his evaluation of the federal government’s retirement plan, the Thrift Saving Plan.  In addition for each attendee, Fred issued a complimentary disk for investment analysis of retirement planning.  We were surprised that he selected our group for his inaugural issue of his investment analyzer.  He will include this disk with his soon-to-be published book on 401K plans.

At the last meeting, we were also honored to hear from AGA’s National President-Elect, Jullin Renthrope, inspiring words about the National Board of Directors goals for the year.

By popular demand from last year’s program, this month’s speaker is Don Carroum of the Social Security Administration’s New Orleans Office.  Don was one of the best speakers our chapter has had and his topic certainly affects each and every one of us.  Plan to attend to hear his message and walk away with informative material impacting your social security. 

I encourage each member to participate in the project “Rebuilding Together with Christmas in October and the AGA”.  This worthy cause is a volunteer effort to improve the quality of life of elderly or disabled low-income homeowners through home repair.  See the Community Service

Section of the newsletter for details on date, time and place.

I look forward to seeing you at our next chapter meeting on Thursday, October 17, 2002 at Don’s Seafood Hut.  Bring a friend or member we have not seen lately.

Until then,

Pam

Pam Lincoln, President, called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.  Carolyn Sibley, gave the invocation and led everyone with the pledge of allegiance.  Pam introduced the head table and welcomed the members of the Association of Black Accountants.

Linda Lewis gave a membership update and recognized the new members.  Linda asked that all members attend as many meetings as possible and to advise her of any address changes.

Lila Thompson announced the AGA newsletter will be sent electronically to those members with Email addresses and mailed to those without.

Chris Cutitto gave his report on Education.  He announced that there would be classes scheduled in November and February.  He also asked for topic ideas and welcomes all suggestions.

Betty Salisbury provided a report on Public Service.  The Chapter members will be assisting with Christmas in October on October 5^th & 12^th.  On October 18^th, members can assist with the WYES art auction.  Betty announced that she is looking into our AGA chapter possibly working with the Junior Achievement Program and that she would be sending out a survey to members to help identify other types of events that may be of interest.

The meeting broke for dinner.

Jim Julian introduced the evening’s guest speaker, Mr. Fred Siegel.  Mr. Siegel discussed investing

in today’s stock market, using visual graphs with market trends over various time periods.  He spoke about financial advisors and how they can affect your financial health.  He reminded everyone to think about dividends when they think about stocks and the market.  In the short term, prices of stock are random and unpredictable, but over the long-term, prices normally keep up with their earnings.

Mr. Siegel offered a free disk created by his company, which asks a few questions, and based on your response would give you an idea of how to invest conservatively.

A copy of Mr. Siegel’s book, “Investing for Cowards” was given away by a drawing.  Adele Charles, guest, was the winner.  Freddie Moses was the winner of a gift basket for bringing a guest and Yolie Genovese was the winner of the 50/50 raffle.

Before the meeting was adjourned Julian Renthrope, National President Elect, spoke on various national items that related to the local chapter.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p. m.

We wish Dawn, our Secretary, a speedy recovery with her broken arm and hope she is back with us very soon!

We have two Community Service Projects for the month of October. 

Rebuilding Together/Christmas In October:  The dates are October 5^th and the 12^th.  The times each day are 8:00 a.m. – 12 noon or 12 noon – 4:00 p.m.  We will be repairing, scraping, and painting the house of Mrs. Lizzie Halley at 1407 France Street.  We will be working with “The Insurance Women of Greater New Orleans” group with whom we worked last year.  We still need volunteers for both days. 

COMMUNITY SERVICE COLLECTIONS

Please bring canned goods and non-perishable food items to the October AGA Meeting.  These items will be used in our Thanksgiving baskets and to help the St. Philip Center.

We are also collecting (1) Old cell phones to be reprogrammed and then be distributed to battered women to be used in emergency situations; (2) Books and magazines for LaFon’s Senior Citizen Center; and, (3) New or used maternity and baby clothing along with baby toys for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. 

Please join us in a choice of opportunities by volunteering your time to help us with at least one of these worthy causes. Contact Betty Salisbury at 255-2344 or Gerry Knepp at 255-4602 for additional information and/or to schedule your participation.

Our Chapter of AGA wishes to extend a warm welcome to the following new members:

Deidre Phillips
Joyce Yoe
Freddie Moses
Janet Bartholomew
Charlot Dejan
Professor Tyrone James

The New Orleans Chapter of AGA offers all of its new members of the 2002-2003 fiscal year  a complimentary $20.00 dinner certificate.  We extend a warm invitation for you to join us at our next meeting.

In September, all members should have received a recruitment outreach letter from the National Office.  The intent is to encourage you to recruit one new member into AGA.  As always, prizes will be offered to Top Sponsors and Top Recruiters.

The following list includes sponsors from May 2002 through August 2002:

To all of our sponsors, we appreciate your efforts with the growth of the New Orleans Chapter of AGA. Continue to keep up the good work !!

AGA Logo Information

Are you looking for AGA merchandise?  If so, log on to https://www.agacgfm.or/marketplace/index.htm for ordering polo shirts, coffee mugs, executive notebooks and lots of other items. 

Renew your AGA Membership Online

AGA members can renew membership online via the Members Only section of the AGA website.  To renew online, just access the Members Only site, login, then press the “Renew Your Dues/CGFM Online” button.  Your information is updated immediately into the AGA database.

ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTANTS

NEW ORLEANS CHAPTER

2002-2003

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

THE CERTIFIED GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL MANAGER (CGFM) CORNER….

Tracking Continuing Professional Education (CPEs) and Supporting Documentation for a CPE Audit

To retain the CGFM designation, a certificate holder must:

 (1)  pay the CGFM renewal fee at the beginning of every         year,

(2)   adhere to the AGA Code of Ethics,

(3)  every two years complete at least 80 hours of CPE in       government financial management topics or related       technical subjects,

(4)  maintain and, if requested by AGA, provide       detailed information on CPE hours completed.

More information on CGFM CPE requirements can be found on AGA’s website - http://www.agacgfm.org/cgfm/cgfm_detail.htm. 

Maintaining records of your CPEs may initially appear to be a challenge but by using a systematic approach and keeping adequate records we can simplify the process.  Simultaneously, we can track our CPEs, ensure we meet our CPE requirements and also be prepared to provide support of our training efforts in the event of an audit.  Proper documentation and attention to the timeframe when we obtain our CPE training is important. 

Like all professional continuing education requirements, we must obtain a minimum number of CPE hours per year.  This is a means to maintain and enhance our professional proficiency and keep the CGFM professional aware that professional development is a continuous process.

For the CGFM Program, you are required to obtain 80 CPEs for each two-year CPE cycle with a minimum of at least 20 CPEs in each year.  A CPE cycle is determined by the year in which your CGFM designation was awarded.  Please refer to the CPE Requirements Cycle at the end of this article. An award date appears on your CGFM certificate or your CGFM annual renewal card. 

What is a CPE program?  CGFM Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programs are structured educational activities designed to maintain or enhance the CGFM's professional proficiency in government financial management. This may be achieved through a group program, such as a seminar or classroom environment or by an individual or self-study program.

The CGFM holder is initially responsible for determining whether a topic or subject qualifies as acceptable CPE.  As a general guideline, the CPE should be in government financial management topics or related technical subjects applicable to government financial management areas.  Examples of such topics and subjects can be found under item 32 at http://www.agacgfm.org/cgfm/cgfm_detail.htm.  An additional criterion regarding what constitutes a CPE is provided under item 27. 

In a group program, a qualified instructor or discussion leader presents the CPE program.  Although one CPE hour is granted for each 50 minutes of participation in the program of study, participants should only receive CPEs for the actual time they attend the program.  Speakers, instructors and discussion leaders that qualify for CPE may receive CPE hours for preparation and presentation time to the extent the topic or subject matter contributes directly to their professional proficiency.  Up to two additional hours of CPE may be granted for advance preparation for each 50 minutes of their presentation.  There are some limitations and additional requirements for instructors.  Correspondence courses and independent study may

have CPEs computed by other methods, see the website paragraph 41 at http://www.agacgfm.org/cgfm/cgfm_details.htm for additional information.

To determine compliance with CPE requirements, AGA conducts an annual audit of a random sample of CGFM holders.  AGA may request CPE documentation for verification.  Individuals should maintain documentation to substantiate their statements of completed CPE for a minimum of three years. If you are selected as part of the random sample for audit, you will be asked to provide supporting documentation.  It should include such information as the dates, locations, course titles, brief description of the course contents, the number of CPE hours earned, and the sponsoring organization.  It is important to have proof of your attendance or completion of the CPE program or activity, such as a certificate of attendance, CPE form, grade report or a confirmation of completed training from your employer. 

Because not all CPEs meet the requirements of the CGFM and other professional designations, it may be necessary for the CGFMs to track their CPEs according to each professional designation.  One method of tracking CPEs is to use a spreadsheet application, such as Excel. 

File your certificate, course objectives and notes behind a copy of the spreadsheet or in a separate folder.  Then if you are selected in a random audit, you have all of your required supporting documentation available.

Please keep in mind that each professional certification designation has different requirements for qualifying CPEs.  Ultimately, it remains the individual's responsibility to know the CPE subject-matter requirements for their professional designation(s).  If you have questions regarding CPEs or specific courses for the CGFM designation, contact  Katya Silver at 1.800.242.7211 ext. 313 or at  ksilver@agacgfm.org, or your local CGFM coordinator for assistance. (Article written by Barbara Purvis)

Carolyn Sibley, CGFM Director

P.O. Box 29186

New Orleans, LA 70189-0186

TIME VALUE MATERIAL

   PLEASE EXPEDITE

Please contact Linda Lewis (255-5902) with address corrections.