Pictured above is a rendering of the future CPA Alberta Commons in Mathison Hall, University of Calgary.
CPA Alberta’s gift to the Haskayne School of Business will create a student commons space for undergrad students at the University of Calgary.
Do you remember being a university student and swapping ideas with fellow students in a beloved space on campus, all while feeling invigorated by learning and the promise of an exciting future? University is an important time in every CPA’s life, and everyone has a place they remember fondly as a space where they forged lifelong connections that impacted and informed their future.
For future business students at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, that beloved space is sure to be the CPA Alberta Commons in Mathison Hall. Earlier this week, the University of Calgary (U of C) announced that CPA Alberta provided a $1 million gift to the Haskayne Capital Expansion Project and the construction of Mathison Hall. In recognition of this gift, a large undergraduate student space on the first floor of Mathison Hall will be called the CPA Alberta Commons. The gift will be bestowed in installments over a 10-year period.
Rachel Miller visits the construction site of the future student space called the CPA Alberta Commons.
“CPA Alberta is proud to continue its long legacy of supporting Haskayne School of Business students and accounting education in the province. The CPA Alberta Commons is the perfect grounds for fostering and building the leaders of tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing how the ideas that originate in the new space become the future tools and drivers of business and finance,” says CPA Alberta CEO, Rachel Miller.
Once created, the CPA Alberta Commons will be one of the busiest areas of the U of C’s business school. It will be a place for students to study and gather, surrounded by new technology-enhanced classrooms that allow future CPAs to immerse themselves in innovative thinking and state-of-the-art technology.
“Innovation and the accounting profession have always gone hand in hand, and CPAs have always been at the forefront of change,” says Rachel. “As well, the spirit of collaboration and connection is an important component of the CPA profession, and I’m excited that the profession will play a key role in fostering that same spirit for students who will become our future colleagues and business partners.”
Projected to be complete in late 2022, Mathison Hall is currently under construction next to Scurfield Hall. The new building is intended to meet the growing demand for undergraduate and graduate business programs at the school. As the demand for business programs grow in the province, it is essential that students remain informed at an early stage about the benefits of pursuing a CPA designation, which supports the long-term growth of the profession.
The post-secondary community plays an invaluable role in shaping the direction that students take with their future careers. In Alberta, accounting remains one of the top choices for business students and is among the most in-demand concentrations in the BComm program at the U of C. This increased visibility of the CPA brand and enrichment of the student experience ensure the CPA profession remains a career of choice by the best and brightest students in the province for years to come, and reinforce the role of CPAs as cornerstones of community building and support.
“CPAs bring immense value to Alberta organizations and communities. The CPA Alberta Commons will increase the awareness of that value and bring more attention to the role of CPAs in developing the future leaders of tomorrow. This enhances the prestige of the designation—and the work of all Alberta CPAs—with students, the post-secondary community, the government, the public, the business community, and employers,” says Rachel.
“CPA Alberta have been dedicated supporters of our students for decades. Our students will benefit tremendously from this gift, and on their behalf, I want to thank CPA Alberta for their timely and generous donation,” says Haskayne School Dean, Jim Dewald.
“More than ever, we’ve heard from our students how much they miss in-person activities. They miss their peers, running into profs, and they miss seeing their friends. The personal connections made in university are fundamental to the post-secondary experience, and those important connections will be forged in the new CPA Alberta Commons.”
