Update For Thursday, May 16, 2013 

Never miss an update to Students Heads Up. Subscribe to our Heads Up RSS feed to receive the news automatically.

Don’t miss out on the important things to know!  and on  

Thursday, May 16, 2013 – CGA-BC Voicemail is Currently Down
This is notify any students contacting the CGA-BC Association office today. Our voicemail system is currently down, so students will not be able to leave messages today.

We are working on the issue and hope to have it resolved shortly. We certainly apologize for this inconvenience.

If you are trying to reach a staff person, it would be best to send an email instead.

If you are trying to reach a Student Advisor, please contact us at Advising@cga-bc.org.

Thank you for your understanding.

Assignment/Quiz Extensions Due to Blackboard Outage:

As many of session 3 students are already aware, Blackboard OLE endured some technical troubles during the evening and crashed as a result.

Although Blackboard is now up and running again, we realize that many students’ ability to submit their assignments or complete quizzes was affected by this outage, and we apologize for the inconvenience. 

The following courses were affected:

To make up for the time lost due to the crash, we will be extending the Assignment/Quiz Submission links until tomorrow, Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 12:00 pm noon (Pacific Time). 

We hope this provides students with ample opportunity to successfully submit their assignments or complete quizzes.

Students can expect to receive their marked assignments back within 7 to 10 days (depending on the course) of the original due date of assignment. Please see our Assignment Due Date Schedule for specific marking turnaround times.

If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at Advising@cga-bc.org.

How the Proposed Accounting Merger Will Affect Current CGA-BC Students

May 9, 2013  

Further to the recent merger announcement, the information that follows outlines how unification of the accounting profession in BC will affect current CGA students. 

We recognize that this will be a confusing time for many of our students.  We also recognize that unifying the three accounting bodies will be a complex process, making it difficult to address all of your questions in this initial communication.  However, we are committed to continue to provide students with updates as more information and clarity becomes available.  We thank you for your patience as we move towards the unification of our profession.

Please take the time to read through the contents of this message – you should find the FAQs located in Appendix B particularly helpful.  Read more... 

Important Dates 

 
*Want to look ahead? Check out the full Academic Calendar for 2012-2013 

Session 4 Enrolment Deadline is May 17 

If you wish to enrol in a session 4 course, please enrol now to avoid disappointment. After this date, we cannot guarantee you a spot in the course.

Access the online Enrolment system here.

Session 4 courses officially begin on Monday, June 10, 2013.

Update your address! 

Before logging into the online enrolment system, please take the time to update your current preferred shipping/mailing address. This is critical; we want to ensure that your course materials are delivered to the correct location and we cannot stop or re-route deliveries once your enrolment is completed. To update your address information, go to the Student Details link found under My CGA-BC.

Live Enrolment System 

CGA-BC uses a live enrolment system that processes enrolments in real time and charges credit cards immediately. Students should receive an email confirmation shortly after their enrolment is processed. If you do not receive this email confirmation and/or are unsure whether your enrolment has been successfully processed, do not complete the enrolment again— you might inadvertently charge your credit card more than once. Instead, contact a student advisor at Advising@cga-bc.org for assistance.

*It is important to read through each screen carefully to ensure you are making the correct selection. Field help, shown by the (?) symbol, can be found on most headings for assistance. You can also review our Enrolment FAQs for assistance.

Once you have enrolled in a course for session 4, further information about starting your course will be sent at the end of May.

Session 2 2012-2013 Exam Marks Release
– mark your calendars for May 2!

Awaiting a session 2 exam mark? To help address some of your questions, check your email inbox for the Session 2 2012-2013 Exam Mark Release Reminder and FAQs message sent by CGA-BC Communications on April 23, 2013.

Good luck!

Impact of Office 2013 on CGA Sage Accpac 5.6 and Case Ware 

Please be aware that CGA-Canada has tested the use of Accpac and Caseware with Excel 2013 and Word 2013, and has established that the Accounting Software (Accpac and Caseware) used in FA2, FA3, BC1, and BC2 WILL NOT function properly with Excel 2013 and Word 2013.

Students enrolled or planning to enrol in the following courses: FA2, FA3, BC1, and BC2 are advise to NOT update to any Office 2013 version at this time.

Students will be advised should further information become available in this regard.

FA4 Mock Exam Assignment #3 Pilot for BC Students
CGA-Canada has selected BC students to host a pilot opportunity for Assignment #3 of this session 3 FA4. This pilot is based on student feedback and is designed to enhance course-exam consistency and better prepare students for the final exam.

Assignment #3 will take the form of a "mock exam" to allow students to obtain valuable marker feedback on their understanding of concepts throughout the entire course - prior to the exam!

BC students in session 3 FA4 MUST complete the mock exam Assignment #3 found here.

BC students in session 3 FA4 MUST NOT complete Assignment #3 found in Blackboard OLE - this assignment WILL NOT be marked if completed by BC students.

Please upload the mock exam Assignment #3 for marking via through your regular Assignment Submission link.

Support of the Course Director through the Peer-to-Peer Discussion Forum will be available for students on this mock exam Assignment #3. As always, please ensure you are following all the Peer-to-Peer Discussion Forum – User Guidelines.

** All other assignment submission policies, mark weightings and marking times will remain the same.**

We congratulate you on this advantageous opportunity!

If you have further questions, please contact a Student Advisor at Advising@cga-bc.org.

PA1 and PA2 Virtual Classrooms – begin Monday, March 18, 2013 

CGA-BC is pleased to announce that live virtual classes will continue to be offered for PA1 and PA2 students in Session 3, 2012-2013. The virtual classrooms will be available to all students enrolled in PA1 and PA2 courses and are accessed via Blackboard OLE.

The weekly 90-minute sessions will be held on weeknights and weekends for both PA1 and PA2 courses starting the week of March 18, 2013. The first hour will be dedicated to the guided instruction; the balance of class time will be spent answering students’ questions.

In order to offer students the greatest opportunity for participation, students may choose to attend the virtual classroom day and time that best fits  their schedule. Even though students now have this flexibility, we would still encourage students to consistently attend the same class each week so that they can benefit from studying with the same cohort and have the context of discussions that have taken place in prior weeks. 

For more information on the virtual classroom experience, please refer to:

• PA1 & PA2 Virtual Classroom – Introduction 
• PA1 & PA2 Virtual Classroom Schedules  
• 2013 Virtual Classroom Handbook and Wimba Manual for Students. 

All can be found under the PA1 and PA2 Course Information heading in the Course Information area of our website.

Please note that the virtual classrooms are an additional (and optional) resource for you to use in your studying and exam preparations. They are intended to be used in conjunction with the mandatory course components, not instead of those components. You are still expected to complete all of the required readings and coursework.

We wish you all the best in your studies.

Attention students enrolled in CGA courses –
Please Follow the “Peer-to-Peer Discussion
Forum – User Guidelines”

We write to remind students who are enrolled in courses with CGA to please remember there are guidelines that must be followed while communicating through the Course Director / Peer to Peer Support Discussion Forums, in Blackboard OLE.

It is imperative that students take the time to review these guidelines, which are found at the top of the Discussion Forum page:

Peer-to-Peer Discussion Forum – User Guidelines

Familiarizing yourself with these guidelines will help make your learning experience in your CGA course more fair and equitable for all involved.

We thank you for your attention.

New Policy regarding Official Transcripts

If you are seeking transfer credits for your post-secondary studies completed either within Canada or outside of Canada, effective as of June 30, 2013, you must submit your official, sealed transcripts directly to our CGA-BC office. Although this policy is not yet officially in effect, we encourage students to start following this policy now.

You must contact your post secondary institution and request them to send your transcripts directly to:

Certified General Accountants Association of British Columbia
c/o Assessments
#300 - 1867 West Broadway,
Vancouver, BC V6J 5L4 Canada

New Edition of the Income Tax Act (ITA)
Now in Effect

Please be aware that if you are enrolled in either the TX1 or TX2 courses or scheduled to write a TX1 or TX2 examination, effective in 2013, the 94th edition of the ITA is now in use.

If for any reason you do no currently hold this edition, you can purchase it through our Supplies Order Form, found here.

Recent Course Assignment Violations 

Although cases of plagiarism and academic integrity violations among CGA-BC students are extremely rare, all CGA students should be aware of what constitutes a violation and its consequences. As some students have discovered, CGA-BC does not accept copying assignments under any circumstances. Students caught in this situation receive marks of 0% for their assignment work. In addition, a letter of warning is placed in their permanent student files.

Here are some examples of recent course assignment violations to assist you in understanding what constitutes a violation of the academic integrity policy.

[Read More...]

 
The economy may have slowed but demand for CGA members and students are still strong. For proof, see the Hot Jobs page updated weekly. If you haven’t already signed up to CGAjobs.org, do so. And don’t forget to post your resumé to the site.

Help Us Keep Tabs on Your Successes 

Fellow students, members and Association staff want to hear about your successes in school, at work and in other aspects of your life. Tell us all about it to be featured in Outlook, the all-member and student magazine. Or maybe you know of a student who is too humble to blow their own horn. Let us know of [advising#cga-bc,org]story ideas and students to profile for Sessions, the student newsletter that comes in every issue of Outlook.