LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Through the generosity of the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, Rider University's accounting department has established the Ernst & Young Resource Center -- a model accounting office setting that blends modern technology with a professional tax reference library.

Don Richards (left), senior partner of Ernst & Young's Metro Park office and the chair of Rider's Accounting Advisory Council, was instrumental in Rider receiving monetary support to help provide the technological backbone for the center as well as the donation of the firm's Princeton tax library. Richards is also a 1970 Rider accounting graduate.

The center puts Rider undergraduate and graduate accounting students ahead of the industry in terms of using programs that allow them to conduct tax research in a most timely fashion, while having hard copy reference material nearby.

"This is a significant gift for the accounting department," said Dr. Donald Wygal, department chairman. "This is a state-of-the-art facility that simulates an actual accounting office setting and what our students will be exposed to after graduation. It gives our students a competitive edge. I want to express my gratitude to Don Richards for his efforts and generosity in making the resource center become a reality."

The center, located on the third floor of Sweigart Hall, is comprised of six workstations with Dell Pentium computers recessed under transparent tabletops. There is also an overhead projector. The computers are equipped with the latest software and wired for internet use. In addition, the accounting department through the auspices of the Rider Library has subscribed to the Research Institute of America (RIA) tax service, an internet product that comes from the library to the business school.

Rider is one of the first institutions in the country to subscribe to this product, and it puts the accounting department ahead of the curve in comparison with the industry according to Dr. Alan Sumutka, associate professor of accounting. He said the product only came out in the last quarter of 1997.

"CPA firms are using CD-ROM technology as a tax resource," said Dr. Sumutka, pictured at center above with Richards and Amanda Cadmus, a senior accounting major (seated). "We're using internet technology, which is where the industry will eventually move. By using information on the internet, you have a tax library at your fingertips updated daily. The CD-ROM technology only updates monthly."

Equally important, Dr. Wygal added, is that the new lab will allow students to work in groups, use PowerPoint for presentations, as well as develop multimedia and interpersonal skills. The tax library adds distinction to the office environment, he said. It includes Internal Revenue Service cumulative bulletins, tax cases, and other tax research material.

"The Ernst & Young Resource Center combines the old with the new," Dr. Wygal said. "Students can pull books off the shelves or they can sit at a workstation and call up the RIA service and get up-to-the-minute information. This has really turned on students. All of a sudden doing tax returns is fun -- it is not as arduous. This center is an incubator for experiential learning."

In addition to accounting, the College of Business Administration (CBA) offers undergraduate majors in actuarial science, advertising, business administration, computer information systems, finance, global business, human resource management, management and organizational behavior, and marketing. There are also Master of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy programs. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs in the CBA are accredited by AACSB International -- The International Association for Management Education. Rider is one of only four colleges in New Jersey and among 23 percent nationally to hold that distinction.