No action planned against YSU professor
The professor apologized for incorrectly calling himself a CPA.
YOUNGSTOWN — The chairman of Youngstown State University’s Department of Accounting and Finance said he didn’t mean to deceive anyone with false claims that he’s a certified public accountant.
“I made a mistake,” said Joseph Antenucci, a YSU professor for 15 years. “I shouldn’t have done it.”
Since becoming the head of the accounting and finance department this past fall, Antenucci has included “CPA” immediately after his name on e-mails. He also called himself a CPA on an academic paper.
Though Antenucci passed the CPA test in May 2001 — his score of 382 was the highest in the state among 1,351 who took the exam at the time — he’s not a CPA, something he acknowledges.
Among the requirements to be a CPA is submitting a few documents and a registration fee of as little as $36 to the Accountancy Board of Ohio. Antenucci didn’t do that until Wednesday, a day after Betty Jo Licata, dean of the Williamson College of Business Administration, asked about the “CPA” on his e-mails and the academic paper. Being a CPA is not a requirement for Antenucci’s job, Licata said.
An anonymous letter tipped off Licata about the issue. A similar unsigned letter about Antenucci and the CPA issue arrived at The Vindicator.
Because Antenucci admitted his mistake and agreed to immediately stop referring to himself as a CPA, Licata said she has no plans to file disciplinary charges against him. Licata and Antenucci met Monday with the Williamson faculty to explain what happened and have also discussed this with the university’s administration.
“Joe and I discussed being crystal clear with credentials,” Licata said. “The concern has been addressed.”
Antenucci also told the university’s professional conduct committee about the matter. The committee will investigate, but Licata said she doesn’t anticipate the committee’s taking any action against Antenucci.
The Accountancy Board, which licenses CPAs in the state, is scheduled to award that title to Antenucci at its May 15 meeting, according to Tammy Stripsky, certification and verification secretary at the board’s Columbus office.
Even after May 15, Antenucci would be required to use the word “inactive” after “CPA,” Stripsky said.
That’s because Antenucci is seeking a CPA registration, which allows him to be a nonpracticing CPA. Until then, Antenucci isn’t permitted to call himself a CPA, even though he’s already done that.
“It breaks the accountancy board’s law,” Stripsky said.
Antenucci said he isn’t planning to become a working CPA, so he is seeking “inactive” status.
It’s not typical but not unusual for someone to pass a test and wait several years to register as a CPA, Stripsky said.
If a complaint is filed with the board, Antenucci could face sanctions from the body, Stripsky said.
The board can go as far as revoking a CPA license or decide to take no action.
Antenucci said he never profited by referring to himself as a CPA.
The professor said he took the test so he could give students preparing to take the test firsthand knowledge about it.
When asked how he could not know he wasn’t a CPA, particularly because he teaches accounting and is very familiar with the CPA exam, Antenucci didn’t give details.
“There’s no excuse,” Antenucci said. “... I’m not sure why I did it.”
He also couldn’t give a reason as to why he didn’t use the word “inactive” after “CPA.”
When asked whether his students will think less of him, he said, “I hope not. I hope they’ll learn a lesson. It was an honest mistake. This is my responsibility.”
skolnick@vindy.com