At YSU, Ph.D. to be CPA

By Harold Gwin

Dr. Joseph Antenucci had been criticized for using the designation without permit.

YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown State University professor can begin using the initials “CPA” after his name, as soon as he sends his registration fee to the Accountancy Board of Ohio.

Dr. Joseph Antenucci, chairman of YSU’s Department of Accounting and Finance, was officially certified as a certified public accountant by the Accountancy Board last week, said Tamera Stripsky, certification and verification secretary for the board.

All that remains is for Antenucci to send the board a $36 registration fee and he can begin using the title “CPA inactive” after his name, Stripsky said.

Antenucci said Friday that he will do more than that. He intends to also submit a $100 fee for a two-year active CPA permit.

“I’m actually going to go active,” he said, explaining that, as an active CPA, he will automatically be granted continuing education credits for courses he teaches. Continuing education is an important job requirement at YSU, he said.

He said he has no intention of becoming a practicing accountant, but he won’t have to use the word inactive after the title.

Antenucci passed the CPA exam in May 2001 but never registered as a CPA nor secured a permit to practice as a CPA.

He did, however, begin using the CPA designation after his name on e-mails and other documents since becoming head of the accounting and finance department last fall, a move that recently drew anonymous complaint letters to YSU and The Vindicator.

Antenucci acknowledged that he shouldn’t have used the designation without completing the paperwork and stopped doing so.

Dr. Betty Jo Licata, dean of YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration, told The Vindicator that the matter has been addressed and there are no plans to file any disciplinary charges against Antenucci.

Antenucci said he took the CPA test in 2001 for background so he could give students firsthand knowledge about it. His score was the highest among the 1,359 Ohioans who took the test at the time.

He said he’s discussed his error in using the CPA designation in his lectures and found his students to be “very supportive.”

They don’t see that it’s a big deal, he said, adding that he stressed to them the importance of completing the necessary paperwork to be allowed to use the designation.

gwin@vindy.com