Monday, Oct 24, 2022
Students learn firsthand that there’s more to accounting than calculators and spreadsheets
by Tatiana Sciancalepore
On Oct. 14, Rider University’s Office of Career Development and Success hosted Citizen Academy, a daylong criminal investigation simulation sponsored by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI). The more than two-decade old program, formerly known as the Adrian Project, provides students with the opportunity to get an inside look at what a career as an IRS CI special agent entails.
IRS CI is the sixth-largest federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. They investigate tax fraud, criminal cases related to money laundering, cybercrime, bank secrecy, national security, and national defense. IRS CI is the only agency with the authority to recommend prosecution for federal tax crimes.
“IRS CI’s Citizen Academy is a once-in-a-lifetime, hands-on educational experience for students,” says Special Agent Robert Glantz, facilitator of the event. “It allows the students to utilize the skills they are learning at Rider and apply them in a real-life scenario.”
The day began with 24 Rider students being “sworn in” as honorary agents by Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey McDevitt. They were then divided into four groups and given the details of their case – a multi-level, terrorist-financing scheme with several targets. A number of IRS CI special agents, many of them Rider alumni, helped guide the students through the process of analyzing documents, interviewing suspects and conducting surveillance.
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Students suit up for tactical training during Citizen Academy program. -
An IRS special agent leads participating students in basic training. -
A participating student learns handcuffing techniques during Citizen Academy program.
Armed with protective vests, handcuffs, fake guns and radios, students put their newly acquired forensic and tactical training to work.
“I really liked doing the surveillance,” says Olena Mykhaylyshyn, a sophomore accounting major. “I found it difficult to stay out of sight and to always have eyes on the target. My group definitely lost the target once or twice, but in the end, we were able to find him and talk to him, even if he was unwilling to talk to us.”
After comparing their findings, each group presented their case to the magistrate judge in the hopes of being granted the arrest warrants needed to apprehend their suspects. With warrants in hand, the students confronted the mock offenders in a dramatic finale and made their arrests, completing in one day what would normally take IRS CI agents months of investigative work.
IRS CI’s Citizen Academy is a once-in-a-lifetime, hands-on educational experience for students. It allows the students to utilize the skills they are learning at Rider and apply them in a real-life scenario.”
Special Agent Timothy McMillan ’12, participated in the experience during his time at Rider and says “taking part in that event made me realize that this was the job I wanted. But if someone had told me then that I would one day come back to Rider for a Citizen Academy as an agent, I would not have believed it.”
Other participating alumni included Special Agent Adrienne Diggins ’16, Special Agent Devon O’Neill ’09, Supervisory Special Agent Breon Brewster ’07, Supervisory Special Agent Robert Grieco ’94 and Professor Emeritus Al Sumutka ’72.
Rider has had a relationship with IRS CI for more than a decade and has hosted the program multiple times in the past. In fact, Rider was the first university in New Jersey to host the experience. While the program is open to students of all majors and class years, applicants had to submit a statement about why they wanted to participate.
In order to pursue a career as an IRS CI special agent, applicants must have completed a four-year course of study in any field that included, or was supplemented by, at least 15 semester hours in accounting. The Norm Brodsky College of Business has prestigious dual business and accounting accreditation from the AACSB International, making Rider one of only 2% of programs worldwide.