| Things to do | Things to avoid |
| Give “goody” bags. | At registration, we gave each student a TSCPA tote bag filled with a program T-shirt and donated pens, paper, calculator, stress ball, a lanyard for a name tag and similar items. | Too many off-campus visits in one day. | We made this mistake in our first year and the students were worn out at the end of day one. We found that about two or three off-campus visits a day works great and gives variety to the program agenda. |
| Take a digital picture of each student. | We used these pictures to send press releases to each studentžs hometown newspaper at the end of the program. | Too many traditional office visits. | Remember that to a student, a cube is a cube. Select businesses with a unique spin. For instance, we visited the Tennessee Titansž practice facility and had a presentation by the Titans president. |
| State a specific dress code. | We chose to go with a business casual dress code and gave the students examples of what types of clothing fit in this category. We also provided students with a copy of the universityžs dress code. | Too much downtime. | Keep the students busy with fun activities and events in the evenings to reduce idle time. |
| Visit work environment. | Make sure that when you schedule a tour the students will actually visit the companyžs work environment. Students like to see where accountants work. | Program fees. | Avoid charging students to attend the program so that less advantaged students can attend. |
| Check requirements for off-campus visits. | Several businesses we included had a certain capacity they could handle in a single visit. In 2003, we had to split into two groups for one tour. Also, some businesses required a certain ratio of adult chaperones to high school students. Knowing this in advance helped us line up more faculty or recent graduates to serve as chaperones as needed. | Fancy or gourmet meals. | High school students favor fast-food-type meals such as hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza, french fries, tacos, nachos and ice cream. |
| Remind tour hosts of your upcoming arrival. | On-site contacts may neglect to notify other firm personnel about the tour. | | |
