On Friday, February 22, a group of 17 IUP Student Accounting Association students visited BNY Mellon in Pittsburgh. One recurring theme reiterated throughout the day was the importance of majoring in accounting to help ensure a successful career in the banking industry. Many of BNY Mellon’s positions are filled by professionals with accounting backgrounds, including their current CEO, Charles Scharf.
Joanne Cash, head of CSD/IS control management at BNY Mellon, organized the itinerary for the three-hour visit with the input of April Murdick, SAA field trip chair, and Kim Anderson, SAA faculty advisor. The itinerary included a welcome and ice breaker hosted by Cash followed by a presentation by Donna Hudson, managing director and Pittsburgh regional manager, a panel discussion with several BNY Mellon professionals, a tour of BNY Mellon’s Innovation Center, and a session with the campus recruitment team. Aside from the Innovation Center tour, the various sessions took place in the BNY Mellon boardroom on the top floor of One Mellon Center, which is the second tallest building in Pittsburgh with 55 floors.
Hudson provided the group with background information on BNY Mellon, including their main values: client focus, integrity, teamwork, and excellence. She talked about how BNY Mellon strives to treat their employees well and described the key attributes that make Pittsburgh a great place to live and work.
Next, the students interacted with a panel of BNY Mellon professionals, which included 1994 IUP accounting alumnus Richard Wisnewski, who serves as vice president/deputy director, SOX compliance and control. Wisnewski was a student in Anderson’s Intermediate Accounting class at IUP during the fall 1992 semester. The panel also included Amanda Neiser, vice president/regulatory reporting training and communication manager; Karen Frindy, senior control manager, and Kerrie Hogan, vice president/embedded control manager. The panel members talked about what steps they took to become successful, and what students should be doing to prepare for their careers.
Following the panel discussion, the students toured the Pittsburgh Innovation Center. BNY Mellon has nine Innovation Centers, and Pittsburgh’s was the sixth one to be built. This space offers open desk areas rather than cubicles for easier communication. Different types of desks and offices for different types of learners are provided, including treadmill desks, standing desks, group offices, and even single rooms where employees can work alone in a quieter atmosphere. The center also includes exercise bikes and balls, cafeterias, and impressive art work—all made available to help create a more inspiring workplace.
To conclude their visit, the students interacted with some members of the campus recruitment team, including Ashli White, human resources program manager, and Frankie Dascenzo, lead campus recruiter. The students learned about internship opportunities that BNY Mellon has to offer as well as their Sophomore Summit program geared toward students in their second year of college. Every student in attendance found this trip to be extremely beneficial, and they learned a lot about not only BNY Mellon, but the banking industry as well.