BYU School of Accountancy

Infobox_University


name = BYU School of Accountancy
established = 1976
type =
free_label = Dept. Chair
free = Kevin Stocks
city = Provo, Utah
country = USA
undergrad = 270 per year
postgrad = 160-175 per year
affiliation = The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
affiliations = Brigham Young University
affiliations = Marriott School of Management
students =
campus = Brigham Young University
website= [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa School of Accountancy] The School of Accountancy (SOA) at Brigham Young University is a department within the Marriott School of Management. The SOA started in 1976 when it was first named the Institute of Professional Accountancy. Then in 1990 some faculty from the Information Management Department joined the school to consolidate the faculty and form a nucleus for program development. However, on August 12, 2005 the Marriott School announced the division of the School of Accountancy and Information Systems into two parts: the School of Accountancy and the Information Systems Department. [ [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/news/release.cfm?id=241 News Releases ] ]

Degrees

The School of Accountancy offers a Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree and a Master of Accountancy (MAcc) graduate degree. The MAcc degree has two emphases, a tax emphasis or a professional (auditing) emphasis. Within either empahsis, students can apply to enter the Ph.D. Prep Track which focuses on preparing students to apply for and enter a Ph.D. program upon graduating from BYU.

tudent Placements

The School of Accountancy has been highly successful at placing students upon graduating. In 2007, 97% of MAcc students had a job at the time of graduation and 100% of the MAcc students had a job within 3 months after graduation. [ [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/career/recruiters/salaryBonusData.cfm#MAcc Salary/Bonus Data ] ] . In 2007, 89% of undergraduates had a job at the time of graduation and 97% had a job within 3 months after graduation. [ [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/career/recruiters/salaryBonusData.cfm#BSAcc Salary/Bonus Data ] ] All four of the Big Four accounting firms recruit graduates. [ [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/career/recruiters/salaryBonusData.cfm#BSAcc Salary/Bonus Data ] ] The Ph.D. Prep Track has been successful in placing into doctoral programs 100 percent of its graduates who have submitted applications.cite web|title =BYU Accountancy and Information Systems Doctoral Prep Programs Successful|url =http://www.utahbusiness.com/parser.php?nav=email_article&article_id=4657| accessdate = 2008-04-11]

Rankings

The School of Accountancy has consistently been highly rated. [cite web|title = News and Accomplishments|url = http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/news.cfm| accessdate = 2008-04-16 ] , [cite web|title = School Rankings|url = http://marriottschool.byu.edu/news/rankings.cfm| accessdate = 2008-04-16 ]

Rank	Source	Year
1st Undergraduate Accounting	Financial Times	2007
2nd Undergraduate Accounting	Public Accounting Report	2007
3rd Undergraduate Accounting	U.S. News & World Report	2007
4th MBA (accounting emphasis)	The Wall Street Journal	2007
2nd Undergraduate Accounting	Public Accounting Report	2006
2nd Undergraduate Accounting	Financial Times	2006
5th Undergraduate Accounting	U.S. News & World Report	2006

Innovations

The School of Accountancy is the only accounting program in the country to twice receive the American Accounting Association's "Innovation in Accounting Education Award".cite web|title = Innovation in Accounting Education Award Winners|url =http://aaahq.org/awards/awrd6win.htm| accessdate = 2008-04-16 ] The first award, received in 1993, was for the development of the "Junior Core" an integrated approach to teaching accounting. The second award, received in 2007, was for the development of a Ph.D. prep track to prepare MAcc students to enroll in a Ph.D. program after graduation. In order to increase interest in the accounting program, the School of Accountancy developed the "Value-Added Teaching Model" to increase interest in high quality candidates entering the program.cite web|title = Value-Added Teaching Model|url =http://www.accountingcds.com/company/history.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-16 ]

Junior Core

During the junior year of the undergraduate program, accounting students are required to take 24 credit hours of accounting classes over the course of the fall and winter semesters. The courses are integrated over the course of the semester so that students perform projects that deal with multiple areas of accounting rather than single areas.

Ph.D. Prep Track

The BYU Accounting Ph.D. prep track is part of the Master of Accountancy program and is designed to train and prepare accounting students to enter into a Ph.D. program upon finishing their master's degree.

History

Douglas F. Prawitt, a BYU Professor of Accounting, started the Ph.D. prep track informally in 1994. Prawitt noticed several students who had a desire to enter a Ph.D. program but realized that they understood very little about what earning a Ph.D. entailed; moreover, since academia is suffering from a significant shortage of accounting professors and is projected to face even more significant shortages in the future, the program seemed ideally suited for the situation. [cite web|title =Assessing the Shortage of Accounting Faculty|url =http://www.atypon-link.com/AAA/doi/abs/10.2308/iace.2006.21.2.113| accessdate = 2008-04-09 ] , [ [http://www.wicpa.org/multimedia/mayjune07/phdcrisis.htm The accounting Ph.D. crisis and the profession's response] ]

The program was formalized in 2000, as Dr. Prawitt required application to the program and more formally recruited students into the program. [cite web|title =Lifting Off|url =http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2074| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ] In 2002, seven students finished the program and entered Ph.D. programs. Thereafter, the program has placed between four and nine students each year into Ph.D. programs across the country.

Ph.D. Prep Track alumni are also invited back to BYU to participate in the [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/ School of Accountancy's] annual "Accounting Research Symposium".cite web|title =Accounting Research Symposium|url =http://marriottschool.byu.edu/conferences/accountingsymposium/| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ] cite web|title =Prep School|url =http://marriottschool.byu.edu/marriottmag/winter07/features/spfeature1.cfm| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]

Results

The Ph.D. Prep Track was recognized by the American Accounting Association with the 2007 "Innovation in Accounting Education Award". The Ph.D. Prep Track has been successful in placing into doctoral programs 100 percent of its graduates who have submitted applications.cite web|title =BYU Accountancy and Information Systems Doctoral Prep Programs Successful|url =http://www.utahbusiness.com/parser.php?nav=email_article&article_id=4657| accessdate = 2008-04-11] Due to this success, academics have begun to recommend students interested in seeking an accounting Ph.D. to enter the Ph.D. Prep Track before entering into a doctoral program. [cite web|title = BYU's PhD Prep Masters Degree in Accountancy|url =http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070612.htm| accessdate = 2008-04-14] Verify credibility|date=April 2008

The success of the accounting Ph.D. prep track encouraged the information systems' department at BYU to adopt a similar program in 2003. [cite web|title = Ph.D. Preparation Program|url =http://isys.byu.edu/Menus/Masters/PhDPrep.cfm| accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]

Value-Added Teaching Model

Under the direction of Norm Nemrow and with the assistance of the BYU’s Center for Instructional Design, the School of Accountancy developed the Value-Added Teaching Model. The key component of the Value-Added Teaching Model is the use of CD's for instruction instead of a traditional textbook. The CD's contain a video of a professor lecturing and contain dynamic graphics employing vector-based technology from Macromedia Flash.cite web|title = Description of Accounting CD's|url =http://www.accountingcds.com/learn/links/cdinfo/cdfeatures.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-16 ] Students listen to the lectures to learn the basics of accounting. A reduced number of lectures over the course of the semester than cover contemporary issues in accounting rather than traditional accounting lectures. The change has proven effective in doubling student's interest accounting as a major and over 90 percent of students prefer the CD based approach over a traditional textbook/lecture approach.cite web|title = Statistics of Value-Added Teaching Model|url =http://www.accountingcds.com/images/graphs/graphs_undergraduate.html| accessdate = 2008-05-16 ]

Accounting Research Symposium

Since 2004, the School of Accountancy has hosted an annual Accounting Research Symposium. The purpose of the symposium is “to unite BYU alumni and friends in our efforts to foster relevant and consequential accounting research.” One of the explicit purposes of the symposium is to bring back students who have graduated from the Ph.D. Prep Track to network and receive feedback on research ideas. The Symposium has been instrumental in helping prepare scholarly work for publication.

Notable Professors

* W. Steve Albrecht served as President of the American Accounting Association (1997 – 1998) and as the first president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. [cite web|title =1998 Annual Meeting|url = http://aaahq.org/AM1998/98annual.htm| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ] , [cite web|title =ACFE Awards First Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award to Namesake|url = http://www.acfe.com/resources/view.asp?ArticleID=231| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]
* Douglas F. Prawitt serves as a Board member on the Auditing Standards Board [ [http://www.aicpa.org/Professional+Resources/Accounting+and+Auditing/Audit+and+Attest+Standards/Auditing+Standards+Board/ASB+Members.htm Auditing Standards Board Members] , AICPA.org]
* Lee H. Radebaugh served as Editor of Journal of International Accounting Research (2004-2007) and as president of the World Trade Association of Utah (1994-1995). [cite web|title =Lee H. Radebaugh|url = http://marriottschool.byu.edu/emp/employee.cfm?emp=lhr| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]
* Scott L. Summers served as president of the Information Systems Section of the American Accounting Association (2006-2007) [cite web|title =Scott Summers|url = http://marriottschool.byu.edu/emp/employee.cfm?emp=sls238| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]
* Dave N. Stewart served as president of the [http://aaahq.org/ata/index.htm American Taxation Association] (2003-2004) [cite web|title =2003-2004 AAA Section, Group, and Region Officers|url = http://aaahq.org/about/directory2004/sectionregion2004/ata.htm| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]
* Kevin D. Stocks served as president of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy (2000) [cite web|title =School of Accountancy and Information Systems Appoints New Director|url = http://marriottschool.byu.edu/marriottmag/fall03/school/faculty.cfm| accessdate = 2008-04-10 ]

See also

* List of Brigham Young University alumni

References

External links

* [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/ Official Page of the School of Accountancy]
* [http://phdprep.byu.edu/ Official Page of the Ph.D. Prep Track at BYU]
* [http://www.accountingcds.com/index.html Official Page for the Value-Added Teaching Model]