University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business School of Accounting. Reflections 2009

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1 University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business School of Accounting Reflections 2009

2 Table of Contents From the Director. 3 Faculty Recognition. 4 Student Recognition... 8 Friends of Accounting. 18 Private Gifts and Support.. 19 Alumni Recognition. 20 School of Accounting Faculty 22 Support the School of Accounting 26 Reflections is a publication for alumni and friends of the University of South Carolina School of Accounting. Address correspondence to Reflections, University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business, School of Accounting, 1705 College Street, Columbia, SC, Phone: Fax: reflections@moore.sc.edu This publication is produced and distributed to alumni and friends of the University of South Carolina School of Accounting through the generous support of private donors. Reflections Staff: Tim Doupnik, Janice Fergusson, Mariah Lynch, and Cynthia Parker Missions Statement School of Accounting Darla Moore School of Business University of South Carolina Three interrelated missions of education, scholarship, and service comprise the overall missions of the School of Accounting. The School of Accounting is dedicated to excellence in all three missions. Education Prepare students to become either successful accounting professionals in a global information society, or Ph.D. qualified accounting academics. Scholarship Contribute to the accounting discipline and profession through the discovery, integration, and application of knowledge. Service Contribute to the international, national, state and local accounting academic and professional communities. 2

3 Letter from the Director Dear Alumni and Friends, Greetings from USC s School of Accounting! In an economic time that has been difficult for all of us I am pleased to highlight some very positive news from the SOA. Results reported by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy indicate that 59% of USC master s students taking the CPA exam passed all four parts and 94% passed at least one part. The pass rate for all four parts puts USC in 5 th place among 16 universities in the Southeast, ahead of schools such as UNC and Virginia, and compares very favorably with the national average of 36%. We also are very pleased to report that one of our alumni, Brad Hocking, received the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award from the AICPA. The Sells Award recognizes the top ten CPA candidates who on their first attempt achieve the highest cumulative scores for all sections of the CPA exam in a calendar year. This past year, USC became one of 40 Ph.D.-granting universities nationwide to participate in the AICPA s Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) program. This program funds individuals in public accounting to go back to school to earn their Ph.D. We are one of only 4 universities nationwide to attract more than one of the 30 ADS scholars in the first year of the program, with two ADS scholars starting the Ph.D. program in August Thanks to the efforts of Professor Brad Tuttle, who chairs the accounting doctoral program committee, we again have two ADS scholars who have committed to joining our program in Fall Every five years, in addition to the Moore School of Business, the SOA undergoes a peer review to maintain its separate accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Much work went into writing reports and preparing for the peer review team s visit in October We received a positive recommendation from the team, which was ratified by the AACSB board on January 10, The next on-site review will take place in One of the objectives of the AACSB peer review process is to identify best practices that can be shared with other universities. The SOA s mentoring program in which members of the local professional community serve as mentors to undergraduate accounting students was singled out as an innovative endeavor that should be considered by other institutions. The peer review team also remarked on the SOA faculty s commitment to making sure that students are IFRS aware, able to use the FASB s Accounting Standards Codification, and focused on successfully completing the CPA exam as soon as possible. Each of these items speaks well of the outstanding job the SOA is doing in educating students and preparing them for professional careers in accounting. I personally want to thank the faculty and staff as well as our alumni, friends, and students for making the School of Accounting an outstanding educational organization. Best regards, Tim Doupnik Director, School of Accounting 3

4 Faculty Recognition Fergusson attends Financial and Managerial Accounting Symposiums Janice Fergusson, lecturer, has participated in several accounting symposiums sponsored by McGraw-Hill Companies and Pearson Higher Education during the past year. The purpose of these small focus groups is to bring together teaching talents in the industry to tackle some of the key issues that accounting instructors face in the classroom today. Specifically, Fergusson has played a key leader in groups addressing innovative teaching techniques in large classrooms. This topic is extremely important to her, as she teaches both introductory financial and managerial accounting in large sections of 129 students per section. When asked what she sees as the biggest challenges in teaching large classes, she immediately replies, keeping the students engaged in the classroom and making them realize that they are not just a number and name in my gradebook. Fergusson is committed to getting to know her students and being able to call them by name, without the aid of her roll, by the first exam of the semester. Although this has become a much bigger challenge in the larger classes, she still makes this commitment, and it doesn t go unnoticed by students. Her course evaluations often include comments such as she actually knows who I am I am not just a number even though there must be over 100 students in our class. Alfred G. Smith Teaching Award a School of Accounting Tradition The Alfred G. Smith Teaching Award is the highest teaching honor given at the Darla Moore School of Business and a School of Accounting professor has been the recipient for 3 of the last 4 years. The award is given to only one professor each year, based on a nomination by Moore School colleagues, and is based on median grades and student evaluations. Tim Doupnik was honored in 2009, Scott Vandervelde in 2007 and Scott Jackson in This is a real accomplishment for both the SOA and the individuals as it speaks to the emphasis put on teaching as well as research in the SOA. L to R: Doupnik, Jackson and Vandervelde Doupnik Receives Best Paper Award Tim Doupnik, School of Accounting Chair, was awarded the Best Paper Award at the 2009 American Accounting Association (AAA) International Accounting Section Midyear Conference, held in St. Petersburg, Fl, in February 2009, for his paper, An Experiment to Examine the Effect on Financial Reporting Decisions of Moving from More Precise Standards (U.S. GAAP) to Less Precise Standards (IFRS). Co-authors of the paper are George Tsakumis (Drexel University) and Chris Agoglia (University of Massachusetts). The paper explores the effect of rule-based versus principlesbased regimes in financial reporting decisions. Doupnik s paper was chosen out of 40 papers presented at the conference. Receiving this award is not only an honor, but also brings additional accolades to the School of Accounting in addition to highlighting the Moore School s focus and excellence in the International arena. Congratulations, Tim! Tuttle Receives Research Grant from IMA Brad Tuttle, professor of accounting, recently received a research grant from the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Foundation for Applied Research. Tuttle and Josh Davis, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Management Science from the University of South Carolina and currently an assistant professor in Marketing and Supply Chain Management at the College of Charleston, conducted a survey of IMA members via the Internet during the summer of The objective of the survey was to determine the factors that influence the way accountants respond to computer error messages and their intentions to seek additional information. By studying how computer users respond to error messages, Tuttle and Davis were able to identify important individual-, task-, and exception-related factors that predict when users will engage in effortful, morethorough information processing. The results of the study will aid both managers and system designers in the development of interventions aimed at improving user responses. Their findings will be published in an IMA executive report entitled, Accountants Responses to Computer Exception Messages. Presentations, Community Service, and other Honors Scott Vandervelde, associate professor, presented his paper titled, Does the Going-Concern Audit Opinion Have a Stabilizing Effect on the Overall Stock Market? (co-author, Brad Tuttle) at the American Accounting Association Mid-Year Audit Meeting in San Diego, CA on Jan , Caroline Strobel, professor, presented a seminar on 2009 Tax Updates for both the Central Chapter of the South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and for Athens Technical College in December Mariah Lynch, lecturer, received a Mortar Board for Excellence in Teaching award for the Fall 2009 semester. She was also asked to participate in the Last Lecture series and spoke on Success at Every Age. 4

5 Faculty Recognition Additionally, Mariah participated (for the third time) in Epsilon Sigma Alpha s Kiss A Pig competition to benefit St. Jude s Children s Hospital. While she was not afforded the privilege of kissing the pig this year, we have no doubt we will see her in this competition again in the future! Becky Kerr, lecturer, received a Mortar Board for Excellence in Teaching award for for the second time. Tom Whitacre, adjunct professor, received the Beta Alpha Psi teaching award for the Spring 2009 semester. Scott Jackson, associate professor, presented the paper, The Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts, Conservatism, and Earnings Management (co-authored with Kelvin Liu, Northeastern University) at the 2009 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting. Rich White, professor, received the Fall 2009 Beta Alpha Psi Undergraduate Teaching Award. Mark Cecchini, assistant professor, received the Beta Alpha Psi Graduate Teaching Award for the Fall 2009 semester. He also was invited to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY to present his paper, Detecting Management Fraud in Public Companies, co-authored with Haldun Aytug (University of Florida), Gary Koehler (University of Florida), and Praveen Pathak (University of Florida). Additionally, at the 2009 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Cecchini presented Making Words Work: Using Financial Text as a Predictor of Financial Events (co-authors, H. Aytug, G. Koehler, and P. Pathak). School of Accounting Mentoring Program Wants YOU! Mentoring Program coordinator, Mariah Lynch year. The School of Accounting s Mentoring Program got off to a great start in the Fall of 2009! We had 26 professionals who graciously offered their time to mentor a student and had a whopping 78 student applications for the program. After selecting the students and matching them with their mentor, a kick off party was held in early October for the students and the professionals to meet one another and discuss plans to communicate over the course of the Firms/Organizations with one or more representatives involved as mentors in the program include: Bauknight, Pietras and Stormer Blanchard Machinery Coleman and Ureda, PA Derrick, Stubbs and Stith, LLP Elliott Davis, LLC Grant Thornton Hobbs, CPA New South Supply Palmetto Health Scott McElveen State of South Carolina Webster Rogers, LLP Wilbur Smith If you are an accounting professional who is interested in becoming a mentor to an Accounting major or if you have questions or suggestions for the program, please contact Mariah Lynch at mariah.lynch@moore.sc.edu. For more information on the Mentoring Program and an application to become a mentor, visit the Mentoring Program web site at academicsandresearch/majorsoffered/accounting/ mentoringprogram.aspx. Friends of Accounting (FAD), the Mentoring Program s sponsoring body, and program coordinator, Mariah Lynch, made a decision this past year that accounting students should be in the second Intermediate Financial Accounting class before being paired with a mentor in hopes of reducing the attrition rate. For this reason, student applications will not be solicited until the Spring semester each year. Student can find an application on-line at the Mentoring Program web site (see link above). Fergusson participates in Teacher2Teacher Forum Janice Fergusson, lecturer, has been selected by Pearson Higher Education to participate in a Teacher2Teacher (T2T) Forum. She is one of fourteen accounting instructors selected from universities nationwide to come together to generate ideas on emerging topics in the field of accounting. The fourteen-member group was divided into seven two-person teams, and for the last six months, each team has been working to develop recommendations for their assigned topic. Fergusson has been partnering with Holly Rudolph from Murray State University to develop a proposal on the integration of International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS) in the classroom. Since IFRS is becoming a big issue and its inclusion in the academic world is forthcoming, Fergusson and Rudolph have been busy developing their proposal that will include details for coverage, as well as, how and when IFRS should be integrated in the accounting curriculum. In early February 2010, each team will travel to New Jersey to make final presentations to Pearson s Senior Management. In March, Pearson will announce the winning team/project to receive funding over the next months. Fergusson says it would be an honor if their project is selected, but even if it is not, this will have been a great experience! 5

6 Faculty Recognition Doupnik North American Representative for EAA Tim Doupnik was elected to serve a three-year term as a member of the Board of the European Accounting Association (EAA) as their North American representative. The EAA is a network of accounting scholars and researchers comprised of 21 National Representatives from across Europe, along with three non-european regional representatives representing Asia, Australia/ New Zealand, and North America. It is a great honor and responsibility to serve in this capacity. The School of Accounting is certain that Tim is up to the task! Accounting Research Workshops The School of Accounting hosted a number of Accounting Research workshops in 2009 in an effort to share information and network with other accounting researchers. The following topics were explored: February 27, 2009: Kevin Jackson, University of Illinois, presented The Effects of Management Forecast Disaggregation on Investor s Susceptibility to Earnings Fixation. April 3, 2009: Wayne Thomas, University of Oklahoma, presented International Evidence on Analyst Stock Recommendations, Valuations, and Returns. April 15, 2009: Brian Mayhew, University of Wisconsin, presented, Self-Regulation: Experimental Evidence on Reputation and Peer Review. Home of host family where Tom Hughes and daughter, Margo lived. their children for the experience. Their experience is related in Tom Hughes own words: We all flew to Tarapoto and then by mototaxi to Lamas with few expectations and some trepidation. What we found was a poor barrio outside of Lamas, Wayku, where we were to live for the next two and a half weeks. We were warmly greeted by a parade and speeches. We then broke into groups of two: Margo and me, the two twelve year olds, and Savannah and her mother, Laura. From that moment on we began different experiences as we lived in pairs with our new Community shower in Peruvian village. families. Rustic doesn t describe it. Dirt floors, tarantulas, chickens, outhouses, heat, single water taps, pigs and dogs. At first the girls were alarmed, then amused, and later enchanted; though truthfully the single-hole outhouse never really caught on. October 2, 2009: Kathryn Kadous, Emory University, presented When do Jurors Second-Guess Accounting Estimates? The Effects of Accounting Standard Structure and Accounting Norms on Auditor Liability. October 30, 2009: Michael Williamson, University of Texas Austin, presented Corporate Social Responsibility and Implicit Contracting. November 13, 2009: Mark Peecher, University of Illinois, presented Informal Consultation and Auditors Belief Revision: The Effects of Advisor Affiliation and Advice Quality. The Hughes Community Service Experience in Peru Over the years, the School of Accounting faculty have often been involved in community service projects to benefit not only those in our community, but throughout the nation and the world. Probably the most exotic of these for the past year would be the volunteer trip of School of Accounting lecturer, Tom Hughes and family. During summer 2009, Tom Hughes, wife Laura, and four of their five children Margo, 8; Mazy, 12; Ella, 12; and Savannah, 15 traveled with Global Citizens Network (GCN) to Tarapoto, Peru. GCN is a group out of Minneapolis which does volunteer service work and is one of the few the Hughes found which allows adults to bring We worked daily building an adobe public restroom with showers and as we worked we began to transform - as pairs, as individuals and as a family. The indigenous people we lived with, ate with and worked with were friendly..., helpful, intelligent..., industrious... and we all recognized that they were very much like us. We formed close bonds - the children mainly with the children and the adults with the adults. Building a public restroom with showers for the village. The seminal moment of understanding came on the day of our departure when Margo and my host family showed up with their prize chickens, trussed and ready to travel back to the US. Their children were crying and no one on either side wanted to go. We have returned to our old dispensation and have probably already forgotten many of the valuable lessons we learned. We did, however, for that summer in the sweltering Amazonian jungle get some idea of the depth and breadth of the world. Photos from the Hughes experience are evidence of the generosity of those who have little and appreciate much. 6

7 Faculty Recognition Photos from the Hughes trip to Tarapato, Peru with Global Citizen s Network Host family and village children: Village scenery and things to do in Tarapato, Peru: Building a public restroom with enclosed showers for the Tarapato village: 7

8 Student Recognition State of the State of Managerial Accounting In partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and The South Carolina Department of Commerce Research Division, the School of Accounting is conducting a State of the State survey aimed at obtaining information about management accounting decision tools utilized by manufacturing companies in South Carolina. The purposes of the survey are: To provide a benchmarking device for manufacturers in the state by identifying best practices used to understand and control costs in planning, profit analysis, tactical cost control, and ad hoc decision making; To afford the School of Accounting an assessment tool to identify differences between predominant practices being used in the principal market place and theoretical approaches being taught in our managerial accounting courses; and To provide data for correlation and assessment in the publication of academic and professional articles. The survey has been developed, conducted, and analyzed with the assistance of a student project team. Faculty advisors for the project are Stan Smith, lecturer, and Al Leitch, professor, both of the School of Accounting. Student members include: Michael Barry (Undergraduate Double Major: Business Finance and International Business) Mike is from the Chicago area and was accepted to the Darla Moore School of Business in the fall of 2007 as a Capstone Scholar. He was recently accepted to the Moore School s Sonoco International Business Program. He is actively involved in the Global Business Council; participated in the Emerging Leaders Program; serves as Treasurer of the USC Water Polo club and is a member of Pi Kappa Alpha. Michael Langley (Graduate Student MACC) From Union, SC, Michael is a 2009 Graduate of the MACC program at the Moore Business School. He received a B. A. in Accounting from Wofford College in He is currently working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Spartanburg office as a staff auditor. Famatta Mensah (Undergraduate Accounting) Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Famatta was invited to the University of South Carolina as a McKissick Scholar and was selected to receive the Putnam Accounting Scholarship. In 2009, she was one of seventy nationally awarded GEICO Achievement Award winners. In addition to serving as University Ambassador, which allows her to give prospective students insight about the University, she is President of Delta Sigma Pi, America s foremost business fraternity. Her business experience includes working in Global Tax Financial Services & Solutions; accounts payable and corporate accounting at Proctor & Gamble. Kenneth Smith (Undergraduate Double Major: Management and Statistics) Ken hails from New Hampshire and will graduate in Spring 2010 with a B. S. degree in Statistics. He plans to complete his B.A. in Management and pursue a Master degree in Statistics. This past summer, he studied abroad in Fiji and New Zealand. The overall plan of this undergraduate research project is to conduct a series of surveys over a 4-year period. Other general topic areas include: Sustainability; Environmental; Quality cost measurement and reporting issues; Management Compensation issues; Long term strategic planning issues. Each year a new team of undergraduate researchers will be selected to develop and conduct the survey scheduled for that year. Several iterations of these 4 survey areas will then provide the basis of trend analysis in South Carolina over a 20 year period. Caylor Named NABA Faculty Advisor Stan Smith (left) and Al Leitch (right) serve as faculty advisors for a student research project aimed at the analysis of management accounting decision tools used by manufacturing businesses in South Carolina. As a student organization at the Darla Moore School of Business, the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) can be described as very active. Tom Lopez served as the faculty advisor for the organization from its inception at the University of South Carolina, until his acceptance of a position at the University of Alabama. Fall 2009 found the NABA officers searching for a replacement. Immediately Professor Marcus Caylor s name came to the top of the list, speaking strongly to the rapport that he has with accounting students. Despite the full schedule of events on the NABA calendar (or perhaps because of it), Marcus agreed to serve as the organization s advisor. There seems to be a good fit between NABA and its new faculty advisor and NABA members would like to offer heart-felt thanks to Professor Marcus Caylor for his guidance and support! 8

9 Student Recognition Letter from the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) President, Chad Peters Dear Alumni and Friends, It is with my distinguished pleasure to inform you about the evolving minority accounting organization here at the Moore Business School, the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). The chapter was founded in April 2007 by Roderick Broady (Dixon Hughes PLLC), a former undergrad and graduate student of the Moore Business School. The chapter s initial goals were to provide distinguished African-Americans and other ethnic groups of color opportunities to associate and network with peers and accounting firms, regionally and nationally. We have since expanded those goals to include all business majors and have incorporated other corporations in our speaker series to give all minority business students the chance to associate with professionals in the business field. Over the past year, our chapter has been providing our members with phenomenal guest speakers from regional and national firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Grant Thornton LLP, and Ernst & Young LLP. Dixon Hughes, another corporate acquaintanceship, has provided sponsorship to the chapter for the past two years for approximately thirty students to attend the Southern Regional Student Conference in Atlanta to network and interview with professionals in the accounting profession as well as participate in breakout development sessions that help prepare our students for interviews, case studies, and graduate admissions tests. NABA is proud of its continuing contributions to the Carolina and Midlands community, and in time, globally. In January, we volunteered at the Harvest Hope Food Storage Center and God s Storehouse in conjunction with Carolina Service Council s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. We also annually donate canned goods to Harvest Hope for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. This year we will be participating in VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), providing free tax preparation services to low-income families in the Columbia area. For the Christmas 2009 season, NABA will be sponsoring a Books for the Holidays drive in conjunction with Golden Key International Honor Society in order to provide youth whom attend Title I elementary schools in the Richland County School District with a festive gift of holiday-themed literature. In the spring semester, our chapter is planning to sponsor a multi-organization endeavor with other groups in the business school to raise funds for charitywater, a non-profit organization that goes into impoverished regions of Africa to build wells to provide clean, drinking water for the citizens that reside in the milieu. Volunteering at EdVenture s Hallo- Wonka (l to r): Chad Peters, Krishna Anderson, and Jeremy Tucker Students at Richland County elementary schools enjoy being read a holiday story by NABA member, Deon Jacobs. While we are dedicated to immersing our members into the business profession, we also have a number of social events in which our members gather together in fellowship in a social atmosphere. We have had numerous events with our corporate guests and sponsoring professional chapter in the city, from Mellow Mushroom and Five Guys to Sushi Night at SakiTumi in the Vista. We also host an awards night in December recognizing our members of their accomplishments over the semester. From an initial gathering of seven students in 2007 to approximately thirty-five active members today, the association is well on its way to making an impact on the scope of business school student life here at the university and the professional services industry in future years to come. We are grateful for our triumphs thus far and know that we shall continue to thrive scholastically and professionally with the contributions and assistance provided by our corporate partners, faculty advisor, the School of Accounting, and alumni. Thank you for your continuing support! Warm regards, Chad Peters President National Association of Black Accountants University of South Carolina Chapter Chapter website for your viewing pleasure: studentorganizations/ nationalassociationofblackaccountants.aspx NABA Faculty Advisor Marcus Caylor NABA Officers President, Chad Peters Vice-President (Professionalism), Douglas Brown Vice-President (Social Initiatives), Justin Muller Treasurer, Kellie Hardee Secretary, Andrea Chapman Student Chapter Reporting, Laketta Milton MUSLC Representative, Krishna Anderson 9

10 Student Recognition Letter from the Beta Alpha Psi President D.J. Hill, Dear Alumni and Friends, At the regional conference: (l to r) Casey Andrews, Tiffany Davis, Joel Owens, David J. Hill, Brandon Holloway, and Matt Sigafoos. It has been a very productive year for the Gamma Beta chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. Our officers attended the southeast regional conference in Nashville, Tennessee in February of 2009 where they made a presentation on business etiquette, receiving great reviews from the students who attended their session. BAP s officers were also able to attend the national conference in Brooklyn, New York in August It was a great learning experience. Cason Brewer (Recording Secretary) participated in the Project-Run-With-It competition, where she was able to help a local non-profit in New York improve their financial position. Our chapter was once again given the Superior Chapter award in which we take great pride. We appreciate all of the hard work and time that our members contribute to help us earn the award. We had a great recruiting season once again. Many of our members and initiates were able to find internships and full-time positions with various accounting firms around the country. Twice each February we visit offices in Charlotte. We also visit firms in Greenville in September. This past year we were able to have great speakers attend our meetings and speak on various topics including office etiquette, the recruiting process, interviewing, career paths, and more. Regional firms also present at our meetings including Dixon Hughes, Elliott Davis, and Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, as well as all of the Big 4 (KPMG, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Ernst &Young). Other speakers included Grant Thornton and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Department. In September, we held a Meet The Firms Night to jump-start the recruiting season. It attracted eighteen firms from Columbia, Charlotte, Greenville, and Charleston. One of our most important attributes is giving back to the community. One of our most important activities is VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), through which we are able to assist lower income individuals prepare their income tax return. We remained involved with the Epworth Children s Home by playing basketball, dodge ball, and helping with the annual Halloween fair. Some other organizations that we worked with this past year included Harvest Hope Food Bank, the Salvation Army s Christmas Stocking Drive, Care Packages for the troops, and CROP Walk. We also provide tutoring to the lower-level accounting students. Many of our students are involved in various other ways around the community including coaching youth sports teams, service Saturdays with USC, and involvement with local schools. Our Dodgeball Team Spring 2009 (l to r): Geoffrey Patasse, Blake Howard, David J. Hill, Thomas Rickenbaker, Phil Wilkes, Matt Shoemaker, Kevin Via, and Jason Byrd. Fall and Spring charity golf tournaments raised over $2,000 with the proceeds going to the Palmetto Children s Hospital. We are very grateful to the professionals and professors who participated this past year. We hope to raise even more money next year. This year we also wanted to show how important community service was to our members by providing two $250 scholarships to members who had the most community service hours with Beta Alpha Psi. These awards went to Demetris Kyriacou and Peter Yiannikourous. We will continue this next semester and hope that it provides additional motivation to our members to get involved and stay involved with the community. As we get closer to the new year we are looking forward to all of the new initiates who we anticipate joining. Next semester we are requiring all of our members and initiates to complete at least 5 hours with VITA, so that we can provide the Columbia area with the most time possible to help file their returns. We are also going to be presenting at the regional meeting in Orlando, Florida in February This academic year we have increased our expectations and are attempting to win the Gold Status Chapter Award. In order to win the award we must present at the regional and national conferences as well as make a video of what our chapter accomplishes throughout the year. Our success is attributable to the great support we have received from the accounting community including professors, professionals, and alumni. We are very appreciative and look forward to your continued support! Sincerely, David J. Hill President, Beta Alpha Psi Faculty Advisor Caroline Strobel Beta Alpha Psi Officers President, David Hill Vice-President (Professional), Matt Sigafoos Vice-President (Social), Leslie Kendrick Treasurer, Lauren Deuell Recording Secretary, Cason Brewer Reporting Secretary, Michael Roglitz 10

11 Student Recognition School of Accounting Undergraduate Degrees During the academic year, 196 Accounting students obtained their undergraduate degrees. We are proud of each and every one of them for the hard work that brought them to this achievement. We congratulate them all! Fall 2008 Ronald J Buechel Katie K Campbell Adam C Cook Christopher R Cox Sarah L Cox Bridgett L Dorsey Erica J. Fields Jacob R Figg Brandon S Finn Jonathan E Flinchum Alison L Fortnum Kevin A Fountain Zachary T Fowler Bradley M Gainey Benjamin P Galaska Jessica E Gaskins Taylor M Gause Logan Goldstein Kenberly A Green Ryan M Hester Patrick H Holland Travis J Hoverman Lauren M Hubert Jennifer L Jameson Whitney N Jerz Robert M Kruk Amy E Larkin James R Lekovich Charlae M Lockhart Zachary L McCorkle Jefferson C Morris Maria A Navarro Heather M Powers Karen L Rivers Brittany L Salay Miriam L Scogin Denise M Snavely Keon A Stevenson Ashley R Sumter Joshua T Travis Megan K Traynham Dina C Vasquez Kimberly R Ward Faith S Weston Crystal B Wingard Kevin P Wise Bo Zhao Spring 2009 Rachel L Andal Casey M Andrews Keara J Attamante Kerri L Barringer Renee L Beaulieu Tiffany M Benjamin Jason M Berke Kyle A Brannon Roderick A Broady Rachel C Broniak Diana E Brown Ralph F Bryant Lauren A Burgess Harry E Burns Joseph C Chancey Judy W Chen Daniel A Colucci Ashley M Cross Jeanne M Curran Harris J Darvery Tiffany D Davis Sarah E Day Zachary A Dedonis Lauren M DePaul David A Donald Stephanie J Dunaway Allyson F Dwyer Michael T Estes Michael J Finnegan Brittney L Fleenor Tramaine C Foster Kara E Frost Rachel C Gann Russell C Gentry Colleen A Gibson Andrew S Glazier Robyn L Hager Fang Han Matthew E Haselden Laura S Hess Stephen C Hetherington David J Hill Kelley A Hopkins John M Huang Roxanne A Hutchinson Amanda D Jeffcoat John K Jefferson Destiny N Kelly Daniel A Kim Aaron T Krech Robert L Langley Christina M Lanthier Jesse M Marsh Thomas A Martin Ashley N Martinez Vanessa W McCutcheon Rachel D Meinecke Philip D Mescher Danielle M Michaud Jessica M Mingus Pallavi Mohun Elizabeth L Monteith Patrick B Moore Travis H Moran Sarah M Motley Keith A Musil Joel A Owens Hezouwe K Patasse Tiffany D Perkins Shannon G Phelps Kristin L Proffitt Sarah E Raleigh Kristin B Rawlins Meagan M Richards Michael A Rivera Sara L Roeth Joseph P Rosier Ashley S Schofield Ashlyn C Seymour Patrick C Sharpe Matthew L Shoemaker Brittany N Shook Michael W Shull Jacob M Smith Andrea N Solorzano David W Stark Magen F Starnes James G Steele Catherine E Stein Kimberly W Stroud Michelle R Swanson Dawn E Taylor Nicholas J Thomas Emily C Thompson Whitney C Thomson Amanda E Vanwyk Kevin A Via Meagen R Waites Zhu Wang Tamara R Wiggins Philip B Wilkes Chase K Williams Carly A Wilson Patrick C Wilson Michelle B Woodbury Summer 2009 Rebeka L Arrants Shannon O Attaway Claire J Baarcke Zachary B Bagwell James E Boatwright Raymond M Brown Evan A Carch Jessica R Coker Diana C Connelly Allison M Currier Charles W Felkel Margaret S Felkel Lauren R Floyd Zlatin T Gamishev Katelyn O Haarsgaard Sunnshyne D Harris Katherine E Harsey Trevor L Hartley John M Johnston Eva M Karageorgiou Melynda R Kesler Ryan H Labrooy Michael D Langley Courtney M Livington Brittany A Long Joseph P Mankovich Raymond J McKinney Matthew S Miller Erica L Nanke Sarah E Noone Amanda O Odom Christopher D Peake Steve M Petersen Addison B Potter Adam L Quattlebaum Joshua G Rabon John M Ridenhour Andrew W Saleeby Brandon S Thomas Leanne Y Travis Geordie E Ulmer Jessica M Wahr Thomas K Williams Matthew F Young 11

12 Student Recognition School of Accounting Graduate Degrees The Masters of Accountancy program offers degrees in two tracks: Business Measurement & Assurance (BMA) and Taxation. During the academic year, 79 graduate students completed these programs, attaining their Masters degree. These students work hard for their achievements and we are very proud of them all. Join us as we congratulate our Masters graduates! August 2008 Charles Coleman, BMA Rufus Dollar, TAX Susan Eidaon, TAX Paula Farrell, TAX Lindsay Gosnell, TAX Elizabeth Harvie, TAX Erin Kelley, BMA Sonia Lasoto, BMA Seung Jaae Oh, BMA Sarita Parvelker, BMA William Prevost, TAX Joshua Price, BMA Sharon Slider, BMA Kimberly Smith, TAX Thomas Stiffler, BMA Alan Taylor, TAX Alan Umbarger, BMA Audrea Watlington, BMA December 2008 Lauren Hubert, BMA Amy Larkin, BMA Zachary McCorkle, BMA Kevin Wise, TAX Bo Zhao, BMA May 2009 Kerri Barringer, BMA Renee Beaulieu, BMA Rodney Broady, BMA Rachel Broniak, TAX Fang Han, BMA Russell Gentry, TAX Amanda Jeffcoat, BMA Daniel Kim, TAX Vanessa McCutchen, TAX Philip Mescher, TAX Elizabeth Monteith, TAX Joel Owens, BMA Tiffany Perkins, BMA David Stark, BMA Magen Starnes, BMA Nicholas Thomas, TAX Meagen Waites, TAX August 2009 James Boatwright, BMA Raymond Brown, TAX Evan Carch, BMA Diana Connelly, TAX Allison Currier, TAX Charles Felkel, TAX Margaret Felkel, BMA Lauren Floyd, TAX Zlatin Gamishev, BMA Katelyn Harsgarrd, BMA Sunnshyne Harris, TAX Katie Harsey, TAX Trevor Hartley, BMA John Johnston, BMA Eva Karageorgio, BMA Melynda Kesler, TAX Michael Langley, BMA Courtney Livingston, TAX Brittany Long, BMA Raymond McKinney, TAX Matthew Miller, BMA Erica Nanke, TAX Sarah Noone, TAX Amanda Osborne, BMA Christopher Peake, BMA Steven Petersen, TAX Addison, Potter, BMA Adam Quattlebaum, BMA Joshua Granger, TAX John Ridenhour, TAX Andrew Saleeby, TAX Brandon Thomas, TAX LeAnna Travis (Young), TAX Geordie Ulmer, BMA Jessica Wahr, BMA Keith Thomas, BMA Matthew Franklin, BMA New Scholarship Opportunities! With the tight economy and rising cost of education, the news of new scholarship opportunities is always welcome. Beta Alpha Psi placed an emphasis on their commitment to community service when they decided to awards two $250 scholarships to their members with the largest number of hours committed to community service for an academic year. Demetris Kyriacou and Peter Yiannikourous received these awards for the academic year with 25 and 30 hours of community service, respectively. Beta Alpha Psi plans to continue this effort for the academic year. The Charlotte Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) developed the Financial Executives International Scholarship award which recognizes scholarship, leadership, character and the desire to work in the private sector in a deserving accounting or finance students. The award consists of a certificate, $500 cash award, and an invitation to the Scholarship Dinner at the Renaissance Charlotte South Park Hotel. FEI requests that a faculty member acquainted with the scholarship recipient accompany them to the dinner and, additionally, the recipient is allowed to invite two friends or family members to attend. For the academic year, Michele Woodbury received the Financial Executives International Scholarship award and was accompanied to the banquet by the School of Accounting assistant professor, Ted Rodgers. The FEI has already requested nominations for the scholarship award and we are looking forward to the announcement of its recipient. Read on for other scholarship award recipients! Rebeka Arrants, BMA Claire Baarcke, BMA 12

13 Student Recognition Accounting Scholarships With the need for scholarships ever increasing and the available funds at a premium, the competition for scholarships becomes more and more intense. Keeping this in mind, it is with great pleasure that we congratulate the hard work and tenacity of our Accounting students who received scholarships for the academic year. Continuing on their current path of excellence will only ensure them a bright future! Additionally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the individuals, organizations and firms who continue to recognize the efforts of our accounting students with the monetary awards that make these scholarships possible. Your investment in the futures of our students are sure to reap positive rewards! Beta Alpha Psi Community Service Awards Demetris Kyriacou Peter Yiannikourous Donald Cramer Fellowship Geordie E Ulmer Deloitte & Touche Scholarship Lisa Anne Hamer Samantha Howard Charles Owensby Dixon Hughes Annual Scholarship Rachel C Broniak Elliott Davis Scholarship Lauren R Floyd Robyn L Hager Ernst & Young Fellowship Kerri Barringer Michael Langley Financial Executives International Scholarship Michele Woodbury Institute of Management Accountants Scholarship Kelly Jewell Matt Sigafoos KPMG Peat Marwick Scholarship Julia K Easterby Kelley A Hopkins Bryan R Payne Steven Nicholson Accounting Scholarship William Putnam Scholarships & Fellowships Reed W Binder Joshua Coolidge Allison Currier Katherine Defer Charles W Felkel Russell C Gentry Amanda Jeffcoat Kelly N Jewell Eva Karageorgiou Justina J Kelly Raymond McKinney Famatta A Mensah Philip A Mescher Elizabeth (Liz) Monteith Kelly M Myers Lauren E Pender A C Pikramenos Adam Quattlebaum Joshua G Rabon Sarah E Raleigh John M Ridenhour Elizabeth Shealy Mackenzie Smith David W Stark, III Ryan F Staver Kayla A Vick Maria A Womack Andrew J Yosh Caroline D Strobel Scholarship Danae C English Patrick C Wilson Wachovia Scholars Business at Moore Douglas Brown Dennis Harris Kellen Miller John & Debbie Wentzell Scholarship Matthew Haselden W. H. Pickens, III 13

14 Student Recognition Accounting Doctoral Students Continue to Excel The Accounting doctoral program continues to grow and we are very excited about the opportunities available to current and up-coming students. We received two new doctoral students during the academic year and we are looking forward to adding additional students for the academic year. We are excited to introduce you to our current Accounting Doctoral students. Victoria Glackin Victoria received her B.S. in Accounting from Marist College and her M.S. in Taxation from SUNY-Albany. She was formerly employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers and D Arcangela & Company, LLP. Leigh Salzsieder Leigh received his B.A. in Accounting from Drury University and his M.B.A from the University of Kansas. He was formerly employed by Frederick, Rogers & Vaughn P.C. and BKD, LLP. Her research interests include behavioral tax research focusing on tax preparer aggressiveness and archival tax research focusing on corporate tax issues. His research interests include behavioral aspects and implications of preparing and using fair value measurements; compensation; and earnings management. Erin Hamilton Linda Quick Erin received both her B.B.A and her M.S in Accounting from Kent State University. She was formerly employed by Ernst & Young in Akron, OH. Her research interests include behavioral issues in auditing and information systems. Linda received both a B.S. in Managerial Finance and a B.S. in Accounting, along with an M.S. in Accounting from East Carolina University. She was formerly employed by J. Marion Crisp, CPA and KPMG, LLP. Her research interests include behavioral research in international accounting and auditing standards and issues related to the implementation of IFRS in the United States, along with auditor judgment and decision making. Bryan Stewart Bryan received his B.S. in Accounting from Utah State University and his M.S. in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame. He was formerly employed by Crowe Chizek and Company LLC and Clifton Gunderson LLP. He also founded Stewart Accounting Group. His research interests include psychological and economic factors in taxation, corporate governance, forensic accounting and behavioral science. Yu Tian Yu received her B.A. in English from Southwest Normal University, China and her Masters in Accounting from East Tennessee State University. Her research interests include judgment and decision making in managerial accounting and international accounting. Tammie Rech Tammie received her B.S. in Accounting and her M.B.A from Rockhurst University. She was formerly employed by Brian A. Lint, CPA and Pricewaterhouse- Coopers LLP. Her research interests include auditor behavior and decision making, auditor independence, forensic accounting, accounting standards setting, international accounting, and financial statement analysis. Lei Wang Lei received his B.A. in English from Henan University, China and his Master of Accountancy from East Tennessee State University. He was formerly employed by Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC and ValuePoint Consulting Group. His research interests include behavioral accounting issues in financial accounting and managerial accounting. 14

15 Student Recognition Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program Funded PhD Students The ADS Program is a scholarship for Accounting PhD students funded by many of the big firms and the AICPA. In fact, over 70 of the largest accounting firms and over 45 state CPA programs sponsor the ADS Program. The program sponsors are committed to helping address the shortage of accounting faculty by providing funding for the ADS Program and by encouraging members of their organizations to consider becoming accounting faculty members. In order to apply, program candidate must be CPA certified and meet the program requirements. Eligibility requirements include at least three years of public accounting experience in tax or auditing with at least a portion of that experience within the past three years; a commitment to apply for admission to a doctoral program in accounting at one or more of the ADS program participating universities to pursue auditing or tax as a reaching and research focus; a commitment to a career transition to teaching and research in auditing or tax at an AACSB International accredited university in the United States; and possession of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency. The candidates, which number in the hundreds, are then narrowed to approximately 60 for interviews in Chicago and approximately are chosen for a fully-funded PhD at one of the participating universities. Some participating universities did not receive one candidate for the academic year, so the School of Accounting is thrilled to welcome two ADS Program participants: Bryan Stewart and Tammie Rech. Bryan started the PhD program, with a concentration in Tax, in August He graduated from Utah State with a BS in Accounting and from Notre Dame with a Master in Accounting. He worked in the tax practice of Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, then was a tax manager in the Federal Tax Consulting Solutions Group of Clifton Gunderson LLP. In May 2007, Bryan founded Stewart Accounting Group in St. George, Utah. He is currently working on a paper with Scott Jackson and is looking forward to working on additional research projects with Rich White in the future. He has four children, ages 8 to 16 months, and is happy with his decision to move to Columbia, SC and attend the University of South Carolina Tammie Rech also started the PhD program, with a concentration in Audit, in August She is a graduate of Rockhurst University in Kansas City with a BS in Accounting as well as an MBA. She worked for a small public company doing primarily tax and bookkeeping during college and then worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor for 3 years. Tammie loves her choice to attend the University of South Carolina and says that it is particularly nice to have a group of people who genuinely want for her to succeed. She is currently working closely with Jennifer Winchel and Scott Vandervelde. We are excited to have both Bryan and Tammie and look forward to all the great work they will be doing in the coming years! For a more in-depth introduction to them both, read the Spotlight articles focusing on each of them in this issue. Doctoral Student Accomplishments In addition to our two Accounting Doctoral Scholars program participants named above, the School of Accounting boasts many doctoral students who are quite busy with teaching and research efforts that will surely garnish them many accolades in the future. Taking a moment to brag upon their accomplishment is a task we quite enjoy! In August 2009, third year PhD (Tax) student Vicki Glackin was asked to present her paper, Microanomie as an Explanation of Tax Fraud: A Preliminary Investigation at the American Accounting Association s annual conference in New York City. There were several thousand participants at the conference and Vicki had a good turn-out for her presentation which was well-received. In October 2009, Lei Wang presented a paper, Evaluating Earnings Credibility: Preliminary Result, co-authored by Brad Tuttle and Andrew Spicer, at the Accounting, Behavior and Organizations (ABO) research conference held in Seattle, Washington. The 2008 Graduate Student Teacher of the Year award was received by Leigh Salzsieder and the 2009 Graduate Student Teacher of the Year award was received by former accounting doctoral student, Vikram Sharma. Vikram is now teaching at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. 15

16 Student Recognition Student Spotlight: Bryan Stewart Bryan Stewart joins the University of South Carolina from Provo, Utah where he owned his own accounting firm. He obtained his Bachelors degree from Utah State University and his Masters degree from Notre Dame. Bryan had originally planned on attending law school, but on the way there, he fell in love with tax through an accounting internship. That was when he realized his true calling. After obtaining his Masters degree, Bryan worked for the national tax office of Crowe Chizek and Company LLC in Indiana, and also worked as a tax consulting manager for Clifton Gunderson LLP in Phoenix., AZ He moved back to Utah in 2007 to care for his grandfather and to open his own accounting firm, Stewart Accounting Group. Bryan met his wife, Keri, ten years ago when he was introduced to her by the roommate of a friend from high school. Currently Keri is a stay-at-home mom (which is not an easy job!) and previously worked as a travel agent. Bryan and Keri have four children: Thomas, 8; Mikaela, 6; Nathan, 5; and Emily, 18 months. Their children love South Carolina and have found that there are lots of kids to play with in Lexington. The family enjoys golf, watching football, and hosting bar-b-ques together. On his first day at Notre Dame, Bryan decided that he wanted to be a professor when he retired. While he originally post-poned his plans for a PhD degree to attend to family obligations, when he received a flyer for the Accounting Doctoral Scholars program, Keri decided it was time for Bryan to take a chance. (Behind every good man ) To meet the application deadlines, Bryan had to take the GMAT that very weekend! Keri was encouraging him to go for it and in order to make her happy, Bryan enrolled for the GMAT with the thought that there was no way he would get the ADS fellowship. Like all good wives, Keri was right and Bryan was wrong. Bryan received the ADS program scholarship and began looking for a university that was a good match for his academic and research endeavors. He first met with Brad Tuttle in Chicago at the American Accounting Association annual meeting. There he also interacted with faculty and former PhD students of the School of Accounting and decided that the University of South Carolina might be the right place for him. Shortly thereafter, Bryan interviewed for a PhD candidate position and was impressed by the faculty and their research. He knew that the University of South Carolina was to be his new home. Bryan is most comfortable in two situations: 1) talking accounting research and 2) with a tool belt around his waist. He has been interested in construction since he was ten years old, when he built a wall and placed the electrical outlets in the wrong place. Back when Bryan and Keri were dating, his mother decided to build a 2000 square foot multi-level addition to their home. She drew up the floor plans, hired a retired general contractor to supervise the project, and mom, Bryan and his little brother built the home addition. It was during this endeavor that Keri met his family for the first time. When Bryan was years old, he went on a 2 year mission trip in Uruguay where he helped improve the living conditions in the town where he stayed by running electrical lines, helping to clean up after tropical storms, and teaching the Gospel. Bryan is fluent in Spanish, thanks to a Bolivian missionary with whom he roomed during his training for missions work. With a wide range of experiences and talents, there are none who can accurately state that Bryan is not versatile! Bryan s ultimate goal is to gain tenure at a Tier 1 school and have the opportunity to teach students the ethical and moral responsibilities of accounting. He wants accounting majors to know that they can be successful and moral at the same time. The School of Accounting is very happy to have Bryan Stewart as part of our University family! Welcome, Bryan! 16

17 Student Recognition Student Spotlight: Tammie Rech Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Tammie attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City where she obtained her B.S. in Accounting and her MBA. She later moved to Saint Louis, Missouri, where she worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for three years before deciding to pursue her doctoral degree. Teaching has been part of Tammie s long term goals for quite some times, but when she heard about the Accounting Doctoral Scholars program, she decided it was time to move the goal forward on her list of priorities and see where this path would take her. Where it led was to the University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business and the School of Accounting s doctoral program. Tammie fell in love with accounting during her sophomore year at Rockhurst University. She took her first accounting class and found that it was logical and easy to follow. This sense of logic and the building block approach to accounting created an environment that appealed to Tammie after she had carefully considered and rejected Pre-Med, Law, Psychology, Spanish and Management as possible career paths. She also realized that accounting provided the most opportunities and led in the most directions for a student interested in a business major. Those opportunities were intriguing. While her father is an account executive and her mother dabbles in accounting in her job as a personal assistant to an entrepreneur, there are no true accountants in Tammie s family. There are also no teachers! In fact, all of her siblings (two sisters, one brother) are in the healthcare field, with one working as a neonatal intensive care nurse and two currently finishing their nursing degrees. But forging a new trail is not uncommon for Tammie. While her family could be considered short (her sisters and mother are all around 5 ), Tammie is tall. The rest of her family remains in Wichita, close to each other, but Tammie has the urge to explore other regions of the country. Add to this the choice of a completely new career path and it is easy to understand why her family teases her that perhaps she was switched at birth! All teasing aside, they are very close-knit and supportive of one another, which is a key to Tammie s current and future success. Tammie has a family of her own in the form of fiancée, Neal, and her new baby, Murphy, a 4 ½ month old Malti- Pom who arrived in her Christmas stocking a few months ago. Murphy loves to talk walks around the apartment complex and helps Tammie to fill her spare time. Tammie has less spare time lately, as Neal has finally moved to Columbia. Neal and Tammie met in 2006 when they were both working at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Wichita. Neal was hired by the St. Louis office and it was not too long thereafter that Tammie transferred, too, drawn by the needs of their client base (at least that is what she professes!). When Tammie joined the ADS program and moved to South Carolina to attend the University, they began searching for a way for Neal to also make the move. Luckily, Neal has a substantial client in Aiken, SC and he moved here a week ago to assist in some of their business matters. He will have to return to St. Louis for a short period of time once he wraps things up here, but he will be back to work out of PwC s Charlotte office. At that time, Tammie and Neal hope to make Rock Hill their home base, with a short commute for both of them to their daily destinations. Nervous about moving from the structure of the accounting firm to the freedom of academia, Tammie was happy to find that the same logic and structure that drew her to accounting was also part of the academic accounting world. Additionally, she was happy to find that the faculty in the School of Accounting were very friendly, genuine, and willing to help guide her on her new career path. She could not be happier with her new destination and is very much looking forward to the journey that begins in the School of Accounting. Tammie s short tem goals include a job at a top research university and to be a good teacher. She is very interested in behavioral audit research. Her long term goals include gaining tenure and starting a family. Almost forgot Tammie is planning on getting married the summer of 2011! We are very happy to have Tammie Rech as part of our School of Accounting family!! 17

18 Friends of Accounting Letter from Friends of Accounting (FAD) Chair, Dave Lewis Dear Alumni and Friends: I am excited to report that the Friends of the Accounting Department (FAD) Board continues to have a great working relationship with the School of Accounting (SOA) and USC accounting alumni. We have a great group of alumni serving on our Board this year. These young professionals are committed to helping the SOA as well as reshaping FAD for years to come. Our year began with the difficult decision to cancel the Bubba Boil and create an event that would be better suited for alumni, Faculty, firms and students. As fall recruiting starts earlier each year, the Bubba Boil s main purpose for recruiting became less significant to firms and students. Our Board spent the better part of a year soliciting ideas for a new event, accumulating different scenarios and time tables, and finalizing a new format for future years. We wanted to open the event to all senior level accounting and MACC students, and bring the event closer to campus as well as have it kick off the recruiting season by scheduling it in late August. We also made the decision to have the event catered to lighten the burden on Faculty and Board members. I am excited to say that we had a great turnout for the 1 st FAD Fall Kickoff in August 2009 and we received positive feedback from those in attendance. I would especially like to thank our past Board Chairman, Denise Gunter and our Events Committee Chair, Alex Counts for all their time spent on this event as well as the Executive Committee for getting this new event shaped and structured. Another area FAD worked on this past year was resurrecting the mentoring program. Mariah Lynch stepped in and spearheaded the effort to match accounting students with accounting professionals. We were very excited about the number of student applications received but did not have enough professionals to be mentors. Our goal is to have a mentor for each student and match their area of interest (tax, audit, corporate) to the mentor. If you would be interested in being a mentor please contact Mariah Lynch at mariah.lynch@moore.sc.edu or visit the USC Moore School of Business, School of Accounting mentoring website - academicsandresearch/majorsoffered/accounting/mentoringprogram.aspx I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tim Doupnik for his tireless efforts in working with the Board and Executive Committee. Tim has a lot on his plate at the SOA, but he is always there to help guide us. The Board wouldn t be as effective without him, and speaking for the entire Board, we d all like to say thanks! In closing, I would encourage you to become active with the USC School of Accounting and be a supporter of FAD. There are several areas where you can volunteer: 1) Become a FAD Board member, 2) Join the mentoring program, 3) Attend the FAD Fall Kickoff social and other FAD events or 4) Make a contribution to the SOA. We have many firms represented on the FAD Board this year and it is encouraging to see all the alumni that have volunteered their time to help the School of Accounting. Warmest regards, Dave Lewis, Chairman, FAD Friends of Accounting (FAD) Board David Lewis Chair Cox Industries Stacy Stokes Vice-Chair Elliott Davis, LLC Alex Counts Treasurer SC Adjutant General s Office Sharon Mann Secretary General Information Services, Inc. Denise Gunter Past Chair Bauknight, Pietras & Stormer, PA Trey Ackerman Dixon Hughes PLLC Katie Conner Bogan PricewaterhouseCoopers C. Mark Bokesch Burkett, Burkett, & Burkett Kristie Cross Palmetto Health Thomas Duncan Grant Thornton LLP Michael A. Ek Mark Fryer Graham Gage Timothy P. Gallagher Kyle C. Harrelson Artie Hughes Steve Luoma Sarah McGregor Billie Kay Morris Jimmy Sfiris Michael Slapnik David Ward American and Efird Davis Garvin Ernst & Young Grant Thornton, LLP Deloitte & Touche, LLP Wilbur Smith Associates McGregor & Company LLP Cherry Bekaert Holland SCANA Corporation KPMG Peat Marwick Scott McElveen, LLP Bauknight, Pietras & Stormer, PA 18

19 Private Gifts & Support School of Accounting Supporters The School of Accounting is grateful for all of its financial supporters those who are alumni, former teachers, current teachers, accounting professionals and firms, and those who consider themselves to be our friends. Without your support, we would not be able to provide scholarships for accounting students, gift professors with research funds, nor maintain the most up-to-date technology and software for teaching our students. In these tight economic times, with our state budget funds already cut and expecting more, your support feeds our persistence. We cannot thank you enough!! Individual Contributions Up to $499 Joan H Anderson Philip N Anderson Thomas C Anderson Mary H Androne Jeffrey M Bailey Allyson S Bartley Beverly H Bergeron Edwards L Boyd Deborah Brumbaugh Clyde E Buchanan James Jimmy Burkett Marcus L Caylor Mark Cecchini Kam Chu Chank Lisa S Cooke Robert Cooper Kenneth M Corbett David L Cox Kristie H Cross John T Drawdy Ashley N Dubler Michael A Ek D Joshua Elliott Kelly S Elliott Diana Falsetta Stanley G Freeman Courtney Fretheim Scott W Fretheim Timothy Gallagher Ronda S Gardner Julia H Gilbert Glenn F Givens Frederick J Golod Mitzi R Golod Maria S Gray Daryl M Guffey Denise R Gunter Brando Hamilton Elizabeth L Hansen Raymond L Hendrix John B Heron Barbara C Hevener Arthur T Hughes Thomas M Hughes Donald Hunter Richard L Jordan Melinda D Latham Derek M Lewis Diana H Little William P Lundy Steve Menchinger Barry F Meyers Shirley A Miller Linda M Mooney Vincent P Mooney Rufus A Moore Mary E Palker Michael L Postch Michael P Ravan Byron Sonner Marjorie D Sonner Earl A Spiller Elinor A Spiller Zachary D Stern Vera L Stewart Donna D Sullivan Robert E Sullivan Roger H Timpson Brad M Tuttle Ann K Tyler John R Ureda Sue F Ureda James Vaughan Dennis L Wade Susan W Watts Eldora T Whitcomb Eugene A White Richard A White Joan F Wilburn Henry J Williams Jennifer L Winchel Robert A Wright $500-$999 Anonymous Mark E Ballew Sheila S Cregger Rebecca A Kerr Patrick M Lardner Robert A Leitch Thomas J Lopez Theodore Rodgers Philip R Snipes Scott D Vandervelde David N Vannort Phyllis C Vannort Charles Wentzell Deborah A Wentzell $1000-$2500 Ronald Jason Caskey Helen I Cramer Timothy S Doupnik Alva C Fennell Scott Jackson Andrew W Parks Caroline Strobel $5000 and up Evelyn Brittingham Raymond Caughman Corporate and Firm Contributions Up to $499 AT&T Higher Education Rob Jordan Talent Management Inc. V&J Emergency Services $500-$999 Conoco-Phillips Co. $ Deloitte & Touche Foundation Grant Thornton Foundation $2500-$5000 Scott McElveen LLP Over $10,000 Brittingham Brown Prince & Hancock LLP Dixon Hughes PLLC Elliott Davis LLC 19

20 Alumni Recognition 2009 FAD Fall Kickoff Friends of Accounting (FAD) sponsored its new fall social event on Thursday, August 27, 2009 at the University House. The social began at 5:30PM, followed by a casual BBQ dinner catered by Blue Marlin Signature Catering at 6:30PM. The FAD Fall Kick-off gave students an opportunity to mingle with accounting professionals, professors, and alumni in a setting close to campus, which allowed more individuals the opportunity to attend. There was a great turn-out for the event and the feedback was very positive! Although many old-timers will miss the famous Bubba Boil, the FAD Fall Kick-off was a huge success! We look forward to the beginning of the 2010 recruiting season! A Special Thanks goes to Denise Gunter and Alex Counts for all their planning efforts and hard work to make this event a success! PhD Alumni Hold Reunion in New York In August 2009, in conjunction with the American Accounting Association mid-year meeting in New York, the School of Accounting s PhD alumni decided to meet to catch up on career and personal success stories. Brad Tuttle, director of the Accounting PhD program, coordinated the reunion, and with the help of Vicki Glackin, a current PhD student, was able to contact the majority of our former doctoral students. The group decided to meet at Carnegie Deli and those in attendance had a wonderful time reconnecting with old faces and old friends. Those in attendance included Robin Pennington, Kelvin Liu, Yi-Jing Wu, Julia Higgs, Susan Swanger, Clarence Coleman, Mitch McGhee, Dutch Fayard, Diana Falsetta, Natalie Churyk, Debra Salbador, Elsie Ameen, Maura Kurtz, Joung Kim, and Larry Sease. The general conclusion was that they should not wait so long to do this again! The familiar and famous faces were not only on the walls this past summer as the School of Accounting s doctoral alumni met at Carnegie Deli to eat, talk, and reacquaint themselves with old friends. These smiling faces are the evidence that all enjoyed the event. Alumni News The School of Accounting is always excited to hear from our alumni undergraduate, graduate and doctoral and, unfortunately, we do not hear from them enough. We are very proud of your successes, both professional and personal. So, please, send us your news, let us know how you are, by ing us at reflections@moore.sc.edu. We would love to hear from you!! Rommel Caldas (MACC, 08) is currently working at KPMG LLP and passed all parts of the CPA exam on his first try the first part (BEC) in May 2008 and the last part (FAR) in January He has since passed the Ethics exam and is accumulating his one year experience requirement in order to obtain his CPA license. Congratulations, Rommel! Karl Wang (PhD, 03) received tenure from the University of Mississippi in 2009 and had a sole-authored paper accepted by Behavioral Research in Accounting to be published early We are all proud of Karl! Zlatin Gamishev (MACC, 09) is currently working at KPMG LLP and participated in their international training program in Rome, Italy this past year. We hope that the program went well for you, Zlatin, and that you enjoyed Italy! 20