Department Planning Assessment/Program Review Business Administration & Accounting Department Fall 2014

Transcription

1 Part I: Goals and Objectives Department Planning Assessment/Program Review Business Administration & Accounting Department Fall What are the department s annual goals? How do they align with the college mission statement and the Santa Ana College Strategic Plan? College Mission Statement: The mission of Santa Ana College is to be a leader and partner in meeting the intellectual, cultural, technological and workforce development needs of our diverse community. Santa Ana College provides access and equity in a dynamic learning environment that prepares students for transfer, careers and lifelong intellectual pursuits in a global community. Business administration and Accounting Department Mission Statement: The mission of the Business Administration and Accounting department at Santa Ana College is to be a leader among community colleges in preparing our diverse student body for tomorrow s dynamic and technology-driven business world through degrees & certificates, transfer and employment. Our Department s strategic plan, in line with the mission and strategic plan of the College is to prepare our students to transfer and to gain employment in the business world. In order to accomplish that plan, our annual goals are as follows: Goal 1: a. To prepare transfer students to successfully pursue a business degree at a four-year institution by providing excellent and rigorous curriculum. b. To expand/improve course offerings that will enable students to acquire career skills in the areas of accounting and finance at the associate degree level. Goal 2: a. To expand our online course offerings in order to meet the needs of students whose work and family commitments make it difficult to attend college in a traditional classroom. b. To increase our student s exposure and use of technology in a business environment. Goal 3: a. To expand/improve course offerings that will allow students to obtain knowledge and hands-on experience in the area of taxation. Goal 4: a. To hire and promote exceptional faculty and to maintain the excellence of our faculty through faculty participation at professional development activities and through department/division/college dialogue. Goal 5: a. To increase student success and completion rates in all our programs. 1

2 Goal 6: a. To expand/improve course offerings that will enable students to acquire career skills in the areas of commercial accounting software. Goal 7 a. To enhance and expand contacts with the business community to provide employment opportunities to our students. Goal 8 a. To enhance students verbal and written communication skills. We believe these goals align well with the Mission Statement and the Strategic Plan of Santa Ana College. 2. What progress has been made toward the department s goals in the last four years? What causes can be identified? I. Goal 1: To prepare transfer students to successfully pursue a business degree at a four-year institution by providing excellent and rigorous curriculum AND to expand/improve course offerings that will enable students to acquire career skills in the areas of accounting and finance at the associate degree level. Progress made towards Goal 1: In 2012, we were approved by the State CI-D to offer the Associate of Science Degree for Transfer (AS-T) in Business Administration. The Business Administration degree is an interdisciplinary degree that includes accounting classes as well as classes from business, economics and math. With the help of our colleagues from the other departments, we worked tirelessly to sustain and improve the pathways for our students to earn this degree. Since its approval, our College conferred the AS-T degree to our students for the first time in Many of our student transfer to the CSU system and this degree gives them an added advantage for transfer and accordingly, many of our students are now seeking the AS- T degree in lieu of the AS degree in BA. In addition, our faculty and staff increased support and awareness to our students to earn degrees in all of our programs and certificates through increased faculty-to-student advisement, department-wide announcements, oneon-one counseling and administrative assistance in regards to the completion process. Our efforts have paid off as seen by the following results: 1) Business Administration AA and AS-T degrees awarded increase from 89 in to 133 in AN INCREASE OF 44.4% or 44 degrees. 2) Certificates of Completion in Accounting, which includes but not limited to General Accounting, SAGE (formerly MAS 90), QuickBooks, Enrolled Agent certificates and others, increased from 35 in to 42 in AN INCREASE OF 20.0% or 7 degrees. 3) Accounting AA degree has remained fairly constant due to more students pursuing 2

3 the AS-T in Business Administration degree. The number of degrees varied for accounting degrees from a low of 12 to a high of 24 over the periods between the years to Year , we awarded 15 degrees. AN INCREASE OF 25.0% or 3 degrees. Detailed information for all degrees and certificates awarded by our department over the last 5 academic years can be seen in a table summarized under QUESTION # 9 see table. II. Goal 2: To expand our online course offerings in order to meet the needs of students whose work and family commitments make it difficult to attend college in a traditional classroom and to increase our student s exposure and use of technology in a business environment. Progress made towards Goal 2: In Fall 2014, an online Business Administration AS-T degree was launched as well as an online program to prepare students for transfer in Business Administration major to CSUF. Professor Kushida of our Distance Education office established the programs by working with the CSU online program faculty. We offered the first 8-week online ACCOUNTING 101 class this fall. Both of the online Business Administration programs require that we offer 8-week online courses in ACCOUNTING 101 AND ACCOUNTING 102 along with the other courses in the major in a pre determined sequence. On October 17, 2014, the ACCOUNTING 101 class concluded with the successful completions by some exceptionally motivated and talented students. There are currently 25 students in the Pathways for Business Administration major (15 in the 2-year AS-T degree program, and 10 in the major preparation program.) The preparation for the 8-week online ACCOUNTING 102 class is presently in progress and will be offered in Spring The table below shows the pathways for the online Business Administration major preparation program currently underway: Fall 2014 Courses 1 st 8-weeks Accounting 101 Financial Accounting 4 Economics 120 Principles of Macroeconomics 3 Units 2 nd 8-weeks Business 150 Intro. to Info. Systems & App. 3 Business 222 Business Writing 3 Spring st 8-weeks Accounting 102 Managerial Accounting 4 Economics 121 Principles of Microeconomics 3 2 nd 8-weeks Business 105 Legal Environment of Business 3 Mathematics 150** Calculus for Bio/Mgmt/Soc Sci 4 Total Transferable Units 27 On one of the questions of the student survey we conducted with over 548 students responding 3

4 to the question, a significant number of the students indicated that they needed online or hybrid classes. 103 students answered that they needed online only classes while 87students wanted hybrid classes. Those numbers in total make up 35 % of the total student surveyed. The Business Administration and Accounting department offer a rich selection of classes online. Our department has worked determinedly to realize our goals of expanding and improving our online course offering to assist our student population who are working many hours and also working towards their degree and/or have returned to improve their job skills and/or to become more marketable. Our faculty was one of the first groups to be certified by the Distance Education office to teach online. As of fall 2014, we have 2 full-time and 5 part-time faculty who are certified to teach online with one part-time faculty presently completing the certification process. We will be well poised to offer additional classes online in order to meet the increased demand for online classes and programs for our students. STUDENT SURVEY Below is a summary of our current online course offerings: Courses Units Number of sections Accounting 101 Financial Accounting 4 2 Accounting 102 Managerial Accounting 4 2 Accounting 104 Federal and California Taxes 4 2 Accounting 035 QuickBooks 2 2 Accounting 032 Payroll Accounting 1 1 Business 130 Personal Finance 3 1 Business 140 Corporate Finance 3 1 Business 160 Investments and Stock 3 1 Accounting 113* Corporate Taxes 2 1 Accounting 114* Partnership and S Corporation Taxes 2 1 *To be offered beginning in Fall

5 As for our goal to give our students exposure and hands-on experience with the latest technology in the classroom, we have made some strides as a result of our increased use of technology in the classroom. However, we have not been able to provide the state-of-the-art equipment and the latest software and hardware due to lack of resources (see more on this under Program Needs under Question #5). III. Goal 3: To expand/improve course offerings that will allow students to obtain knowledge and hands-on experience in the area of taxation. Progress made towards Goal 3: During last 4 year period, we have expanded our course offering in our tax program by offering additional ACCOUNTING 104 classes (3 sections per semester at this time) and revising our tax program to include ACCOUNTING 113 AND 114, which are both 2 unit classes and offered in 8- week sessions. This helps our professional tax students to meet their continuing education credit needs to maintain their professional license with CTEC (which require a 20 hour course). Furthermore, as mentioned above under Goal 2, we will be offering ACCTOUNTING 113 and 114 ONLINE beginning in Fall We have also added to our existing tax faculty, two new adjuncts: Professors Viersen and Sung. Both faculty members have extensive tax backgrounds in both academia and professional work experience. Professor Viersen is a full-time faculty member of Mira Costa and a CPA who specializes in tax and Professor Sung is employed with the IRS presently, a CPA, and holds a law degree. She has a wide-range of experiences with tax. Lastly, our department has increased the number of Enrolled Agent Certificates awarded from 0 to 7 in to (Under QUESTION # 9 see table.) IV. Goal 4: To hire and promote exceptional faculty and through faculty participation at professional development activities and through department/division/college dialogue, maintain the excellence of our current faculty. Progress made towards Goal 4: In 2014, we added a new faculty member to our department: Professor Mark McCallick. He is a CPA and a CGMA who comes to SAC with a wealth of industry and professional experience behind him. He has also been teaching for our department as an adjunct for several years. We will leverage his industry experience and community business connections and his computerized accounting software knowledge to grow our current and future programs. The current faculty in our department continues to stay up to date with the latest in accounting and business education trends and requirements by attending industry conferences as often as resources allow. Most recently attended was the TEACHERS OF ACCOUNTING, TWO YEAR COLLEGES (TACTYC) in May 2014 in New Orleans. During the last 4 years, some of the conferences attended include the IRS TAX FORUM, AICPA conferences on GAAP, TAX and ACCOUNTING CHANGES as well as additional 5

6 attendance at TACTYC. In addition, please see the discussion above under Goal 3 in regards to new adjunct tax faculty and under Goal 2 regarding Distance Education certifications. V. Goal 5: To increase student success and completion rates in all our programs. Progress made towards Goal 5: In fall 2009, the Accounting department had a retention rate of 76%. Over the last 5 years, retention rates ranged between 67% and 77%. In fall 2009, our success rate was 62% with the success rates over the next 5 years ranging from 56% to 69%. Our faculty has worked diligently to increase the success and retention rates of our department by implementing several pedagogical changes and intervention. As a result, the rates of success and retention have climbed steadily, resulting in fall 2013 of success and retention rates of 69% and 77%, respectively. Please refer to the TABLE AND GRAPH below under QUESTION #9 for both success and retention rates from 2009 through VI. Goal 6: To expand/improve course offerings that will enable students to acquire career skills in the areas of commercial accounting software. Progress toward Goal 6: Santa Ana College s current offerings in QuickBooks courses continue to be very successful, well received by students and faculty and most importantly, practical for Santa Ana students in gaining critical skills that can translate into meaningful employment in the marketplace. According to Intuit, the publisher of QuickBooks software, QuickBooks currently has 75% to 80% of the small business market. In addition, our internship coordinator Theresa Hagelbarger indicates that significant number of the positions for internship either requires or prefers a candidate with QuickBooks knowledge. In order for our students to be able to meet the demands of this strong prevalence in the market, we will be expanding our current QuickBooks courses to include courses and a course-track that will lead to students being prepared to successfully pass the Intuit QuickBooks Certified User exam and receive a Certificate indicating successful completion of the exam. The certificate demonstrates that a student is competent in QuickBooks. The Certification test is proctored and potential employers can even verify certification online. We strongly believe that augmenting our strong current course offerings in QuickBooks and adding a component that will lead to the QuickBooks Certified User Certificate will give our students excellent skills and make them very competitive in the workplace. It is our goal to have the business community look to Santa Ana College for excellently trained and certified candidates who will be ready to fill the employer s entry level accounting employment needs. The survey results below indicate that our current Faculty and Student strongly support Santa Ana College s QuickBooks courses and programs. 6

7 Faculty Survey 2014 Student Survey 2014 VII. Goals 7 & 8: To enhance and expand contacts with the business community to provide employment opportunities to our students and to enhance students verbal and written communication skills. Progress towards Goals 7 & 8: We have made some progress towards these goals although not as considerably has we had hoped. With the help of our internship coordinator, we have been able to provide some employment opportunities for our students. However, we would like to do more and continue to find community business partners to help our students gain entry into the business world. Our course curriculum has been reviewed to focus more on communication skills. All of our curricula were reviewed to include required reading and writing assignments as well as group projects that require presentation skills in our core business and accounting classes. We provide students with incentives to read before class by giving extra credit opportunities to complete a pre-class assignment after the reading. In some of our classes, a writing journal is required and in both core accounting classes, students are required to write their responses to the ethics cases. 7

8 All of us in the department share with our students, the importance of excellent communication skills in the business world and in life. Our students are encouraged by our safe and nurturing classroom environment to speak up in class and to work in groups of their peers for discussions and problem solving. Although we will continue to do more, we are making significant but steady strides to improve communication skills of our students. This is indirectly evident in the increased success rates of all of our students across the programs. 3. Do goals need to be restructured, eliminated or pursued with different activities? Many of our goals from the previous assessment have been met or are currently making significant progress. However, much is still left to be done while our improvement process is on-going. Each year, our department evaluates our current goals and makes necessary adjustments to improve and enhance our program as well as student success. We will continue to do so in the coming periods. 4. What are the proposed goals for next year? Please SEE QUESTION #18 below The proposed goals have been combined into the answer for Questions #18 &b #19. Part II: Student and Program Success 5. What are the strengths of the program? What improvements does it need? PROGRAM STRENGTHS: The Santa Ana College Business Administration and Accounting department provides our students with a strong and relevant academic foundation in both business administration and accounting. The Business Administration and Accounting Department s strengths include an excellent and dedicated faculty, a rigorous and current business administration and accounting curriculum that fosters student success, a diverse student body that enrich the academic experiences, and an academic culture and environment that supports student learning that lead to accomplishments both in the classroom and in the work environment. I. Outstanding Business Administration and Accounting Programs. Those in our college community, including students and faculty as well as our four-year university partners and community business leaders and owners consistently rate our programs as excellent and rigorous. Our curriculum includes financial and managerial accounting classes, as well as programs in bookkeeping and computerized accounting software. Our programs include tax courses approved by the California Tax Education Council (CTEC) to obtain the tax preparer s certificate as well as the more advanced Enrolled Agent program. We offer certificates in Quick Books, Sage and MS Dynamics. We have courses in banking, investments and personal and corporate finance including certificate in personal finance. 8

9 The curriculum reflects the rapidly changing business and accounting landscape of today, including various accounting and business software and concepts. We continue to develop programs and courses that meet the needs of the demanding and fast-paced business world of today. 85% of our students who responded to the Student Survey rated the Business Administration and Accounting department as Excellent or Good in effectiveness and quality, with 34% of the students (185 students ) rating our department as EXCELLENT. In addition, 92% of our faculty strongly agreed or agreed that we did an excellent job of preparing our students for 4 year universities and 83% of our faculty strongly agreed or agreed that we did an excellent job in preparing our students for the work-place. Our program is one of the largest community colleges in Orange County in transfer to business majors at CSU Fullerton (CSUF), CSU Long Beach (CSULB) and other local colleges. Of 547 students surveyed, 406 students (74%) indicated that they will be transferring to either CSUF or CSULB. Business Administration and Accounting degrees combined are the largest number of degrees awarded at Santa Ana College other than liberal studies. In addition, we now offer AS-T degree in Business Administration which is also available entirely online. (SEE THE STUDENT SURVEY RESULT BELOW) II. Excellent and Dedicated Faculty Currently, there are 2 full-time faculty and 15 to 17 adjunct faculty members in our department. All of our faculty possess richly varied backgrounds with extensive experience in all areas of business, including public accounting, the IRS, banking, private tax practices, enrolled agents, corporate and personal finance, and CFO s of various local industries. Both of our full- 9

10 time and many of the adjunct faculty are Certified Public Accountants and many have MBA s and other advanced degrees in business, law and education. Our faculty is actively involved in leadership positions in and around the community and have published textbooks and other subject related learning/teaching materials that are used not just at Santa Ana College but across business programs in the U.S. Our faculty members are well versed in the business world. They are intricately involved in business and the technology that is brought into the classroom in various ways, and articulated throughout our curriculum. We have faculty who are innovative, nurturing and motivated, and who work closely with students to foster classroom success and real world results. In Fall 2014, our department will be making a formal request to the Academic Senate Faculty Priorities Committee and administration to hire a new faculty member to replace a faculty member who retired in III. Diverse Motivated Student Population The student body reflected in the business administration/accounting department mirrors the very diverse community that is served by Santa Ana College. We believe that the diversity and the multiplicity of the various economic, ethnic and racial groups that we serve in our program provide our students with a richer environment for learning. In sampling the diverse population of Santa Ana College students, we used the statistics for the fall semester of 2013 as an example. However, previous and subsequent student populations are similar to the example in both makeup and proportion. The student body of Santa Ana College for fall of 2013 was as follows: (RSCCD research department): We also surveyed our students where they were asked to self identify what type of student 10

11 they were. Not surprisingly, over 46 % of our students are full time students while working part or full time jobs. An additional 30% of our students said that they cannot attend school full time due to work and family obligations. 17% of our students are returning to school after a career or to change careers while 14% were acquiring skills to enhance their careers. Below is the survey result: Student Survey 2014: PROGRAM CHALLENGS: The Santa Ana College Business Administration and Accounting department have several challenges to overcome. In order to meet our goals to provide excellent, rigorous and current business administration and accounting curriculum and increase student success and retention, we need to enhance student services in tutoring and homework assistance, attain the latest, most up-to-date technology in the classroom and additional full-time faculty. Additional challenge is that a good portion of our students in accounting classes are interested in (a) transferring only, (2) job skills or skills enhancement, (3), obtaining one or two classes to augment their lower division requirements or (4) are students from other colleges who will ultimately earn degrees at their home schools. This information is important to keep in mind while we assess our programs and research program numbers because we are here to serve all students; not just the degree or certificate seekers. I. NEED FOR ACCOUNTING TUTORS AND HOMEWORK LAB Among 534 students surveyed, the most desired resource needs were TUTORING and HOMEWORK HELP LAB. In addition, when students surveyed were asked what EXISTING recourses they used, 201 or 37% of the students said they used the tutoring services. Currently, we have one accounting tutor who works 25 hours per week. Just in ACCOUNTING 101 AND 102 classes alone, we have over 530 students enrolled (this is based on the approximate enrollment numbers in ACCOUNTING 101 AND 102 classes in 11

12 Student Survey 2014: the 7 th week of the semester). At this time, the tutor can only accommodate a maximum of 50 students per week. This lack of tutoring resource is resulting in an enormous void for those student you are most vulnerable to failure. See the STUDENT AND FACULTY survey results: Student Survey 2014: 12

13 FACULTY Survey 2014: Students require more TUTORING to be successful in their ACCOUNTING classes. The students also need HOMEWORK ASSISTANCE. A DEDICATED TUTOR OR HOMEWORK STUDY LAB for accounting is absolutely needed to help our students succeed. This would increase success rates, improve persistence in all of our accounting and business classes. Students have also expressed, in addition to more, these services need to be available when THEY NEED IT MOST evenings and weekends as well as online. Generally, the 25 hours that tutoring is available is between 10 am and 5 pm on weekdays only. II. Need for the LASTEST TECHNOLOGY in the Classrooms Our department missions statement states, is to be a leader among community colleges in preparing our diverse student body for tomorrow s dynamic and technology-driven business world. The College mission statement also states, The mission of Santa Ana College is to be a leader and partner in meeting the intellectual, cultural, technological and workforce development needs of our diverse community. We are preparing our students to work and succeed in an environment where knowledge and experience of the most up-to-date technology is not just important but requisite. Our classrooms must give our students that necessary exposure and familiarity by being equipped with the newest in computers and software. Our current classrooms, those that have computer equipment are nearly 10 years old. These machines are not able to provide our students with the modern classroom environment and do not adequately meet the technology needs of our business students. 22% of the 534 students surveyed agreed with this assessment by indicating that we need newer and better technology in the classroom to assist them in their success. (See SURVEY RESULTS ABOVE) 13

14 III. Need for new full-time faculty and increased faculty development & training: Business and accounting is one of the most dynamic disciplines. Because of new standards and legislation, as well as changing technology and the global business environment, our faculty must continue to stay current and educated in the discipline. This is of critical importance in educating our students in the most recent developments in business, as well as creating programs that are relevant to our students. Our department lost 2 of the 3 full-time faculty members in the last three years. One new faulty member was hired in 2014 (as discussed above under QUESTION #2) but we need to hire more. Additional full-time faculty members are needed to ensure that our department continues to deliver its excellent, current and rigorous programs to our students, who deserve the very best in business education. Most often, our dedicated faculty not only instructs our students in the core business curriculum but become advisors, mentors and lifelong models for our business students. IV. Many of our students will not be pursuing a degree or certificate at SAC. Many of our students attend classes to assist them with their professional development including tax, computerized accounting, and finance courses. Our great success with each of our students is not always measurable in the number of degrees and certificates awarded because of the following reasons: As our recent 2014 Student Survey indicates, many of our students attend our program to transfer to a four-year program. Many students are taking classes (especially ACCT 101 & ACCT 102) to fulfill the lower business administration course requirements. Also, many of our students who are enrolled in ACCT 101 or ACCT 102 classes are concurrently enrolled at a four-year institution or at another community college. These students transfer, but are do not obtain a degree/certificate at SAC. A. A large number of the students in our accounting courses already have earned their BA/BS degrees and are taking the courses to change careers, to takethe CPA exams or for personal enrichment. B. Our survey also indicates that 171 out of 553 students surveyed were taking classes here from other colleges, most of them from SCC. C. Students who are taking computerized accounting courses in many cases are either already employed or looking to gain a specific skill in order to find immediate employment. (ALSO SEE STUDENT SURVEY IN QUESTION#7 below). 14

15 STUDENT SURVEY What are the faculty s perceptions of the success of the program? We have a pool of dedicated and talented faculty with expertise in the business world with various industries. Our faculty meets regularly to discuss student learning outcomes and curriculum development related to their classes and their subject expertise. Most of our adjunct faculty have thriving concurrent careers in the accounting, tax, business consulting and other private businesses. Many of them are a part of our advisory group and provide valuable input to our courses and programs. Our recent faculty survey indicates that our faculty believes that we have a very strong program that will prepare our students to transfer and succeed at a four-year institution as well as be very well prepared to work in the business environment. FACULTY SURVEY

16 FACULTY SURVEY What are opinions of students regarding the program s quality? Upon what variables is this based? The students consistently rate our professors (through student evaluations and via online rating tools) as very strong and very effective. Our programs continue to have high demand and strong enrollment. Our students come from not just our constituency but many are referred from out of our district by other students, faculty, local businesses and other college counselors. Additional variables used to evaluate students opinions consist of surveys conducted by faculty within course evaluations and course surveys. Our faculty continues to foster mentoring relationships with students and to encourage success and persistence. Our faculty advises our students on academic plans, classes, transfer opportunities, scholarships and employment. We believe that our business, accounting, tax and finance classes are of exceptional quality as evidenced by our continued success and student demand. The following student survey results are based on surveys conducted in our entire department. Over 550 students responded, but some answered course specific questions within the survey. We surveyed all but one of our course offerings, which represents approximately 98% of the students enrolled in our courses. In some cases, not all questions were answered due to nonapplicability. Overall, 85% of our students who responded rated the Business Administration and Accounting department as Excellent or Good in effectiveness and quality, with 34% of the students (185 students ) rating our department as EXCELLENT. Survey Question: How would you evaluate the effectiveness and quality of the SAC Business Administration and Accounting department? STUDENT SURVEY

17 Additionally, here is a sample of comments from our students on this question: I think it's really good I just wished there was tutoring offered on weekends or evenings just because I'm a single mom and I work full time so it's really hard for me to get days off during the weekdays. I enjoy the step by step and the "Intro" of each chapter provided by the instructor of the ACCT 035 (Jennifer Anderson). It allows me to understand what I am trying to accomplish and why I would need to accomplish it in a work setting. Overall a good learning experience. It is overwhelming at time but in the long run good for me to know more. Having instructors that are flexible and yet stern to instill discipline Good because Professor Trone has done an excellent job. My professor Mark McCallick is very clear and covers the class material efficiently. Experience instructors with their own business that uses their real business as metaphors for us to comprehend the material In another question on the survey, we identified ways in which the students chose our program and classes. Many (358 students) either live in our community or conducted online research. Additionally, over 171 students out of 550 or 31% of the students came from SCC. In addition, 37 students who answered other as their referral source for attending our programs identified SCC, CSUF and Chapman counselors as well as other students and faculty in other departments. Survey Question: How did you hear about the Accounting/Bus Admin programs and classes at SAC? 17

18 STUDENT SURVEY What, if appropriate, are employer attitudes towards the program? We have a very active, involved and diverse advisory group that attends our annual meeting to provide feedback and direction. The group includes faculty members from UCI, Chapman, CSUF, CUSLB, among others. Also represented in the group are local business and community leaders and our adjunct faculty. Our advisory group has consistently given us positive feedback as well as valuable input. Their inputs have led us to create assignments that provide additional communication and presentation opportunities in the classroom and group work. Their advice has lead to many of our current programs, including the Enrolled Agent Certificate Program, Microsoft Dynamics, QuickBooks and Finance courses. Employers in our community regard our business program very highly. Every year, our students find employment in various local businesses. The true employment numbers are difficult to track because many do not report back to us and/or many find employment several months after leaving SAC. However, we do have an internship coordinator in the Business Division and she reports that in the last academic year, we assisted 12 accounting students find internships with local businesses including the City of Santa Ana. 9. What successes may be identified? We believe that our greatest success is in the continued number of students that request our courses and seek our counsel. We see and talk to these students everyday; via , on the phone and especially in the classroom; both face to face and online. The number of degrees and certificates awarded is one measure of success, but for reasons that were itemized above, not the only measure. Also presented throughout this document are the results of our student and faculty surveys and sample comments and correspondences. We believe that those are very strong indicators of achievements (all tables under QUESTION #9 provided by RSCCD research department). 18

19 I. Increase in number of degree and certificates awarded. Included below are the degree and certificate information for the 2010 through 2014 years: Our program has shown a minor increase in Accounting AA/AS degrees from to with a spike in the academic year. Accounting certificates have shown a steady increase since to , with 42 certificates being awarded in year. As mentioned above, many of our students, especially those that are enrolled in the ACCT 101 and ACCT 102 classes, ultimately transfer to four-year institutions and may not pursue a degree or a certificate at SAC but focus on taking those classes that they need to complete. These students make up a significant number of the students that are taking those courses in accounting. Although the statistics lack data regarding the number of students that transfer from Santa Ana College to a four-year institution and ultimately major in business, we believe that that number is considerable. (ALSO SEE QUESTION #2 ABOVE) 19

20 II. Increased departmental success and retention rates : The following tables show how many students successfully completed all accounting classes from Fall 2009 through Fall SEE QUESTION #2 ABOVE some comments here are duplicated from QUESTION #2. 1) Business Administration AA and AS-T degrees awarded increase from 89 in to 133 in AN INCREASE OF 44.4% or 44 degrees. 2) Certificates of Completion in Accounting, which includes but not limited to General Accounting, SAGE (formerly MAS 90), QuickBooks, Enrolled Agent certificates and others, increased from 35 in to 42 in AN INCREASE OF 20.0% or 7 degrees. 3) Accounting AA degree has remained fairly constant due to more students pursuing the AS-T in Business Administration degree. The number of degrees varied for accounting degrees from a low of 12 to a high of 24 over the periods between the years to Year , we awarded 15 degrees. AN INCREASE OF 25.0% or 3 degrees. Please also see QUESTIONS #2, #5, #6 & #7 FOR MORE SUCCESSES documented. 20

21 Part III: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Innovation 10. Describe the curriculum offerings, their relationship to the discipline, and substantive curriculum changes, e.g., new courses, deletions. How has the program kept up with changing needs of the students and the community? Our department currently offers the following degrees and certificates: Degrees & Certificates Offered Accounting AA Degree Business Administration AS Degree Business Administration for Transfer AS Degree (Also 100% ONLINE) General Accounting Certificate Enrolled Agent Certificate Accounting and Financial Planning Certificate Computerized Accounting QuickBooks Option Certificate Accounting with Sage MAS Software Certificate Computerized Bookkeeping QuickBooks Option Certificate Computerized Bookkeeping Sage MAS Software Certificate Microsoft Dynamics for Financial Accounting Certificate Microsoft Dynamics for Project Management and Business Planning Certificate 21

22 Classes Added: ACCT 113 & 114: Corporate Income Taxes and Partnership and S Corporate Income Taxes Classes Deleted: ACCT 150: Governmental Accounting (lack of demand) ACCT 105: Intermediate Income Taxes (replaced by ACCT 113 & 114) Accounting, Income Tax, and Finance are disciplines that impact everyone s personal life, and are at the heart of all business operations. Thus, these are curricular areas where all professionals must have some knowledge. The degree of knowledge and skill will vary with different levels of functional responsibility and career aspirations. In today s world, none of these important areas can be executed effectively without the use of technology. Accordingly, the study of Information Systems for financial and operational planning, record keeping and control is central to our work. In addition to our core curriculum, we provide a vocational program that teaches students to be Bank Tellers. The following chart provides prospective on the basic scheme we advocate to meet Santa Ana College Student needs: 22

23 Discipline Areas: All College Students Should Take: All Entrepreneurs In Any Discipline Should Take: General Business Majors Should Take: Accounting & Finance Majors Should Take: Specific Vocational Students Take: Finance Personal Finance Personal Finance Personal Finance Personal Finance Investments Investments Investments Investments Corporate Finance Business Administration and Accounting Intro to Business course (How To Read And Use Financial Statements.) Money, Finance, and Accounting for Entrepreneurs (How to establish internal controls, use financial statements, and use management accounting reports for control and decision making.) Financial Accounting/ Managerial Accounting and all courses under BA degree Financial Accounting/ Managerial Accounting/ Cost Accounting/ Intermediate Accounting and all courses under BA degree Payroll Accounting QuickBooks Sage Microsoft Dynamics Income Taxes Individual Income Tax Individual Income Tax Individual Income Tax Individual Income Tax/ Partnership & Estate Income Tax/ Corporate Income Tax/ CETC Individual Income Tax Course Enrolled Agent All of our Tax Courses Banking Bank Teller Course 23

24 The full time faculty members in our department are current or former CPAs with extensive recent industry expertise to understand the needs of the current business community. Additionally, we have some very loyal and effective Advisory Committee members who have assisted us greatly in making good decisions. We also work closely with our four-year university partners and attend industry and technology conferences to ensure that our faculty and our programs are up-to-date in the industry and academic standards. Accordingly, our programs have, without doubt kept pace with the changing needs of the discipline and the local business community. Over the past few years we have made the following major changes to keep the program current: Accounting: Changed textbook editions and course content in sync with major changes in technology, regulations pertaining to corporate business ethics, and international accounting regulations. We also added online delivery of Financial and Managerial Accounting classes as well as payroll accounting and Quick Books accounting classes to be delivered online. All of our students in Financial and Managerial Accounting classes take weekly or bi-weekly quizzes online; a discipline trend at all major universities. Finance: Changed textbook editions and course content in sync with major changes in technology. We added online delivery of Personal and Corporate Finance classes as well as Investments and Stocks. Income Taxes: Changed textbooks and course content to improve coverage; regularly changing editions in sync with tax code changes. We revised and updated Individual tax course to comply with changes in CTEC certification: For example, we added ethics into our curriculum to meet the CTEC & IRS requirements. Our ACCOUNTING 104 CTEC course most recently went through an accreditation process with CTEC (California Tax Education Counsel) and is now qualified to offer the course for cycle. Additionally, we implemented program and course changes to support our EA certificate and to meet the needs of our tax professional students. The ACCOUNTING 124 class updates to the newest version of Turbo Tax software yearly. Lastly, we are in the process of researching the feasibility of providing VITA services at SAC. Computerized Accounting: Upgraded our QuickBooks course to provide for new content and online delivery. We updated to the most recent version of the software and upgraded our mid-range systems programs by implementing the Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance program. We are currently revamping the QuickBooks program in order to offer our students the QuickBooks Certified User Exam as discussed above (SEE QUESTION #2 ABVOE). Banking: Keeping current with changes in banking operations by updating course materials. 11. Describe the program s relationship to student services and its offerings to the students served. Our departmental goals are supported by many of outstanding Student Service Programs on campus as well as our Distance Education office. These programs are essential for every student s success. Following are some specific examples regarding how some of these services have enhanced or assisted in the success of our students: Distance Education (DE) The Distance Education office initiated 3 online programs this fall (2014); 2 of which are in Business Administration Major. In addition, they assist our faculty with infinite number of tasks such as creating Blackboard course shells to faxing exams to a dedicated proctor and valuable training. They 24

25 have educated many of our faculty to become better instructors both online and face to face. As discussed under Questions #2, the DE office has certified many or our instructors to teach online. Many of our students need the flexibility of our online classes to meet their educational needs while balancing work and family and without the help and expertise of this DE; we would fall far short of our goals. Tutoring Center Accounting, tax, finance and other classes in our programs are some of the most rigorous and challenging courses in business which almost always requires solving quantitative homework problems using critical thinking skills. Accordingly many students benefit from working with a tutor. We are fortunate to have a very good Accounting Tutor employed by the Tutoring Center. However, as mentioned under program needs, we need many more tutoring hours available, especially in the evenings and weekends. Counseling There a number of degree and certificate programs which require Accounting and Finance courses, including the Business Administration programs (AS & AS-T). It is important for the Counseling department to accurately advise students regarding which courses are needed for each, and which courses are accepted for transfer by the various universities. They do a stupendous job for our students with their limited resources. We counsel and advise our students on a regular basis as faculty but also refer many of our students to the counselors for assistance. Educational Multimedia Services Our department offers a variety of our classes online and strive to make our online courses as engaging, interactive and dynamic as we are in our classrooms. The Education Multimedia Services department has assisted our faculty in producing, executing, editing and closed captioning our lectures and other multimedia products. They have done extremely high quality work with utmost professionalism. They have been an invaluable part of our programs. 12. Describe the use of technology, e.g. computer labs, increased use of Blackboard, hybrid or online courses, etc. How does the use of these tools enhance learning? Our department has always been in the forefront of technology use in and outside of the classroom. During the past few years we have made significant strides in the increased use of technology, which has been our primary change in pedagogy. This is a critical and integral part of our programs since our students must be technologically prepared. Following are some examples: 1. Blackboard and online courses - (Some of this is repeated from Question #2, Goal 2) In addition to the online pathways, the Business Administration and Accounting department offer a rich selection of classes online. Our department has worked determinedly to realize our goals of expanding and improving our online course offering to assist our student population who are working and obtaining their degrees and/or have returned to school to improve their job skills and to become more marketable. Our faculty was one of the first groups of faculty to be certified by the Distance Education office to teach online. As of fall 2014, we have 2 full-time faculty and 5 part-time faculty who are certified to teach online with one part-time faculty currently going through the certification process. We will be well poised to offer additional classes online in order to meet the increased demand for online classes and programs for our students. Next page is a summary of our online course offerings (duplicated from QUESTION #2): 25

26 Courses Units Number of sections Accounting 101 Financial Accounting 4 2 Accounting 102 Managerial Accounting 4 2 Accounting 104 Federal and California Taxes 4 2 Accounting 035 QuickBooks 2 2 Accounting 032 Payroll Accounting 1 1 Business 130 Personal Finance 3 1 Business 140 Corporate Finance 3 1 Business 160 Investments and Stock 3 1 Accounting 113* Corporate Taxes 2 1 Accounting 114* Partnership and S Corporation Taxes 2 1 TOTAL 14 *To be offered beginning in Fall Learning Management Systems - All of our 100 level Accounting and Finance Courses now include the use of learning management systems which provide e-books, tutorial systems, links to various industry resources, study quizzes, and on-line homework systems which can be set-up to provide automatic textbook references for challenging concepts and problems. The system also allows students to learn at their own level and pace and is adaptable to their knowledge level. Additionally, nearly all of our face to face classes use Blackboard to deliver additional content such as video lectures and provide a conduit for increased communications. 3. Accounting and Tax Computer Software We offer classes in QuickBooks, Turbo Tax and MS Dynamics. Obtaining resources to continue to offer these courses has been and continues to be a challenge but we will continue our quest to ensure these programs persist. We believe that the use of technology as discussed above and programs and strategies we have in place have enhanced student learning by virtue of the following: a. Provide students with enhanced access to instruction, tutoring, and homework support. b. Capture student interest more effectively and enable students to work in a more time-efficient manner. c. Provide for enhanced student-to- student collaboration and communication. d. Provide for enhanced student-to-instructor and instructor-to-student communication. e. Greatly expands the resources available to students and instructors for research and analysis. f. Provide access to real-world technology systems for Accounting, Tax, Finance, and related Business Process and Management applications. g. Facilitate the delivery of systems-related curriculum among several departments, which will provide students with real-world experience pertaining to business processes that impact all aspects of the organization in an integrated fashion. h. Allow for a more flexible learning environment for different learning styles as well as for students unable to attend the traditional classroom due to work, family or mobility issues. i. Provide immediate feedback on homework, quizzes and certain assignments to allow improved learning outcomes. 13. What changes have been made in Pedagogy? The primary change in pedagogy has been the increased use of technology. Additional information is provided in Question #12. 26