Application for the post of Assistant Professor in Accounting

Transcription

1 Sunil J. Dahanayake Research School of Accounting and Business Information Systems College of Business and Economics Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200 Australia August, 2013 Chairperson Faculty Search Committee Craig School of Business Missouri Western State University 4525 Downs Drive St. Joseph, MO U.S.A Dear Chairperson, Application for the post of Assistant Professor in Accounting I am applying for the above position. I have attached a teaching philosophy statement and my resume for your information with this application. I have almost completed my PhD degree program. The final requirement is to submit the PhD thesis which I plan to do by the end of September, I am capable of working as a Unit Convenor in the subject areas of Auditing and Assurance Services, Financial Accounting and Management Accounting. 2. Previously, I was an Associate Lecturer for the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance of Macquarie University, Australia from July, 2009 to July, I was Lecturer in Charge for the subject units of Auditing and Assurance Services and Intermediate Financial Accounting from 2010 to I was an Associate Lecturer in Accounting for the School of Business at Albury-Wodonga Campus of La Trobe University, Australia from January, 2006 to July, I have 10 years of experience in auditing. I was an auditor for KPMG Sri Lanka ( ), Auditor-General s Department of Papua New Guinea ( ) and for the Queensland Audit Office in Australia ( ). 4. I am currently employed at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)- Auditor-General s Office in Canberra, Australia. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Sunil J. Dahanayake. 1 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

2 Mr. SUNIL J. DAHANAYAKE Flat D13, Burgmann College, Australian National University, Canberra, GPO Box 1345, ACT 2601, Australia Phone: EDUCATION MAcc MBA BSc Bus. Ad. Master s Degree in Accountancy, GPA 3.5 (A= 4.0), Kansas State University, Kansas, USA. Specialisation area: Financial Accounting, Master s Degree in Business Administration, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, BSc Degree in Business Administration (Special), Second Class-Upper Division Pass, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, PhD Candidate in Accounting, School of Accounting and Business Information Systems, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, (Part-time candidate- Expect to submit the PhD thesis on or before 30 September, 2013). PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS ACA Associate Membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). CA Membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA). FCA Fellow Membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka (ICASL). 2 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

3 Employment Record Australia 1. Intermediate Auditor (six month contract), Australian Capital Territory (ACT)-Auditor- General s Office, Canberra, Australia, from 17 June, 2013 to current. 2. Research Assistant in Accounting, Research School of Accounting and Business Information Systems, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, September, 2012 to June, Associate Lecturer in Accounting (Level A), Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, July 2009 to July, Associate Lecturer in Accounting (Level A), School of Business, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, January 2006 to July Intermediate Auditor, Queensland Audit Office (QAO), Brisbane, Queensland, January 2003 to January Finance Manager, Mapoon Shire Council, Mapoon, Queensland, February to December Papua New Guinea 1. Principal Auditor, Auditor-General s Department of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, May, 1992 to May, Sri Lanka 1. Financial Management Specialist, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Colombo, January, 2000 to June, Technical Manager, Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAASMB), Colombo, March, 1999 to December, 1999 (Nine Months). 3. Finance Manager, Save the Children-Norway- Sri Lanka Mission (Redbarna Sri Lanka Mission), January, 1997 to April, Lecturer in Accounting, The Department of Accounting, University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Colombo, May, 1995 to January, Lecturer in Accounting, The University of Colombo, Colombo, August, 1990 to May, Assistant Lecturer in Accounting, The University of Colombo, Colombo, October, 1985 to August, Audit Senior, Someswaran Jayawickrama Manthri & Company, Chartered Accountants, Colombo, Sri Lanka, January, 1985 to October, 1985 (10 Months). 3 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

4 8. Graduate Auditor, KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton & Company, Chartered Accountants, Kandy, June, 1981 to January, Government Clerk, Food Commissioner s Department, Colombo, March, 1975 to July, Special Achievements in Academic/Professional Career Fulbright Graduate Student Scholarship, Kansas State University, Kansas, USA. Publications Conference Papers 1. Dahanayake, S.J., and K. Jacobs, (2013), Practising VFM Audit: Unpacking the VFM Audit Methodologies, Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting (APIRA) Conference 2013, Kobe, Japan. 2. Dahanayake, S. J., and K. Jacobs, (2012), The Evolution of the Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) Conference, 2012, Melbourne, Australia. 3. Dahanayake, S. J., and K. Jacobs, (2010), Manoeuvring the VFM Auditor Identity within the State Public Sector in Australia through Corporate Planning: The Case of the Victorian Auditor-General s Office (VAGO). APIRA Conference 2010, Sydney. 4. Dahanayake, S.J., and K. Jacobs, (2010), The Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria: The Early Period, The sixth Accounting History International Conference, 2010, Wellington, New Zealand, 5. Dahanayake, S. J., and K. Jacobs, (2009), The Development of the Value for Money (VFM) Auditing Jurisdiction: The Case of the Victorian Auditor-General s Office (VAGO) in Australia, AFAANZ Conference 2009, Adelaide, Australia. Professional Journal Articles 1. Dahanayake, S. J., (2009), The Professional Accounting Education Strategy for Sri Lanka, The Chartered Accountant, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Vol. 44 (2), pp Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

5 2. Dahanayake, S. J., (2007), Public Sector Auditing: The Australian experience, The Chartered Accountant, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Vol. 43 (2), pp Research Grants I have received the following research grants during my PhD candidature with the Australian National University. 1. Conference Participation Grant: $ 2, This conference participation grant was awarded by the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) to present a paper at the AFAANZ Conference in Melbourne, in July, Teaching Index Grant: $ 1, This teaching index grant was awarded by the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance of Macquarie University to write a teaching case study on Risk Based Audit (RBA) methodologies adopted by the Victorian Auditor-General s Office (VAGO) in July, Research Development Scheme (RDS) Grant: $ 2, This travel grant was awarded by the Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University to present a paper at the Accounting History Conference of AFAANZ in Wellington, New Zealand in August, Vice Chancellor s Higher Degree Research (HDR) Travel Grant, Australian National University: $ 1, Research Project Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria, This travel grant was awarded to present a paper at the AFAANZ conference in Adelaide in July, Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting (APIRA) Research Fund: NZ $ 3, (Aus $ 2,334.00). Research Project Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria, Vice Chancellor s Higher Degree Research (HDR) Travel Grant, Australian National University: $ 1, Research Project Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria. This travel grant was awarded to present a paper at the AFAANZ conference in Sydney, in July, AFAANZ Research Grant: $ 5, A grant from the AFAANZ. Research project Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in the State of Victoria, Faculty of Law and Management, La Trobe University, Research Grant: $ 4, Research project Value for Money (VFM) Auditing in Australia, Department of Accounting, La Trobe University, Research Grant: $ 1,000.00, Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

6 Personal Details Citizenship Status: Australian Citizen Referees: Professor Kerry Jacobs Research School of Accounting and Business Information Systems College of Business and Economics Australian National University Canberra, ACT Tel: Professor Hector Perera Emeritus Professor School of Accounting Massey University, Palmerston North New Zealand Residential address 106, Ridge Crop drive Castle Hill, NSW 2154 Australia. Tel: Professor Samanthi Senaratne Head of the Department Department of Accounting The University of Sri Jayewardenepura Gangodawilla, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka Tel: Mobile: [email protected] 6 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

7 Teaching Profile Sunil J. Dahanayake Teaching philosophy My teaching philosophy is based on three themes, namely, the broad purpose of accounting is to fulfill the needs of society, the benefit that students gain in developing a broader perspective on accounting, and that learning is a life-long activity. First, accounting is a profession and its objective is to serve a broader social, political and economic environment. As such, I emphasize that accounting is not a pure abstract subject; instead, it has evolved in response to societal needs. Second, in order to fully appreciate accounting and its role in society, I encourage students to study subjects in the liberal arts streams in addition to the core areas of accounting. Third, I encourage students to view learning as a life-long activity and as prospective accountants, they need to continue to enhance and upgrade their skills and knowledge. Teaching method I apply the case study based teaching method. My main teaching areas are Financial Accounting, Auditing and Assurance Services and Management Accounting. I draw on my practical experience in auditing and financial accounting to provide contextually rich accounting and auditing problems. For example, I use Risk Based Audit (RBA) and Value for Money (VFM) Audit methodologies adopted in Auditors-General s Offices in Australia to explain the audit planning, fieldwork and reporting stages. Teaching responsibilities During the last six years, I have taught Financial Accounting (Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced), Management Accounting (Introductory and Intermediate) and Auditing and Assurance Services in two Australian Universities. In 2011, I was the Unit Convenor for Auditing and Assurance Services at the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance of Macquarie University in Australia. This subject unit had an enrolment of 1150 students with 44 tutorial classes. I also managed a tutorial team consisting of eight tutors. In 2010, I was the Unit Convenor for Intermediate Financial Accounting, with a student population of Previously in 2009 and 2010, I was a Lecturer, Tutor and Deputy Unit Administrator for Introductory Financial Accounting and Corporate Accounting. I also 7 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

8 worked as a Lecturer for the Public Sector Accounting unit conducted by the Research School of Accounting and Business Information Systems of the Australian National University in semester 2, From 2006 to 2009, I was an Associate Lecturer for the Department of Accounting of School of Business of La Trobe University. During this period, I conducted lectures and tutorials in Introductory Financial Accounting, Intermediate Financial Accounting, Management Accounting and Auditing. I also worked as the Unit Convenor in a post-graduate course, Accounting for Managers, conducted by the Regional School of Business of La Trobe University in the second semester of Student Evaluation of Teaching I obtained scores ranging from 4.0 to 4.8 out of 5 for tutorial classes for Auditing and Assurance Services in the first semester of I also obtained scores ranging from 3.6 to 3.9 out of 5 for my role as a Lecturer in Auditing and Assurance Services in the second semester of In my annual Performance Development Reviews, I have obtained a Proficient rating for teaching over the last six years. Some of the students comments that I have received for Auditing and Assurance Services are reproduced below: ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services-Semester 2, provide professional knowledge and examples based on reality 2. very good at teaching and explaining concepts to students 3. The lecturer can highlight the main points for each lecture and give an overview of the knowledge at the end of the class. ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services - Semester 1, The teacher always refers to other material which are related to our topic 2. Give us some website links and asked us to see what an audit actually do in reality 3. He tried to do a revision of the previous lecture before start discussing the answers to the tutorial questions. Self-evaluation of teaching I attempt to teach accounting using practical case studies, emphasising that accounting is a socially constructed activity and its broad purpose is to fulfil the demands of society. I raise 8 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

9 several questions to evaluate my teaching capabilities in accounting. These questions are: How do students responds to my teaching approach? What challenges them? How do students cope with these challenges? What is my own reflection of the effectiveness of my teaching approach? I understand that my undergraduate students cannot fully comprehend the practical aspects of accounting and auditing at the commencement of a semester but later they begin to appreciate the use of case studies. I have noticed that most undergraduate students in accounting do not read the business section of newspapers and annual reports of companies. However, my postgraduate students do have some experience in the practical business world and quickly grasp the case study approach to learn accounting and auditing. My student population at Macquarie University and La Trobe University of Australia consisted of students from many ethnic backgrounds such as Australian, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian etc. Their main challenge was that they were unable to visualise the practical aspects of accounting such as accounting and audit software packages and transaction cycles in business entities operating in Australia. In order to address these issues, I have encouraged students to read the annual reports of companies and articles appearing in the business section of the national newspapers published in Australia. I also use these items as teaching materials in class room discussions. I have also given them two take home case studies as part of the total assessment of the course unit. I have used my own research in the areas of Business Risk Based Audit (RBA) and Value for Money (VFM) audit as practical examples of accounting and auditing in order to motivate the students. My own reflection of my teaching capability is that I have created and enhanced students interest in accounting and auditing subjects in students. I have also created students interest in undertaking professional accounting examinations and search for employment opportunities in accounting firms. The students comments given in the student evaluation of teaching reflect these contributions that I have made in teaching accounting and auditing with practical case studies. 9 Sunil J. Dahanayake Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.