The Master of Science in Accounting Program Graduate School Tier III Report August Centrality to University s Mission

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1 The Master of Science in Accounting Program Graduate School Tier III Report August 2013 Centrality to University s Mission The Master of Science in Accounting was established in 1977 and was the first such program in North Carolina. The program has continued to grow and develop and is highly regarded by prospective students and the accounting profession. In response to encouragement by international accounting firms with offices in North Carolina, the program was expanded in 1988 to include a concentration in taxation. According to the University mission statement, graduate students engage in advanced study and research in preparation for professional careers in a distinctive and relevant program which develops and extends academic and professional specializations. The basic educational objective of the MS in Accounting program is to provide advanced accounting education to meet the needs of persons planning careers in accounting at the professional level. Enrollment, Degrees Awarded and Student Credit Hours for the Last Five Years Enrollment Flow of Enrollment and Graduation from Fall 2008 Fall 2013 Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Graduated August (projected) May December August May December August May December August May December August May December Fall Grad Dec New Spring Spring Grad May Grad August Discontinued - 2 New Fall Fall Grad Dec Rejoined + 1 New Spring Spring Grad May Grad August New Fall Fall Grad Dec Discontinued - 2 New Spring Spring Grad May Grad August New Fall Fall Fall Grad Dec New Spring Spring Grad May Grad August Discontinued - 2 New Fall Fall Grad Dec New Spring Spring Grad May Grad August ? New Fall ?? Fall 2013??

2 Student credit hours for the last five years are as follows: Quality of the Applicant Pool for the Last Five Years The following data relate to students who started the MS-Accounting program: GPA Mean GMAT Mean Fall 2013 To be determined To be determined Fall Fall Fall Fall The following number of applications to enroll in the MS-Accounting program were processed: July June with 16 not accepted into the program July June with 12 not accepted into the program July June with 13 not accepted into the program July June with 19 not accepted into the program July July with 14 not accepted into the program The numbers above show that the quality of the applicant pool for the MS-Accounting degree has been at a consistently high level over the last five years and that the enrollment numbers have generally been in the 45 to 60 student range. Strategies to Maintain or Increase Applicant Pool Many of our students (about 60 percent) are from own undergraduate program. The Director of the program speaks briefly at the Principles of Accounting dinner whereby students who are doing well in Principles of Accounting are made aware of the opportunities in the accounting profession. The Director also speaks with students at one of the Junior Year Experience meetings where students now in their junior year of accounting courses are presented information about the requirements to be accepted into and the rewards for graduating from the MS-Accounting program. Visits are also made by the Graduate School to various graduate schools fairs were information about the MS-Accounting program is shared with students.

3 Job Prospects for MS-Accounting Graduates The following data reflect the job results from the most recent information available for the academic year : Student Grad Company # 1 Dec11 KPMG # 2 Dec11 CohnReznick # 3 Dec11 KPMG -- Also on City Council, Danville, VA # 4 Dec11 Hendrick Motorsports # 5 Dec11 Lowe's Companies -- Senior Acc Specialist, Wilkesboro, NC # 6 Dec11 CohnReznick Student Grad Company # 1 May12 Cost Act, Barnhardt Manu. Co, Charlotte, NC # 2 May12 Smith Leonard # 3 May12 Lincoln Harris, Charlotte, NC Student Grad Company # 1 Aug12 Dixon Hughes Goodman # 2 Aug12 IBM # 3 Aug12 Company in China # 4 Aug12 Martin Starnes & Associates, Hickory, NC # 5 Aug12 Not currently employed # 6 Aug12 KPMG - Raleigh, NC # 7 Aug12 PricewaterhouseCoopers # 8 Aug12 Grant Thornton # 9 Aug12 Dixon Hughes Goodman #10 Aug12 Sherbert Associates, Charlotte, NC #11 Aug12 KPMG - Charlotte, NC #12 Aug12 Martin Starnes & Associates, Hickory, NC #13 Aug12 DHW CPA #14 Aug12 Grant Thornton #15 Aug12 KPMG - Greensboro, NC #16 Aug12 DHW CPA #17 Aug12 Smith Miller Buff #18 Aug12 Carter, P.C. in Asheville, NC #19 Aug12 PricewaterhouseCoopers #20 Aug12 Reznick Group #21 Aug12 Brown, Jenkins & Oneyear, W-S #22 Aug12 PricewaterhouseCoopers #23 Aug12 A.T. Allen & Company, LLP, Raleigh, NC #24 Aug12 Peak 10, Charlotte, NC #25 Aug12 Elliott Davis #26 Aug12 Martin Starnes & Associates, Hickory, NC #27 Aug12 Unknown #28 Aug12 Booz Allen Hamilton #29 Aug12 Martin Starnes & Associates, Hickory, NC #30 Aug12 Deloitte & Touche #31 Aug12 Smith Leonard

4 #32 Aug12 Elliott Davis #33 Aug12 Carter, P.C. in Asheville, NC #34 Aug12 Lake Tahoe -- Ski job in winter -- Marina in summer, for now #35 Aug12 C. DeWitt Foard, CPA #36 Aug12 Butler & Burke CPA, W-S, NC How Does the MS-Accounting Program Identify and Measure Student Outcomes? Just this past semester (Spring 2013) the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) reaffirmed the accreditation of the Walker College of Business and the three degrees it offers: the BSBA, the MBA and the MS-Accounting. The accreditation team had no recommendations for change in the MS-Accounting program. As part of the reaccreditation effort, the MS-Accounting program did extensive assessment evaluation of the goals and outcomes for the program. These are located on the TracDat database. Curriculum Revision In May, 2006, the graduate faculty (with 100% participation) examined the curriculum (which resulted in 19 graduate curriculum proposals) and examined the mission statement and goals for the graduate program and where and how the goals would be assessed in the program. Considerable discussion and debate resulted in a common focus for the graduate accounting program. The mission statement was modified to its current status whereby the focus is on the following four goals: (1) Students will demonstrate written and oral communication skills appropriate for the profession. (2) Students will demonstrate an awareness of ethical considerations facing the profession. (3) Students will demonstrate technical competence in advanced accounting topics. (4) Students will demonstrate research and analytical skills related to their chosen concentration. Each of these goals was further developed into specific learning objectives, and traits were developed for the learning objectives with characteristics that exceed expectations, meet expectations, or do not meet expectations. It was also determined which courses in the curriculum would measure which specific goals. Approximately eight additional meetings were subsequently held in 2007 to fine tune the curriculum process. Since then, at least one meeting a year has been held where assessment results are presented and the curriculum is discussed. With the reaccreditation on the near horizon over the recent past, it was decided to first determine if what we are currently doing met with approval from the AACSB before looking at possible changes. With the successful reaffirmation for the AACSB in Spring 2013, a curriculum review is planned for the academic year. The curriculum as it now stands is not static, but is ever-changing. Courses in the MS- Accounting program include such topics as ACC 5390 Contemporary Issues in Accounting, ACC 5270 Current Issues in Technology and AIS and ACC 5780 Issues in Taxation which are updated on a continuing basis such that the materials covered by the students reflect the professional level of the workplace the students will soon be entering. In addition, findings from the assessment of learning measurements also actuate changes in the courses. The Department of Accounting has an Accounting Advisory Board. The Board has 16 members from business and provides input on a number of issues. The Board meets regularly and assists the MS-

5 Accounting program directly by providing significant input on curriculum issues and assisting our program in being current with the business world. During , the Advisory Board met twice. The primary focus of the meeting on November 30, 2012, was to solicit input from the Board about curriculum issues. Tim Forsyth, the Accounting Department Chair first provided an update for the department and then moderated a discussion of curriculum issues. The major purpose of the meeting was to solicit real-world input about the accounting curriculum. At that meeting, faculty members (most of whom attended the meeting) and board members were matched based on discipline/interest (e.g., financial reporting, tax, audit, systems, etc.). The faculty in each sub-group shared course descriptions and syllabi with board members, and together, compiled concerns and suggestions to be considered by the curriculum committees in their curriculum reviews. The second Accounting Advisory Board meeting was on April 29, The purpose of this meeting was to establish ground rules/guidelines for recruiting activities among the accounting firms for internships and/or permanent hires. Doug Roberts, Director of the Internship Program, moderated the session. Average Time to Degree If an incoming student has no needed prerequisites, it is likely the student will complete the MS- Accounting program in one calendar year. The program consists of 30 semester hours, with students usually competing 12 semester hours in the fall and spring and six semester hours in the summer. If a student has an undergraduate business major, but not all the accounting prerequisite courses, it is likely that the time to completion will be one and one-half years. If a student has an undergraduate degree in a non-business area, it can take up to two years to compete all the needed prerequisites plus the 30 hours of graduate work needed for the MS-Accounting degree. Faculty Involvement with the MS-Accounting Degree All faculty teaching in the MS-Accounting program are tenure track. The average teaching load in the department is a 9-hour load, with three hours of release time for research. The teaching load is a mixture of graduate and undergraduate courses, determined by the request of the faculty involved and the resources available to the department. The faculty involved generally teach the following courses: Fall Dr. Bill Baker Dr. Tammy Kowalczyk Dr. Susan Anderson Dr. Ken Brackney Dr. Claudia Kelley Dr. Ron Marden Dr. Mary Ann Hofmann Dr. Pennie Bagley ACC 2110 Principles of Accounting II ACC 5270 Current Issues in Tech & AIS (2 sections) ACC 1050 Survey of Accounting ACC 5390 Contemporary Issues in Accounting (2 sections) ACC 5580 Tax Planning and Research ACC 3100 Intermediate Accounting I (2 sections) ACC 4730 Accounting & International Business ACC 5080 Income Taxation of Corporations (2 sections) ACC 5640 Accounting Regulation ACC 4560 Introduction to Auditing (2 sections) 3 hours release time for Beta Alpha Psi Faculty Advisor ACC 3580 Individual Income Taxation (2 sections) ACC 5680 Wealth & Tax Planning ACC 5310 Auditing Theory Seminar

6 Spring Dr. Bill Baker Dr. Tammy Kowalczyk Dr. Susan Anderson Dr. Ken Brackney ACC 5210 Advanced Managerial Accounting ACC 5340 Accounting in the Business Environment ACC 2110 Principles of Accounting II ACC 5240 (MBA 5240) Accounting for Sustainable Practice (Cross-Listed) ACC 1050 Survey of Accounting (2 sections) ACC 5780 Issues in Taxation ACC 2100 Principles of Accounting I MBA 5020 International Experience ACC 3100 Intermediate Accounting I (2 sections) Dr. Claudia Kelley ACC 5080 Income Taxation of Corporations (Dual-Listed with ACC 4580) ACC 5280 Partnerships & S Corporations Dr. Ron Marden Dr. Mary Ann Hofmann Dr. Pennie Bagley ACC 5660 Audit Concepts & Applications (2 sections) ACC 2100 Principles of Accounting I ACC 3580 Individual Income Taxation (3 sections) ACC 4560 Introduction to Auditing Summer Dr. Ken Brackney Dr. Bill Baker ACC 5590 Advanced Accounting Topics (2 sections) ACC 5990 Survey of Financial Accounting ACC 3560 Accounting for Non-Profit Organizations As previously mentioned, enrollment in the MS-Accounting program has generally been in the 45 to 60 student range. An enrollment growth would involve adding additional sections of the current course offerings (or for the new offerings that might be determined after a curriculum review). The additional sections would eventually necessitate the need for additional faculty to teach graduate courses. Facilities and Equipment The current space is an adequate, but tight fit. If the program expands and additional space is needed, it could be a problem with Raley Hall already with limited empty space. Costs Most of the funds are provided by the Graduate School. Limited support is provided by some of the CPA firms for both undergraduate and graduate-level scholarships. The Walker College of Business also provides scholarship opportunities for undergraduate and a few MBA and MS-Accounting opportunities. We do not track student debt. Duplication of Programs The MS-Accounting program is similar to other MS-Accounting programs across the state (except for UNC-CH which focuses on enrolling students without a prior accounting background). One difference in ASU s program from that of ECU, NCSU, UNCC, UNCG, and UNCW is that ASU is not located in a major metropolitan area. Nearly all the ASU MS-Accounting students attend full-time as opposed to a metropolitan area where students can hold full-time professional jobs and attend class on a

7 part-time basis. From data provided by the Graduate School, the following are enrollment numbers for similar programs in the UNC system: University Fall 07 Spr08 Fall08 Spr09 Fall09 Spr10 Fall10 Spr11 Fall11 Spr12 ASU ECU NCSU UNC-CH UNCC UNCG UNCW WCU The following are number of degrees awarded for similar programs in the UNC system: University ASU ECU NCSU UNC-CH UNCC UNCG UNCW WCU Future Directions The MS-Accounting program is equally dependent upon high-quality students choosing to enter the program and firms and businesses choosing to hire our students. By hosting various activities such as Accounting Department Advisory Board meetings, Beta Alpha Psi meetings, Meet the Firms activities, and other such events, the goal is to maintain an up-to-date, relevant curriculum that meets the needs of prospective employers. At the student recruitment level, efforts need to continue in the communication of opportunities available for MS-Accounting graduates. We even mention the need for an MS-Accounting degree at the Principles of Accounting Dinner for students doing well in Principles of Accounting, so that students begin to envision early-on the inclusion of a Master s degree in their career plans. Critical Mass The impact on other departments in the college or on other graduate and undergraduate programs in the department if the program were to grow would be problematic. Obviously, resources are limited, so optimal trade-offs have to be made. Hopefully, the MS-Accounting program can grow in tandem with other positive possibilities in the college and department. Summary The last five years ( ) have been very unsettled for the business world. Even so, the numbers show that ASU s MS-Accounting program has held steady, even with what turned out to be more limited opportunities for graduates than envisioned before the 2008 downturn. The economy seems to be recovering and hopefully will strengthen in the next five years. This should prove positive for the business world and the accounting profession. The demand for accounting graduates has rebounded from the recession and 2013 placement levels are consistent with prerecession levels. The MS-Accounting program should see continued enrollment demand, with the potential for an increase in students applying to and being a part of the MS-Accounting program.