Optimal characteristics of the visiting practitioner include: an
engaging personality, effective speaking skills, currently
practicing accountant, familiarity with the university, willingness
to work with the supervising faculty member, and enthusiasm for
working with students in a classroom environment. One of the best
places to look for a speaker is at a Beta Alpha Psi or equivalent
accounting club meeting. These venues provide a good forum to see
the practitioner in action.
The primary motivation of the practitioner is to showcase the firm
to the students who are future prospects for internships or
full-time positions. Scheduling the classroom presentation close to
the time the firm is recruiting interns or full-time employees may
further enhance the benefit of participating. Students are likely to
view the invitation by the professor as an endorsement of the
practitioner’s firm.
P
lanning
the classroom event [2]
The last few years have provided a watershed of new laws that affect
the accounting profession. With the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations,
coupled with annual tax law changes, the practitioner can provide a
real-world look at the effects of these ever-changing laws. They can
also present a relevant discussion of how accountants assess the
opportunities and risks associated with these changes in their
industry.
In our classroom event, students are required to bring three typed
questions to class; the professor collects and gives the questions
to the presenter(s). Students are encouraged to ask about the
profession, taxation, accounting or the individual firm. A question
that is usually asked is, "What is your typical day like?" The
answer usually provides students with an idea of employer/client
protocol and job expectations. Mark Miller, shareholder at Kolb +
Co. SC in Milwaukee, invites a newer member of his firm who is a
graduate of UW-Whitewater to assist in the classroom event. This
allows the students to see the profession and transition into the
working world from the point of view of a recent graduate.
Having an interactive activity provides a break from reading and
answering questions and involves the students, making it a more
meaningful experience. We have used interactive tax trivia quizzes
that students fill out at the beginning of class. The questions are
asked during class and the student with the correct answer receives
a door prize from the firm.
The Top 10 list of new tax law changes relevant to Miller’s clients
has been a favorite for the students. Miller has generated some
enthusiasm by asking students why a certain new tax law change will
be valuable to taxpayers. He rewards students who answer correctly
with company-logo’d items such as pens, yo-yos and key chains. A
friendly competition for prizes develops among the students, while
at the same time they are engaged in seeing and thinking about
changes in the profession.
This past semester, Miller demonstrated the process of preparing a
paperless tax return. Students in the class were able to see the
software that was used in preparing the return and hear about the
changes that were necessary to provide for scanning of source
documents and sharing the returns electronically. The paperless tax
return presentation led to a timely discussion of the issue of
outsourcing tax returns to accountants around the globe. The issues
of data security and client privacy and notification were discussed.
Designing and collecting student feedback [3]
In the first few semesters Miller made his presentation we solicited
verbal feedback from the students. In the first class after the
classroom event, students were individually asked for feedback. The
class unanimously voted to have the speaker return next semester.
Since the spring semester of 2005, we used an open-ended written
survey. Students were asked what things they found helpful from the
presentation and whether they would invite the speaker back for next
semester’s tax class.
Results of classroom event [4]
Typical student responses to our survey questions asking them what
they liked about the presentation are:
•
Learning about how
the profession really handles tax season. Learning about how their
company operates. Learning how tax professionals utilize computer
systems to make their analysis. Discovering that everything
covered in our class does have a real-world application.
•
What I thought was
helpful was when he said stuff about the internship. For example,
what to expect and the resume stuff was awesome to know from
someone who actually looks at that. I thought that reading our
questions was a good idea.
•
The question and
answer period because it provided information that students really
wanted to know.
•
The practical
responses and insight provided to our questions and the overview
of how they run their day-to-day operations. Everything was good.
The format held my attention-switching back and forth between
student questions and overview material.
Ninety-six percent of the students responded affirmatively when they
were asked if they would like the firm to come back next semester
and present.
While it can be difficult to measure the direct impact of
participating, the practitioner’s firm typically receives positive
reinforcement from student feedback. During interviews, students
frequently mention that the classroom presentation was a
contributing factor to signing up for an interview with the
practitioner’s firm.
