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MAY/JUNE 2007 |
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Teaching accounting
at a post-secondary
institution
By Robert A. Gruber, CPA, PH.D., CMA
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Are you thinking about teaching accounting at a post-secondary
institution? Some accounting professionals begin their teaching
careers by teaching part-time but keep their full-time accounting
jobs. For example, Bill Tatman, CPA worked for Deloitte in Milwaukee
as an audit manager for 20 years before joining UW-Whitewater’s
faculty as its auditing instructor and internship director. Others
know early that they want to teach and plan their professional
careers accordingly. Regardless, many of the best accounting
teachers are those with real-world experiences to share with their
students.
Benefits of teaching
Everyone seems to have an idea of the benefits of teaching. For
example, I wanted to be a university teacher because I thought they
only worked 12 hours a week. (Actually, I wanted to be a pastor
because they only worked one hour a week!) Seriously, a 2005 study
showed that university professors work an average of 2,250 hours per
year (44 percent teaching, 32 percent research, and 24 percent
other), while instructors work an average of 2,030 hours per year
(70 percent teaching, 16 percent scholarly activities, and 14
percent other). These statistics are comparable to average of 46.3
hours worked per week by many professionals. Important benefits
include:
• Working with students is rewarding; each class is different.
• Using creative skills to make learning exciting and relevant.
• Pay and fringe benefits; you’ll never get rich, but you’ll never
go hungry.
• Teaching schedules often accommodate personal and family
obligations.
• Vacation schedules that are often the envy of other
professionals; e.g., tax accountants.
• Opportunities to develop professionally as both an accountant
and an educator.
Post-Secondary Teaching
http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos066.htm
According to the Department of Labor, "post-secondary teachers
instruct students in a wide variety of academic and vocational
subjects beyond the high school level that may lead to a degree or
to improve-ment in one’s knowledge or career skills." There are
approximately 1.6 million post-secondary teachers, including
university faculty and academic staff, career and technical
education instructors, and graduate teaching assistants. The
opportunities to teach at a post-secondary institution are expected
to be very good until 2014 due to the increasing number of 18- to
24-year-olds attending post-secondary institutions and the growing
number of adults returning to improve their career prospects. Many
teaching opportunities will be in part-time (adjunct) or
non-tenure-track positions.
The educational qualifications for post-secondary teacher jobs vary
depending on the position and the type of institution. For example,
four-year universities generally require a Ph.D. for tenured faculty
positions. A master’s degree and professional experience are
typically the minimum requirements for academic staff. At two-year
colleges, a greater emphasis is placed on appropriate work
experience in addition to a master’s degree. In most cases,
professional certification (e.g., CPA) is a pre-requisite for
teaching accounting.
In general, post-secondary teachers (a) prepare and deliver
lectures, (b) assign and grade homework, quizzes and exams, (c)
advise students in their academic planning and career paths, and (d)
provide valu-able service to their academic community. Research and
service expectations vary by type of post-secondary institution,
accreditation status, and whether or not a faculty member is
tenured.
AACSB accreditation
http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards.asp
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
accreditation "assures quality and promotes excellence and
continuous improvement in under-graduate and graduate education for
business administration and accounting." Being AACSB accredited
implies that an institution (a) commits to fulfill its mission and
(b) continues to sustain and improve the educational quality of its
degree programs relative to AACSB standards.
One of these standards states that (a) at least 90 percent of the
faculty is either academically qualified (AQ) or professionally
qualified (PQ), and (b) at least 50 percent must be AQ. In addition,
at least 75 per-ent of the annual teaching (contact hours, students
or courses) must be participating, as opposed to supporting.
•
Academically Qualified (AQ):
Faculty members are AQ by virtue of formal educational background
and continued intellectual contributions (i.e., research).
•
Professionally Qualified (PQ):
Faculty members are PQ by virtue of academic preparation (normally
at the master’s level) and significant professional experience
relevant to the teaching assignment.
•
Participating Faculty Member:
Faculty members engaged on an ongoing basis in the activities of
the academic life of the school.
•
Supporting Faculty Member:
Faculty members who have ad hoc appointments
to the instructional staff with little engagement in activities
beyond their direct instructional function.
Shortage of Accounting Ph.D.s
http://aaahq.org/about/reports/FINAL_PhD_Report.pdf
AACSB standards are designed to protect the integrity and quality of
academic business programs, but they sometimes limit the ability of
a department to hire new instructors. This problem is especially
acute given the current shortage of Ph.D. degrees in accounting.
According to a study conducted by the American Accounting
Association, the supply of accounting Ph.D.s was only 49.9 percent
of the projected demand between 2005 and 2008. The shortage is
critical in auditing and taxation.
Content Supply as a percent of
demand
Financial accounting 91.6%
Cost accounting 79.0%
Information systems 55.7%
Taxation 27.1%
Auditing 22.8%
Overall 49.9%
The demand for accounting Ph.D.s will continue to increase as a
significant number of accounting professors reach retirement age and
the number of schools seeking (and maintaining) AACSB accreditation
increases.
If you are thinking of teaching accounting and want to talk further
about the opportunities in academia, please contact me (gruberr@uww.edu),
Brown (BrownAL26@uww.edu), Wangerin (dwangerin@wisc.edu), or any
instructor at one of Wisconsin’s post-secondary institutions.
Robert A. Gruber, CPA,
Ph.D., CMA is accounting department chairperson at the University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater. He can be reached at 262-472-5463. |
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Two former students of mine
expressed an interest in a teaching career early in their
undergraduate programs. I recently asked them (a) why they were
interested in teaching, (b) why they choose to work before starting
their teaching careers, and (c) how their employers assisted them
transition into academia.
Dan Wangerin
graduated from UW-Whitewater with an MPA degree in 2003 and
worked as an audit senior at Deloitte and Touche in Milwaukee.
Wagner decided to pursue a post-secondary teaching career because
"several professors were very influential in sparking my interest in
education." He is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at UW-Madison
and teaches Financial Statement Analysis in the evening MBA Program.
Abbie Brown will graduate
from UW-Whitewater’s MPA program in May 2007 and will start working
for Deloitte and Touche in summer 2007. She has always had a love of
teaching and hopes to work for a few years before entering a Ph.D.
program. Brown has been attending UW-Madison’s Ph.D. seminars this
spring as part of her MPA program at UW-Whitewater.
1. Why are you interested in teaching at a post-secondary
institution?
Wangerin: I had several
professors who were very influential in sparking my interest in the
both accounting and teaching. Good professors have a profound,
positive impact on their students, and I can think of no more truly
rewarding career in our profession.
Brown: I have been an
accounting tutor for four years, but I have been teaching since the
day I learned to read and began practicing on my younger brother.
After participating in the Undergraduate Research Program at
UW-Whitewater, I became interested in the research side of academia.
To help me learn more, the faculty at UW-Madison generously allowed
me to attend and participate in their Ph.D. workshops this semester.
Now there is no doubt that this is what I want to do as a career.
2. Why did you choose to work before starting your teaching
career?
Wangerin:
Having a strong professional background is extremely beneficial to
both me and my students. Working in public accounting provided me
with experiences that I will use in my teaching and research. I can
also rely on my former colleagues at Deloitte to develop ideas for
meaningful research projects.
Brown:
I had planned to start my Ph.D. program immediately after finishing
my master’s degree. But the more I talked with people about my
decision (e.g., UW-Madison Ph.D. director and students, Deloitte
accounting professionals, and UW-Whitewater faculty), the more
convinced I became of the importance of having real-life experiences
to bring back to the classroom.
3. What support or encouragement did you receive from your
employer?
Wangerin:
I received tremendous support from Deloitte when I made my decision
to pursue a Ph.D. degree. While they were sad to see me go and told
me I’d be welcomed back anytime, my lead audit partner contacted
other partners across the country to serve as references for me to
programs I was considering. I would recommend that anyone
considering a move to a Ph.D. program talk openly with their
employer about their plans I know that the support I received from
Deloitte was instrumental in my placement at UW-Madison.
Brown:
At the end of my internship with Deloitte, I was offered a position
starting after my master’s program. I told them I wanted to apply to
several Ph.D. programs and didn’t think it was fair to give them an
answer until I knew whether I had been accepted into the program.
Not only was Deloitte willing to postpone my decision date, but they
also connected me with a colleague (Dan) who had been accepted into
UW-Madison’s Ph.D. program. They continue to be incredibly
supportive of my plans to eventually pursue a teaching career. |
All
articles and photos or other artwork are copyrighted and
may not be duplicated without permission.
Contact amy@wicpa.org
for information. |
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