The School of Accountancy is a professionally-oriented academic unit. The vast majority of its graduates enter employment in the accounting profession immediately upon graduation. Many intend to become Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). This designation requires passage of an intensive national examination administered by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and on-the-job experience, which varies from state to state. Before taking it, a candidate for the CPA examination must meet certain educational requirements established by the state. At present, the State of Ohio requires a four-year bachelor’s degree in accounting. After 1999, the requirement will be a bachelor’s degree plus one 30 additional semester hours (45 quarter hours).

The mission of the School of Accountancy is to prepare bright men and women for successful careers in the accounting profession. We provide a superior education with competent professors who challenge their students to excel and support their students’ professional aspirations.

The program or curriculum objectives are derived from our mission statement. They were adopted by the faculty, based upon information gathered from the accounting profession (e.g., AICPA), the academic profession (e.g., AAA Accounting Education Change Commission), our stakeholders (e.g., employers, alumni, students), and the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. Consistent with the demands of the accounting profession, we pledge to provide a learning environment that enables our students to develop:

• a broad general education emphasizing the humanities, social sciences, and natural science;
• strong communication, interpersonal, and teamwork skills;
• appreciation for diversity and cultural differences;
• a broad knowledge of business concepts and practices;
• awareness of ethical and international aspects of business and accounting;
• competency in critical thinking and independent learning;
• an understanding of the accounting and reporting process;
• basic skills in designing accounting information systems and using accounting data for decisions in business, government, and nonprofit organizations;
• computer skills and exposure to current information technology;
• an understanding of personal and corporate income taxation;
• an understanding of auditing and the attest function.

For each of the curriculum objectives of the School of Accountancy, we have designated responsibility for delivery of those objectives to particular courses or combinations of courses. This is the INPUT side of the program assessment process. In the case of accounting content, such as individual and corporate taxation, particular courses (ACCT 217 and 317) are devoted to delivery of that objective. In the case of skills and other competencies, such as computer skills, a combination of outside courses devoted to the skill (MIS 100 and 300) and emphasis on application in particular accounting courses has been adopted.

Two internal measures are used to help determine whether we are meeting our specific curriculum objectives: the syllabus review focuses on inputs and the student evaluation review focuses on outcomes. Syllabi are reviewed by the Instructional Resources and Responsibilities Team for learning objectives, coverage of required competencies, and compliance with Ohio University and College of Business directives. At the end of the quarter, student evaluation results are reviewed by the IRR Team to determine whether, in the opinion of the students, desired skills and competencies have been achieved. The School of Accountancy uses the College of Business’ 10-question evaluation form, supplemented by four additional questions dealing with diversity, critical thinking, teamwork, and independent learning. This results in a student evaluation of every competency required of the accounting student.

Several external measures of outcomes are being used to determine whether we are meeting the mission of the School of Accountancy.

• We conduct a survey of graduating seniors to determine the percentage obtaining employment before graduation in the accounting profession.
• We monitor CPA exam results by category (auditing; tax, management, and

• The Ohio University Outcome Assessment Survey conducted by the Office of Institutional Research gathers data from alumni regarding the effectiveness of their undergraduate studies. Our graduates indicate a high level of satisfactions with both general education and professional preparation. The School of Accountancy has collaborated with the OIR to include questions on the College of Business alumni survey regarding the importance of particular objectives (e.g., international awareness, teamwork, computer skills, diversity) and the effectiveness with which our students achieved those objectives. We also recently added questions regarding delivery of accounting in the business core.
• Feedback is obtained from employers in several ways. For example, the major recruiters of our students visit campus at least once a year, and converse with faculty and the director on their perceptions of strengths and weaknesses of our program. The College of Business also received feedback from employers of our students in intern capacities.

The process of program evaluation is carried out through the interaction of five Continuous Improvement Teams in the School of Accountancy. These teams are set up to deal with the following areas: (1) Curriculum Content and Evaluation, (2) Instructional Resources and Responsibilities, (3) Faculty Composition and Development, (4) Students and Alumni, and (5) Intellectual Contributions. (See Figure 3) Through these teams, the Policy Manual was developed to set forth the goals, assessments, and processes for continuous improvement in all five areas. Appendix F includes the portions of the Policy Manual for Curriculum Content and Evaluation and Instructional Resources and Responsibilities, the two areas with primary responsibility for assessment and improvement of the academic program.

The Instructional Resources and Responsibilities Team compiles the assessment information from syllabi and from student evaluations and reports to the Director. The Curriculum Content and Evaluation Team is responsible for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the curriculum in meeting our mission and for initiating changes in the existing curriculum.

Based on the IRR Team report, the Director provides faculty members with feedback on the effectiveness of outcomes delivery to each faculty member, and this becomes part of the overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness. The faculty evaluation process requires that each faculty member report on performance for the last year and submit a plan for the following year. If the faculty member fails to achieve the desired competency in the course, the plan must explain how the deficiency will be corrected.

The Curriculum Content and Evaluation Team compiles and reviews the external outcome measures listed above. This team also deliberates the need for additional outcome measures. If the curriculum is failing to meet the objectives of the program, the CCE Team may recommend curriculum changes to the faculty, including accounting course content or addition or deletion of course requirements.

The program objectives, which target specific competencies, were developed in 1993-94 based upon feedback obtained from our stakeholders and the academic and practicing arms of the profession. Changes in the program mission and objectives are initiated by this team, based upon periodic feedback from stakeholders and the accounting profession. This feedback comes from the assessments listed above, information solicited from employers and alumni, and faculty input based upon their development activities.

A recent curriculum changes adopted by the School of Accountancy as a result of this process was the adoption of an extensive general education requirement for all accounting majors in 1992. This was in response to employer feedback and the Accounting Education Change Commission.

Most recently, the School of Accountancy reviewed the general education requirements of the college that had been adopted in late 1995, for all business students, including Accounting majors. The faculty of the School of Accountancy determined that the College of Business now requires sufficient liberal education requirements that the School of Accountancy no longer needed to maintain its own outside requirements. Therefore, the School of Accountancy adopted the general education requirements applicable to all business majors.

The School of Accountancy is also cognizant of its role in providing service courses to other majors. During the 1995-96 academic year, the College of Business adopted a radical change to the core accountancy requirement, which would have reduced the required hours from 8 to 4. The School of Accountancy faculty and other members of the College of Business faculty reconsidered, and the School of Accountancy proposed a competency-based curriculum revision which would keep the current 8 hour requirement with some changes in the curriculum. The faculty of the College of Business voted to adopt the changes recommended by the School of Accountancy, and reversed its earlier decision to reduce the hours of accounting required of all business majors.

The School of Accountancy’s greatest curriculum concern has been the requirement for a fifth year of education. The Ohio legislature has mandated that candidates for the CPA examination will need to have completed 225 quarter hours (15 semester hours) to sit for this test after 1999. To prepare for this change, as well as to accommodate students who may seek employment in states that already impose this requirement, the School of Accountancy studied its options. In 1995, the School of Accountancy reinstated a long dormant Master’s program, the Master’s of Science in Accountancy (MSAc).

Much of the current activity of the faculty is dedicated to improving and refining this program. At the current time the principal areas of concern are development of specialties, and the tradeoffs between technical and general education courses. The Tax Specialty requires each graduating student to submit a detailed letter regarding all aspects of the program. These letters are used as guides for future students and as inputs for curriculum revision.

This program is scheduled for a complete and critical review by 1999, so that it can accommodate the expected influx of students when the new Ohio requirements take effect. This program has been the subject of conferences between the School of Accountancy faculty and several of the principal employers and financial contributors.

Through the assessment process, we continually identify areas requiring attention and improvement, but we have identified three areas that will require major attention by the accounting faculty as a whole.

• We need to develop better (preferably external) outcome measures of several of our desired competencies. In several cases, we are relying on students to determine how successfully they achieved a learning goal.
• The faculty needs to adopt specific benchmarks for its external performance measures to facilitate the continuous improvement process.
• The offering of courses at branch campuses poses some problems. Several of the branches have indicated dissatisfaction with the HEMS delivery method. One branch has requested that the Athens faculty offer the MSAc program on site. Resource constraints make it difficult to accommodate these important functions.

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