College of Administration and Business

School of Professional Accountancy

College of Administration and Business

Louisiana Tech University

AACSB Accreditation Maintenance

Annual Report for 2004-2005

2004-2005 Progress

The School of Professional Accountancy’s (SPA) strategic management focused on issues relating to areas that needed strengthening, particularly those relating to the new accounting accreditation standards. Representatives of the SPA also participated in the continuing development of the College of Administration and Business Strategic Plan. The College’s Strategic Plan addresses four areas related to: (1) employment of human resource management; (2) development of partnerships directed toward obtaining financial resources; (3) expansion of partnerships that enhance instruction, research, and service goals; and (4) development of program management strategies and systems that fully embody instructional aims. The College’s Strategic Plan is discussed in the College’s accreditation maintenance report and is not considered below except when it is central to the SPA’s efforts this year.

The SPA’s progress this year focused on (1) assessment methods; (2) technology in the curriculum; and (3) intellectual contributions (as part of human resource management).

1.  Assessment Methods

The mission and objectives of the SPA were reviewed in the fall with no resulting changes. However, we began to refine some of the objectives into specific intended outcomes (or learning goals – assurance of learning standards). Our plan is to look at goals that we can start assessing and follow up next year with additional intended outcomes. This year we continued working with our intended outcomes at the principles level, using course-embedded assessment in these courses (second year). We also began pretest/posttest review of intermediate accounting students and their understanding of key concepts(first year). One goal is to gauge student retention of the accounting knowledge. As we refine our learning objectives into assurance of learning standards, we intend to use more of these types of assessment measures. Additionally, we have been using oral and written communication rubrics for the last two years to help assess each of these communication areas in two undergraduate and one graduate course (all courses must have 10 percent of the grade determined by written communication).

We formed the SPA Assessment Committee which is charged with (1) developing new assessment techniques; (2) monitoring current assessment; and (3) reviewing accounting syllabi. Committee members include accounting representatives on the undergraduate and graduate policies and assessment committees for the College (UPAC and GPAC). Also, one of our faculty members attended an AACSB assessment seminar. Our assessment methods to date include the following:

·  Student evaluation of individual courses (UG & G)*

·  College-wide oral exit interviews of graduating seniors (UG)

·  CAB written survey of graduating seniors (UG)

·  SPA written survey of graduating seniors (UG)

·  SPA written survey of MPA students (G)

·  CAB written survey of DBA students (G)

·  One-year CAB alumni written survey (with SPA addendum) (UG & G)

·  Six-year CAB alumni written survey (with SPA addendum) (UG & G)

·  Employer survey conducted by CAB (UG & G)

·  Employer of intern survey conducted by SPA (UG & G)

·  Analysis of available CPA examination scores (UG & G)

·  Other certification results by alumni survey addendum (UG & G)

·  Advisory Board Review (Acct members - CAB Bd.) (UG & G)

·  Evaluation of oral presentations (including periodic outside evaluation) (UG & G)

·  Evaluation of written communication skills (UG & G)

·  CAB & SPA-administered course-embedded assessment in core courses (UG)

·  SPA pretest/post test review of intermediate students (UG)

·  Syllabi review by SPA assessment committee (undergraduate & graduate) (UG & G)

·  Critiqued presentations of DBA students (Acct. 601, video-taped) (G)

·  SPA-administered written comprehensive examination of DBA students (G)

·  CAB-administered oral comprehensive examination of DBA students (G)

·  DBA minor field comprehensive exam (G)

·  DBA students’ dissertations (G)

·  Publications by DBA students and graduates (G)

*UG = Undergraduate, G = Graduate

Our focus over the next few years will be less on some of the assessments above that are made up largely of perceptions and greater focus on implementing direct assessment measures. We also plan to hire consultants over the next three-years (CAB has approved the funding) to assist in better refining our learning goals and assessing those goals (and other matters related to the new accounting accreditation standards).

Recent changes arising from assessment have affected each of our accounting programs. The following is a list of recent changes resulting from a variety of assessment means including SPA formal assessment, faculty suggestions, benchmarking/observations of other institutions, information gathered from meetings/training sessions (AACSB and other organizations, recommendations of the accounting members of the CAB Advisory Board, and AACSB review team recommendations. These changes can be broadly summarized as follows:

·  Emphasis on learning objectives in every course

·  Inclusion of relevant technology in accounting courses

·  Increased written communication in every course

·  Stronger emphasis on oral communication skills

·  Scheduled periodic review of missions and objectives

·  Enhanced faculty research expectations

·  Measures to ensure consistent coverage in courses taught by a variety of instructors

The SPA Assessment Committee also assisted in the assessment process and with making recommended changes. Their largest commitment this year was in reviewing all syllabi with an emphasis on learning objectives for all courses. Committee recommendations for content changes were considered by the entire accounting faculty.

2.  Technology in the Curriculum

Improved technology usage across program curricula resulted from assessment as well as the AACSB visit team’s suggestions. Data from our alumni surveys (one-year and six-year) and from oral and written surveys of graduating seniors indicated concerns over the level of applicable technology in accounting courses. We have invested considerable time in discussing technology with faculty at other universities, sent our faculty to technology seminars (general and course specific technology) on multiple occasions, and met with the accounting members of the CAB Advisory Board. A direct result of our efforts is the inclusion of applicable technology in many of our courses. We are already receiving positive feedback from exit surveys of program graduates and from employer surveys, both full-time positions and internships.

Assessment data and other feedback have indicated the need for student experiences with profession-related technology such as general ledger software and tax preparation software. The general ledger software was added to our Accounting 303 (Intermediate I) class during Fall Quarter 2003 and was used in Accounting 304 (Intermediate II) beginning in the Winter 2003-04. Prior to this addition, we talked with accounting alumni on the CAB’s Advisory Board, asking their opinions about requiring the use of QuickBooks Pro in our intermediate accounting courses. They agreed that our students would benefit, and the software usage would develop skills that are transferable to other accounting software packages. Students have gained greater confidence and been positive about the addition. Likewise, employers (of interns and graduates) have indicated the value of these experiences.

This year, we continued with professional software and database use from last year and added TurboTax to our individual income tax course. Student feedback has indicated that the experience of using TurboTax provides a better understanding of tax preparation software. Area CPA firms also have given us positive feedback, noting that the knowledge gained is transferable to other, more sophisticated tax software. MS Visio is used in selected graduate classes (such as tax). KPMG made their Accounting Research Online available to accounting faculty for use in and out of the classroom. We added this year an interactive tool in undergraduate auditing designed for teaching detection, evaluation, and designing application controls within business processes.

Other technology related tools have been well received and their value is already being noted by students in exit surveys and by employers. These include increased usage of Excel, an introduction to SAP, and the increased use of research databases (such as EDGAR, FARS, Lexis-Nexis, RIA Checkpoint, and the CCH Network Research Site). Graduates and employers have provided positive feedback related to skills students have gained as a result of the restructuring of two Computer Information Systems courses in 2004 that now include computer usage tools and, most recently, ACCESS. Especially noteworthy is the improved graduating senior student satisfaction this year with the teaching of technology related skills. Only a short time ago, technology exposure was viewed as a program weakness. While the inclusion of technology skills requires continuous monitoring and updating, the School has made great strides in this area and now both students and employers express greater satisfaction with the technological skills gained.

3.  Intellectual Contributions

In an effort to increase high quality research, we are strengthening our emphasis on basic research by faculty and doctoral students. The faculty have developed a new journal list to serve as our targeted outlets for research. Faculty are directing their efforts toward these journals and we anticipate improvement over the next few years. Periodic assessment of our doctoral program has also indicated the need for stronger research agendas by our doctoral students and doctoral alumni. We believe that stronger intellectual contributions will enhance the quality of our faculty for instruction in all our programs, particularly for teaching in the doctoral program. Likewise, improved research agendas and enhanced research skills will assist doctoral alumni throughout their academic careers.

As part of the effort to increase research productivity of doctoral students, we have reduced the teaching assignments for doctoral teaching assistants. We have a target teaching load for doctoral students of no more than two courses per calendar year. Students will work more closely with doctoral graduate faculty as part of their doctoral assistantships to develop a research agenda that will lead to publications. An increased emphasis on research projects (in addition to projects in doctoral seminars and normal dissertation requirements) will increase the value of our doctoral students, providing them with a stronger research background prior to graduation.

An assessment of doctoral students’ (and graduates’) research productivity is now provided annually. A strengthened emphasis on research in doctoral seminars, engaging students in research projects with faculty, and reducing students’ teaching loads should improve the future research productivity of our graduates. Last year, the two accounting doctoral students at the dissertation stage had multiple publications, each with applied research publications (including The CPA Journal) and with discipline-based research in progress (one with a published article in Advances in Taxation). Meeting the objective of increased research productivity should improve graduate placement, a factor that is an assessment outcome.

The School has also developed (and twice revised) a Policies and Procedures Manual that formally establishes the role of intellectual contributions in human resource management (HRM) decisions such as tenure and promotion, merit pay increases, faculty workload assignments, and doctoral faculty status. While the new journal list contains one “Contributions to Practice” journal and two journals categorized as “Learning and Pedagogical,” the “Discipline-Based” journals are used in critical HRM decisions such as determining doctoral faculty status. Articles categorized as “Learning and Pedagogical” will supplement one’s teaching evaluation under an annual performance appraisal (i.e., not as part of one’s research evaluation). Changes in the CAB’s HRM Policies and Procedures during the last three months have impacted these decisions, too.

Related to the goal of higher quality research is the hiring of new faculty. The University committed funding for hiring a new doctoral faculty member in December 2004, and we started negotiating that month with a well-qualified individual we had tried to hire during the previous year. Unfortunately, this prospective faculty member selected another doctoral granting university, and we have continued with our recruitment process. Our goal now is to hire someone for the Fall 2006.

In April, Dr. Dan Reneau, the President of Louisiana Tech University, demonstrated his commitment and continuing support by agreeing to hire a second accounting faculty member. These two faculty additions will add to our core group of doctoral faculty and give other faculty (who hold the doctorate, but do not meet current doctoral faculty criteria) time to improve their intellectual contributions through higher quality research. In addition, it should be noted that we have a reasonable time period remaining before any current doctoral students reach the dissertation stage.

The College is also revising the Human Resource Management (HRM) system. The CAB HRM Committee completed revisions of the Promotion and Tenure and the Graduate Faculty Appointment Policies and Procedures. Both are ready for faculty hearings and faculty vote in the 2005-2006 school year. The Annual Faculty Review Policies and Procedures that were approved in the previous year were implemented. The HRM Committee also continued its meetings regarding the revision of the College’s journal lists. This revision impacts the new journal list recently developed by the SPA. After soliciting faculty input through hearings and informally, the lists were revised. The revised lists and associated Policies/Procedures were adopted by the CAB Council in February 2005 and posted on the CAB website.

Also related to quality research is the CAB’s continued encouragement to faculty to apply for sabbaticals in both in the U.S. and internationally. A professor in economics is on sabbatical leave at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates this year. An assistant professor in finance spent the summer at Arizona State University to facilitate his research agenda. Both received financial support from the CAB. Sabbaticals are available for accounting faculty.

Other Activities Relevant to Success

The SPA has continued to engage in a number of activities that are vital to our success. One of those activities involves development work. The SPA Director and representatives from the School and the CAB have attended accounting alumni receptions during the year as part of our outreach efforts to work with those who provide financial support, as well as those who hire our students. During the year, an accounting alumnus decided to begin funding an endowed professorship for accounting. When this new professorship is completely funded will bring our total in accounting to five (along with one endowed chair). Other professorships in the College can also be awarded to accounting professors.