Pathways Commission Update Charting a National Higher Education Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants

Pathways Commission Update

Charting a National Higher Education Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants

Sponsored by the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)

Tennessee Society of Accounting Educators (TSAE)September 2011

• All views presented today are our own and do not reflect the official views of the Pathways Commission, our organizations, AAA, or AICPA.

Official Statement

Pathways Commission (AAA and AICPA) 2

• In 2008, the U.S. Department of Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP) made a number of recommendations. Part VI. Human Capital recommendation #5 was:

• “Encourage the AICPA and the AAA jointly to form a commission to provide a timely study of the possible future structure of higher education for the accounting profession.”

U.S. Treasury Recommendation


• AAA – Gary Previts, Case Western Reserve University, Former AAA President

• AAA – Tracey Sutherland, Executive Director• AICPA – Denny Reigle, Former Director

Academic and Career Development Team • AICPA – George Krull, Grant Thornton

(Retired)

Sponsoring Committee


• Globalization of business and markets• Escalating complexity of business• Lack of financial literacy• High profile frauds eluding regulatory scrutiny• Increasingly sophisticated technology• Increasing need for fair value, predictive and

non-financial information


Challenges for Profession and Academia

• To meet these challenges we need to develop strategies and then structures to ensure that we have an adequate supply of the best, diverse talent to sustain the accounting profession, broadly defined, over the long-term.

Pathways Commission (AAA and AICPA)

Pathways Commission Objective

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• Bruce Behn - Chair (University of Tennessee)• Bill Ezzell (Deloitte)• Leslie Murphy (Murphy Consulting, Inc.)• Judy Rayburn (University of Minnesota)• Jerry Strawser (Texas A&M University)• Mel Stith (Syracuse University)

Pathways Commissioners


• Scope of the Commission– Attract individuals with high potential to excel in accounting, at any

point in their lives– Enable higher education to provide the best possible educational

experience– Support the need for ongoing educational experiences throughout the

professional accountants’ careers• Three Supply Chains each to focus on several different aspects

of the challenges• Work Groups emerged within and across the three Supply

Chains


A Collaborative Structure

Supply Chain 1 Supply Chain 2 Supply Chain 3

Santa Fe College U. of Rhode Island North Carolina State U.

Ernst & Young KPMG Foundation PricewaterhouseCoopers

Wake Forest University Dixon-Hughes Bailiwick Data Systems

Belmont University DiSanto, Priest & Co. CitiGroup

Austin Comm. College Univ. of Arkansas Univ. of Memphis

Kansas State Univ. Arizona State Univ. FSA

DeVry University Creighton University AACSB

National Business Education Association

Financial Executives International

NASBA

Colorado State Univ. Association of Government Accts.

Institute of Management Accountants

Beta Alpha Psi National Association of Black Accountants

Institute of Internal Auditors

Colorado State Society Assoc. of Latino Professionals in F&A

Minnesota State Board

Supply Chain Organizations

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Supply Chain 1 Supply Chain 2 Supply Chain 3

Susan Crosson (L) Mark Higgins (L) Scott Showalter (L)

Ken Bouyer Bernard J. Milano Holly Paul

Jack Wilkerson Larry Evans Bill Travis

Del DeVries Ernie Almonte Steve Young

Tracie Nobles Karen Pincus Carolyn Callahan

Dan Deines Harriet Maccracken Martha Doran

Beth Rescigno Jack Krogstad Jan Williams

Madge Gregg Robert Walker Melanie Thompson

Margarita Lenk Jeanette Franzel Dave Burritt

Cindy Cruz Gregory Johnson Paul Sobel

Mary Medley Manny Espinoza Kate Mooney


Supply Chain Representatives

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• 639 Years of Practice Experience• 585 Years of Education Experience

• Many people wear different hats (examples)• Ernie Almonte, past AICPA chair, former Rhode

Island Auditor General, now DiSanto, Priest & Co.• Jack Krogstad, Creighton University, former

Academic Fellow at the Office of the Chief Accountant


Overall Pathways Statistics

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• Supply Chain #1---Susan Crosson, (Santa Fe College)

• Supply Chain #2---Mark Higgins, (University of Rhode Island)

• Supply Chain #3---Scott Showalter, (Retired KPMG partner and N.C. State University)

Supply Chain Leaders


Pathways Commission: Charting a National Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants 13

A Collaborative Process

• Information gathering and sharing to level-set all participants

• Development of key questions for exploration• Build-out of perspectives on key issues• Leading to implementable recommendations


Feedback Received from Presentations by Members of the Pathways Commission

• AAA 2010 Annual Meeting San Francisco• TSCPA Accounting Education & Career Awareness Meeting • Tennessee Accounting Educators Conference• AAA 2010 Northeast Region Meeting • 2010 AICPA Fall Council Meeting• AAA 50th Anniversary Region Meeting• NASBA 2010 Annual Meeting • Michigan Association of CPAs Educators Conference• AAA November 2010 Executive Council Meeting • AICPA Board of Directors Meeting • Accounting Sponsoring Organizations • 2011 Maryland Accounting Educators Conference • 2011 AICPA Board of Directors Meeting • 2011 AAA FARS and IAS Section Meetings • 3rd Annual On-Line TLC Section Midyear Meeting • 2011 APLG/FSA Annual Meeting


Feedback Received from Presentations by Members of the Pathways Commission

• 20 11 South Carolina Association of Accounting Educators • Tennessee High School Educators’ Symposium • NASBA CPE Conference • AAA 2011 Southwest Region • AAA 2011 Southeast Regional • AAA 2011 Mid-Atlantic Region Meeting • AAA 2011 Western Region Meeting • Indiana CPA Society’s • 2011 Educators Conference • Michigan Association of CPAs Spring Advisory Forum • AAA 2011 Ohio Region Meeting • 2011 TACTYC – Keynote Speaker • AICPA Spring Council Meeting • 2011 Virginia Society of CPAs Educators’ Symposium • CPE Society Executives Interchange Conference

Commission and Supply Chains have Developed the Following Working Issues

using Feedback from Presentations

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1.What is the Value Proposition of a Broadly Defined Accounting Profession?

Issues• Definition of our profession• Define a signature

pedagogy• Identify benefits and

contributions of accounting to our economy

• Stress the breadth of the profession - accounting goes beyond auditing

Impediments• Public perception

of accounting careers as “less than exciting”

• Lack of understanding of important role of accounting to our economy

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2. Identify Current and Forecast Future Markets for Accounting Information And Professionals

Issues• Gather supply and

demand data for all accounting professionals

• Identify necessary current and future competencies for each area of practice

• Conduct research to identify demand, considering outsourcing trends

Impediments• Currently bits and pieces

of job market are tracked• Lack of national data

base to track job market for all accounting students and careers

• No “Meta”-Professional accounting organization that cuts across functional areas

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3. Strengthen quality and quantity of high potential accounting students

Issues• Career Perceptions• Brand identity and careers

beyond auditing• High schools: Dual

enrollment and AP• The first course as a

recruitment tool• Placement of accounting

course in curriculum

Impediments• Students discover

accounting too late in their career choice process

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Issues• Curriculum• Educational paths for less

“traditional” entrants and career options (paraprofessionals)

• Less traditional educational paths for traditional entrants (Rutgers program)

• Diversity

Impediments• Diversity of accounting

professionals does not mirror diversity of US population

• Under represented populations lack role models and mentors

3. Strengthen quality and quantity of high potential accounting students

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4. Broaden and improve the speed of curricula and pedagogy innovation

in a rapidly changing complex global environment

Issues• Inventory accounting

curricula at high schools, community colleges, and universities

• Integrate cutting edge practices, IT/systems, and global/cultural experiences

Impediments• Cost of development of

teaching materials (simulations) to facilitate experiential learning

• Difficulty of integrating IT changes into the classroom

• Lack of national clearinghouse for innovation in curricula and pedagogy.

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Issues• Understand learning

patterns of different generations of students

• Rethink textbooks and other learning materials

Impediments• Inadequate integration

of educational research findings into PhD programs and faculty awareness

• Slow process of updating textbooks and integrating new material

4. Broaden and improve the speed of curricula and pedagogy innovation

in a rapidly changing complex global environment

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5. Assess Faculty Supply/Demand Status

Issues• Continue to actively recruit

Ph.D. students from practice for specialized disciplines (audit and tax)

• Review current Ph.D. programs and processes (program length and foci)

• Improve integration of professionally and academically qualified faculty

• Gather data on supply and demand for Ph.D. graduates

Impediments• One-size fits all PhD

program design• Lack of national (global)

PhD program clearinghouse

• Distance between accounting research and practice

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6. Strengthen bi-directional links between business/profession and the

educational community (research and teaching)

Issues• Internships/externships• Collaborative research

and data sharing• Integration of

professionals into classrooms and academe

• Professional experiences for faculty by specializations

Impediments• Research disconnect

between accounting professionals and academia

• Difficulty of obtaining data for research

• Narrow focus of academic accounting research reward systems

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Issues• Continuing educational

opportunities for faculty• Advanced, professional

degrees (post-MS specialist, leadership Ph.D.)

• Professional certifications and licensure

Impediments• Faculty time constraints • Lack of easily available

and affordable mechanisms to update faculty

• Only partial integration of clinical faculty into academia

6. Strengthen bi-directional links between business/profession and the

educational community (research and teaching)

• Initial recommendations by Summer/Fall 2011• Final recommendations by November/December

2011• Final Report targeted for January 2012• Phase 2 planning in process now – focus on

implementation


Next Steps

Pathways Commission: Charting a National Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants 27

• How do we overcome impediments?– Higher education?– Practice?

• Sustaining change is hard– How can innovation become

institutionalized?– Other?

Potential Discussion Questions

We Need Your Input

Send your input via the Pathways Commission space: http://pathwayscommission.org

Or send your input to Bruce Behn ([email protected])


Documents

Pathways Commission Update Charting a National Higher Education Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants