Accounting

by Frank Buckless, Department Head

Friday, Nov 21, 2008

The current crisis in the U.S. and global financial markets reflects the truly dynamic, global nature of today’s business environment. It also reinforces the importance of a commitment made by the faculty in the NC State College of Management’s Department of Accounting – to continue building an exemplary educational environment that prepares students to lead in our ever-changing technological and global business climate.

The results of our efforts are reflected in part by The Accounting Report’s annual ranking of accounting degree programs. This fall, our bachelor of accounting program was ranked 24th, and the MAC program was ranked 27th.

That’s a good start, but we recognize that we need to continue improving our academic programs and expanding the experiential learning opportunities that are available to our students. It is not enough to simply equip accounting students with the basic knowledge and skills required in the profession. Our faculty and accounting program staff recognize this and are combining traditional instruction with internships, service learning, study abroad and case competition experiences to help prepare students for the grittiness of the real world.

Our students have shown that they are up for the challenge. They continue to do well during internships and most move into career positions at graduation. In fact, many receive employment offers months before graduation day.

Our consistently high placement rate at graduation – nearly 100% – is due in great part of the strong, ongoing relationships that have been established between the college’s accounting department and MAC program and the growing number of accounting firms that hire our students. We value these relationships, and continue our efforts to make sure that recruitment from the NC State College of Management remains a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Our students are definitely fulfilling their part of the bargain by taking advantage of opportunities to extend their learning beyond the classroom. For example, in two of the last four years our accounting teams have won the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) National Case Competition. This year, our faculty and the department are examining how to expand and enhance the success of our accounting students in case competitions.

We also strive to create an intellectual environment conducive to meaningful, impactful faculty research and scholarship. To help us achieve this goal, we are strengthening our corporate partnerships and global strategic alliances so that we continue to anticipate the knowledge needs of the profession and build a research and outreach agenda that meets those needs. The continued growth and recognition of our Enterprise Risk Management Initiative is a key part of this effort. We also have been expanding our faculty, and this year welcomed Scott Showalter, formerly partner with KPMG, as teaching professor.

I encourage you to follow the links below to learn more about the news of the department, and to send us a note to let us know of your achievements.

Regards,

Frank Buckless, Head
Department of Accounting