Influenced by the Bedford report—the 1986 study of the gap between what accounting students learned in school and what accountants actually did on the job—Kansas State University (KSU) set out in 1990 to transform its accounting curriculum from the traditional “preparer” perspective to one focused on broader learning objectives that included
Ensuring that students who graduate had the technical and
professional knowledge to succeed as accounting professionals.
Seeing that students who graduate had the professional
skills necessary to implement their knowledge, including oral and
written communication, interpersonal skills and the ability to think
critically.
Attracting and retaining high-quality students to the
curriculum.
THE REVISED CURRICULUM
In place
today, the curriculum is a five-year program in which students
graduate with a bachelor’s degree at the end of four years but are
expected to stay and complete a master’s-in-accountancy degree. The
five-year approach was chosen because the faculty realized a fifth
year was necessary to achieve its objectives and not to comply with
the advent of the 150-hour requirement.
The curriculum revision was based on two criteria: that students should understand simple topics before more complex topics and content would be based on how students learn, using Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive skills. (Bloom’s hierarchy begins with knowledge and comprehension, followed by application and analysis, synthesis and evaluation.) In contrast a traditional curriculum schedules courses based on the order topics appear on the balance sheet; the result is that the first course is intermediate accounting, which many consider the most difficult in terms of content. In the revised curriculum, therefore, topics were sequenced so students did not have to apply a higher skill level than their learning background supported. In addition integrated into every course were activities that promoted the skills the profession demands:
Group projects, which promote interpersonal skills.
Written assignments and presentations, which promote
communication skills.
Research projects, which promote critical-thinking skills
and learning how to think independently.
The curriculum also uses five levels:
Introductory-level courses have a “user” vs. a
“preparer” perspective (because most students are not accounting
majors), and also, these courses lend themselves to the recruitment
effort described later. They focus on how the accounting system
captures events and how accounting information is used for planning
and evaluating.
Foundation-level courses provide the basis for
all subsequent courses. They detail how the accounting system works
and the theory and history of accounting standards.
Content-level courses introduce students to
how various users employ data from the accounting system to meet their
information needs.
Research-level courses are case-based,
team-taught courses that cover tax, financial accounting and auditing
and teach students how to use research tools to resolve ambiguous
problems.
Graduate-level courses provide students with
the opportunity to design a course of study with either a tax,
financial, managerial or systems emphasis. An in-depth look at the
curriculum is available at www.cba.ksu.edu/cba/grads/macc/curriculum.htm.
THE RECRUITING PROGRAM
Rather
than use the “build it and they will come” approach, KSU said an
objective of the new curriculum was to attract and retain the best
possible students. As a result, the department developed an extensive
program.
Two faculty members and the Accounting Advocates, a group of 10 to 12 graduate and undergraduate students, administer it. The Accounting Advocates are an essential component; they act as ambassadors for the department by making presentations to high schools, talking to visiting high school students and meeting with visiting dignitaries. Accounting students apply to be advocates in their junior year and serve throughout their graduate program.
The recruiting program targets high school teachers, counselors and students and undecided college freshmen and sophomores. Every school district in the state receives a recruiting video created by the accounting department. The recruiting program reaches
High school teachers and counselors. The
schools-to-careers conference educates high school teachers about the
opportunities an accounting career offers. It is a collaborative
effort of the College of Business and the business education
department of the College of Education.
High school students. The high school careers
conference brings together high school students who are nominated by
their teachers to attend. Students visit with young accounting
professionals and go through team-building exercises and go to a
tailgate party and football game. Students see positive accounting
role models, learn about the career flexibility an accounting career
has to offer and have fun.
College students. The professional accounting
careers exploration dinner offers an opportunity to the best students
in the introductory courses to meet with young professionals from
public accounting and industry and an advocate to learn about careers.
SUCCESS
Compared to 1989, there
are now 35% more accounting majors and the quality of students (as
measured by ACT, SAT and GPA) has increased. Enrollment in the
master’s program increased 500% over the same time period. This
increase occurred in spite of the fact that the GPA required for
admission to the accounting major was significantly increased.
—Dan Deines, CPA, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
