To: Subcommittee on Centres – Planning and Priorities Committee of Council Re: Establishment of the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education From: Gary Entwistle, Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs Edwards School of Business Date: March 3, 2009 ******************************************************************** Name of Centre Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education Type of Centre Type A ‐ The centre will be housed within the Edwards School of Business Academic Plan Goals and Objectives: An important goal for the University of Saskatchewan is to be recognized for providing to students a stimulating and rewarding learning experience. An important means for achieving this recognition is through providing students with opportunities to become more fully engaged in the learning exercise, both inside and outside the University setting. As part of the Edwards School of Business Centre Investment Strategy, the goal of the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education will be to serve as the catalyst to promote various initiatives which will provide students at the University of Saskatchewan with these learning opportunities. It is also envisioned that the Centre’s learning initiatives will be promoted within the broader academic community, both internal and external to the University of Saskatchewan. Primarily championed through efforts of members of the Department of Accounting in the Edwards School of Business, many of whom have recognizable national and international reputations in accounting education, the centre will house and support the necessary infrastructure and resources required to propose and deliver on various initiatives designed to enhance the student experience, both in the near and longer term. At present, two primary initiatives will be championed through the centre. The first initiative is the Honours Project in Accounting Initiative. The aim of this initiative is to directly engage students in the academic research exercise. This will be done by significantly enhancing the size and profile (or visibility) of the existing undergraduate accounting honours offering in the Bachelor of Commerce program. This goal will be achieved through a combination of strategies including: • Identifying an accounting faculty member who will serve as the champion for the initiative. • Creating a marketing strategy to increase awareness of the honours offering, and hence encourage more students to consider pursuing the honours option. •
•
•
•
Developing a course which introduces honours students to academic research. Providing opportunities for honours students to serve as research assistants, and possibly attend academic conferences. Developing a structured format to monitor and support the timely completion of the honours projects. Organizing a research forum to profile completed honours projects. The second initiative is the Experiential Learning Initiative. The aim of this initiative is to increase the engagement of students within the various communities relevant to their discipline. At present, this initiative consists of two components. The first is to develop an infrastructure to coordinate and enhance the participation of undergraduate accounting students in various accounting case competitions, for example, the Western Canadian Universities’ Chartered Accountants School of Business Accounting Case Competition, and the JDC West Business Competition. The second is to develop an infrastructure to coordinate and enhance the participation of undergraduate accounting students in the annual Volunteer Tax Clinics which take place during the Spring term. This goal will be achieved through a combination of strategies including: • Identifying an accounting faculty member who will serve as the champion for the initiative. • Creating marketing strategies to increase the awareness and value of being involved in the case competitions and the tax clinics. • Developing a series of workshops on case analysis and presentation. • Developing a system for recruiting mentors to serve as coaches for the case competitions. • Developing a series of workshops to train students on tax return preparation. • Developing a system for recruiting expert tax reviewers from the professional accounting community. Impact and Relationships: The Department of Accounting in the Edwards School of Business has a long established reputation for excellence in accounting education, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This centre will allow the department to build on, and strengthen, this reputation by supporting important initiatives aimed at enhancing student learning. As such, the centre will enable the University of Saskatchewan to continue to attract top students to study accounting, and will further enhance the attractiveness of our graduates to the professional accounting community. The Honours Initiative, while providing students with an opportunity to experience the academic research process, may potentially lead to an increased supply of future accounting doctoral students to help fill the significant shortfall of accounting professors in academia. This initiative may also lead the department to consider reestablishing its long running Master of Science in Accounting program.1 1
The MSc program became dormant as a result of redeploying faculty resources to build the Master of Professional Accounting program, currently one of the largest and most successful non‐thesis based graduate programs at the U of S. The Experiential Learning Initiative, while providing students an important field experience to supplement their classroom learning, also enables the University to help fulfill its service mission to the external community. This is most notable in the Volunteer Tax Clinics which provide an important service to seniors or infirm individuals in society. The Experiential Learning Initiative also provides opportunities for students and faculty members to strengthen their connections with the professional accounting communities. Finally, both these current initiatives clearly link the centre with the strategic plans of the University of Saskatchewan and the Edwards School of Business, and can further the reputation of the Accounting Department as an academic leader in undergraduate accounting education. 2 Scholarly Work: The Honours Initiative will be led by the Academically Qualified Faculty in the Department, all of whom have extensive research records, including in the area of accounting education. As an example of this research activity in accounting education, the world’s leading journal in this area is Issues in Accounting Education. Since 2003, Fred Phillips has served as Associate Editor, Gary Entwistle has served on the Editorial Board, and U of S faculty (Entwistle, Phillips, Sheehan, Vaidyanathan) have had more articles published in this journal than any other university. The academically qualified faculty have also been active as supervisors at the Doctoral, Masters, and Honours levels. They include: •
•
Nola Buhr, Professor, PhD (Western Ontario), CA. Gary Entwistle, Professor, PhD (Western Ontario), Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs, Sutherland Scholar in International Business, CA. •
Fred Phillips, Professor, PhD (Texas), George C. Baxter Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan Scholar, CA. •
Suresh Kalagnanam, Associate Professor, PhD (Wisconsin), CGA Saskatchewan Accounting Scholar, CGA, CMA. •
Norman Sheehan, Associate Professor, PhD (Norwegian School of Management), CGA, CMA. •
Ganesh Vaidyanathan, Associate Professor, PhD (Waterloo), Head, Department of Accounting, CGA, CMA. The Experiential Learning Initiative will be led by the Department’s Professionally Qualified Faculty with the support of the Academically Qualified Faculty. The Professional Qualified Faculty are, most notably: 2
Area of Priority II.A. in the University of Saskatchewan’s Second Integrated Plan is – To improve the undergraduate and graduate student experience, both inside and outside the classroom. This student experience encompasses both engaging students in the process of research and discovery and in community‐based learning. Enhancing the student experience is also a priority area identified in the Edwards School of Business Strategic Plan (2008/09‐2011/12). •
•
Nathalie Johnstone, Assistant Professor, MPAcc (Saskatchewan), CA. Doug Kalesnikoff, Assistant Professor, CA, IFA, CFE. Proponents Please find attached supporting letters from the following: •
•
Grant Isaac, Professor and Dean, Edwards School of Business Ganesh Vaidyanathan, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Accounting Centre Management The day to day operations of the centre will take place under the direction of the Initiative Faculty Champions overseen by the centre director. The centre director will be the Department Head of Accounting – presently Professor Ganesh Vaidyanathan. The director will provide a yearly report of the centre’s accomplishments (e.g., number of honours students, honours students’ activities, case competition and tax preparation involvement, new initiatives, recognized external visibility of the centre, external partnerships and involvement in the centre, scholarly and professional articles relating to the centre’s initiatives) and finances to the Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs at the Edwards School of Business – presently Professor Gary Entwistle. Resources and Budget Resources to fully support the proposed activities of the centre for its first five years – from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014 – have been secured through a contribution from Murray Edwards and through the support of the professional accounting community. It is anticipated that additional funding will be available at the end of this five year period to ensure continued effective operation of the centre. To help ensure this, the centre director will be charged with developing a strategic plan to ensure appropriate funding is in place moving forward. Grants from various accounting bodies (e.g., Canadian Academic Accounting Association, Chartered Accountants Education Foundation) and continued support of the professional accounting community, will form the primary features of the plan. Funding for research based initiatives may also be available from SSHRC. It is important to note that the ESB is also fully committed to ensuring the long term success of the centre. In the unlikely case of a budgetary shortfall in the centre’s operations, the scope of the centre and its activities will be re‐examined. The following table provides an overview of the proposed centre expenditures. Honours Initiative Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Years 1‐5 3
Scholar
$20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $100,000 Research $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 $250,000 Assistants Program $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $50,000 Operating Expenses Total $80,000 $80,000 $80,000 $80,000 $80,000 $400,000 Experiential Learning Initiative Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Years 1‐5 Course $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $100,000 4
release
Student $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $10,000 Prizes Program $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $15,000 Operating Expenses Total $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $125,000 Support Please refer the attached supporting letters from the Dean and Department Head. Governance Please refer the Centre Management discussion above. Systematic Assessment As noted in the Centre Management discussion above, the Director of the centre will report on a yearly basis to the Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs. The Director and Associate Dean will meet to discuss the report. 3
It is important to note that the Edwards School of Business has an established scholar policy which governs the awarding of scholar positions. This scholar award is not contingent upon the approval of the centre, rather, this proposal envisages that this scholar’s most natural home is within this centre. 4
This amount is based on the course buyout policy of the Edwards School of Business. MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: RE: Gary Entwistle, Associate Dean, Research and Faculty Affairs Edwards School of Business Jay Kalra, Chair, Planning and Priorities Committee of Council March 24, 2009 Centre for Strategic Financial Management Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education ______________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for joining members of the Planning and Priorities Committee on March 18th to discuss the proposals for the Centre for Strategic Financial Management and the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education. At the meeting, the Planning and Priorities Committee passed a motion recommending to Council that the centres be approved. The centres will therefore be presented to University Council for consideration for approval at the April 16th meeting. I invite you or another representative on behalf of the school to attend to speak to any specific questions which may arise in relation to the proposals. Committee members, in acknowledging that each of the proposed centres has substantial merit, have requested that the proposals be amended to highlight specific dimensions of these initiatives. In particular, the committee wants to see that these centres, in line with expectations accorded other recent and anticipated centres of this type, establish a mechanism by which the centres’ activities and progress towards meeting their goals (in such areas as research, programming and outreach) are clearly delineated, assessed and reported on. It is within this context, that I convey the Planning and Priorities Committee’s request, given the uniqueness of the placement of the Honours Project in Accounting Initiative within the proposed centre, that the proposal for the Centre for Advancement of Accounting Education include a set of target goals and measures of success specified as outcomes in relation to the initiative, and that a report on the centre’s success in meeting its objectives be submitted by the end of the planning cycle (year 2012). You may wish to consider framing these in a manner similar to the outcomes specified within the integrated plan, which begin with the statement, “By the year 2012, we will know we are on track if… .” …/2 In the future, a means will be developed which is consistent with the Framework for Assessment adopted by University Council and supports the recommendation of the Task Force on the Management of Centres to establish a review process to assess all centres on the achievement of their goals and objectives. The report in the interim may be submitted to the Planning and Priorities Committee. The committee also requested the accounting education centre proposal further elaborate on the benefit the centre will bring towards achieving the goals of the honours program, the uniqueness of the honours program within the field of accounting education, and the research synergies envisioned. Committee members agreed the proposal would be further strengthened by highlighting the centre’s uniqueness, in part by making reference to models and successes in other business schools, such as the Centre for Accounting Ethics at the University of Waterloo, which was cited as a highly regarded model within the accounting discipline. The Planning and Priorities Committee commends the school for advancing the initiatives to create the proposed centres in support of its integrated plan and welcomed the opportunity to review and discuss the proposals. It is in this manner that the committee becomes aware of innovative academic programming and research. If you wish to discuss any of the aspects outlined above, please do not hesitate to contact me. __________________________________ Jay Kalra, Chair, Planning and Priorities Committee c G. Isaac, Dean, Edwards School of Business Attachs: Framework for Assessment: Beyond Systematic Program Review Report of the Task Force on the Management of Centres. To: Dr. Jay Kalra Chair, Planning and Priorities Committee of Council Re: Establishment of the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education Addendum to proposal of March 3, 2009 From: Gary Entwistle, Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs Edwards School of Business Date: March 27, 2009 ******************************************************************** Dear Dr. Kalra: Following from your recent memo of March 24, 2009, I would appreciate you appending to our March 3, 2009 application to establish the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education this addendum which addresses the specific concerns raised in your memo regarding the honours initiative. By the year 2012, we will know if we are on track with the honours initiative if: • The honours program has visibility and interest among accounting students as evinced by: o A well designed promotional campaign that raises the students’ awareness about the honours option and its benefits. o Strong involvement by research active accounting faculty through supervision of accounting honours projects. o Throughput of 7‐10 students annually. • We have developed a well defined series of learning experiences for students comprising of structured classroom engagement regarding the research process and its application in accounting; structured workshop engagements involving presentations and discussions of work in progress; and established an annual honors research presentation day. The honours program is unique in the field of accounting education because: • Accounting curricula are driven in large part by the needs of the accounting profession and its various professional accounting bodies. • Due to the volume and complexity of the technical content that the degree programs must cover, there are limited opportunities to separately present and discuss accounting as an academic discipline. • The goal of the honours initiative seeks to introduce students to the discipline of accounting from a scholarly perspective and attempt to put them on par with cohorts in allied social science disciplines as well as the humanities. The benefits the centre will bring towards achieving the goals of the honours initiative include: • It will serve as a visible focal point within which professors can operate to share with students their interest in studying accounting as a scholarly discipline, and will enable the accounting department to more visibly highlight the opportunity for scholarly enquiry within the accounting major. • The visibility of the centre could serve as a lever for raising resources to underwrite various honors research projects which require monetary support, or to serve as the vehicle to enable access to various research sites. The research synergies envisioned from the honours program include: • Serving as the catalyst for research projects which may not begin in the absence of the honours program. • To enable the possibility of partitioning large project into a sequence of smaller projects, appropriate for senior undergraduate honors theses. This can be ultimately beneficial to the researchers if by doing so, the overall project’s ultimate chance of success is improved. Pilot studies or small prototype experiments can all be viewed as appropriate designs for undergraduate research. Completion of such activities will simultaneously advance the goal of the honours intiative and the accounting faculty’s own research agendas. • Based on past experience, opportunities for co‐authoring of research papers from honors projects is also possible. A more vibrant honors program would increase the likelihood of such outcomes. Uniqueness of our Accounting Centre: Various accounting centres (refer below) exist in other major universities in Canada. These centres’ mandates for advancing accounting education cover the research, teaching, and outreach aspects of the accounting discipline; the centres also serve as vehicles to attract funding to their units and universities. The proposed role for Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education at the University of Saskatchewan parallels the various mandates of these existing centres, in that it envisages either initial or future engagement across these various activities. Notably, however, our centre’s initial focus on the honors initiative stands out as unique amongst the existing centres, and thus can hence help build our profile as a leading player in university accounting education. University of Waterloo Centre for Accounting Research and Education Available at: http://accounting.uwaterloo.ca/research/care.html Please note that the University of Waterloo also has a center dedicated to research in accounting ethics. It is available at: http://accounting.uwaterloo.ca/ethics/intro.htm Wilfrid Laurier University CA/Laurier Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education and Research Available at: http://www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id=1683 University of Manitoba Available at: http://umanitoba.ca/asper/academic_depts_centres/centres_institutes/af_research/ Department of Accounting Tel. (306) 966‐8416 Fax. (306) 966‐2414 January 7, 2009 Dr. Jay Kalra Chair, Planning and Priorities Committee University of Saskatchewan Re: Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education Dear Dr Kalra, I am writing this letter to express the full support from the Department of Accounting for the pro‐
posed Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education within the Edwards School of Business. Commitment to excellence in Accounting Education has been an unwavering priority for the De‐
partment throughout its long history. This commitment has manifested itself over the years in sev‐
eral ways. The establishment of the MPAcc Program and its tremendous success is a recent exam‐
ple. Additionally many of the faculty in the department have demonstrated a personal and profes‐
sional commitment to teaching and education in a variety of ways including supervision of under‐
graduate and graduate research projects/theses, publishing instructional materials in refereed ac‐
counting journals, textbooks, involvement with the professional education programs of each of the three professional accounting bodies in Canada, and preparing students to compete in national and regional case competitions. Both faculty and students have received recognition for their excellent achievements in these education‐related endeavours. The Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education represents the Department’s plan for furthering its commitment to excellence in Accounting Education. The two inaugural initiatives that have been proposed are unique opportunities for the Centre to contribute in a tangible and sub‐
stantive manner to the mission and goals of both the University and the Edwards School to en‐
hance the student experience in the undergraduate program. The enhancement of the student learning experience has been identified as a priority mission in the Second Integrative Plan of the University and also in the ESB’s Strategic plan. My colleagues and I are enthusiastic about the op‐
portunity that the Centre will provide to bring focus, organization, and resources to all of our edu‐
cation‐related endeavours. We sincerely believe that the proposed initiatives and others that are likely to emerge in the future will enable us to further cement our reputation for excellence in ac‐
counting education. Raising awareness and building an appreciation for research at the undergraduate level – though perhaps common in certain disciplines such as those in the Humanities and Social Science – is cer‐
tainly not the norm for a professional discipline like Accounting. It is, however, a much needed un‐
dertaking especially since the profession is going through many changes and the implications of these ongoing developments for the accounting profession and accounting education are yet to be fully articulated and understood. Through exposure to the research enterprise, our students will be better positioned to contribute effectively to the current and future debates on these develop‐
ments. This is an important educational priority. Moreover there is strong anecdotal evidence of a decline in graduate student enrolment in accounting with major consequences for the future sup‐
ply of terminally qualified accounting academics. If we are able to foster an appreciation and regard Department of Accounting Tel. (306) 966‐8416 Fax. (306) 966‐2414 for research at a sufficiently early stage of an accounting education program, this might prove help‐
ful in motivating more students to select an academic career. The second initiative on the Centre’s inaugural slate acknowledges another important priority mis‐
sion from the Second Integrative Plan and the School’s Strategic Plan. This is to create learning and educational experiences for our students that occur through outreach and engagement with our external communities and stakeholders. By encouraging volunteerism through the Tax Prep Pro‐
gram or involvement on Case Competition teams, the Centre’s Experiential Learning Initiative will allow the students to achieve a greater sense of personal and professional satisfaction. For our part, the Department and the School can derive significant value from our role in fostering a sense of social identity and citizenry in our students. Finally, and most importantly, the ultimate benefici‐
aries will be our external stakeholders‐‐be it a needy senior who has his or her tax return com‐
pleted by a courteous and well informed student or an employer who has hired an articulate, re‐
sponsible and considerate ESB graduate. It is our intent that these experiential learning experiences will ultimately result in graduates who are better prepared to become valued contributors to their professions and to our society in general. The proposed centre is the result of careful and cogent discussions in the department about our priorities, and with full regard for the mission and goals of the School and the University. It lever‐
ages the considerable strengths and experiences of the faculty members of the department. It also complements our desire to communicate and demonstrate to our students the passion for teaching and research that all of us in the department share. I also believe that the Centre will make our de‐
partment more competitive in attracting students of exceptional quality to the University and the School. Additionally, the resources of the Centre and its mandate can be instrumental in improving our ability to recruit terminally qualified accounting faculty to the department. We also anticipate that the Centre’s existence will increase our ability to attract award winning accounting educators to campus to share their experience and knowledge and in so doing it will serve to raise the visibil‐
ity of the School and the University as locations of educational excellence. In conclusion, I believe that the Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education has an ex‐
tremely important role to play. It can serve to further the commitment of the department to excel‐
lence in accounting education; it can serve to stimulate creativity and enhance the productivity of the department faculty; and it will enable us to significantly improve the students’ learning experi‐
ence. Its mandate is completely congruent with the aims and objectives of the University and the Edwards School. It has the unreserved support of my colleagues and I; I plan to devote a significant portion of my professional time to oversee and contribute to the Centre’s activities. Thank you for your consideration of this proposal, Original signed Ganesh Vaidyanathan, PhD, CGA, CMA Associate Professor and Head Office of the Dean
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
Professor Jay Kalra,
Chair, Planning and Priorities Committee, University Council
Professor Grant Isaac
12 January 2009
Application for the Establishment of a Centre in the Edwards School of
Business (Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education)
Dear Professor Kalra,
Once again, I would like to offer my thanks to you and your committee for considering the
creation of a new Type A Centre in the Edwards School of Business to be called the Centre for
the Advancement of Accounting Education. This Centre has my full support as it provides an
excellent vehicle for accelerating the research momentum in the Department of Accounting as
well as enhancing experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate Accounting students.
Moreover, it represents a terrific partnership with our key donor, N. Murray Edwards.
The proposed Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Education was identified as a priority
initiative in the Edwards School of Business Strategic Plan 2008/09-2011/12 and, as such, has
been subject to much consultation as is necessary with priorities identified in a strategic plan.
Moreover, this initiative is consistent with the University’s Second Integrated Plan, in particular,
the priority to improve the undergraduate and graduate student experience, both inside and
outside the classroom (Priority Area II.A).
The proposed Centre builds upon the research expertise and accomplishments of several of our
faculty members – including significant research in the area of accounting education – as well as
building upon several very important outreach initiatives that we support including the much
sought after services provided to the community through the Volunteer Tax Preparation program.
The Centre is proposed as a Type A Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. It will be overseen
by a Director who is the Department Head of Accounting and who reports to our new Associate
Dean position of Research and Faculty Affairs here in the Edwards School of Business.
The funds to support the first five years of the Centre’s activities are in place and have been
provided as part of a $1 Million gift from N. Murray Edwards as well as from nearly $400,000
provided by the professional accounting community. The five-year financial overview for the
proposed Centre is presented below:
1
Financial Overview (July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014)
Honours Initiative
Scholar
Research
Assistants
Program
Operating
Expenses
Total
Year 1
$20,000
$50,000
Year 2
$20,000
$50,000
Year 3
$20,000
$50,000
Year 4
$20,000
$50,000
Year 5
$20,000
$50,000
Years 1-5
$100,000
$250,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$50,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$80,000
$400,000
Experiential Learning Initiative
Course
release
Student
Prizes
Program
Operating
Expenses
Total
Year 1
$20,000
Year 2
$20,000
Year 3
$20,000
Year 4
$20,000
Year 5
$20,000
Years 1-5
$100,000
$2,000
$2,000
$2,000
$2,000
$2,000
$10,000
$3,000
$3,000
$3,000
$3,000
$3,000
$15,000
$25,000
$25,000
$25,000
$25,000
$25,000
$125,000
It is the donor’s intention that the funding be used as a seed investment and that other donors be
pursued to support the ongoing costs of the Centre after year five when the Centre’s
contributions can be clearly articulated and celebrated. As a contingency plan, if we are unable to
secure ongoing operating funds from an external partner, then the operating costs of the Centre
will be supported by the Edwards School of Business after a review of the Centre and its
accomplishments.
If you should have any questions or concerns, then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
_____________________
Grant E. Isaac, PhD
Dean and Professor
Edwards School of Business
University of Saskatchewan
2