External Review of the Department of Accounting
Central Washington University
Prepared by Rodney K. Rogers
Associate Dean,
School of Business Administration
Portland State University
July, 2003
Background
In April of 2003, a day and half was spent visiting three of the campuses of Central
Washington University (Ellensburg, Lynnwood, and SeaTac). These visits included
interviews with current faculty, students and administrators. In addition, various
documents were used as a source for this report. The documents include the
department’s self-study report, the university bulletin, and the College of Business
strategic plan. The visit, along with these documents, was used to form and support the
comments included in this report.
This report is broken into the following components, program, faculty, students &
support services, departmental goals and summary.
Program
Bachelor of Science in Accounting: The curriculum for this program very solid. The
degree includes required courses in all of the pre-business and general business areas that
are typically found in AACSB accredited business programs. It should be noted that the
requirement of a technical communication course is very positive.
With regard to the accounting requirements, coursework in all of the major areas of
accounting are included in the required core with the exception of one area. The
accounting information system course (ACCT 455) is a course that can be taken as an
elective or be taken to replace a general systems course that is required for the general
business portion of the degree. Thus, a student could graduate with a B.S. in Accounting
without taking an accounting information course. Although this is not a “critical”
deficiency, some consideration should be provided to ensure that every graduate has an
understanding of key issues regarding systems as they relate to accounting. This is
especially true in light of the increased expectations of the accounting profession as they
relate to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
One of the primary goals of the accounting program is to provide students with the
background to successfully complete the CPA examination. Beginning April of 2004 the
CPA examination will change its format to include questions that require the candidate to
research various accounting problems. This change in format will test the candidate’s
ability to use professional literature to solve accounting problems. The faculty should
give some consideration to deal with this change in the curriculum of the program.
Whether it is a separate class on research or included in the various subject area courses,
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the CPA candidates will be expected to know how to research the accounting, auditing,
and tax literature.
The Lynnwood and SeaTac campuses have a unique problem with adequate offerings of
non-business courses. Current AACSB standards require adequate non-business courses
to provide for a well-rounded graduate. Some concern was expressed regarding the
number of non-business course offerings on these branch campuses.
Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA): The curriculum of this program is
comprised of 7 required courses (2 general business and 5 accounting). In addition, the
student must complete 3 elective courses. Within the accounting context, the accounting
core curriculum provides the student with graduate coursework in auditing, systems, tax,
financial reporting. Admission to the program requires that the student has had
preparation in the auditing, tax and financial reporting areas. However, there is not a
requirement for a systems course for admission to the program. This may limit the ability
to deliver a graduate level course in systems (ACCT 510) effectively.
A stated goal of the program is to help the students “understand the ethical, legal and
economic implication of a technology-mediated global economy.” This appears to
suggest that the program has a technology focus. However, the required core curriculum
does not appear to be aligned with this goal. A student could graduate from the MPA
with limited exposure to systems. It is suggested that the faculty consider the
“technology” content of the core curriculum. These same concerns might be expressed
with regard to the focus on the “global economy.” There are no explicit courses dealing
with global issues.
Another stated goal of the program is to “enhance their (the students) communication
skills…..” Although content around these skills may be embedded in specific courses, it
is recommended that the course(s) that develop and enhance these skills be explicitly
identified.
One final consideration is that the faculty considers the focus of the MPA program.
Within the stated goals, it appears that the MPA program has a technology focus.
However, the curriculum appears to suggest that a student could choose coursework,
which would lead to a very general program. Changing the stated goals of the program
or focusing the curriculum might be necessary. The focus of the curriculum might also
be beneficial in terms of faculty resources. Comments regarding this issue are provided
below.
The faculty expressed confidence that their relationship with the professional community
provided an informal process to consider the appropriateness of the curriculum.
However, a more formal process may need to be adopted. Specifically, AACSB requires
a formal process of monitoring and evaluating the appropriateness of the curriculum. In
addition, AACSB requires that school’s articulate and measure key “discipline-specific
knowledge and skills” that students have learned in their major. These appear to be two
processes that are needed.
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Faculty
Based upon my interviews with the faculty, it appears that the accounting faculty are
engaged and very interested in the success of their students and the department. In
addition, the faculty appears to be very committed to teaching. This is supported by the
comments of various students who were also interviewed and a review of the average
student evaluation.
A review of the credentials of the faculty indicates that over half of the faculty has earned
a terminal degree in their field and almost the entire faculty has professional certification.
Further, the connections that the faculty has with the accounting professional community
are a strength of the program. It appears that the background, credentials, and experience
of the faculty have served the students very well over the years. However, as the College
of Business moves towards AACSB accreditation, the scholarly activity of the faculty
will need to increase.
It is important that all faculty be provided the support and time to be engaged in scholarly
publishing. However, it is especially important for the faculty teaching at the graduate
level to have an active research agenda. The relative small size of the graduate faculty
combined with the number of graduate courses that are being offered, may create a
difficult environment for a faculty member to successfully engage in publishing.
Focusing the MPA program and thus eliminating the need for a large number of different
courses may allow the graduate faculty the time to be more engaged in publishing.
My understanding is that the graduate faculty is provided a one course teaching reduction
for teaching graduate level courses. This is probably not adequate support to begin and
sustain a research agenda. Additional support in terms of development grants, research
grants, travel support, research workshops may be necessary to allow the faculty to
develop their research agendas. These types of support need to be made available for
faculty at all campus locations.
Students and support services
Based upon interviews with students at the Lynnwood Center and the Ellensburg campus,
the Department of Accounting has provided a quality educational experience. Students
were generally pleased with the quality of instruction and courses. Some concerned was
expressed with the rigor of non-accounting courses, but in general the students felt very
satisfied with their educational experience. Most of the students commented that the
faculty was very accessible for academic and professional mentoring.
The students at the Ellensburg campus were especially complimentary to the career
support services. The quality of fall recruiting events was used as one example. The
students at the Lynnwood Center were also pleased with the quality of career support
however expressed frustration that certain events were available only on the Ellensburg
Campus (specifically, most of the Fall recruiting events). Providing some type of similar
support for students in the Seattle area may need to be addressed.
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Evidence was provided with regard to the types of jobs that graduates of the program
have received over the past three years. The types of placements appear to support the
claim that the Department of Accounting is graduating students who are prepared for a
career in the accounting profession.
The enrollment in the accounting program over the past three years has declined. This is
of some concern since enrollments in accounting programs nationwide have begun to
increase. This may suggest the need for a more proactive recruiting process for the
accounting program.
The facilities of the program on the Ellensburg campus and the Lynnwood Center are
excellent. The classrooms, available technology, student study areas and faculty offices
are first rate and provide a very conducive environment for education. The use of
technology to remotely deliver courses is yet another example of the successful deliver of
a program at multiple cites.
The facilities at the SeaTac campus are an issue. However, the groundbreaking on the
new facilities for the SeaTac campus has been announced.
Departmental Mission
The Department of Accounting identified two programmatic goals for the department.
The goal for the B.S. in Accounting program was to provide students with a “challenging
and up-to-date curriculum that meets the needs of the diverse student population and the
accounting profession.” In general, this goal appears to be met. However, a few
concerns have been noted above.
The second programmatic goal for the department was related to the Master of
Professional Accountancy. The MPA goal’s are to “prepare students to assume
leadership roles in both private and public accounting, enhance their communication
skills and analytical abilities, help them understand the ethical, legal and economic
implication of a technology-mediated global economy, and provide the education need to
sit for the CPA examination and enhance career performance and satisfaction.” These
goals are much more specific than the goals for the B.S. in Accounting program. As such
specific concerns regarding these goals have been expressed above.
Summary
The Department of Accounting within the College of Business at Central Washington
University has a solid curriculum, engaged faculty, and committed students. As the
Department and the School move toward AACSB accreditation, there are two pressing
issues that should be addressed. First, support for faculty development. The accounting
faculty will need to be provided support to continue and in many cases to begin a
research agenda. Secondly, the key student learning goals for each of the programs
should be developed and a process implemented that assesses the student’s development
on each of these goals.
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