Accounting and Computer Science Co-Requisites
Background
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science (PIMS) offers a 3 semester credit course in Computer Science and a 3
semester credit course in Financial Accounting in the core (1 year) resident program . The course descriptions
are presented below.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (ACC 110) 3 credits; 3 hours lecture-discussion per week.
An introduction to the basic principles of accounting theory. This course covers financial statements,
worksheets, journalizing, receivables, payables, deferrals, and accruals. Inventory costing models, depreciation
models, payroll accounting and financial statement analysis are included. Applications to funeral home
operations are made throughout the course.
This course is a hybrid course containing content normally found in Financial Accounting I and Financial
Accounting II in many colleges. If a college’s course (3 semester credit minimum) outline contains the content
taught in the course above at PIMS, then approval for equivalency is granted. If areas of content are missing
from a course taken, then approval cannot be granted without the missing content needing to be taken elsewhere
and reflected on a college or university certified grade transcript. If a student presents a certified transcript
which reflects Financial Accounting I and II or Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting, then
approval is normally granted without additional assessment.
COMPUTER SCIENCE (CS 110) 3 credits; 3 hours lecture-laboratory per week.
This course is designed for students with little or no background in the use of computers. Through lectures and
"hands-on" exercises the students will learn by doing. Examples of common business problems will be
presented to introduce the students to common software applications: word processing, electronic spreadsheet
and database management. The software packages will be treated as tools used in the solution of typical
business problems.
A decision was made at the beginning of its distance education (DE) alternative (PIMS OnLine) program not
to offer these two content areas within this DE alternative program. It will be the student’s responsibility to
take equivalent course content at a college or university of their choice. In order to complete the program, the
student must meet and earn an equivalent number of semester credits with course content that is parallel to that
which is offered on PIMS’ campus.
These credits must be earned before graduating from the program at PIMS. If a student thinks that they may
have already earned these course content requirements from a previous college experience, they must
 have a certified grade transcript sent to PIMS which would present the course title and number of credits
earned from the respective college or university; and
 send or email a copy of the detailed course content contained in the course(s) to be reviewed for
approval. This detail is usually presented with a course syllabus. Course syllabi which are simply
course policies do not provide any meaningful information from which an assessment may be made.
(Note: It is rare that course descriptions which are found in college catalogs are of sufficient detail to
provide thorough analysis to be done).
If the student has not previously taken course content in the above, students must seek pre-approval of the
course(s). If the student were not to seek pre-approval, s/he may waste valuable time and financial resources
taking a course which may not be acceptable as the co-requisite requirement(s). Assessment and approval of
the courses shall be done with the presentation of detailed course content outlines. Without sufficient detail,
complete assessment cannot be accomplished.
Objective
It is the goal of PIMS to provide for positive academic outcomes. To not be careful about approvals for course
content that is taught elsewhere would be inappropriate, irresponsible, and disingenuous. The PIMS
Comprehensive Examination and the National Board Examination both contain areas of accounting and
computer science among their questions. If a student is deficient with respect to course content taken elsewhere
and to which accountability is required via the PIMS Comprehensive Examination and the National Board
Examination, the objective would be compromised.
Students are required to pass the PIMS Comprehensive Examination and to take the National Board
Examination for graduation.
Common Issues
Some students have presented only course descriptions for assessment. For computer science, course content is
reviewed for Microsoft Office applications or equivalent. Courses containing programming languages such as
Cobal, C++ , etc, will not be accepted as equivalent to content containing Office applications Word, Excel,
Access, and Powerpoint (or equivalent). These are applications that most businesses use on a daily basis. The
Pennsylvania Department of Education requires the equivalency to be demonstrated via a certified college
transcript in lieu of taking the course at PIMS.
Accounting usually presents more problems with assessment due to the hybrid nature of the course content
taught on PIMS’ campus and which must be mirrored by credits and course content taught elsewhere.
Some colleges offer courses which have been assessed and found to be equivalent to course content offered on
PIMS’ campus in one course. All of these courses are offered online and include:
Pre‐Approved Options for the PIMS Co‐Requisite Requirement: *Accounting:  Pennsylvania State University, World Campus: ACCTG211 – Financial and Managerial Accounting for Decision Making (4 credits) www.worldcampus.psu.edu  Owens Community College: ACC 101 – Introductory Financial Accounting (3 credits) www.owens.edu  University of Maryland University College: ACCT 220 – Principles of Accounting I (3 credits) http://www.umuc.edu/ *Computer Science:  Westmoreland County Community College: CPT150 ‐ Micro Computer Concepts (3 credits) https://wccc.edu/pages/future‐students/admissions/apply‐online/ o *Apply online as a visiting student.  Community College of Beaver County: CIST100 – Introduction to Information Technology (3 credits) http://www.ccbc.edu/ApplyOnline 
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o *Apply online and request from PIMS a transient course approval letter for registration. Montgomery County Community College: CIS 110 – Computer Info Systems for Management (3 credits) https://wwws.mc3.edu/asps/online‐app/ o *Apply online as a guest/visiting student the application and course registration is all one form. Ashford University: INF 103 – Computer Literacy (3 credits) https://oap.ashford.edu/online/login.php?entry=au‐online&team=all o *Apply as a non‐degree seeking student. University of Maryland University College: IFSM 201 – Concepts and Applications of Information Technology (3 credits) http://www.umuc.edu/ o *Apply as a non‐degree seeking student. Jackson Community College: CIS 112 – Microsoft Office Professional Introduction (3 credits) https://apply.jccmi.edu/Datatel.ERecruiting.Web.External/pages/Welcome.aspx o *Complete the guest student application online, PIMS will need to sign off on application. Erie Community College: DA 106 – Introduction to Microcomputer Applications (3 credits) http://www.ecc.edu/admissions/apply/nonmatriculate.aspx o *Apply as a non‐matriculated student. Butler County Community College: COMP 210 – Introduction of Microcomputing (3 credits) o *Apply as a guest student, transcripts from PIMS may be required if there are pre‐requisites that need to be met. *CLEP Examination:  CLEP test for Accounting: http://clep.collegeboard.org/exam/financial‐accounting  CLEP test for Computer Science: http://clep.collegeboard.org/exam/information‐systems‐computers *These options may change periodically so it would be best to contact Nicole J. Elachko (nelachko@pims.edu) before enrolling to verify the course is still a pre‐approved option. Conclusion
Questions may be directed to Karen Rocco, Registrar and Financial Aid Director( krocco@pims.edu ), Gene
Ogrodnik, President & CEO ( ecocba1@aol.com ) or Nicole Elachko (nelachko@pims.edu) or via telephone at
412-362-8500.
Rev.10/2013