Report from BLP, Professional Certificate in Accounting: (COBA)
October 21, 2014
The budget and Long Range Planning Committee (BLP) has reviewed the proposed Professional
Certificate in Accounting as well as the resource implications of the program’s launch. We thank
proposer, Alan Styles, and his colleague, Richard Hwang, for their input and assistance as we reviewed
the program’s resource implications. This program will be launched through self-support.
Program Demand:
This program was written in direct response to the state of California’s requirement, effective January 1,
2014, that requires all applicants for the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) license complete 150
semester units of education, including accounting subjects, business-related subjects, ethics-related
subjects and other subjects that will help people be successful in the accounting industry. In essence,
this means that students and professionals pursuing the CPA license must have units in addition to the
120 units B.A.
The certificate program is designed to be an initial 15-unit bridge to help meet this requirement. Many
transfer students from community colleges already have more than 120 units when they graduate and
others may need to take additional courses outside of the certificate program to gain the total 150
hours. Accounting has 320 majors, with approximately 80 graduates each year, not all of whom pursue
the CPA license; however, the certificate program expects at least 20-30 students and other
professionals will need all or part of the certificate courses.
CSUSM already has a very high passing rate in the CPA exam, being the best and second best in state in
recent years. It seems likely that CSUSM graduates and other professionals would pursue the required
additional units through such a stellar program.
Resource Implications:
Faculty:
There are currently 3 full time faculty and 4 adjunct faculty in the area of accounting. That is sufficient to
support this program, and salaries are provided through the self-support model. As funding becomes
available and when there is a large demand, the program may become a full master’s program in the
future, requiring additional faculty.
Space and Equipment:
There is access to smart classrooms and the online course management system currently in place. The
courses will be offered in the evenings and on weekends to meet the needs of the working professionals
that will need the certificate. Currently, that schedule aligns with underutilized times. Since there is no
new faculty at this time, additional space and equipment are not in the EL budget.
Staff:
All staff advising and staff assistance for this program are funded by EL. Staff advising (including
transcript reviews) will continue to be handled by EL staff; EL also provides additional staff for the
Department on an as-needed basis.
IITS and Library:
The library memo recommends the following resources: CCH Omni Tax Research Online School Access
($4756.00 annual subscription) and FASB Accounting Standards via Academic Accounting Access
Program ($250.00 annually). The library subject specialist for COBA will serve as the liaison to the
Certificate in Professional Accounting. The EL budget includes $5000.00 per year for library support and
expenses.
This program will be evaluated annually with regard to library and technology needs to ensure sufficient
support. It is anticipated that with more use of classroom space in the evenings and on weekends, there
will also be increased need for support from IITS at those time.
Recommendation:
BLP unanimously recommends approval of the Professional Certificate in Accounting Program.