AACSB RENEWS ACCREDITATION OF ACCOUNTING PROGRAMS FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS
DePaul University’s business college and accountancy school have both earned five-year renewals of accreditation from AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). “AACSB accreditation allows DePaul to position its academic programs, faculty and students among other top quality business and accounting programs in the country,” says Associate Dean Michael Miller. “It provides external validation of DePaul’s excellence in business education.”
AACSB accreditation is granted to programs that maintain the highest standards of quality in teaching, research and student achievement. It is a distinction held by only 5 percent of business schools worldwide. AACSB-accredited business schools are reassessed every five years. The accreditation process includes a comprehensive review of a school’s mission, faculty qualifications and curricula. Accreditation ensures that students are learning material most relevant to their field of study, preparing them to be effective leaders upon graduation.
STUDENTS COMPETE IN ETHICS ESSAY CONTEST
The school held the Fifteenth Annual Charles Melvoin Student Ethics Essay Contest and Symposium in April. This year’s competition challenged students to write an essay centered on the role of ethics in professional accounting and business, and then give a presentation before a panel of judges. Students were given the latitude to creatively develop their own topic. The award for the contest included $3,000 in scholarships. The 2016 winner was Grace Burba, accounting honors and finance senior, whose paper, titled, “Whistle Blowing and the Young Professional,” detailed young professionals’ responsibilities when faced with questionable business practices. The runners-up were Nirali Shah, accounting honors and MIS senior, and Daisy Hernandez, accounting honors senior. Judges this year included Dan Levenson (MBA ’94) from RSM, Professor John McEnroe and Assistant Professor Stephani Mason. The essay contest and symposium are sponsored by the school’s Charles Melvoin Fund, which provides the annual Melvoin Scholarships.
Student participants and judges gather at the Melvoin Ethics Contest. From left to right: Grace Burba, Nirali Shah, Dan Levenson, Professor Stephani Mason, Professor John McEnroe, and Daisy Hernandez.
COMPETITION CHALLENGES STUDENTS TO ASSESS MARKET RISK
The Fred Lang Student Case Competition, a donor-funded student contest, returned this year with two student organization teams delivering well-constructed case analyses to a panel of accounting practitioners, and fielding judges’ tough questions. The case focused on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Code of Professional Conduct. In particular, it addressed the concept of an auditor’s role in society and duty to the public, including preserving client confidentiality and minimizing risk of litigation. After deliberation, students from DePaul’s student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants took top honors, with Beta Alpha Psi coming in second. Judges this year were Jennifer Gart (BUS ’12) from EY, Samir Zulic (BUS ’12) from Accenture, and Assistant Professor Christine Gimbar. This year’s case was developed by Wendy Heltzer, associate professor.
Faculty and judges celebrate NABA student winners of the annual Fred Lang case competition. From left to right: Professor Wendy Heltzer, Bradley Wise, Jennifer Gart, Samir Zulic, Darnell Glover, Professor Christine Gimbar, Chris Becker.
TAX AND ACCOUNTING PROGRAMS RANK AMONG BEST IN UNITED STATES
DePaul University’s graduate tax and accountancy programs are once again ranked among the top 10 in the nation by employers in TaxTalent’s 2017 Top in Tax Educational Survey. DePaul’s Master of Science in Taxation (MST) degree program ranked No. 3, and the graduate accountancy programs (MSA and MSAA) placed No. 7. DePaul was the only school from Chicago in both of these top 10 graduate rankings. DePaul’s undergraduate accountancy program also was recognized for its excellence, placing No. 8 nationally.
What makes TaxTalent’s rankings unique is that they are sourced directly from the employer perspective. This year, the publication polled twice the number of managers of in-house corporate tax departments than in previous years. The goal of the survey, TaxTalent says, is to bridge the gap between academia and the professional world by aligning the needs and wants of employers with how schools are preparing students for their future careers.
“DePaul’s graduate accountancy and taxation programs align with TaxTalent’s goal because they bring real-world education into the classroom,” says Ron Marcuson, director of DePaul’s MST program. “Our faculty are experts in the specific topics they teach, and because of this, the student gets much more than ‘book learning.’ They learn what happens in the real world.”