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For over a decade now, various stakeholders in accounting education have called for the integration of technology competencies in the accounting curriculum (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), 2013, 2018; Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC), 1990; American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (AICPA), 1996; Behn et al., 2012; Lawson et al., 2014; PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), 2013). In addition to stakeholder expectations, the inclusion of data analytics as a key area in both the business and accounting accreditation standards of the AACSB signals the urgent need for accounting programs to incorporate data analytics into their accounting curricula. This paper examines the extent of the integration of data analytics in the curricula of accounting programs with separate accounting AACSB accreditation. The paper also identifies possible barriers to integrating data analytics into the accounting curriculum. The results of this study indicate that of the 177 AACSB-accredited accounting programs, 79 (44.6%) offer data analytics courses at either the undergraduate or graduate level or as a special track. The results also indicate that 41 (23.16%) offer data analytics courses in their undergraduate curriculum, 61 (35.88%) at the graduate level, and 12 (6.80%) offer specialized tracks for accounting data analytics. Taken together, the findings indicate an encouraging trend, albeit slow, toward the integration of data analytics into the accounting curriculum.

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first purpose is to inform faculty who are thinking of becoming a department head about the challenges they face if they choose to pursue a department head opportunity. The second purpose is to provide insight into the leadership of the accounting departments by looking at various workload aspects of department heads. The authors surveyed accounting department heads from programs with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accounting accreditation, AACSB business only accreditation, and non-AACSB accreditation. Surveys were sent to 918 individuals listed as the leader of an accounting program in the 2016–2017 Hasselback Accounting Directory with 144 individuals responding (15.7% response rate). In addition to the workload of the department head in the areas of teaching, research, and service, the study analyzed the major challenges and difficulties the department head faces. The study also sought responses from survey participants on additional issues such as the benefits of AACSB accreditation and compensation.

Since at least the 1980s, the accounting profession has discussed and written about the gap between academics and the practice of accounting. More recently, accounting academics have joined the call for increased faculty engagement with the accounting profession. As a result, the 2018 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) Eligibility Procedures and Standards for Accounting Accreditation include “Engagement” as a significant pillar of the new standards. The objective is to challenge accounting department faculty to engage more intentionally with accounting practitioners. Accounting Advisory Councils might represent an important opportunity to achieve such engagement. The authors conducted a survey to gain an understanding of advisory councils and how they might address the concerns of the accounting profession for more interaction and collaboration between the academy and the profession. It is encouraging that 96% of our AACSB accounting accredited respondents indicated that they have a functioning Accounting Advisory Council and that they believe the Council is very valuable in support of the department’s mission. In addition, the accounting department leaders reported a very high level of engagement with council members outside regular meetings. The survey results of this chapter provide additional insights on organization, membership, and engagement regarding Accounting Advisory Councils.

Online education may meet the needs of students who do not want to attend classes or of working adults who want to obtain a college degree. Yet an open question is whether online (OL) degrees meet the needs of employers (Adams & DeFleur, 2006; Columbaro & Monaghan, 2009). Specifically, our exploratory study investigates how professionals in public accounting firms perceive OL accounting degrees as compared to accounting degrees earned in the traditional face-to-face (FTF) environment relative to a hiring decision. To examine these issues, a survey was administered to accountants of small- and large-sized public accounting firms located in the southeast United States.

Our results revealed that public accounting professionals, in general, indicate a strong preference to hire students with a traditional FTF accounting degree as opposed to a candidate with an OL accounting degree. Even when both candidates (traditional vs. OL accounting degrees) had passed the CPA examination, public accounting firm professionals still prefer the traditional accounting degree. Yet public accounting firms were more willing to hire a candidate with an OL accounting degree from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited university than a candidate with an OL accounting degree from a non-AACSB accredited university. Lastly, we found that the preferences for traditional accounting degrees existed across different job titles (e.g. partner, manager, senior) and different sized public accounting firms.

Most universities have relied on student evaluations as a source of evidence in their assessment of teaching performance. However, a complete evaluation of all dimensions of a faculty member's teaching requires multiple sources of evidence. The purpose of this chapter is to identify the sources of evidence that accounting chairs report they currently use to assess teaching. Calderon and Green first examined this issue in their 1997 study. However, their results may be outdated due to changes in accreditation requirements, teaching delivery methods, and the continued evolution of assessment tools. Responding department chairs report that peer observation followed by course syllabus, exams given in class, and instructor course notes are the most frequently used evidence types, with an average of 3.16 sources beyond student evaluations. The source and quantity of evidence vary across different types of institutions. While Calderon and Green reported that most schools use ad hoc and subjective sources of evidence, respondents in this study focus more on instructor-supplied materials and direct evidence from inside the classroom.

Employers state that their major concern with accounting graduates is their inadequate skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening (Kranacher, 2007, p. 80). Yet, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and some state boards of accountancy have minimized the importance of these skills on professional certification exams. This conflict creates a mixed message. The purpose of our study is to determine accounting department chairs’ perceptions of the importance of writing, speaking, listening, interpersonal, and technological communication skills for both the accounting and the business curricula and where in the curriculum these skills are taught. In our study, we surveyed 122 accounting administrators from the largest North American accountancy programs. Survey respondents report that most required communication courses are in the general business curriculum and, to a lesser extent, as a required course in the accounting major. Consistent across demographics, respondents also indicate that all communication skills are important, but writing skills followed by technological skills are the most valued for the accounting curriculum, while writing and speaking skills are most important in the business curriculum. Implications for the curriculum are discussed.

Examine hiring preferences of nonpublic accounting professionals when selecting candidates with online versus traditional face-to-face (FTF) accounting degrees.

Surveys.

Consistent with Kohlmeyer, Seese, and Sincich (2011), this study revealed that accounting professionals, in general, indicated a strong preference to hire students with a FTF accounting degree as compared to a candidate with an online (OL) accounting degree. However, there were two significant departures from the results of Kohlmeyer et al. (2011). AACSB accreditation did help mitigate the respondents’ reluctance to hire students with OL degrees. In addition, nonpublic accounting professionals were neutral as to whether they would hire someone with an online accounting degree in the next three years. Public accounting professionals opposed hiring someone with an online accounting degree in the next three years (Kohlmeyer et al., 2011).

Online programs are going to have to be more proactive in persuading accounting professionals that an online and FTF accounting degree are equally desirable for hiring purposes.

Students need to be aware of accounting professionals’ hiring concerns in regard to candidates with online accounting degrees.

Little research has examined the hiring preferences of accounting professionals in selecting candidates with either an online or FTF accounting degree.

The authors examined the association between accountancy board composition in the continental United States and indicators of the supply of new accounting graduates. In particular, the authors studied the association between the number of CPAs as well as the number of college educators that serve on State Accountancy Boards (SAB) and two key indicators of the future supply of future accounting professionals – number of CPA exam takers and number of accounting graduates from AACSB-accredited accounting programs. The descriptive statistics by the authors show 30% of jurisdictions have at least one accounting PhD who serves on the board, and on average 75.6% of board members are CPAs. The authors found that both the number of CPAs and the number of accounting educators on SABs are positively associated with the number of CPA exam takers as well as the number of accounting graduates from AACSB accounting programs. This suggests that accountancy board composition might be an important factor in influencing the supply of future accounting professionals. This research suggests that more strategic focus on the composition of accountancy boards is one approach that might be used to increase the supply of future accounting professionals. This observation is important as the supply of accounting graduates has declined recently and the states, NASBA, the AICPA, accounting programs and firms are keenly interested in increasing the supply of new accounting professionals in the United States.