Teach Accounting

teach
ing accounting
at a post-secondary
institution
By Robert A. Gruber, CPA, PH.D., CMA
Benefits of teaching
Everyone seems to have an idea of
the benefits of teaching. For example, I
wanted to be a university teacher because I
thought they only worked 12 hours a week.
(Actually, I wanted to be a pastor because
they only worked one hour a week!) Seriously, a 2005 study showed that university
professors work an average of 2,250 hours
per year (44 percent teaching, 32 percent
research, and 24 percent other), while
instructors work an average of 2,030 hours
per year (70 percent teaching, 16 percent
scholarly activities, and 14 percent other).
These statistics are comparable to average
of 46.3 hours worked per week by many
professionals. Important benefits include:
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• Working with students is rewarding; each class is different.
• Using creative skills to make
learning exciting and relevant.
• Pay and fringe benefits; you’ll
never get rich, but you’ll never go
hungry.
• Teaching schedules often accommodate personal and family obligations.
• Vacation schedules that are often the
envy of other professionals; e.g., tax accountants.
• Opportunities to develop professionally
as both an accountant and an educator.
Post-Secondary Teaching
(http://stats.bls.gov/oco/
ocos066.htm)
According to the Department of Labor,
“post-secondary teachers instruct students
in a wide variety of academic and vocational subjects beyond the high school level that may lead to a degree or to improvement in one’s knowledge or career skills.”
There are approximately 1.6 million postsecondary teachers, including university
faculty and academic staff, career and technical education instructors, and graduate
teaching assistants. The opportunities to
teach at a post-secondary institution are
expected to be very good until 2014 due to
the increasing number of 18- to 24-yearolds attending post-secondary institutions
and the growing number of adults return-
ing
to
improve
their career prospects. Many teaching opportunities will be
in part-time (adjunct) or non-tenure-track
positions.
The educational qualifications for postsecondary teacher jobs vary depending
on the position and the type of institution. For example, four-year universities
generally require a Ph.D. for tenured
faculty positions. A master’s degree and
professional experience are typically the
minimum requirements for academic staff.
At two-year colleges, a greater emphasis
is placed on appropriate work experience
in addition to a master’s degree. In most
cases, professional certification (e.g., CPA)
is a pre-requisite for teaching accounting.
In general, post-secondary teachers (a)
prepare and deliver lectures, (b) assign and
grade homework, quizzes and exams, (c)
advise students in their academic planning
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and career paths, and (d) provide valuable service to their academic community.
Research and service expectations vary
by type of post-secondary institution,
accreditation status, and whether or not a
faculty member is tenured.
AACSB accreditation
istockphoto.com
A
re you thinking about teaching accounting at a postsecondary institution? Some
accounting professionals
begin their teaching careers
by teaching part-time but keep their fulltime accounting jobs. For example, Bill
Tatman, CPA worked for Deloitte in Milwaukee as an audit manager for 20 years
before joining UW-Whitewater’s faculty
as its auditing instructor and internship
director. Others know early that they
want to teach and plan their professional
careers accordingly. Regardless, many of
the best accounting teachers are those with
real-world experiences to share with their
students.
(http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/
standards.asp)
The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation “assures quality and promotes
excellence and continuous improvement
in under-graduate and graduate education
for business administration and accounting.” Being AACSB accredited implies
that an institution (a) commits to fulfill
its mission and (b) continues to sustain
and improve the educational quality of
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its degree programs relative to AACSB
standards.
One of these standards states that (a) at
least 90 percent of the faculty is either academically qualified (AQ) or professionally
qualified (PQ), and (b) at least 50 percent
must be AQ. In addition, at least 75 perent of the annual teaching (contact hours,
students or courses) must be participating,
as opposed to supporting.
• Academically Qualified (AQ):
Faculty members are AQ by virtue of
formal educational background and
continued intellectual contributions
(i.e., research).
• Professionally Qualified (PQ):
Faculty members are PQ by virtue of
academic preparation (normally at the
master’s level) and significant profes-
sional experience relevant to the teaching assignment.
• Participating Faculty Member:
Faculty members engaged on an ongoing basis in the activities of the academic life of the school.
• Supporting Faculty Member:
Faculty members who have ad hoc
appointments to the instructional staff
with little engagement in activities beyond their direct instructional function.
Shortage of
Accounting Ph.D.s
(http://aaahq.org/about/reports/
FINAL_PhD_Report.pdf)
AACSB standards are designed to protect the integrity and quality of academic
business programs, but they sometimes
limit the ability of a department to hire
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Two former students of mine expressed an interest in a teaching career early in their
undergraduate programs. I recently asked them (a) why they were interested in teaching, (b) why they choose to work before starting their teaching careers, and (c) how
Imagine one of the nastiest storms you’ve ever seen
their employers assisted them transition into academia.
new instructors. This problem is especially acute given the current shortage of
Ph.D. degrees in accounting. According
to a study conducted by the American
Accounting Association, the supply of accounting Ph.D.s was only 49.9 percent of
the projected demand between 2005 and
2008. The shortage is critical in auditing
and taxation.
Content Supply as a
percent of demand
Financial accounting
Cost accounting
Information systems
Taxation
Auditing
Overall
91.6%
79.0%
55.7%
27.1%
22.8%
49.9%
The demand for accounting Ph.D.s
will continue to increase as a significant
number of accounting professors reach
retirement age and the number of schools
seeking (and maintaining) AACSB accreditation increases.
If you are thinking of teaching accounting and want to talk further about the
opportunities in academia, please contact
me ([email protected]), Brown ([email protected]), Wangerin (dwangerin@
wisc.edu), or any instructor at one of
Wisconsin’s post-secondary institutions.
Robert A. Gruber, CPA, Ph.D., CMA is
accounting department chairperson at the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
He can be reached at 262-472-5463.
Dan Wangerin graduated from
UW-Whitewater with an MPA degree
in 2003 and worked as an audit senior
at Deloitte and Touche in Milwaukee.
Wagner decided to pursue a post-secondary teaching career because “several professors were very influential in
sparking my interest in education.” He
is currently a first-year Ph.D. student
at UW-Madison and teaches Financial
Statement Analysis in the evening MBA
Program.
Abbie Brown will graduate from
UW-Whitewater’s MPA program in
May 2007 and will start working for
Deloitte and Touche in summer 2007.
She has always had a love of teaching
and hopes to work for a few years before
entering a Ph.D. program. Brown has
been attending UW-Madison’s Ph.D.
seminars this spring as part of her MPA
program at UW-Whitewater.
1. Why are you interested in
teaching at a post-secondary
institution?
WaNGerin: I had several professors who were very influential in sparking my interest in the both accounting
and teaching. Good professors have a
profound, positive impact on their students, and I can think of no more truly
rewarding career in our profession.
Brown: I have been an accounting tutor for four years, but I have been
teaching since the day I learned to read
and began practicing on my younger
brother. After participating in the Undergraduate Research Program at UWWhitewater, I became interested in the
research side of academia. To help me
learn more, the faculty at UW-Madison
generously allowed me to attend and
participate in their Ph.D. workshops
this semester. Now there is no doubt
that this is what I want to do as a career.
2. Why did you choose to
work before starting your
teaching career?
WaNGerin: Having a strong
professional background is extremely
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has just ripped through your neighborhood. Downing power lines.
beneficial to both me and my students.
Working in public accounting provided
me with experiences that I will use in
my teaching and research. I can also rely
on my former colleagues at Deloitte to
develop ideas for meaningful research
projects.
Brown: I had planned to start my
Ph.D. program immediately after finishing my master’s degree. But the more I
talked with people about my decision
(e.g., UW-Madison Ph.D. director and
students, Deloitte accounting professionals, and UW-Whitewater faculty),
the more convinced I became of the importance of having real-life experiences
to bring back to the classroom.
Blowing off rooftops. Shredding trees. Imagine the fear you might have felt as
the winds howled and shook your walls like they were breathing.
If that was you on the phone after it all passed, how comforting
would it be to get a call just to make sure you’re okay?
3. What support or
encouragement did you receive from your employer?
Wangerin: I received tremendous
support from Deloitte when I made
my decision to pursue a Ph.D. degree.
While they were sad to see me go and
told me I’d be welcomed back anytime,
my lead audit partner contacted other
partners across the country to serve as
references for me to programs I was
considering. I would recommend that
anyone considering a move to a Ph.D.
program talk openly with their employer about their plans I know that the
support I received from Deloitte was
instrumental in my placement at UWMadison.
Brown: At the end of my internship with Deloitte, I was offered a position starting after my master’s program.
I told them I wanted to apply to several
Ph.D. programs and didn’t think it was
fair to give them an answer until I knew
whether I had been accepted into the
program. Not only was Deloitte willing
to postpone my decision date, but they
also connected me with a colleague
(Dan) who had been accepted into
UW-Madison’s Ph.D. program. They
continue to be incredibly supportive of
my plans to eventually pursue a teaching career.
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Now imagine that’s us on the other end.
For every storm, we’re the calm that follows.
wbmi.com
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