The Accounting Educator

The Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section
American Accounting Association
Vol. X No. 1 - Fall 2000

A Message from the Chair

Donald E. Wygal, Rider University

I am pleased to write this first message to you as Chair of the Teaching and Curriculum Section. To start, let me thank Jim Rebele for his hard work and dedication over the past year as he served in the Chair's role. It is clear that Jim cares very much for the Section and he has done an effective job of raising our collective sensitivities to important emerging issues. I want to wish Jim well also as he assumes responsibilities in the coming year at Santa Clara University.

I am excited and gratified by the number of colleagues in the Section who have agreed to take leadership roles in moving us forward. It is my hope that we will find ways to tap into the talents of an increasing number of our members in the year(s) ahead. In short, the Executive Committee hopes to involve our members in standing committee and regional efforts. We also want to be responsive to your needs, so please let us know of your interest in serving and your concerns for the future.

One important way for us to be in touch promises to be in the development of the T&C website. Dasaratha Rama, now at Texas A&M International, has agreed to be our Webmaster. She has contributed an overview of some of her plans for the site in another part of this Newsletter. It is obvious to me that we are very fortunate to be able to draw upon her skills. The Executive Committee met in October to make further suggestions on site design and development. These should be up and running soon.

Use of the website will help us to provide you with timely information on committee updates and activities in the regions. Hopefully, we can use this Newsletter (which is prepared periodically) to alert you to the benefits of being connected to us in an ongoing basis via the website.

For now, I want to call your attention to three new committees that have been formed and to identify some preliminary initiatives of the Executive Committee. In future issues of the Newsletter, I will profile the work of other committees and regional activities.

New Committees

Shared Experiences
I am pleased that Paul Solomon (psolomon@sedona.net) has agreed to chair the Shared Experiences Committee. A driver of this committee's work is the view that there are real benefits to be gained through the sharing of life's experience. An initial focus will be on a recognition that senior faculty members can be viewed as valuable resources to the rest of our members. Many of our colleagues have exemplified a Scholarship of Teaching approach to their faculty roles, even before that term became widely known. The Shared Experiences Committee will seek to identify colleagues in each region who will be willing to share their insights on ways to fulfill multiple objectives regarding teaching effectiveness, intellectual development and contributions to the greater good.

The committee will be exploring ways to provide for the sharing of such experiences. An initial focus could be on developing mechanisms at regional meetings to link selected senior faculty with their colleagues. While younger faculty may be a logical target audience for these activities, it seems to me that the Shared Experiences Committee could add value to members at any career stage. If you have suggestions, or want to get involved personally, please contact Paul Solomon.

T&C.com
A new committee, chaired by Margarita Maria Lenk (margarita.lenk@colostate.edu) is T&C.com. As you might guess, this committee will focus on developments in the realm of e-business. As commercial practices involving cyberspace continue to develop, it will be increasingly important for us all to consider the implications for our individual curriculum. One aspect of the committee's work will be to develop profiles of alternative curricular responses to e-business delivery. Another will be to identify useful sources of information for members who want to be better informed about the issues. Again, the T&C website should prove to be useful in connecting the works of the committee with the membership.

T&C.com should prove to be a useful tool, enabling us to better understand the "big picture" regarding cyberspace. As you know, we continue to benefit from the works of another standing committee, Electronic Technology and Media, chaired by David Spiceland. David's group has maintained a focus primarily on how academics are employing technology to further educational program objectives.

To me, these two committees could be rather like the "heads" and "tails" of the same coin. The work of each group promises to be helpful to our members, but can be even more so if "heads and tails" are aware of each other's existence. I am happy to report that Skip White has agreed to serve on both committees, assuring that advances in each group will be known by the other.

Business Partners
Another new committee, Business Partners, is chaired by Frank Lordi (frank.c.lordi@widener.edu). Recognizing the value of educator/practitioner partnerships, Frank and his group will seek to identify viable examples of partnering in each of the regions. Also, they will identify specific types of benefits that have resulted from partnering efforts. It is anticipated that regional meetings could provide a venue for dialogue among educators and practitioners, as well as a platform for the discussion of best practices and alternative approaches to partnering. Frank will appreciate any suggestions you may have. He is also looking for additional committee members.

Regional Meetings and Section Distinctiveness
The Executive Committee met in October to consider plans for the future. I feel fortunate to have Bette Kozlowski of KPMG, Vice Chair - Practice last year, continuing in that role. The same is true concerning Sandy Byrd, Treasurer, and Janet Cassagio, Secretary and Newsletter Editor. Also, Jim Rebele will remain on the Executive Committee as Past Chair. The new addition to the group is Bill Schwartz, who as Vice Chair - Academic, will focus his attention on working with Regional Directors.

Concerning regional meetings, we are working to support their development so that the Teaching and Curriculum components of the programs will be quite attractive to our members. At the same time, we have begun to identify initiatives that will focus on the distinctive strengths of our members and on ways to develop new activities to address emerging issues. The regional meetings show promise as logical places to attempt these activities.

The Executive Committee shares a common view that regional meetings can be excellent platforms for our members to display their talents. We intend to work closely with the Regional Directors (with Bill at the point) to be responsive to member needs in each area. We encourage all of our members to participate in these events. Remember that our ability to have regular paper presentations is enhanced by higher levels of T&C works submitted. Participation can include also your willingness to review papers, to serve as discussant or session leader or to attend the meeting and interact with other members.

To provide some support and recognition for your efforts, the Executive Committee has instituted a "Best Teaching and Curriculum Paper Award" at each of the regional meetings. This award will include both a cash prize and formal recognition at the meeting, on our website, and in the Newsletter.

As our presence is enhanced at regional meetings, we will be exploring ways to further promote our distinctive qualities as teacher/scholars. While our planning at this point is only preliminary, we are exploring ways to develop Teaching and Curriculum events in conjunction with (probably prior to) regional or annual meetings. The intent will be to provide more opportunities for our members to develop professionally and to create dialogue on emerging issues. I hope to be able to share more with you in the next Newsletter. In the meantime, please let us know your ideas.

Concluding Comments
If you attended the annual meeting in Philadelphia, then you know that we have begun to work closely with the AICPA to explore issues regarding core competencies for the profession. Billie Cunningham and Susan Wolcott, for example, now chair AICPA competency committees and continue to be active in our section. The Executive Committee will be working with Bea Sanders, Liz Koch and others at the AICPA to find ways to work together for the benefit of accounting educators and practitioners. Currently, we are exploring ways to do this at future regional meetings, in addition to providing updates on the website. As I mentioned above, we will provide additional details on new developments in future issues of the Newsletter. In the meantime, please let us know where and how we can add value to your professional lives.

Return to the Table of Contents