The Accounting EducatorThe Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section |
A Message from the ChairJames E. Rebele I hope that everyone had a productive and enjoyable academic year, and that the summer will be more of the same. Included in this issue of The Accounting Educator is a proposal to change the Section Bylaws by extending the term for the Vice Chair-Practice from one year to two years. Voting on this proposal will take place at the Section business meeting, scheduled for Monday, August 14th at 2:00 p.m. Our current Vice Chair-Practice, Bette Kozlowski of KPMG, is willing to serve an additional year if the proposed Bylaws change is approved. Another newsletter will be published prior to the AAA Annual Meeting in August, but I want to communicate a few important section activities so that you can mark these dates on your calendar. As noted above, the annual business meeting for the Teaching and Curriculum Section is scheduled for Monday, August 14th from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. I encourage everyone to attend and participate in this year's business meeting. The Executive Committee will be meeting on June 23rd to continue discussing strategic issues facing the Section, and part of the annual business meeting will be set aside for members to provide their input on these issues. It is therefore important to the future of the Section that as many members as possible attend and participate in this year's business meeting. The T & C Section Breakfast has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 15 at 7:00 a.m. Last year's breakfast was well attended and very enjoyable, and we are looking for an even larger turnout this year. As you complete your AAA Meeting Registration Form don't forget to check that you plan to attend the T & C Section Breakfast. The cost for this lavish and delicious buffet-style feast is a mere $10, including gratuity. The Section is sponsoring a panel session at the AAA Annual Meeting dealing with implementation issues for a competency-based curriculum. Panelists include Billie Cunningham, University of Missouri, Ken Daly, National Partner in Charge of Assurance Services Sales for KPMG, John Jessup, VP-Finance and Controller for DuPont, and yours truly. The session is scheduled for Tuesday, August 15th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. We conducted this panel session at the AAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, and thunderous applause followed the session's conclusion. We took this to be a positive audience reaction to the session. A new feature appears in this issue of The Accounting Educator. Modeled after the My Turn column in Newsweek, our new Speak Out column provides Section members with an opportunity to express their opinions on issues important to accounting educators. The topic for the inaugural column is "Technology: What Can and Should it be Used for? Since someone had to stick his or her neck out, I agreed to write the first column. One important purpose for the Speak Out column is to stimulate and help facilitate a dialog among T & C Section members. Not everyone will agree with what I have to say about technology, although I hope that not everyone disagrees. If you wish to express your opinion on the technology issue that I raise, then please write a response and send it to Don Wygal. The Executive Committee will review all responses and select those to be published in the newsletter. If you have an opinion that you would like to express on an issue that is relevant to accounting education, then please submit your column to Don Wygal. The Executive Committee will also review all columns that are submitted. Our hope is that Section members will find these columns to be interesting and thought provoking. Perhaps the worst outcome for this experiment would be that we all agree with everything that appears in the column. How boring that would be. This issue of The Accounting Educator also includes another Have You Seen? column by Carolyn Strand, Chair of the Accounting Education Research Committee. This second column includes additional references to resources that accounting educators are sure to find useful. I know that I wouldn't be aware of most books and articles Carolyn identifies if I had to search for them on my own. No doubt many Section members agree with this, and we thank Carolyn and the committee for their efforts. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge D. V. Rama's hard work on the Section web site. Rama has been appointed Webmaster for the T & C Section, and she has already made a number of improvements to the web site. One significant task that is now underway is to have all committee reports put on the web site, which will provide all Section members with access to these reports. Thanks very much, Rama. I would again like to encourage everyone to attend and participate in Section activities and meetings in Philadelphia. The Teaching and Curriculum Section is your organization and it needs your involvement to be successful. Jim Rebele |