The Accounting EducatorThe Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section |
Core Competency Modelby Don Wygal, Chair-elect The Teaching and Curriculum Section has worked to expand awareness of issues regarding core competency needs for the profession. One example of these efforts was the development of a plenary session at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting in Wilmington, DE in March. Working closely with the AICPA and IMA, the Executive Committee established two panel presentations as part of a plenary session. The first panel, chaired by Bette Kozlowski, Vice Chair-Practice for the section included Paula Thomas, Middle Tennessee State University and Kevin Michel, University of Maryland - University College. Their focus was on the output of the AICPA Pre-Professional Competency Task Force, which Paula chaired. Paula and Kevin identified basic elements of the AICPA Competency Framework regarding Functional, Personal and Broad Business Perspective classifications of skill requirements. Kevin also identified some preliminary signals regarding assessment of competencies. Don Wygal served as moderator for the follow-up panel which focused on implementation issues. Panelists included Ken Daly, National Partner in Charge of Assurance Services Sales for KPMG, John Jessup, Vice President - Finance and Controller of DuPont and Jim Rebele, Teaching and Curriculum Section Chair. Their commentary addressed the changing marketplace and workplace for accountants, both in public accounting and industry, as well as issues confronting educators as they seek to enhance student skills develop.m.ent. Audience response to this plenary session was extremely favorable. In fact, the only real complaint was that even with 2½ hours of discussion time, there was not sufficient opportunity for audience interaction. The Executive Committee is planning to extend such opportunities in the future, with the first taking place at the Annual Meeting in August in Philadelphia. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 15 at 4 p.m. when the section will once again sponsor a panel on competency implementation issues. We plan to extend our dialogue and to provide opportunities for audience interaction. The Executive Committee appreciates very much the partnering efforts of the IMA and the AICPA. We look forward to building upon these gains in the coming year, both at the regional and national level. We hope that our members will attend these sessions and that they will convey to us (in person and through our website) any ideas they may have for future meeting activities to meet their needs. |