The Challenges We Face

Kevin D. Stocks, AAA President

What an exciting time to be involved in accounting education. The accounting profession is changing with increasing speed and the challenges to accounting education continue to grow. These challenges include the following:

• There is a tremendous need for data on the academy. Data is needed on types of programs being offered, the materials being taught within programs, the composition of both students enrolled in accounting and accounting faculty, and contact information for faculty and programs. The AAA currently has several projects underway that will help address this need for data. There are efforts underway to gather information on accounting programs across the nation regarding the program structure as well as course content and composition. Another AAA effort is working with the Rhile and Hasselback directories to produce an online directory available to the public. Efforts are underway with Pearson Higher Education to produce print copies of these directories (see http://robinprinzing.com/ for additional information). Both the program and contact directories are scheduled to be available this spring.
  
  
• Accounting standard setting continues to evolve, influencing what is taught in our classes. Whether or not the IFRS standards are adopted in the US, they have been adopted to varying degrees by most other nations. With business going international and with many US businesses being subsidiaries of non-US entities, most if not all of our current students will be involved in some aspects of IFRS accounting. The question facing the accounting academy is: How much should our curriculums change?
  
  
• Not only are there new international standards for financial reporting, but there are also proposed international standards for accounting education. The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released the 2010 edition of its Handbook of International Education Pronouncements. These are available online through the IAESB website. Currently these standards are reviewed and input from members of the education community will be an important part of the review process. It is important to understand that the European and US models for accounting education differ greatly. The European model involves learning as an apprentice (generally defined as a 3-year period) with little if any college/university based coursework while the US model is college/university based with a minimum of practical experience.
  
  
• Changes in the world we live and work in continue. The nature of our students is changing. The millennial generation is different from students we have worked with in the past. The accounting profession is changing in the nature of public and private practice as well as in practice areas. Auditing is now a regulated industry, tax rules and roles are changing, and firms and companies are sending work offshore in increasing amounts. New areas of practice such as accounting for environmental efforts are gaining prominence. Technology keeps evolving, impacting not only what we teach, but also the tools we use in class. Although challenging, continued change provides opportunities for improvement to our education process and certainly does make life interesting.

Again, it is an exciting and challenging time to be involved in accounting education. What a wonderful opportunity for each of us to make a difference.