2006 Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award

Presented by Ganesh Krishnamoorthy

Cindy Durtschi (left) receives the 2006 Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award presented by Ganesh Krishnamoorthy (right).

The purpose of the Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award is to encourage innovation and improvement in auditing and assurance education. The award recognizes a significant activity, concept, or materials. The criteria used to judge the submissions include, but are not necessarily limited to: (1) innovation, (2) educational benefits, and (3) adaptability by other educational institutions or to other situations. The 2006 Award was presented to Cindy Durtschi of Utah State University for her case, "The Tallahassee BeanCounters: A Problem-Based Learning Case in Forensic Auditing." This case was published in Issues in Accounting Education in May 2003.

The Tallahassee BeanCounters case is extremely innovative in that it requires students to work in teams to uncover fraud by first analyzing baseline information and then by requesting and analyzing additional information from the instructor, who represents all of the individuals in the case. The iterative nature of the students’ search for and evaluation of information makes this case reflective of real-world investigations. In addition, the case promotes critical thinking and interaction between faculty and students.

Student reaction to the case has been very positive, with the case even being described as "awesome." The case has been used in various auditing-related courses at a range of universities. In addition, the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and CCH have adapted the case for use.

The selection committee for this year’s award consisted of Tina Carpenter, Dana Hermanson, Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, and Dave Ricchiute.

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