As I write my final President’s Message, I want to tell all members that it has been a great privilege and an honor to serve the Auditing Section as your president. I have been very impressed by the dedication and work ethic exhibited by the collection of volunteers comprising our Executive Committee and all other Section committees. Given today’s demanding work environment, the collective annual productivity of these volunteers is simply amazing.

On behalf of the Section’s members, I would like to thank three members of our Executive Committee whose terms expire in August—Barry Cushing (Past President), Joe Carcello (Treasurer), and Jack Krogstad (Historian). It has been a real pleasure working with these fine individuals and getting to know them better. Also, I would like to thank Lyn Adair for agreeing to serve as the Section’s Web Site Administrator. The AAA is working with Lyn to upgrade our web site and create a look and feel similar to the AAA site.

Progress on the Section’s Strategic Management Framework
Some elements of the Section’s new strategic plan and mission statement have been posted to our web site. Executive committee members are working diligently to finish the full documentation for the strategic management framework so that it can be installed on the web site before the Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Jean Bedard and Karen Pincus have been working on the design and implementation of a performance measurement system that will enable the Executive Committee to track how well the Section is performing on the distinctive competencies required to successfully carry out our mission. The measurement process will entail collecting various key performance measures on an annual basis. Section officers and committee chairs will collect a number of key performance indicators for the academic year that have been designed to capture patterns and trends in the following areas:

• Activity levels and topic areas in submissions and publications in AJPT
• Activity levels and topic areas for auditing publications in benchmark journals
• Activity levels and topic areas for the Mid- year, Regional and Annual Meeting programs
• Enrollments and topic areas for CPE sessions
• Membership increases and decreases and related causes
• Web site activities
• Member satisfaction levels on critical service dimensions

The performance measurement process will be tested on an experimental basis during this summer. It is anticipated that the process will be refined on an ongoing basis as we gain experience and make periodic changes to our strategy and mission.

Annual Meeting in San Diego
Joe Carcello and Bob Ramsay have put together a fine pro-gram of Section activities for the Annual Meeting in San Diego (see full program starting on page 6). Highlights include a panel session on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, 1987–1997: An Analysis of U.S. Public Companies presented by John J. Flaherty (Chairman–Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission), Lynn Turner (Chief Accountant, SEC), Mark Beasley and Dana Hermanson (see related article in this issue); a panel session on Continuous Auditing presented by members of the CICA/AICPA task force and possibly others; and a panel session on Internal Auditing: Visioning the Future presented by Ronald Isyk (Deloitte & Touche), Anthony Ridley (Ford Motor Co.), Jack Krogstad, and Larry Rittenberg. The core program sponsored by the Section will cover a variety of topics including experimental economics; auditor reporting; audit process, pricing, planning and quality; corporate governance; and auditor choice.

I would like to encourage you to attend this year’s Auditing Section luncheon at the AAA Annual Meeting in San Diego. The speaker at this year’s luncheon will be Dr. Burks Oakley II, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Dr. Oakley holds appointments as a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, in the Departments of Computer Science and Management Information Systems at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and in the School of Biomedical, Health, and Information Systems at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The topic of Dr. Oakley’s speech is Netlearning: The Impact of the Internet on Higher Education.

Through his innovative use of technology in teaching, Professor Oakley has earned a national reputation as a practitioner and promoter of Internet-based asynchronous learning environments. During the past two years, he has given more than 75 invited talks at national conferences and on university campuses. He continues to inspire faculty and administrators as director of the new UI-Online initiative, a program designed to facilitate the development and delivery of University of Illinois courses, degrees and public service resources over the Internet.

Dr. Oakley received his B.S. degree from Northwestern University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and for his innovative use of technology in education, including the Luckman Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from UIUC in 1993, the Outstanding Professor Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in 1993, the Educom Medal in 1996, the Educational Activities Board Major Educational Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1996 and the Meritorious Service Award from the IEEE Education Society in 1998. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the ASEE Board of Directors.

Survey on Preferred Timing of the Section’s Midyear Meeting
Section members were surveyed during early February 1999 about their preferences for timing of the Section’s Midyear Meeting for the year 2001 and beyond. During the past, some members have complained that the timing of the Midyear Meeting presents a problem because it coincides with the first week of classes in January at some institutions. The survey asked members to rank a range of choices for the timing of the meeting spanning the week of January 4th through the week of February 24th. The most preferred date was ranked 1, the second-most preferred was ranked 2 and so forth. Also, members were asked whether they prefer the meeting on Thursday through Saturday-noon, or Friday through Sunday-noon.

Two hundred twelve members responded to the survey, 103 of which had attended the 1999 Midyear Meeting in Atlanta. The sum of ranks for the weeks of January 4th and January 11th were the lowest (i.e., most preferred) at 521 and 545, respectively. All other dates received sums of ranks in excess of 600. Forty-nine respondents said they would not attend the meeting if held during the week of January 4th. Only 18 respondents indicated they would not attend the meeting if held during the week of January 11th. Finally, 139 respondents indicated they preferred the Thursday through Saturday arrangement, while 99 respondents preferred Friday through Sunday (some responses were “either-or”). Based on the responses to the survey, it appears that the Midyear Meeting timing currently in effect, that is the second week in January on Thursday through Saturday-noon, is the preferred choice. At this time, the Executive Committee has no plans to change the timing of the Midyear Meeting.

Again, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as your president. I wish Karen Pincus the very best when she takes over as your president in August. I will do my best to help her with Section initiatives moving forward. I look forward to seeing you in San Diego.

Timothy B. Bell President
1998–1999