Greetings SET Section members,

It is a pleasure to make my second and final report to the membership of the Strategic and Emerging Technologies section. It has been a busy year for the Section. The Executive Committee has been conferencing each month as we push forward a variety of initiatives. There are four initiatives I would like to highlight.

First, the Education and Research Committees have each had their own work program. The Education Committee, under Akhilesh Chandra, has addressed the important issue of how SET topics are integrated into the curriculum. Akhilesh will report the progress with this activity at the Business Meeting. The Research Committee, under Jagdish Pathak, has three groups working on research directions within the SET domain. One of the groups is largely finished and the other two groups have made excellent progress. The three groups will report at the Research Workshop on the 2nd August.

Second, a principal concern of the Executive Committee has been to put the finances of the Section on a sustainable path. We are pleased to announce that Caseware-IDEA has agreed to fund the Section over the next three years. Funding is primarily for the workshop and publication activities of the Section. Bob Cuthbertson, CEO of Caseware-IDEA has been a great supporter of academics and academic research over the years and has interacted with many members of the Section at various meetings. Many of us use his products in our audit and AIS classes. Bob immediately agreed when we asked for his sponsorship. Thanks Bob!

Third, we have introduced a new series of podcasts, as discussed elsewhere in the newsletter. We’ve brought out the first couple of podcasts and will continue to publish on a six-week schedule. We think that people find the mp3 podcasts a convenient format.

Fourth, we have worked to strengthen our relationship with the world of practice. When we updated our bylaws, under the management of President-elect Guido Geerts, we included a new position of Vice-President, Practice. The first V-P Practice is Tom Lamm, who will take up his position for a two-year at the forthcoming Business Meeting. Tom is the Director of Research at ISACA. Tom’s responsibilities at ISACA include the academic advocate program and fostering academic research within the domains covered by ISACA (IT governance, IT security and IT audit). As a result, Tom is well known in the academic community and understands the issues in our community. Please welcome Tom at the Business Meeting.

Let me update you on a few other developments. Our Annual Meeting Co-ordinator, Jagdish Pathak, has put together a great program in New York. There are eight papers and three panels, as we show elsewhere in the newsletter. I’d like to draw your attention to the panels, which are world-class (and I thought carefully before making that claim). On Monday at 10:15am, past president and former editor of JETA, Miklos Vasarhelyi, has put together an amazing panel on Adoption of Technology in Leading Audit Organizations, Audit Practice and the Future of Audit. Miklos is joined by five colleagues from KPMG and several colleagues from Rutgers and the broader Rutgers community. Please draw the attention of your colleagues in auditing to this panel.

Then on Tuesday morning, Glen Gray of California State University at Northridge and myself have put together a panel on XBRL, which we have organized for several years. This year we titled it XBRL and Interactive Data in Prime Time. With the first of the SEC’s filings coming into the Commission in the coming weeks, we are truly in prime time. The panel brings together Alfred R. Berkeley, Chairman of  XBRL US, David Blaszkowsky, Director of Interactive Data at the SEC and Bob Laux, Director of Financial Reporting at Microsoft Corporation. Please draw the attention of your colleagues in financial accounting and auditing to this panel.

On Wednesday at 2pm, and demonstrating that Miklos has incredible energy, there is the third panel on the Future of Auditing: An Update on the State of the Profession. Panelists include Michael Alles from Rutgers, Walton Conn from KPMG and the Auditing Standards Board, Cynthia Fornelli from the Center for Audit Quality, Audrey A Gramling from Kennesaw State University and the current President, of the Auditing Section and David H Sharpe from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Again, please draw the attention of your auditing colleagues to this panel.

We are having our 18th Annual Research Workshop on Sunday, August 2nd. President-elect Guido Geerts, Carol Brown and Amelia Baldwin have put together a great program. There are (count them!) 15 papers and three panels at the Workshop. If you have not already signed up for the Workshop, you can do so by completing the form at http://aaahq.org/AM2009/AddCPE_AnnMtgRegistration.pdf and fax or email back to the AAA office. We will see you bright and early on Sunday!

Our journal goes from strength to strength. The 2008 issue, which came out after the Annual Meeting, has some 13 papers, covering the full range of research issues addressed by members of the section. We look forward to the 2009 issue later in the year.

Elsewhere in the newsletter, there is news of the dinner that Section Secretary/Treasurer, Ingrid Fisher has organized on Saturday 1st August at 8pm. We’re going out to a great restaurant, Chez Josephine, close to the Hilton and Sheraton hotels. The prix-fixe menu should appeal to all tastes and is (at least by NYC standards) very reasonable. Check out the website for the restaurant at http://www.chezjosephine.com/. We have a private dining room and will have an enjoyable night. So if you are coming in early for the Workshop or other activity, join us for dinner. This is first come, first served so quickly email Ingrid if you will be dining with us. Remember, cash only please.

Recently I have been travelling in Singapore and New Zealand, in part talking about XBRL. There is a great deal of interest in this and the other domains of knowledge in our Section in these countries. We have much work to do in reaching out to our colleagues in other sections and communicating the importance and both the theoretical and practical significance of our work. While topics like XBRL are of great practical import, they also intersect with issues of complex and significant theoretical concern. We must not forget that as a section we draw on strong theoretical roots not just in accounting and auditing but also in computer science, information science, cognitive psychology, philosophy and elsewhere. We have much to contribute to the broader accounting and auditing academy.

As I said in the first paragraph, this is my final epistle as President of the Section. My thanks to all the officers who worked hard and put up with all my emails and phone calls over the year, committee chairs and members, co-ordinators, liaisons – particularly Jagdish Pathak for the Annual Meeting, Guido and Robert Biscontri for the mid-year Meeting and to Murphy Smith, our newsletter editor and Rob Nehmer, our very busy webmaster. Ours is a voluntary organization and we rely on each other to make the Section work. A rule of thumb in voluntary organizations is that 3-5% of members will be active at any one time. I estimate that if we add together all the various committees and the editorial board of JETA, we have more than a third of our membership active each year. Congratulations to you all.

Finally, let me extend my thanks and best wishes to Guido, who has worked with me closely over the year. As he will set out in more detail in the business meeting and the podcast that will follow, Guido has great plans for the coming year. Please assist him and the officers when they call on you.

Kia ora, aloha, and mahalo nui loa.

Roger

Dr. Roger Debreceny
Shidler College Distinguished Professor of Accounting
School of Accountancy, Shidler College of Business
University of Hawaii at Manōa
Email: rogersd@hawaii.edu roger@debreceny.com

The American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting

The American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting is scheduled for August 2-5, 2009 in New York City. The theme of the 2009 meeting is "Accounting at a Tipping Point." The importance of accounting for our global society has become increasingly apparent in recent years. However, this importance is juxtaposed against the shrinking of our academic community and the narrowing of the accounting research domain. Yet, forces are in place to revive and renew the accounting academic community. In our 2009 AAA meeting we will celebrate the significance of accounting around the globe and explore opportunities for renewal of the accounting academy. More information is available on the AAA website (http://aaahq.org).

The SET business meeting is described below in the Events and Calls for Papers Section.

The AAA Southwest Region will hold its annual meeting on March 2-6, 2010 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas. The call for papers is on the Web (http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/swaaa/call4papers2010.htm). The AAA Southwest Region meets in conjunction with the FBD (http://www.fbds.org/).

XBRL and IFRS continue to be at the forefront of the international news. Together they are expected to have a synergistic effect on accounting and financial reporting worldwide.

Research & Publications:

Ahuja, Manju, Randy Kuhn, and John M. Mueller. 2008 IT Control Weakness and Company Financial Health. Working Paper (November 19, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1304125

Abstract: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) brought the notion of information technology (IT) governance to the forefront of business executives and the investing community. Per Section 404 of the Act, SEC registrants and their auditors must assess and report on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, including IT controls. However, IT governance has been a mystery to the key decision makers of many companies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of weaknesses in IT related internal controls to companies' overall financial health and performance. We examine financial health and performance on four accounting measures: liquidity, solvency, profitability, and market value. During the four year period of 2004-2007 we identified 317 companies that reported at least one material IT weakness and matched them with a similar set of companies with no reported material weaknesses. Additionally, for a subset of 117 from the 317 companies in which a good match could be identified, we developed a second data set for comparison of companies reporting only material non-IT weaknesses. As expected, companies reporting IT weaknesses experienced less of an ability to pay short-term and long-term debts, earned greater profits, and possessed greater market value.
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Great Ideas for Teaching Accounting Website:

Great Ideas for Teaching Accounting -- South-Western College Publishing has created the Great Ideas for Teaching accounting site (http://www.swlearning.com/accounting/car/gita.html) to allow accounting professors the opportunity to share their teaching techniques. The teaching tips contributed by various accounting professors are categorized into a table of contents similar to that of an introductory accounting textbook. There is a separate section for teaching tips on management accounting. The site also provides tips on classroom management, communication skills and team work development. Visitors can use a form at the site to submit their own teaching ideas.

JETA submissions should be sent to Editor Dan O'Leary (USC). The purpose of JETA is to encourage, support and disseminate the production of a stream of high-quality research focused on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence applied or applicable to a wide set of accounting related problems. More about JETA, including submission information is available on the SET website (http://aaahq.org/set/publications/jeta/callsForPapers.html). 

Upcoming Meetings:

Business Meeting

Please join your fellow Section members at the Annual Business Meeting, which will be held during the Association’s Annual Meeting at 2pm on Monday, 3rd August. Look for the venue in your printed program. Matters on the agenda at the Business Meeting include an introduction to Tom Lamm, Director of Research at ISACA, who is our new Vice-President, Practice (a first for the section), committee reports and awards and reports from the Publications Committee on the status and publication form of the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting. Incoming President, Guido Geerts, will set out his vision for the coming year.

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18th Annual Research Workshop on Strategic and Emerging Technologies

August 2, 2009, New York

Sponsor: CaseWare Idea Inc.

8:00 AM-9:45 AM  Research Papers: Session 1

Aggregation of enterprise data for assurance and decisions
Richard Dull (Clemson University), David Tegarden (Virginia Tech), Lydia Schleifer (Clemson University)
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Formalizing and automating the process of taxonomy creation
Vasundhara Chakraborty (Rutgers University)
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The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the GAAP Hierarchy:  An Examination of Language Differences
Margaret R. Garnsey (Siena College)
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Co-Citation Analysis as Tool to Map the Intellectual Structure of Accounting Research
Alexander Just (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar), Matthias Meyer (TechnicalUniversity Hamburg-Hamburg), Eike Perrey (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar), UtzSchäffer (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar)
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Can Linguistic Predictors Detect Fraudulent Financial Filings?
Sunita Goel ((Siena College) and Jagdish Gangolly (The University at Albany-SUNY)

9:45 AM-10:15 AM     Coffee Break

10:15 AM-12:00 PM  Research Papers: Session 2

Different Approaches to the Implementation of XBRL
Enrique Bonson, Virginia Cortijo, Tomas Escobar (University of Huelva)
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Visualizing Basic Accounting Flows: Does XBRL + Model + Animation = Understanding?
Byron Marshall (Oregon State University), Kristian Mortenson (Oregon State University), Amy Bourne (Oregon State University), Kevin Price (Oregon State University), and Andrew Marshall (University of Oregon)
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Mapping Financial Information Disclosure Data with XBRL
Ernest Capozzoli  (Kennesaw State University), Stephanie Farewell (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
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XBRL and the Cost of Capital: An Examination of How China is Impacted by the Adoption of XBRL
Cassy D. Henderson (The University of Texas at El Paso)
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12:00 PM-1:00 PM    Lunch     (on your own)

1:00 PM-2:15 PM    Research Papers: Session 3

Continuous Auditing and Continuous Control Monitoring: Case Studies of Technology Adoption in Leading Internal Audit Organizations
Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Siripan Kuenkaikaew (Rutgers University)
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The Effect of Audit Support System Design and Auditor Locus of Control on Audit Support System Use Behaviours
Carlin Dowling (The University of Melbourne)
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Unsupervised Fraud Detection: A Rule-Based Model in the Wire Transfer Payment Process of a Major Insurance Company in the United States
Yongbum Kim, David Y. Chan, Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Alex Kogan (Rutgers University)

2:15 PM-2:45 PM    Coffee Break

2:45 PM-3:45 PM    Research Papers: Session 4

The Use of the Internet for Corporate Reporting in the Mercosur (Southern Common Market) – The Argentine CaseSilvia Romero (Montclair State University)
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Semi Supervised Support Vector Machines in Analytical ProceduresEdward N Balli (Aurora University)
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An REA Semantic WikiTod Sedbrook, Richard Newmark (University of Northern Colorado)
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3:45 PM-4:30 PM  

Panel on Research Directions from the Research Committee
Moderator: Jagdish Pathak (University of Windsor)

The Role of Text Analytics and Information Retrieval in the Accounting Domain
Ingrid E. Fisher (The University at Albany-SUNY), Margaret R. Garnsey (Siena College), Sunita Goel (Siena College), Kinsun Tam (The University at Albany-SUNY)
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Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) and XBRL: A Review of Literature and its Economic Implications
Samir Trabelsi (Brock University), Roger Debreceny (University of Hawai’I at Manoa), Akhilesh Chandra (The University of Akron), Dave Henderson (College of Charleston), Barbara Lamberton (University of Hartford)
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The Roles of Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining, and Knowledge Management in Accounting and Auditing: A Research Synthesis
Brad S. Trinkle (College of Charleston), Amelia A. Baldwin (University of Alabama in Huntsville), Ed Balli (Aurora University), Bob Berry (University of Nottingham), Ashutosh Deshmukh (Pennsylvania State University, Erie), Mike Lavine (Johns Hopkins University), Thomas E. McKee (Medical University of South Carolina), Srini Ragothaman (The University of South Dakota), Rebecca Rosner (Long Island University), Lee Yao (Loyola University New Orleans)

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2009 Annual Meeting SET Dinner

This year the Strategic and Emerging Technologies section’s 18th Annual Research Workshop is on Sunday 2 August at the Hilton New York. Many of the participants in the workshop will come in to New York on Saturday. As a result, the SET section has arranged a Prix-Fixe dinner at Chez Josephine (www.chezjosephine.com) on August 1, 2009 (the evening prior to the 18th Annual SET Research Workshop) beginning at 8pm. The restaurant is located at 414 West 42nd Street on what is known as Theater Row. The total cost of the three-course dinner (including tax and gratuity) is $45.00. While there will be some wine provided during the dinner this price is exclusive of any other beverages. If other beverages are desired they must be paid for separately at the bar. The reservation can accommodate up to 25 diners on a first come, first served basis. Diners attending the event must come with the cash to pay for the total cost of the dinner. The restaurant cannot accommodate separate checks. The Prix-Fixe menu is shown below.

RSVP up to Monday 27 July and other questions regarding the event should be directed to Ingrid Fisher at ifisher@uamail.albany.edu.

Dinner Menu

Amuse-Bouches
Appetizers
Chilled Pea Soup
Jumbo Lump Crab, Fresh Mint
Roasted Red Beet Salad
Vegetable Ribbons, Horseradish Créme Fraiche
Holland White Asparagus
Sauce Mousseline
Entrees
Fish du Jour
Medley of Spring Vegetables
Spaghetti Bolognese
“Josephine’s Favorite”
Crispy Duck Confit
Wilted Spinach, Sweet Potato Purée
Dessert
Lemon Tarte Brûlèe
Assorted Sorbets
Executive Chef Frank Diaz

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2009 Annual Meeting Sessions

Strategic and Emerging Technologies

Monday August 3, 2009 — 10:15 am-11:45 am

1.32. Strategic & Emerging Technologies-Panel-2

Adoption of Technology in Leading audit Organizations, Audit Practice and the Future of Audit
Moderator: Miklos A Vasarhelyi, Rutgers University

Panelists:
Michael G Alles, Rutgers University
Siripan Kuenkaikaew, Rutgers University
James Littley, KPMGPeter Lomax, KPMG
Danielle Lombardi, Rutgers University
Deon Minnaar, KPMG
Silvia Romero, Montclair College
Katie Williams, KPMG

Monday August 3, 2009 — 4:00 pm-5:30 pm

3.33. Strategic & Emerging Technologies-1
Moderator: Amelia Annette Baldwin, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Interacting with Interactive Data: The Effects of Interface and Context on Mapping Financial Statement Elements to the XBRL U.S. GAAP Taxonomy
Roger Debreceny, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Stephanie Farewell, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Nolan Kido, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Discussant: Timothy Shields, Chapman University

The Impact of Information Tagging in the MD&A on Investor Decision Making: Implications for XBRL
Vicky Arnold, University of Central Florida/University of Melbourne
Jean C. Bedard, Bentley University/University of New South Wales
Jillian Phillips, University of San Diego
Steve G Sutton, University of Central Florida/University of Melbourne

Discussant: Roger Debreceny

Information Content in Voluntary XBRL Reporting: An Empirical Analysis
Jap Efendi, University of Texas at Arlington
Jin Dong Park, University of Texas at Arlington
Chandra Subramaniam, University of Texas at Arlington

Discussant: Roger Debreceny, University of Hawaii

Tuesday August 4, 2009 — 10:15 am-11:45 am

4.36. Strategic & Emerging Technologies-Panel-1

XBRL and Interactive Data in Prime Time
Moderator: Glen L. Gray, California State University, Northridge

Panelists:
Alfred R. Berkeley, Chairman and CEO, Pipeline Trading Systems and Chairman XBRL US
David Blaszkowsky, Securities and Exchange Commission
Roger Debreceny, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Bob Laux, Microsoft Corporation

Tuesday August 4, 2009 — 4:00 pm-5:30 pm

6.36. Strategic & Emerging Technologies-2
Moderator: Brigitte W. Muehlmann, Suffolk University

Audit Automation for Implementing Continuous Auditing: Principles and Problems
Michael Alles, Rutgers Business School
Alexander Kogan, Rutgers Business School
Miklos Vasarhelyi, Rutgers Business School

Discussant: DeWayne Searcy, Auburn University

Making Words Work: Using Annual Report Text as a Predictor of Financial Events
Mark Cecchini, University of South Carolina
Haldun Aytug, University of Florida
Gary J. Koehler, University of Florida
Praveen Pathak, University of Florida

Discussant: Mark J Nigrini, The College of New Jersey

Extracting Characteristics of Bankrupt Firms by Text Mining
Cindy Yoshiko Shirata, University of Tsukuba
Hironori Takeuchi, Tokyo Research Laboratory, IBM Japan
Shiho Ogino, Tokyo Research Laboratory, IBM Japan
Hideo Watanabe, Tokyo Research Laboratory, IBM Japan

Discussant: Ingrid E Fisher, The University at Albany-SUNY

Wednesday August 5, 2009 — 10:15 am-11:45 am

7.41. Strategic & Emerging Technologies-3
Moderator: Stewart A Leech, University of Melbourne

Sociotechnical Alignment within the Interactive Data Constituency
Joanne Locke, University of Birmingham (UK)
Alan David Lowe, Aston University
Andrew Lymer, University of Birmingham

Discussant: Graham Gal, University of Massachusetts

Enterprise Ontologies
Daniel E O'Leary, University of Southern California

Discussant: To Be Announced

The Economic Consequences of Internet Reporting
Samir Trabelsi, Brock University

Discussant: Srinivasan Ragothaman, University of South Dakota

Wednesday August 5, 2009 — 2:00 pm-3:30 pm

8.41. Strategic & Emerging Technologies - Panel 3

Future of Auditing: An Update on the State of the Profession
Moderator: Miklos Vasarhelyi, Rutgers Business School
Panelists:
Michael G Alles, Rutgers Business School
Walton Conn, KPMG Audit Standards Board
Cynthia Fornelli, Center for Audit Quality
Audrey A Gramling, Kennesaw State University
President, AAA Audit Section:
David H Sharpe, PricewaterhouseCoopers
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CALL FOR PAPERS: The Allied Academies International Conference
Fall 2009:

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Allied Academies Call for the 2009 International Conference In Las Vegas, NV (http://www.alliedacademies.org/Public/Conferences/2009VegasCall.aspx)

The Allied Academies will hold its Fall 2009 international meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Presentation dates will be Wednesday October 14 through Friday October 16, 2009.  Conference Submissions and registration materials are due by September 1.  Base registration, on or before September 1, is $300, late registration after that date will be $350.  To provide you with maximum outlets for your research, the Allied Academies will hold joint meetings of all its member academies:

Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies (AAFS)
 Academy of Banking Studies (ABS)
Academy for Economics and Economic Education (AEEE)
Academy of Educational Leadership (AEL)
Academy of Entrepreneurship (AE)
Academy of Information and Management Sciences (AIMS)
Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications & Conflict (AOCCC)
Academy of Marketing Studies (AMS)
Academy of Strategic Management (ASM)
Academy of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues (ALERI)
Academy for Studies in International Business (ASIB)
International Academy for Case Studies (IACS)
Academy of Health Care Management (AHCM)
 Academy for Studies in Business (ASB)

All papers accepted for presentation at the Conference will be published in the appropriate Proceedings. The top papers submitted for award consideration will receive an award. In addition, the award winning papers, as determined by the referees, will be published in the appropriate Journal. We expect 25% of the papers submitted to the Conference to appear in the respective journals. Manuscripts which are not initially accepted for journal publication may be revised and resubmitted for further consideration. This is a practice which we sincerely encourage. Direct submission to any Journal is invited at any time. For more information on direct submissions, go to the Submission Instructions page.

For those who can not attend physically but would still like to participate, there will be an  Internet Division (which we offer at each conference).  This will enable you to participate at your leisure during the two week period surrounding the conference.  We look forward to your participation!

HOTEL INFORMATION: Allied Academies will be holding the conference at the Imperial Palace (Phone: 866-583-2608 - refer to group code SIAAFI9) located on the Las Vegas Strip. Allied Academies has secured an excellent rate of $90 for our participants.  When contacting the conference hotel, be sure to tell them you are with the Allied Academies conference to ensure you get the discounted rate. The room block will expire on September 21, so make your arraignments early. 

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SET Section Awards will be announced at the Annual Business Meeting:

1. SET Section 2008 Outstanding Educator Award

The primary criteria for the award are: 

    Educational impact made by the individual on the field of SET
    Originality and innovation of the educational contributions 
    Contribution to the larger AIS and IS communities 

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2. SET Section 2008 Outstanding Researcher Award

The primary criteria for the award are: 

    Impact of the research on the field of SET
    Relevance to the larger accounting information systems community 
    Relevance to the larger information systems community 
    Originality and innovation of the research 

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3. SET Section 2008 Outstanding Dissertation Award

The award is to recognize outstanding dissertations in SET.

Educaton, research, and other links are available on the SET website. Please send any suggestions for new links you think will be of interest to other section members to the Newsletter Editor or to the section's Webmanager: Andy Lymer. 

Initiative by the Research Committee of the Strategic and Emerging Technologies section of the AAA

The Research Committee fosters research in the section, which is at the intersection of advanced information technologies and accounting and auditing. In 2008/2009 the primary goal of our Committee is to facilitate the development of SET-relevant research by developing three research position papers. Each paper will be prepared by a project team. These papers will review past and current research and identify future research questions in the domain of Strategic & Emerging Technologies. Each project will result in a report to the membership and subsequent submission to JETA or other refereed journal. The reports will be published in the names of the team members.

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SET Section and AAA Commons

The American Accounting Association has put a new system for collaboration and knowledge transfer, the AAA Commons (www.aaacommons.org). The AAA leadership has asked each section and region to establish a presence on the Commons and work to develop materials for the Commons. Section President Roger Debreceny has asked Rob Nehmer, Section Webmaster to add section responsibility for the Commons. Rob represented the Section at an Association-wide meeting on the Commons in early December.

Rob is now seeking volunteers from Section to form a small working group that can work with him to develop a Strategic and Emerging Technologies presence on the Commons. Given that the Commons is both a Strategic and an Emerging Technology for the AAA, it is important for our Section to be there!

Please email Rob (nehmer@oakland.edu) to volunteer some of your time and expertise to this important development for the Section and the Association.

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Committees:

The SET Section operates effectively through a structure of committees who collectively take responsibility for the variety of tasks and functions the section aims to provide coverage over. Current committee information is on the SET website (http://aaahq.org/set/committees.html). 

Please send me items of interest for the next newsletter, including: 

- Recent books or journal articles related to SET- whether you have published them or you have seen other peoples' work that you think would be of interest to section members.
- Conferences and calls for papers related to SET - make sure all regional or local events you may be involved with get good billing this way. This could include non-AAA events too (if directly relevant to section members' interests)
- Have you been to an interesting meeting recently? Why not write a few paragraphs for us describing who presented what so we can all benefit in some way from events we couldn't attend? 
- Personal accomplishments e.g. promotions or awards (don't be shy now!) Have you changed jobs recently? Let people know where you are now via the newsletter perhaps! 
- New research projects started or updates on current ones you may be working on. PhD students - tell us what you are doing and what you are finding out - there may be people out there who can help you in all kinds of ways you hadn't thought about - ask!
- Other items related to SET e.g. comments or questions you'd like answers to or help with. Maybe someone out there has an answer that can help you with an issue you are facing? Ask! 

Best regards, 

L. Murphy Smith, Newsletter Editor 
Professor of Accounting
Texas A&M University
Lmsmith@tamu.edu