AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award

Thank you to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants for generously supporting the AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award!

Call for Nominations and Award Criteria

Nominations Deadline: January 31 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time
 

Previous Award Recipients and Honorable Mentions
 

The AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award Committee is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award and invites nominations of successful teaching practices in the first sequence of accounting.

Award Intent

The AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award is intended to recognize and disseminate successful leading-edge teaching practices in the first courses (freshmen, sophomore, and community college) that entice a student's interest in accounting and encourages them to pursue the CPA profession as a career. The lesson plans include learning objectives, detailed case/activity description, and address The AICPA Competency Framework for Aspiring CPAs.

Recipients of the AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award are accounting educators that play a large part in influencing and preparing the future accounting professionals. The teaching practice may not be a commercial product for which the faculty member has a financial interest.

The goal of this award is to inspire:

Excellence in accounting education
Dynamic teaching
Groundbreaking techniques
Engagement in the classroom

Award Selection Criteria

The primary criteria used to judge nominations include:

• Use of incorporating technology (i.e. R, Python, RPA, AI, etc.) into the first-year accounting course (freshmen, sophomore, community college)
• Level of leading-edge techniques, fresh or unique approach or perspective to teaching an accounting concept, model, application, or theory in a delivery format
• Use of emerging topics such as data analytics, ESG, cybersecurity, forensic accounting, financial planning, etc. into the first-year accounting course
• Emphasis on the AICPA Competency Framework for Aspiring CPAs
• Ability to enhance the student’s interest in accounting as a career
• Adaptability for other educational institutions to support freshmen or sophomore level course work

Instructions for Submitting Nominations

• Any person or group may make nominations.
• Self-nominations are encouraged.
• Members of the committee are encouraged to solicit and submit nominations.
• Current committee members who are nominated for the award will be asked to either recuse themselves from the committee or remove their nomination from consideration.
• Beginning with the 2025 submissions, nominations may include work that was not selected for the award in a prior year, as long as the eligibility requirements continue to be met.
  • Eligible nominations will not automatically roll-forward to the following year, although the award committee has the option to recommend eligible nominations be rolled forward. The nominator will be informed of the nomination status at the completion of the award cycle, and updates to the nomination letter are encouraged even for nominations that are selected to be rolled forward. 
• Adequate materials must be submitted so that the AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award Committee can make an assessment on the criteria listed above in "Award Selection Criteria."
• The nomination packet should include the following:
  • A nomination letter. Nomination letters will be accepted for two days after the submission deadline. If a nomination letter is not received, then the nomination will not be evaluated.
  • The nomination letter must include a statement indicating which individual(s) being nominated is a member of the American Accounting Association. To be considered for the award, at least one individual must be a member of the American Accounting Association.
  • Nomination letters should be organized by sections that correspond to the applicable criteria.
  • Submissions written in third person is preferable.
  • Title and Classification (principles) of class where the materials have been used (Include which teaching term the leading-edge technique was used and student reaction to the method.) 
  • The AICPA Foundational Competencies Framework for Aspiring CPAs addressed.
  •  A detailed description of the case/activity, project, or other innovation, as appropriate, along with teaching notes. Be sure to include:
    • Any class pre-requisites or student’s skills needed to complete the activity
    • Specific instructions on how and/or when to implement the activity (i.e. week 1 or week 6 in the semester) and include a rubric or assessment instrument.
    • Abstract, topical area addressed
    • Learning objectives
    • Identification and description of the course in which the innovation was used; and
    • An explanation of how the innovation has enriched the accounting course being taught.
  • Educator(s) bio(s)
• Each nomination can be accompanied by:
  • No more than five (5) attachments (tables of data/implementation results, letters of support, PowerPoint slides, etc.).
  • (Optional) Upload a video or podcast explaining the teaching strategy, how it was used in a class, how the students responded, and planned future changes to the strategy
    • (Maximum recording must be no longer than 10 minutes in duration and the file size must be less than 1 gigabyte (1000 MB). Video formats accepted are mp4, avi, mpeg4.
    • Please contact Barbara Gutierrez, Professional Staff Liaison, at awards@aaahq.org and you will be provided with a link to a OneDrive Folder where you can upload your video.
• Please attach the nomination letter and materials to an email and send to Barbara Gutierrez, Professional Staff Liaison, at awards@aaahq.org with "AAA-AICPA-Bea Sanders EDGE in Teaching Award" in the subject line of your email.
• Upon receipt of your nomination you will receive an acknowledgment message from Barbara Gutierrez, Professional Staff Liaison.
• All documents submitted in support of your nomination become the property of the American Accounting Association.
• Deadline: January 31st (11:59 pm Eastern Time)

Award Presentation

• The recipient(s) will receive an award at the AAA Annual Meeting and $5,000 to off-set the cost of the AAA Annual Meeting registration fee, travel, and hotel costs. If multiple recipients, the amount is divided equally.
• If warranted, one (1) submission could also be selected for honorable mention and be awarded $500.
• The selected recipient(s) will be invited to present their innovation at the AAA Conference on Teaching and Learning in Accounting (CTLA) and during a joint session with the recipients of the AAA-George Krull EDGE Award and the Mark Chain/Deloitte Innovation In Graduate Teaching Award at the AAA Annual Meeting.
• The award recipient's innovation and solution will be eligible for publication in Issues in Accounting Education as a scholarly article, subject to the normal manuscript review process and acceptance of a suitable manuscript by the editor of the journal.
• The recipient(s) will be announced on the AAA website and in multi-topic mass emails.