The Public Interest Section of the American Accounting Association is sponsoring a Doctoral Student and Early Scholar Consortium in conjunction with the Public Interest Section's Midyear Meeting that is being held March 23 – 24, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. The Consortium will be held Friday morning prior to the start of the meeting. Breakfast will be provided during the consortium. The purpose of the Consortium is to stimulate students' and early scholars’ awareness of public interest research in accounting by providing a forum for discussion and opportunities for networking with other PhD students and new scholars interested in public interest related issues.

Consortium participants will have the opportunity to discuss their research with peers and accounting scholars, and to receive personalized, constructive feedback and advice from leading Public Interest scholars:

• Marcia Annisette, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Charles H. Cho, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Sue Ravenscroft, Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA

For the Consortium, please send a CV and a long abstract or working paper not to exceed 12,000 words to Dana Wallace by January 12, 2018. Along with your submission, please indicate your school affiliation, year of PhD or years since completion of PhD, and topical research interests. Notification of acceptance will be sent in early February 2018. Participants will be expected to provide the final version of their working paper (not to exceed 12,000 words) by March 1, 2018.

Doctoral Student and Early Scholar Eligibility
Participation in the Consortium is open to PhD students who are in their final years of completing a PhD or scholars who obtained their degree in 2016 or 2017. Participants may have been trained in any functional area and in any research methodology.

We also invite doctoral students in their initial years of the program who have a desire to learn more about public interest research in accounting and auditing to attend the meeting as observers.

Doctoral Student and Early Scholar Registration Information
Thanks to a generous sponsorship from the University of Central Florida’s Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting, the Public Interest Section Doctoral Student and Early Scholar Consortium is free to  participants. Both participants and observers must register for the Consortium.

For those who would also like to attend the Public Interest Section Midyear Meeting that follows the Consortium, the Midyear Meeting registration fee for students is $35; for new scholars it is $200.

Doctoral Student Scholarships
We will offer $500 travel stipend to two doctoral students who are participating in the consortium and attending the midyear meeting, based on financial need. Requests should be sent to Dana Wallace. Note: We cannot provide financial assistance for visa processing; however, we can provide a letter with the date and location of the Consortium once your application has been accepted.

Meeting Cancellation Policy
There is expected to be a wait list for participants in the consortium, so please cancel your registration if you are not able to attend. This will allow another who is wait-listed to attend the Consortium. Email your cancellation to the AAA (Info@aaahq.org) and dana.wallace@ucf.edu. Public Interest Section Midyear Meeting cancellation requests received after February 20 will incur a $25 cancellation charge. No refunds will be available for cancellations after March 12, or for no-shows.

Doctoral Student and Early Scholar Consortium Schedule (Tentative)