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NovDec2013

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BY DOYLE Z. WILLIAMS AND STEVE MATZKE H U LTON ARCH IVE CR EATIVE /G ETTY I MAG ES I n 2003, AACSB International's Doctoral Faculty Commission (DFC) issued a report that addressed widespread concerns related to a shortage of doctoral faculty in certain markets for business education. In "Sustaining Scholarship in Business Schools," the commission called for top doctoral programs to increase their intakes and find new sources of funding. It called on industry to promote business doctoral education more heavily to practitioners and create dedicated recruiting channels. Finally, it recommended the creation of an online doctoral program resource site for prospective students. Soon after the report's release, several DFC members met with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education and officials of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., to explore possible government support, but neither agency expressed interest in funding doctoral education in business. These meetings made it very apparent: Specific business disciplines will have to find support for doctoral education on their own. Here, we explore how one discipline—accounting—did just that, by developing a comprehensive program to address its faculty shortage. Although the DFC's report does not discuss specific business disciplines, we hope its findings and our experience will inspire other disciplines facing similar shortages to act. The Profession Gets Involved Following the release of the DFC's report, the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the Accounting Programs Leadership Group (APLG) formed a committee to document the supply and demand for doctoral accounting faculty in the U.S. The committee issued a report which found that for the academic years of 2005–2006 through 2007–2008, the supply of accounting faculty filled only 49.9 percent of demand. Moreover, the supply of new PhDs in auditing filled only 22.8 percent of demand in that specialty; in tax, only 27.1 percent. In response to these findings, William Ezzell, then president of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Foundation, formed a task force of academics to explore possible solutions. They concluded that accounting firms could make a difference in two ways: by recruiting candidates for doctoral programs from their own ranks and by funding candidates enrolling in doctoral programs, especially in audit and tax. Ezzell approached the largest accounting firms to discuss their willingness not only to encourage individuals on their staffs to make career changes, but also to create a scholarship fund for new doctoral students in audit and tax. The firms readily agreed. In fact, nearly 70 accounting firms, 49 state CPA societies, the AICPA, and a small number of other donors committed US$17 million, over eight years, to help the AICPA Foundation establish the Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program to transition more practitioners into academic careers. Setting Objectives Representatives of the sponsoring firms formed an advisory council for the foundation, which set four primary objectives: I To encourage practitioners with recent public accounting experience in audit or tax to obtain their doctorates. I To provide financial support to selected qualified doctoral candidates. I To encourage universities to increase doctoral enrollments in audit and tax incrementally, without decreasing existing funded slots. I To improve accounting education with an infusion of faculty with both academic credentials and rich professional experience. The council also set a goal: to enroll 120 men and women with recent public accounting experience in audit and tax at participating universities over the academic years spanning 2008–2013. The council next identified universities with strong audit and tax doctoral programs and excellent placement records post-graduation. In addition, the council partnered with some universities with recently established or restructured programs that showed strong potential for similarly placing their future doctoral graduates. BizEd November/December 2013 51

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