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by Barry Williams they return to school in the fall, students are encouraged to enroll in CARP 412, which provides a step-by-step approach to career assessment, occupational information, and effective job searches. Videotaped mock interviews with career plan- ning staff are also recommended. In the spring, juniors are encouraged to participate in the on-campus recruiting program for summer placements. The 412 course also prepares juniors for the on-campus recruiting program which occurs in the fall of their senior year. Representatives from high-powered companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and IBM, as well as local accounting firms, private industry firms, and govern- mental agencies attend the event. The Senior Year—When students return to campus, they reg- ister with the career planning office. They work with that office throughout their senior year, participating in the on-campus recruiting program and establishing placement files. Students who take cost accounting and auditing courses are required to attend professional meetings of the Institute of Internal Auditors and/or the Institute of Management Accountants, which provides valuable networking opportunities. Students considering graduate school are encouraged to discuss the possibilities with career planning staff. Our goal is to ensure that they are well-prepared for work or further study and sat- isfied with the career path they have chosen. The New Accounting Profession Although career planning is a part of most graduate business programs, it perhaps plays an even larger role in accounting, where student retention is so important. Integrating career planning into classroom activities gives students a greater stake in the accounting profession early on. They are better able to recognize from the onset that their education will meet the needs of the "new" profession. They also understand the variety of opportunities available, as business advisors, litigation support specialists, technology consultants, and financial and estate planners, as well as the traditional roles in attestation and compliance. Although our program has been in place only two years, we have seen student interest increase significantly. Through a well- designed career planning program, accounting departments can win over the most elusive members of a business school body: the "undeclared." We must show these students that they can look forward to a broad education in strategy, organiza- tional structures and operations, and content-based accounting skills that will lead them to a successful and rewarding career. Barry Williams is the chair of the Department of Accounting at King's College, William G. McGowan School of Business, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. our profession has so much flexibility and opportunity?" Campaigns aimed at dispelling the prevailing stereotype are an important first step, he believes. Even more important is to make sure that educational materials about accounting get into the hands of prospective students—and teachers—as students begin to make decisions about their future careers. "In the past, many programs have made up brochures, but nobody sent them out. That was fine in the early 1980s when numbers were still going up," Deines says. But in 1989, the numbers started going down; even worse, he says, the per- ception of accounting didn't change, and has not changed in the last 15 years. "We have not done anything to change it. The academics traditionally just washed their hands of it and said, 'It's not our problem.' But it is our problem, and we have a responsibility to solve it," he emphasizes. In 1989, KSU and 12 other schools each received a $250,000 grant to do just that. With the help of the grant, KSU threw out its old, test-oriented accounting curriculum and transformed it into a hands-on, project-based curricu- lum that emphasized problem solving and teamwork. Next, the school began sponsoring community outreach programs to speak with students and teachers about accounting, which has had a tremendous effect, says Deines. KSU's accounting department has seen its enrollment increase from 188 in 1989 to 325 in 1995, before it had to raise GPA require- ments to control the number of majors at around 250. An especially effective program is a one-day session at the school in which the college invites teams of teachers to learn more about accounting as a career. The school gives them an AICPA information package that includes a recruiting video, a poster, and lesson plans related to accounting that teachers can incorporate into the curriculum. At the session, account- ing professionals and educators talk to them about the pro- fession and what it has to offer. "The teachers start to see accountants not as nerds, but as bright, talented people. Our ideal is that if we can bring these teachers in and change their minds, they'll go back to the school and we'll have long-term advocates for our profes- sion. Every year, they'll tell our story," Deines says. "Accountants have an image as boring geeks in green eye z shades," he adds. "We need to tell a better story." In other words, it's time to show the public that there's much more to auditors than Enron. s For more information about the AICPA's marketing campaign or to obtain promotional materials, contact Beatrice Sanders by phone at 212-596-6218 or by e-mail at bsanders@aicpa.org. BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2002 39