Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56535
That means schools can't be content merely with teaching students core auditing and accounting functions; they must make sure students develop the skills for critical thinking. No one knows that bet- ter than Kimberly Smith, assistant dean for account- ing programs at William & Mary's Mason School of Business in Williams- burg, Virginia. During a 2003–2004 sabbatical, she served as an academ- ic fellow in the office of the chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she co-authored a study required by the Sarbanes- Oxley legislation on off- balance-sheet instruments. When she returned to Mason, she realized the school needed to catch up with the realities of the marketplace. "We do a great job at teach- ing basic accounting, but we're weak in the finan- cial instruments, such as derivatives," Smith says. One of her solutions has been to take master's students on "road shows" to New York, D.C., and the Financial Accounting Stan- dards Boards headquarters in Connecticut. So far, students have met account- ing luminaries such as the chief accountant at the SEC; the chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board; and accounting specialist Jack Ciesielski, who publishes The Analyst's Accounting Observer news- letter for security analysts. Students come back from the trips excited, enlight- ened, and energized, says Smith. They're also better informed about what it takes to be an accountant in the real world. More Offerings, More Jobs Not only are accounting programs focusing on up-to-the-minute real-world situations, they're enhanc- ing their appeal with broader offerings, particu- larly in two forms: • Enterprise risk man- agement (ERM). Increasing- ly, accounting and auditing are being seen as parts of the larger risk management tableau in which corpora- tions devise a cohesive strategy for managing all their risks. Historically, companies have focused on financial and insurance risks, but today they are managing a much broader array, including risks to reputation, operations, sup- ply chain, and employees. Auditors and accountants are finding a place at the enterprise risk manage- ment table, either as chief risk officers or heads of interdepartmental offices managing risk. For their part, b-schools are prepar- ing their students for those responsibilities. • Niche programming. Part of the glamorization of accounting stems from new programs that have specific appeal, especially in the auditing field. For instance, IT auditing uses information technology to help companies maintain the integrity and privacy of information, while forensic accounting helps investiga- tors catch business crimi- nals. Students may find some of these programs exciting even on paper. WVU's Forensic Account- ing and Fraud Investiga- tion Graduate Certificate Program, for example, includes an advanced course that requires stu- dents to participate in a moot court setting and give testimony about case investigations. More niche program- ming is almost certainly on the way. At WVU, says Riley, the school is very focused on where new job opportunities might arise within the profession. He says, "That's how we got to forensic account- ing a few years ago—we realized there were job opportunities there, so we created a program around them. We're going to con- tinue to monitor where the job opportunities are." Those career opportuni- ties continue to multiply— and diversify. Educators say that recruiters looking for accounting grads include Big Four firms, regional accounting firms, healthcare corporations, industrial manufactur- ers, and all of the U.S. government's alphabet agencies, including the FBI, IRS, GAO, and ATF. In fact, today's account- ing jobs cover such an increasingly wide range of options, says Don Tidrick of NIU, that his school still uses an old tagline from the AICPA: "Accounting, the one degree with 360 degrees of possibility!" Tidrick adds, "As long as accounting educators focus on accountability, then they teach skill sets that are applicable to all types of organizations. An Continues on page 48 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2009 47 STEVE MCALISTER/GETTY IMAGES