"We will serve the profession and community by providing world-class leadership in the accounting discipline. We will provide innovative learning experiences that encourage the highest quality faculty and students in all aspects of leadership, including the creation, dissemination, and application of accounting knowledge."
Department of Accountancy Mission Statement
| Ranked #1 for the 15th time by Public Accounting Report; and for the 2nd time by U.S. News & World Report. | Underlying the department's mission statement, forged last year as part of a major strategic planning exercise facilitated by Ernst & Young, is a commitment to excellence and innovation in scholarship and instruction. This commitment is consistent with our position as the number 1 ranked department of accounting in the country. For the 15th time in a row, Public Accounting Report ranked Illinois's undergraduate program first (see the fall 1996 issue). U.S. News & World Report survey also ranked the undergrad accountancy program first in 1995 and 1996. |
The biennial Tax Research symposium, which is supported by Arthur Andersen & Co., LLP was held in Septemeber. The two-day symposium drew accounting researchers from about 50 universities across the nation and was attended by graduate students from the University of Illinois as well.
In September 1996 the Twelfth Symposium on Audit Research was held on campus. About 45 prominent scholars and leading accountancy practitioners from the United States, Canada, and australia participated. Supported by a generous grant from KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP, this biennial symposium has become a high-visibility venue for discussion of leading-edge issues related to auditing, broadly defined. The Thirteenth Symposium will be held at Illinois in September 1998.
 |
ALUMNA HONORED
SYBIL MOBLEY (PhD 1964), dean of the business school at Florida A&M, received an honorary degree from the University of Illinois at the May 1996 graduation celebration in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the filed of accounting education. |
|
WELDON POWELL FELLOWS
Jon Davis, Kathy Finger, Don Kleinmuntz (reappointed), and Dave Ziebart were all appointed Weldon Powell Faculty Fellows this year. John Chandler was appointed the Weldon Powell Achievement Fellow. |  Jon Davis |
 Kathy Finger |
 Don Kleinmuntz |
 Dave Ziebart |
 John Chandler |
Andy Bailey, Ernst and Young Professor and head of the department was chosen Accountant of the Year by the national chaper of Beta Alpha Psi.
Five years ago, in response to the American Accounting Association's call fro the restructring of accounting education, the Department of Accountancy undertook the development of an innovative curriculum. Called Project Discovery, this entirely new approach to classroom learning encourages students to become creative thinkers and problem solvers, while learning to become team players. As the developement stage draws to a close, the department is pleased with the early resultys. The first two discovery classes graduated in 1995 and 1996. The participants did extremely well in both the market place and the CPA examination. This year over half the accountancy majors are discovery students. and starting in the fall of 1997, Discovery will be the only accounting curriculum offered at Illinois. The next phase will concentrate on continued course development and articulation.
Last year, the Illinois Society of CPAs ran a two part article in its magazine, Insight, that examined the parnership between academia and the profession that led to the restructuring of the accounting curriculum, both in content and method of instruction. The University of Illinois, as a leader in this revolution, was one of the programs featured. Insight spoke to several graduates of the first Discovery class and their employers. Most of the Discovery students felt that the program had prepared them well to deal with the unexpected challenges that crop up daily at their jobs. While the employers were generally pleased, the final judgement is still out because there is not enough ddata available at this earlydate. The discovery Team has developed a five-year study of student performance in practice. This study will aid in the assessmet and redesign of Discovery to meet the needs of our students and the profession.
"I am very impressed with the academic standards for accounting at the University of Illinois. I am particularly impressed with Project Discovery and feel it should be the 'standard' for accounting students at the University."
Paul H. Van Randwyk, Manager,
Global Product Pricing, Amway Corporation.