The year 1917 marks a centennial not only for Bentley, but also for the nationally standardized Certified Public Accountant Exam. As the discipline upon which the school was founded and the only subject taught continuously for the institution's whole existence, accounting holds a special place in Bentley's past, present and future. Here, seven faculty members talk about teaching and scholarship in accounting today and changes they have seen through the years.
Jay Thibodeau | Rae D. Anderson Professor of Accountancy
My average schedule is teaching two sections of one course per semester. I’m on what’s known as a “scholarly profile,” having switched over in 2006 to work on the PhD program.
The Accountancy Department was given the task of creating a doctoral research program that could, in President Joe Morone’s words, “Make Bentley for business what MIT is for science: a top-notch, internationally known, research-producing institution.” We realized that we couldn’t be all things to all people — we weren’t going to compete with the economics research at the University of Chicago, for example — so we focused in on systems and auditing. We made sure that the rigor of our research in those fields matches that of the premier schools throughout the world.
The biggest change I’ve seen in accounting is the outsourcing of basic accounting jobs. CPA firms have figured out that many structured tasks can be offshored. About 10 percent of audit hours once done at the client site are now being done by service centers, whether onshore or offshore. As a result, the students who go into auditing find themselves doing tasks in the first year that they used to do in the second year — and so on. That means we need to focus on the more advanced tasks in our classes, because new auditors are being asked to do them. This also makes critical thinking skills and professional judgment that much more important
Mahendra Gujarathi | Rae D. Anderson Professor of Accountancy
My teaching week is short (two course sections per semester) but my week as an educator has no defined boundaries. I am constantly thinking of how to deliver rigorous courses to meet the demands of the profession, demonstrate the relevance of accounting, convince students that accounting is an interesting profession, and make them the critical thinkers and problem solvers that society needs. I also attempt to develop instructional resources for the accounting academy at large.
The typical pedagogical tool I use — beyond the textbooks, computers and Internet resources — is Socratic questioning. If getting students excited about the subject matter and demonstrating alternative approaches to address a problem are my primary goals in the classroom, I must engage students in a deep dialogue, rather than delivering a lecture or showing slides.
Priscilla Burnaby | Professor of Accountancy
When I started at Bentley 40 years ago, we taught Freshman Accounting three times a week for 75 minutes each. Classes were 80 to 90 students, so we had graders that helped us keep up with the workload. Currently I have a 2/2 teaching load with 35 students per class. I get a reduced teaching load because I publish two to three articles a year.
For graduate students, the most important thing to teach them is that no two days will be alike on the job. We can teach some basic skills, but they will have to figure out new ways to add value to their companies. I use case studies in internal auditing that require students to do research and use critical thinking skills to determine the issues and possible solutions to improve the systems.
While I have the students read a textbook and study the standards for a basic understanding of how to do an internal audit, I also use case study discussion, ACL (an analytic software program), journal articles, guest speakers and a one-day visit to an internal audit department for a mock quality review — all to provide as much of a real-life work experience as possible.
William Read | Professor of Accountancy and Department Chairman
Looking at what has changed since the school’s earliest days, we can’t underscore enough the crucial role of research at today’s Bentley. New faculty hired for a tenure-track, assistant professor position are expected to hold an earned doctorate in accountancy and, accordingly, engage in quality research that helps advance the state of knowledge in the accounting profession. In addition to having the promise and potential of being solid researchers, new assistant professors are expected to be solid teachers and effective in the classroom.
Elliott Levy | Associate Professor of Accountancy
I’ve been involved with the department’s introductory courses for more than 15 years, having taught Auditing, Intermediate Accounting and Introductory Accounting in the past. I currently teach two large sections — 70 students — of the introductory Accounting and Finance course, GB 112. Preparing for class is a daily activity for me during the school year. When I started teaching, I made a commitment to prioritize my students, which has me always thinking about how to best present material and manage class time.
I use PowerPoint slides, a Smart Board or chalkboard and a document camera. We use a customized textbook that is available in hard copy and electronic formats. I like the document projector’s ability to easily and quickly share news articles, reminders and so forth.
Many nonaccounting majors have difficulty seeing the discipline as relevant to what is going on in the world of business. So, it’s valuable to bring in current news to show the impact of the accounting function on how businesses operate and how businesses get into and/or avoid trouble. Accounting is not simply a cost-center, but rather a valueadding function in a business.
Karen Osterheld | Senior Lecturer in Accountancy
Inside the classroom, I have witnessed the increased maturity and sophistication of our students. From the questions they ask to their interest in learning all aspects of the subject matter, it has become a very different classroom. Each freshman class that I meet seems to be more impressive than the last. I have also learned that we must constantly engage the students during a class session — you need to “change it up” every 10 or 15 minutes, from lectures to group activities to case studies, and so forth.
I’ve also witnessed a major change in the content and timing of our introductory accounting and finance curriculum. Eight years ago, we pioneered a change whereby we now teach an integrated two-semester course to freshmen that covers introduction to accounting, finance, and business. This enables our students to focus on the major they want to pursue earlier in their tenure and helps make them ready for internships earlier in their college career. There has been a huge increase in the number of students who receive internship opportunities.
Jean Bedard | Timothy B. Harbert Professor of Accountancy
One of the key differences between Bentley at its founding and now is that in addition to valuing high-quality teaching, we have a research mission as a highly ranked university. Our faculty produce knowledge through developing original research, cases and textbooks, in addition to imparting knowledge to students in and outside of the classroom. Another important factor is that our faculty have deep professional experience and knowledge of the business and professional environment. This enables us to teach about topics that are most meaningful in contributing to the current practice of accountancy and auditing.
Since my arrival at Bentley in 2005, my teaching has been all in the graduate programs: PhD and MSA. In the PhD program, we usually admit four students every other year. I teach the seminar on auditing research, but most of my PhD teaching is one-to-one, with regular interaction from the time a student enters the program and begins thinking about important topics to study, through the final stages of writing the dissertation.
My MSA teaching takes place in a more traditional classroom format (usually 25 to 30 students), but still involves a lot of discussion with students about important current topics. Given that MSA students have undergraduate degrees from Bentley or elsewhere, they have a good grasp of the basic rules. My goal is to layer on the larger questions in the business context of accountancy and auditing. For example: Who makes the accounting and auditing standards rules, and what are the goals of those individuals? What are the political structures within which they operate? Why are the rules the way they are? How do the financial markets use the information we produce? What is the regulatory context of auditing, and how do regulators’ decisions affect how auditors do their job?
At both the PhD and MSA levels, I spend about two days for prep time for each class session the first time I teach it: considering the best topics, looking for good sources of material, and developing projects or in-class exercises for students. Each semester, I always revise some of the material in each course to keep my syllabus current.