2021 Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient Katie Maxwell

This year’s ASCPA Excellence in Teaching Award goes to University of Arizona’s Professor Katie Maxwell who is senior lecturer and associate director for the Dhaliwal-Reidy School of Accountancy (DRSA). Maxwell has been described as an incredibly talented educator who is truly “studentcentered.”

Maxwell has taught many courses during her 15 years at DRSA, but now primarily focuses on teaching Intermediate Financial Accounting. This past year, the transition to online learning due to COVID-19 presented many challenges to the school. Maxwell took the lead in coordinating the school’s efforts to provide instructors and students with tools needed to navigate learning online.The best practices she created for exam proctoring and engaging on Zoom were shared across the Eller College, as well as at the university level. Even more importantly, she ensured that students were aware of the importance of paying attention to their mental health during this challenging time.

In order to find ways to increase student engagement in her Intermediate Financial Accounting course, and to provide more time for in-class discussion and critical thinking/problem solving, Maxwell turned to prerecorded lecture videos for students to watch outside of class. She also realized that students could benefit from having additional videos of her solving accounting problems. Student feedback on the videos was overwhelmingly positive; especially with students who needed extra time to absorb the material.

Aside from teaching, Maxwell has helped promote the profession by participating in and leading many of events, including an Accounting Career Immersion Day for first semester juniors, Meet the Firms, Big 4 National Speaker events and annual case competitions with public accounting firms. She is also the cocoordinator for the Business Careers Awareness Program (BCAP) for high school students.

“When I think holistically about Katie, she is the epitome of a truly outstanding academic who is THE BEST career track faculty I have ever had the pleasure to work with as a colleague in my 35 years at the DRSOA. Amongst career track faculty, she is the best teacher, the best mentor of students, and the best administrator I have ever seen ... period.”

— Jeff Schatzberg Director, Dhaliwal-Reidy School of Accountancy

Be sure to attend this year’s Virtual ASCPA Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon on May 13 to hear more about Maxwell. l

Join us as we honor Professor Katie Maxwell at the ASCPA Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon