Department of Accounting FALL 2015 NEWSLETTER New Dean of JCSB
Seated from left to right: Dr. Ananth Seetharaman, Dr. Denise Amrhein, Mr. Neil Jansen, and Dr. John McGowan. Standing from left to right: Ms. Debbie Barbeau, Ms. Carolyn Westfall, Dr. Helen Hurwitz, Dr. Yan Sun, Ms. Debbie Pike, Dr. Frank Wang, Dr. Scott Duellman, and Dr. Weimin Wang.
Message From Department Chair Dear Friends of the Department of Accounting: Welcome to the fall 2015 edition of the department newsletter. Last year, around this time, the department faculty began to work together to formalize a mission statement that would define the department’s core purpose and focus. After several intensive sessions that involved input from our advisory board members, undergraduate and graduate student representatives, and staff, the department unanimously and enthusiastically adopted the following: The mission of the Department of Accounting is to: • Provide premier undergraduate and graduate accounting programs, with a focus on critical thinking and business ethics, which attract and graduate talented and diverse students who become successful professionals and pursue service to humanity in their daily lives. • Conduct scholarly research, with a focus on informing the practice of accounting, and integrate it into the educational process. • Provide a collegial work environment that supports the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and service. • Build mutually beneficial relationships with other departments within the university, the business community, and alumni in order to be of value to our constituents. Our mission statement is transparent to all our stakeholders: it is visible on the department’s web page, it has been distributed to all the advisory board members, to all the faculty and staff members in the John Cook School of Business, and it has been framed and placed on the walls in all department faculty members’ offices. After we developed a shared understanding
of what we wanted to achieve, we brought our ability to dialog about complex issues to bear on developing a set of strategic priorities. We agreed on 9 strategic priorities. One of these priorities is to achieve separate AACSB accounting accreditation, the internationally recognized Gold standard for accounting programs. In this regard, our initial self-evaluation report was accepted unconditionally by the AACSB. We are now looking forward to hosting the AASCB team that will visit us early in 2016 to conduct a peer review. I am proud of the work the department has recently done, and I feel thankful and fortunate to be in a position to lead the department forward to the next level of success. As a department, we remain grateful for all the support we receive from our friends, students and graduates. Without that support, little of what we do would be meaningful. In this newsletter, we highlight some of our stakeholders’ accomplishments. Warmest regards for a productive 2016, Ananth Seetharaman Chairperson and EY Distinguished Professor of Accounting acas@slu.edu 314-977-3828
Mark Higgins, Ph.D., is the Dean of the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University, a position he assumed in January 2015. Dean Higgins brings with him experience, energy, vision and enthusiasm to Saint Louis University. The Cook school is already benefitting from the excellent leadership provided by Dean Higgins. Prior to his appointment, he had served since 2006 as the Dean and Alfred J. Verrecchia Hasbro Inc. Leadership Chair in Business at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Higgins began his academic career at the University of Rhode Island as an Assistant Professor in 1988. He earned his doctorate from the University of Tennessee and is a CPA (inactive). Prior to his tenure at URI, he was a Tax Manager for Ernst and Young (formerly Arthur Young) in New York City. He currently serves as co-Chair of The Implementation Phase of the Pathways Commission -- Charting a National Strategy for the Next Generation of Accountants a jointly sponsored effort of the American Accounting Association (AAA) and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Previously, he served as a Supply Chain leader for the initial Pathways Commission. Dr. Higgins has served as President of the American Taxation Association (2006-2007) and on the Executive Committee of the American Accounting Association as Vice President for Sections and Regions (2006-2008). He has twice served as the Program Chair and as President for the Northeast Region. In 2006, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Northeast Region of the American Accounting Association and in 2009 received the American Taxation Association Outstanding Service Award. In 2011, he served at the request of the Rhode Island State Treasurer as part of a 12 member advisory group to offer recommendations on Rhode Island’s $7.5 billion unfunded pension liability. In 2008, he served on the Rhode Island Governors Tax Policy Workforce. He was a member of the Board of Directors for Beta Alpha Psi from 2008-2011.
Happy Hour with Dean Higgins
Dean Higgins and the Accounting faculty had a happy hour at Mi Caribe in September. Everyone is HAPPY and looking forward to the next one!
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