Gies ACCY Update October 2022

ACCY Update

From the Department Head

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

After 19 years of teaching, I can still say that there is nothing quite like greeting a new group of learners into your classroom, whether it’s on campus or online. New beginnings are important, and so are warm welcomes.

This summer and fall, we had several opportunities to extend that welcome to hundreds of learners. In July, interested high school students from across the state came to campus as we hosted the Accounting Career Awareness Program (ACAP) in collaboration with the National Association of Black Accountants. In August, hundreds of accounting undergraduates, graduate students, and PhD candidates began a new semester. They were joined by seven new faculty members, who will bring their expertise to the Gies on-campus and online classrooms. Then in September, hundreds of learners from our online programs, including some from the iMSA, came to campus from around the world as part of our iConverge event.

As we heard from these students over the first few months, it’s apparent that our focus on access, excellence, and inclusion makes a difference for the learner and the accounting profession.

At iConverge, Jennifer Betz ’23, shared that her experience as an iMSA student not only gave her flexibility but also delivered the technical skills she needed for the CPA exam and prepared her to go back into the workforce after a six-year hiatus raising children.

Current student Alex Kogen, ACCY ’22, MAS ’23, chosen as a 2022 Best & Brightest Business Major by Poets&Quants, told the publication that Gies Accountancy has provided him with exceptional opportunities to gain hands-on technical and leadership experience, collaborate with expert faculty, and build a purposeful career path.

And Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Professor of Accountancy Nerissa Brown, who worked with the ACAP students during their time on campus, shared that the ACAP participants—most from underrepresented populations—felt that the outreach program opened their minds to accounting as a career path and Gies as a place where they could be successful.

I’m proud to welcome all learners to Gies Accountancy. And I’m especially proud to lead a department committed to delivering the very best in accounting education and thought leadership.

Sincerely, Michael Donohoe Head, Department of Accountancy PwC Faculty Fellow and RC Evans Data Analytics Scholar

“Our focus on access, excellence, and inclusion makes a difference for the learner and the accounting profession.”

Building Access and Inclusion Through New Initiatives

Department creates blockchain course

When Chief Disruption Officer and Professor of Accountancy Robert Brunner took on the challenge to create a new course focused on blockchain, he didn’t know how many students would take it or exactly how it would be structured—after all, there were few examples of business schools offering such a course. He just knew that as an innovator in accounting education, Gies should take the lead in preparing learners to understand this important technology.

With the fall launch of this course, “Blockchain, Tokens, and Their Application in Business,” Brunner discovered that undergraduates and graduate students from departments across campus agreed. “We expected high demand,” says Brunner.

“But it exceeded expectations, very quickly outstripping the size of the initial classroom. We then moved to a larger classroom and have nearly reached its capacity.”

As Brunner explains, the course’s popularity could be the result of learners understanding that “blockchains are clearly going to impact the global world of business. The implications are vast, and the landscape is constantly changing, even as we’re teaching.”

The introductory course covers the history of money, the reliance on trust to facilitate transactions, and the concepts of money supply, inflation, and devaluation before moving into digital currency, online security, and the technologies that

Certificate programs expand career opportunities

As a leader in CPA preparation and accountancy education, Gies has created certificate programs that give working professionals flexible online options for advancing their career path in accounting.

Currently, the College offers two certificates in Accounting Data Analytics and Strategic Leadership and Management. In January, the College will launch three more specialized certificates in accounting and marketing: the CPA Pathways and Accounting Foundations certificates and a Digital Marketing Certificate.

These certificate programs will provide learners with opportunities to earn graduate credits that match their interests and career aspirations— from professional development to progress toward CPA licensure eligibility to

building credentials that can be stacked into a graduate degree in the future.

“The CPA Pathways certificate, in particular, is an exceptional opportunity for professionals who have an undergraduate degree in accounting but have not yet achieved the 150 hours required for CPA licensure,” says Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Professor of Accountancy Nerissa Brown. “By choosing from a wide variety of courses, these learners can pursue their interests and prepare for the CPA. It’s a great way for accounting professionals to get the required hours if they are not yet ready to pursue a graduate degree.”

But when they are, these 12-hour certificates will help them get there. “These certificates are fully stackable,” explains

support them. It includes the exploration of blockchain concepts, the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, the regulatory issues associated with blockchains and cryptocurrencies, and the growing applications of this technology.

“Blockchain is an immutable ledger,” Brunner says. “Rather than worrying about the ledger, we need to focus on the process of adding good data to the ledger. We need to think ahead and consider how this technology will impact our field, like how it will change the auditing process and what are the tax implications of digital assets. It’s a moving train, and we’re preparing our students to be ready for the destination.”

Brown. “That means online learners can start with a single course, stack this course into a 12-hour certificate, and then build those hours into a degree if they choose. It’s another way that Gies reaches out to learners wherever they are in their educational journey. Learners can build a path to earning a degree at a pace that best matches their needs. And our accounting certificates are key examples of Gies’ commitment to increasing the pipeline of CPAs in the profession.”

“All future business leaders need to understand how blockchain technology will influence their companies and industries. As an innovator, we’re taking the lead in preparing them.”

ROBERT BRUNNER, CHIEF DISRUPTION OFFICER AND PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTANCY

Building a purposeful path

When accounting students ask Kelly Hunt’s advice on what career path to take, she doesn’t hesitate: “You have to find the right fit for you, and the only way to do that is to explore and immerse yourself in a variety of experiences.”

For Hunt, the senior vice president and chief financial officer of Farm Credit Illinois, that exploration began with an associate’s degree in business administration from Parkland College, followed by a decision to enroll at Illinois in 1998 to study accounting at Gies.

“There were major shifts occurring in the profession at the time,” explains the 2000 graduate. “I was in the last class to sit for the CPA before the change to the 150-hour rule, which forced us all to consider what the profession would most value in future employees and how that matched our career aspirations.”

At the same time, the profession was emphasizing the need for graduates to be equipped with strong technical skills and more. They needed future employees who were critical thinkers, problem solvers, strategists, and team players. “I was lucky to be a student in an accounting department that is so connected to the profession and so innovative. Our faculty listened and responded with Project Discovery, which was ahead of its time and helped us all expand

our skills and explore career paths that fit our skill set.”

The central Illinois native found that fit at Martin Hood LLC, a midsize public accounting firm in Champaign, where she worked for 16 years. “A midsize firm was the perfect fit for me,” she says. “It is large enough to be relevant and have a cuttingedge, proactive approach, and yet not so large that the focus is narrow. There is a lot of variety in the work of a midsize firm.”

Hunt was enjoying the work when the CEO of Farm Credit reached out. “I wasn’t looking for a new path, but when I started to consider the possibilities, I thought, ‘I have advised students to be open to exploring new paths; I should be too. This has been a solid first half of my career. What do I want my direction to be for the second half? How would it look to do something different?’”

Nearly seven years later, Hunt says it looks extremely satisfying—both personally and professionally. “Farm Credit is a great company. Now I serve internal teams rather than clients, but the common themes for me are solving problems and making

connections. I learned the foundations of how to do both during my time as an accounting student at Gies: how to approach a problem, what information is most relevant, how to build a team, the benefits of group work in achieving diversity of thought, and the importance of creating your own purposeful career path.”

Kelly Duitsman Hunt is one of 16 alumni who serve on the Gies Accountancy External Advisory Board. She welcomes the opportunity to serve a department “that has a rich tradition, a highly respected reputation, and a forward-thinking approach to accounting education.”

She is joined on the Board by: Vairam Arunachalam University of Missouri

Paul Brocato BDO

Bob Denninger Plante Moran

Randy Dunlap RSM

Kurt Gabouer KPMG

Shannon Jones Molson Coors

Arla Lach Grant Thornton

Pamela Lins McDonald’s Angela Chalberg Pool EY

Peter Regis PwC

Todd Shapiro Illinois CPA Society

Jenny Sheynin Etsy

Ron Sonenthal Deloitte Tax

Tony Wang Deloitte

Mark Wojteczko Deloitte Tax

“I was lucky to be a student in an accounting department that is so connected to the profession and so innovative.”

KELLY DUITSMAN HUNT, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF FARM CREDIT ILLINOIS

Department welcomes new faculty

This fall, our Department of Accountancy adds seven new faculty members to the long list of accomplished academicians and industry professionals teaching Gies undergraduate and graduate students.

Erik Beardsley joins Gies from the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business, where he served as an accountancy faculty member for six years. In addition to his teaching experience, Beardsley brings three years as a senior tax associate at PwC to his role as assistant professor. At Gies, he will teach ACCY 451: Advanced Income Tax Problems and continue to pursue his research interests in auditor independence and taxation. Beardsley earned his PhD from Texas A&M University.

After completing both a bachelor’s and master’s degree at Gies College of Business, Andy Dahle began a career in accounting that took him around the globe. He worked for 13 years at Arthur Andersen and then joined Coopers & Lybrand in 1997, a year before the merger with Pricewaterhouse. He was a partner at PwC for 25 years before retiring this past June. Dahle, a clinical assistant professor, now brings that experience serving Fortune 100 clients and more to the classroom where he will teach ACCY 304: Accounting Control Systems and ACCY 405: Assurance and Attestation.

Margaret Evans knows how the real world can impact a career path. After earning a bachelor’s degree in geography and a pilot certificate from the University of Illinois, she spent nearly three decades raising a family. Then in 2017, she returned to Illinois, this time as one of the first students in our online Master of Science in Accountancy (iMSA) program.

Since 2019, she has served as a graduate teaching assistant and this year will teach ACCY 501: Accounting Analysis I to on-campus students in our Master of Science in Finance program and ACCY 507: Taxation of Business Entities in our iMSA program.

Danielle Higgins Green brings expertise as an accounting educator, researcher, and tax professional to her role as a teaching associate professor at Gies. She worked at KPMG before earning her PhD from the University of Connecticut and then began her work in academia, teaching tax at Baruch College and Fordham University. At Gies, she will blend that expertise with a passion for online learning, leading a series of immersion courses—both online and in-person—that give iDegree students the opportunity to apply their skills in the real world.

Ed Rogowski joins Gies as an adjunct instructor. A Gies alumnus, Rogowski is a CPA who began his career in 1986 at Arthur Andersen. He has been the chief audit executive reporting to audit committees at three Fortune 500 companies, including United Airlines. He was also chair of the board of directors at Alliant Credit Union from 2013 to 2021. His most recent professional position is vice president of internal audit and chief audit executive at Covetrus. This fall, he is teaching ACCY 405: Assurance and Attestation.

Assistant Professor Andrea Rozario earned her PhD in accounting information systems from Rutgers University and was on the faculty of Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business for three years before joining Gies. Her research includes an investigation of the effect of artificial intelligence on the accuracy of management earnings forecasts. She brings experience in data analytics to ACCY 504: Auditing, which she says is an ideal venue to discuss cryptocurrency and other technological developments impacting the field.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Trinity University, Jenny Ulla worked as an accountant for several years before deciding to pursue a career in academia. She earned a PhD from the University of Kentucky in 2021. Her research focuses on judgment and decision-making in auditing and accounting contexts using experimental design with specific interests in the impact of technology. She joins Gies as an assistant professor after a year on the faculty of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Persson advances tax research

When Assistant Professor Ahn Persson joined our Department in 2019, she knew Gies had been consistently named the nation’s #1 accounting research faculty by BYU. Since then, she has made her own contributions to our faculty’s research reputation through her work in taxation.

With papers and projects focused on tax transparency and multi-jurisdictional corporation taxation, Persson works to advance the understanding of what firms disclose and why, as well as the impact of that behavior.

Her recent paper with co-authors Edmund Outslay and Wayne Nesbitt of Michigan State University, “A Reexamination of Investors’ Reaction to Tax Shelter News: Evidence from the Luxembourg Tax Leak,” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Accounting and Economics.

Persson explains the research: “It wasn’t the leak itself that we were

interested in but what it meant for investors to have a glimpse into the tax risk management activity of the corporations. And we found that US investors had a positive view. Knowing what management was doing to reduce risk was perceived as a value added.”

Another paper, co-authored with Outslay and Preetika Joshi of York University, investigates whether public country-by-country reporting deters tax avoidance and income shifting. It has been published in Contemporary Accounting Research. Persson continues that work with Gies colleague Assistant Professor Ben Osswald as they research “why some firms publicly disclose tax information even when they are not required to while others do not.”

In addition, Persson is studying environmental, social and governance transparency and the decisions companies are making about how to disclose their investment in ESG initiatives.

Congratulations to Professor Persson and all Gies faculty whose work provides valuable insights for the profession.

ACCY grad wins Elijah Sells Award

Each year, the American Institute of CPAs recognizes the top performers on the CPA exam as winners of the Elijah Watt Sells Award. To qualify, CPA candidates must obtain a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the exam and pass all four sections on their first attempt.

In 2021, 72,000 individuals sat for the exam, and 57 of them were named winners of the award, including Gies graduate Emma Weber ’19, MAS ’21, who is now an assurance associate with RSM US LLP in Madison, Wisconsin.

Department Hosts Lyceum Speakers

Our reputation for excellence in accounting research and education has been earned through a long-held commitment to engaging thought leaders in conversations about timely topics that move the profession forward. That commitment continues through several important initiatives, including our lyceum series. These events provide the Gies community with opportunities to hear from accounting professionals about their work and their views on the future of the profession. We thank the following speakers for sharing their expertise at this fall’s series.