LOCAL COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP BROADENS STUDENTS’ outlook

The community that surrounds the University of San Diego is one of the most diverse neighborhoods of San Diego, and members of the community o en look to the university for input on a wide range of projects. The Impact Linda Vista Initiative was created to bring USD faculty and students together with community partners for the co-creation and development of innovative and sustainable course-based collaborations.

The partnership provides ways for the university to give back to the community and opportunities for students to apply classroom learning to projects in the areas of business and economic growth, education, arts and culture, nutrition and wellness, civic engagement, equity and advocacy and organizational capacity building. One recent project gave accounting students in a senior-level undergraduate auditing class a chance to help a local non-profit bring a much-needed service back to Linda Vista.

The Linda Vista farmer’s market closed during the pandemic with no plans to reopen. Since Linda Vista is considered an “agricultural desert,” the market was sorely missed by the community and market vendors who lost an income source. Interest in reviving the farmer’s market began to build, and in 2022 a group of dedicated individuals formed the non-profit Love, Linda Vista to reopen it. The non-profit’s volunteer board members had limited experience in setting up accounting systems, so they turned to the Knauss School of Business for help.

“When we first met with the Love, Linda Vista board, the farmer’s market had been back in business for five months, and they were primarily keeping track of their financial transactions in notebooks. They were eager to work together to find ways to improve the process,” said Mary Durkin, assistant professor of accounting, whose ACCT 408 Auditing class took on the project.

To make the project manageable, Durkin divided the class into two sections. One would tackle the task of defining internal controls and responsibilities for the all-volunteer staff. The other assisted in the implementation of an electronic accounting system to track transactions and run financial reports.

Students had to apply their accounting and auditing knowledge to brainstorm areas where fraud could occur or errors could be overlooked. They identified the high volume of cash transactions as an area of significant risk and found gaps in the current system. Their proposed solutions included the design of a process that would provide sufficient oversight, including defining who, what, when, where and how cash should be handled to reduce the risk of the or misstatement.

“The students thoroughly enjoyed this project,” said Durkin. “Not only was it a great field trip visiting our local farmer’s market, but it was also an opportunity to apply three years of knowledge to a real business. They were able to assist an organization that provides a valuable service to the community.”

The project has even inspired some students to take an interest in volunteering and pursue serving on the board of other non-profits.

“The end result was an increased excitement about their accounting degree,” said Durkin. “Experiential learning gives students a bigger picture beyond the walls of the classroom. This project provided a glimpse into a business that is different from the accounting firms or corporations that we usually focus on. The partnership with the farmer’s market offered a way to give back to the community and provided students a hands-on example of the usefulness of their accounting skills.”

The class succeeded in helping Love, Linda Vista set up an electronic accounting system and implement key internal controls. The students’ final report detailed recommendations for improving record keeping, cash transactions and expense authorizations. Thanks to their work, the farmer’s market can move forward with improved accounting and treasury processes, and the students can look back on the experience with satisfaction, knowing that their efforts resulted in innovation for good.