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AACSB InternationalContinuous Improvement Review

Report

2012 - 2017Lynn Pippenger School of AccountancyMuma College of Business | University of South Florida

Report Date: November 17, 2017Visit Dates: January 28-30, 2018usfaccounting.com

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CONTENTS

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OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

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INNOVATION ▶ Developed a new graduate course “Analytics in Accounting” and deployed it online. The course covers leading-edge technologies

such as Tableau for data visualization, R programming, SQL, and advanced techniques in Excel. ▶ Launched a graduate certificate program in “Compliance, Risk, and Anti-Money Laundering,” the only one of its kind in the nation.

This program was featured in the Wall Street Journal. ▶ Created a “SOA Research Bulletin” with one page summaries of faculty research articles. The bulletin was disseminated to external

stakeholders (Advisory Council, Accounting Circle Board). ▶ Applied for and received a $1.1 million grant from the state of Florida. Termed the “Targeted Educational Attainment” (TEAm) grant,

the purpose was to increase the number of accounting graduates to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for accountants in the state of Florida. Grant funds were used to implement a number of innovations in the accounting program, including the hiring of an exclusive student success advisor, the development of video tutorials on complex accounting topics, and a tutoring program.

▶ Launched an internship course (ACG 4940) allowing students to earn academic credit while completing an internship, speeding time to graduation.

▶ Held executive-in-residence research brainstorming sessions annually. Led by a former EY managing partner who now serves on the audit committees of several large public companies, the sessions facilitate interactive discussions between faculty, doctoral students, and the executive in residence, with the goal of raising research questions that could be addressed by faculty members and doctoral students.

▶ Used an individualized automatically graded Excel-based practice set in Principles of Financial Accounting. Called the “Building Blocks of Accounting: A Financial Perspective” project by CyberText Publishing (www.cybertext.com), each student gets different numbers and works on accounting entries in an Excel file, which can be uploaded for automatic grading and feedback on the Cyber-Text server 24/7.

▶ Launched a “Certifying for Success” initiative, funded from the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Endowed Fund, to help defray the cost of certification exam review courses for eligible students. The initiative was subsequently modified to also include scholarship payments to students who successfully pass parts or all of various approved certification exams (e.g., CPA, CMA, CIA, CFE, CISA).

▶ Faculty conducted online office hours and online help sessions prior to exams, often on weekends. These sessions were recorded for subsequent review by students, even those who were unable to attend the “virtual office hours” session.

▶ Launched an incentive program providing financial rewards for faculty to encourage publishing articles in premier and selected top-tier journals (high-impact factor journals).

▶ Instituted a faculty teaching award program that recognizes teaching excellence every semes-ter with a plaque and financial award presented at the scholarship banquet. A committee of students, the past award winner and members of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Advisory Council select the award recipient from nominations made by students.

▶ Leveraged the university’s partnership with University College London, whereby an account-ing faculty member taught two upper-level accounting courses to accounting majors at the London location, with accounting related local field trips to enrich the study abroad experience. Additionally, several faculty have designed and led custom study abroad programs to different countries in Europe and South America.

▶ Adopted a three-essay dissertation for the doctoral committee. One student had an essay accepted for presentation at a major international conference.

▶ Leveraged the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform for data collection, resulting in several behavioral research projects by faculty and doctoral students.

Activities and accomplishments by the USF Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy in the categories of innovation, impact, and engagement are highlighted below.

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IMPACT ▶ The only school of accountancy in the world named solely for and by a woman—the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. ▶ CPA exam pass rate of 65 percent is well above the national average of 44 percent. ▶ Widely recognized as one of the foremost Beta Alpha Psi chapters in the world. The Delta Gamma chapter has maintained “superior

chapter” status for 41 years in a row and is the only chapter in the world to receive the KPMG “gold challenge” award every year since its inception.

▶ Several alumni of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy have held and are holding prominent positions: Deputy Chief Accoun-tant of the SEC (Dan Murdock), trustees of the university (Stan Levy, Byron Shinn, Brian Lamb, Nancy Watkins), partners in global accounting firms, and C-level executives in national banks and public companies.

▶ Known internationally for expertise in accounting information systems (AIS); #2 overall in BYU rankings for AIS research overall and #1 in experimental AIS research.

▶ Associate Professor Pat Wheeler serves as senior co-editor of Journal of Information Systems, the leading academic journal for AIS research.

▶ Associate Professor Lisa Gaynor serves on three editorial boards: Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and Current Issues in Auditing.

▶ Program Director Uday Murthy serves on the editorial boards of all three systems journals: Journal of Information Systems, Interna-tional Journal of Accounting Information Systems and Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting.

▶ Because of their widely recognized expertise, two faculty members are actively engaged with standard-setting bodies. Lisa Gaynor has been involved with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and Jackie Reck has been involved with and served as vice-chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council.

▶ Textbooks co-authored by faculty in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy are widely recognized as the leading textbooks in the field (e.g., Jackie Reck’s governmental accounting textbook and Pat Wheeler’s accounting information systems textbook).

▶ Three of Lisa Gaynor’s research articles have been cited by the PCAOB in its standard setting agendas. ▶ Faculty profiles in Research Gate indicate significant impact of the scholarly articles by faculty

in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, evidenced by, beyond citations, thousands of article reads and requests.

▶ Tax instructor Luke Richardson has been featured in news stories related to accounting and tax on FOX 13 WTVT (television), ABC Action News / WFTS-TV (television), and Wal-letHub.com (a leading outlet covering the personal finance industry).

▶ As a recognized expert in white-collar crime, anti-money laundering, and terrorism financing, Kerry Myers has been interviewed by ABC TV “Good Morning America”, Bloomberg News, ABC News – Tampa, the Tampa Tribune and the Tampa Bay Times.

▶ A long standing tradition at the USF Alumni Association is to annually recognize out-standing alumni and community leaders who have made a significant contribution to

the university and the community. Six USF accounting alumni were honored by the USF Alumni Association during this reporting period (Kim Ross,

2013; Jeffrey Hackman, 2013; Brian Lamb, 2013; Lynn Pip-penger, 2015; George Morgan, 2015; and Jose Valiente,

2016). ▶ Beta Alpha Psi faculty advisor Jennifer Cainas

won the national “Best Faculty Advisor” award. She is no stranger to teaching awards. In 2014 and 2015, she won back-to-back Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Teaching Awards and she took the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award at USF in the 2008-09

academic year and again in 2013-2014. ▶ Alumnus Jamil Jones was recognized as the 2017 “Busi-

ness Professional of the Year” by Beta Alpha Psi.

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ENGAGEMENT ▶ Having an active high-level advisory council comprised of partners and executives from global and regional public accounting firms and

businesses in the Tampa Bay area. The Advisory Council meets three times a year, providing valuable input on program and curricular matters. The council has also facilitated faculty and doctoral student research. Most also provide monetary support to the school and/or the USF Muma College of Business.

▶ The Accounting Circle Board is comprised of recent alumni and other professionals who engage with faculty and students in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy through a range of activities aimed at faculty and student success. Examples include a CPA exam information session, professional development workshops, a “welcome back” picnic, and a graduation reception at the end of the fall and spring semesters. Additionally, Accounting Circle Board members provide input and advice on curricular matters and serve as partic-ipants in faculty and doctoral student research projects.

▶ A “Professor for a Day” series has been in place for a number of years, involving guest lectures by experts in public accounting firms and industries in a range of accounting classes.

▶ Internationally recognized chapter of Beta Alpha Psi has weekly meetings at which speakers from a range of firms address students and field questions about the accounting profession.

▶ Annual “USF Accounting Circle” Continuing Professional Education conference attracts more than 550 local CPAs to campus for 16 hours of CPE credit over two days. The conference features many nationally known speakers.

▶ “Accounting Preview Day” event held annually is attended by high-school students, community college students, and undecided freshmen and sophomores at the university. The event features speakers, informational sessions, and engaging activities all designed to break myths about accounting and to showcase the many, rewarding, and diverse career opportunities made possible with an account-ing degree.

▶ A “Meet the Firms” night in the fall semester immediately preceding the university career fair event. Between 30 and 35 public ac-counting firms and corporations attend the event to interact with about 100 students in an informal setting.

▶ Many faculty deliver CPE presentations on topics such as taxation, analytics, internal auditing, forensic accounting, and anti-money laun-dering at forums such as the Institute of Internal Auditors and Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants annual conferences.

▶ Membership on boards: Uday Murthy serves on the Independent Audit Committee of USF Health Care; Luke Richardson served (2015-2017) on the board for Hope Street of Tampa, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, as Treasurer. Jennifer Cainas serves as a board member for the Westcoast Chapter of the FICPA. Jackie Reck serves on the board and finance committee of Tampa Crossroads, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

▶ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program: Partnered with the Internal Revenue Service and the United Way to facilitate a campus-wide taxpayer assistance site to benefit USF students.

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Founded in 1956, the University of South Florida is a multi-campus system and is one of the nation’s top public research universities and one of only 40 public research universities nationwide with very high research activity that is designated as community-engaged by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University of South Florida System is comprised of three separately accredited institutions, USF’s main campus in Tampa, USF St. Petersburg, and USF Sarasota-Manatee. USF includes the main campus in Tampa, its College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, USF Health, and is the doctoral granting, research-intensive member of the USF System. Serving more than 47,000 students, the USF System has a $1.7 billion annual budget and an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. The USF System was awarded a record $458.5 million in 2016 contracts and grants in fiscal year 2016.

USF’s main campus in Tampa is a doctoral-granting, research-intensive institution, which includes the College of Marine Science in St. Peters-burg and USF Health. USF is ranked in the top 50 among U.S. public institutions in the Times Higher Education World university rankings (2018). The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked USF as the nation’s top producer of Fulbright Scholars, with 12 faculty scholars for the 2016-2017 academic year (four of which are faculty members in the Muma College of Business). USF ranks 28th in the nation for research expenditures among public universities for total research expenditures by the National Science Foundation (2015). The university aspires to become a mem-ber of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

The Muma College of Business is the second largest college at USF, with 5,568 students (4,572 undergraduate, 996 graduate students) out of a total enrollment of 42,925 in fall 2016. In addition to the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, the Muma College of Business has depart-ments of Finance, Information Systems & Decision Sciences, and Marketing. In fall 2016, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy had an undergraduate headcount of 476 (10.4 percent of the college’s declared majors) and a graduate headcount of 99 (10 percent of the college total). The college also has three significant centers—the Center for Entrepreneurship, which has a nationally ranked master’s program, and the Small Business Development Center, which has a significant economic impact in the Tampa Bay region, and the newly launched Center for Analytics & Creativity.

On Feb. 17, 2015, the School of Accountancy in the Muma College of Business became the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. The naming was in recognition of the $10 million gift to the school by Lynn Pippenger. Fewer than 15 schools of accountancy/accounting in the world are named, and, to date, USF has the only one to be named solely for and by a woman. The funds from the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Endowed Fund are used for a variety of student scholarships, a student success advisor position, a faculty teaching fellowship, and summer grants for both basic research and for the development of innovative teaching materials.

2.1 FACTORS THAT SHAPE MISSION AND OPERATIONSHistorically, the university has been a “commuter school” given its location in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area. However, the university dynamic was transformed in the last decade as a result of the change in the mix of full-time and part-time students. Still, about 41 percent of USF students are Pell Grant recipients and a considerable percentage of students hold part-time jobs and take courses at night. Virtually every accounting course is offered at night at least once a year to accommodate such students. Given their work obligations, many students take longer to complete their programs, which impacts the four- and five-year graduation rates. On a positive note, the quality of incoming freshmen has improved markedly, with the fall 2017 incoming freshman class boasting an average SAT score of 1280 and an average high school GPA of 4.12. From a geograpic perspective, while the Tampa Bay area is a vibrant multi-ethnic metropolitan area of some 2.8 million residents. Yet there is only one company headquartered in the Tampa Bay area on the Fortune 100 list; just four other companies are on the Fortune 500 list.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has an active Advisory Council, comprised of 26 members at the partner and vice president/CFO level in international accounting firms and leading corporations in and around the Tampa Bay area. A second external body supporting the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy is the Accounting Circle. Comprised of recent graduates who are eager to remain connected to USF and to give back to the accounting program. An important factor shaping the mission and operations of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy is that the vast majority of its students are from Florida and tend to stay in Florida upon graduation. While this historical tendency somewhat inhibits the reputation of the school on the national and international stage, the proximity of alumni to campus is an advantage that the school is able to leverage. For example, alumni serve as mentors, guest speakers, interact with students, and host events for faculty and students.

More recently, the mission and operations of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy are being shaped by a change in the mix of faculty. Two junior research-active assistant professors were hired in 2013. Ten years ago, there was little research being published in top-tier peer-re-viewed journals by Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty. Within the last seven years, Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty has published in five of the “Top 6” accounting journals. In the Brigham Young University Accounting Research Rankings, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy ranks second overall for accounting information systems research (all years; No. 1 in experimental AIS research) and 52nd overall for auditing research (No. 14 in experimental audit research, last 12 years).

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The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy currently has 19 full-time faculty members, including the director and associate dean. In fall 2017, there are 19 full-time faculty members (compared with 17 full-time faculty members in fall 2012). We have been authorized to hire three ten-ure-track faculty members to begin in fall 2018; two of these new hires are replacing a long-time faculty member who is retiring and a faculty resignation. The search for a new director is also underway as the current director has expressed a desire to return to faculty.

2.2 RELATIVE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGESThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has many advantages relating to its reputation, sponsors, and supporters. Historically, the CPA passing percentages for USF graduates have been in the top 10 in the country. With the computerization of the exam and the separate tracking of candidates with advanced (master’s) degrees, the ranking has not been as high in recent years. However, a custom report purchased from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy revealed that the USF Tampa CPA exam pass rate is 65 percent, which is well above the national average of 44 percent. To further improve student performance on the CPA exam, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy began offering students scholarships to defray the cost of CPA review courses and also to reward success in passing one or more parts of the CPA exam before graduating.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy also has an excellent reputation among leaders in the local business community who generously support the school with their time and financial resources. For example, 26 senior management members representing some of the most important organizations in the area serve as members of the Advisory Council. Current members come from all of the international public accounting firms and many public and private corporations. Appendix 1 contains a complete listing of the Advisory Council. Council members serve on a three-year rotating basis. The Advisory Council has endowed a $474,000 professorship (market value of $598,000 as of August 31, 2017). The council also supports the needs of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy through dues payments ($1,000 annually). Additionally, many Advisory Council members made personal financial contributions to fund $1,500 scholarships for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy study abroad programs. A number of faculty have led Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy students on study abroad programs to Europe and South America in the last five years. These study abroad programs have focused on international accounting, accounting information systems, cost accounting, and business law.

The second external body supporting the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy is the USF Accounting Circle, which represents a partnership among faculty, students, alumni, and friends of the school. Accounting Circle members are typically alumni who have graduated within the past three to seven years. This organization supports the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy in many ways. They help organize the annual Accounting Circle CPE Conference for local CPAs; the 2017 conference generated a net profit of $156,000 for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy and drew an audience of 550 regional accounting professionals. Proceeds are used to fund student scholarships and a teaching fellowship (currently held by Katie Davis). The Accounting Circle also presents a number of student-oriented events such as an interviewing workshop, professionalism and communications workshop, and a graduation reception. Appendix 2 contains a list of Accounting Circle Board members and the firms they represent.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy enjoys a significant advantage with the internationally recognized Delta Gamma Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. Recognized as a superior chapter for the 41st consecutive year, its members consistently perform very well at regional and national competitions, invariably winning first or second place in the “best practices” competition. The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy chapter of Beta Alpha Psi is the only chapter in the world to win the KPMG “Gold Challenge” award since the time of its inception. Members of the chapter are passionate about their involvement and are dedicated to maintaining its preeminent international position.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has two challenges relating to its reputation, sponsors, and supporters. First, as a state institution USF is highly dependent on resources provided by the state of Florida. In addition, tuition levels are regulated by

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state government. Florida ranks near the bottom in its support of higher education. Florida in-state tuition is the 49th lowest in the nation (only Wyoming is lower) and has not been raised in the last several years. All required courses are, of course, offered and the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy exceeds AACSB criteria for faculty qualifications and sufficiency. However, given the budgetary constraints, over the last five years faculty hiring has largely been to replace faculty who retired or resigned (usually to advance their careers at other universities). With enrollment holding steady, this has resulted in large class sizes in upper-level required courses as well as graduate courses. It has also resulted in an inability to offer upper-level electives on a regular basis.

The second disadvantage confronting the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy relates to student placement. The vast majority of students wish to remain in the Tampa Bay area, and they rarely consider employment opportunities in other regions of the country. This phenomenon makes it difficult for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy to build a positive national reputation and raise private funds from outside the Tampa Bay area. A related issue is that the school has had a difficult time tracking the placement and performance of its students upon graduation at both the undergraduate and master’s levels. In the doctoral program, the school has been unable to consistently place PhD students at peer or better institutions, although its two most recent placements have been at schools with well-regarded accounting programs (Auburn University and University of North Texas). The school recognizes that factors such as students’ geographical and personal preferences play a major role in doctoral student placement.

2.3 INTERNAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, OR COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT PRESENT CHALLENGESThere are a few challenges confronting the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. The first deals with faculty strength and more specifically the composition of the current faculty. In 2012-2013, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy had four instructors and five tenure-track and research-active assistant professors. In 2016-2017, the number of instructors doubled to eight while the number of assistant professors dropped to three. With two of the three full professors in administration and two of the five associate professors not conducting scholarly research, it has been challenging to maintain, let alone increase, the quantity and quality of scholarly publications in the school. With faculty departing in 2017-18 and the expected hiring of three research active assistant/associate professors to start in fall 2018, leaders anticipate an increase in the school’s scholarly output in the years ahead.

Another challenge relates to enrollments in both the undergraduate and master’s programs. While enrollments increased significantly between 2011-2012 and 2013-2014, the school experienced an unexpected decline in enrollment (and graduates) in 2015-16. The decline could be attributed partly to an improving economy (accounting enrollments are often counter-cyclical relative to business cycles), but also to the school’s enrollment management practices instituted in 2011 that were subsequently modified in 2013. In 2011, the school instituted a “competency exam” comprising a 40-question exam covering topics from Principles of Financial Accounting. Students desiring to become accounting majors had to pass this entrance exam before registering for Intermediate Accounting I. In 2013, the school required students to take both Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting I and also modified the competency exam to 60 questions (20 additional questions covering topics from princi-ples in managerial accounting). The rationale for these changes was to ensure that students could succeed in the rigorous six-course sequence of required upper-level accounting courses as well as to ensure that students took at least two accounting courses in each semester in order to graduate in a timely manner. The unintended consequence of these changes was a significant drop in accounting enrollments, as business students gravitated towards other majors (e.g., finance, business analytics and information systems). To respond to the decline in enrollments, in 2016-2017, the school eliminated the competency exam and also allowed students flexibility in the courses they had to take in their first semester in the major. Students entering the major must still take the competency exam, but it is used only as a diagnostic tool (students can enroll in Intermediate Accounting I regardless of their score on the competency exam). Additionally, students can take either Cost Accounting I, Accounting Information Systems, or Federal Taxation as their second course. These changes resulted in a 35 percent increase in enrollment in Intermediate Accounting I in spring 2017 compared to spring 2016. The program has maintained its quality over the years and regional employers aggressively hire USF accounting students. Informal feedback from partners in all five large international accounting firms suggests that USF graduates perform at levels equal to or better than graduates of institutions such as the University of Florida and Florida State University.

A related challenge is that our research-active faculty, although on a 2-2 course load, are mostly engaged in teaching master’s and upper-level ac-counting courses. Given the school’s strong emphasis on teaching, and the fact that research-active faculty are committed to excellence in teach-ing, the significant effort put into teaching limits the time that can be dedicated to research. The college has experimented with compressed courses (e.g., eight weeks during the regular semester and five weeks during the summer) to give research faculty larger blocks of research time. However, students tend to struggle when content-heavy upper-level courses are delivered in a compressed format. As such, the school does not anticipate offering many (or any) upper-level accounting courses in a compressed format either during the regular semester or during the summer. Related, the school is under pressure to offer more courses in an online or hybrid format. It takes considerable effort on the part of the faculty member to convert a course to the online format, which takes time away from research. Most faculty members in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy also have significant service obligations, either on committees or in relation to engagement events with our external stakehold-

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ers (Advisory Council, Accounting Circle Board, public accounting firms). While these obligations are necessary and advance our mission of engagement, they are time-consuming and make it difficult for faculty to devote sufficient time to producing high-quality research.

In the Master of Accountancy program, the main challenge is to grow enrollments and convince students of the value proposition of the MAcc degree. Historically, the school has offered a number of 4000- and 5000-level courses, allowing many students to satisfy the 150-hour require-ment for CPA licensure without earning a master’s degree. Many students receive the message from accounting firm recruiters (and even part-ners) that they only need to become CPA eligible and a master’s degree is unnecessary. In addition, firms do not pay a significant premium for MAcc graduates over “fifth year” students who meet the 150-hour requirement. Accordingly, the challenge is to structure the MAcc program so that students and employers perceive it as adding significant value. In fall 2017, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty approved the following significant changes to the MAcc program: (1) elimination of the GMAT requirement for USF Tampa undergraduate students with a 3.3 or higher GPA, (2) restructuring the required courses so that all students take a new “Innovation and Analytics in Accounting” course, and (3) rebranding of the “audit/systems” concentration to “assurance” and (4) adding a new “corporate accounting” concentration intended for students who intend to seek employment in corporations. The school believes these changes will help address the challenge of growing the MAcc program.

In the doctoral program, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has increased stipends to a more competitive level of $22,500 (including a $2,500 supplement provided by the school). An additional scholarship is awarded to doctoral students once they pass the required comprehen-sive examination. Given its national reputation in AIS, the school attracts applicants interested in AIS. Two fourth-year students are currently on the market and have received multiple campus visit invitations. In fall 2017 two doctoral students began their programs of study.

2.4 DEGREE PROGRAMS AND NUMBER OF GRADUATESThe two degree programs included in the accreditation review include the Bachelor of Science and the Master of Accountancy. The Muma College of Business also offers a Doctor of Philosophy with an accountancy concentration. The Master of Accountancy offers two concentrations—audit/systems and tax—and a “generalist” option (no concentration). As shown in Table 1 above, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy awarded 219 undergraduate degrees in accounting and 58 Master of Accountancy degrees in the most recent academic year. These numbers compare with 220 undergraduate degrees and 54 Master of Accountancy degrees awarded in 2012-2013.

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017

Undergraduate 220 249 264 200 219

Master's 54 45 53 67 58

TABLE 1Degrees awarded

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This section indicates the progress made on issues identified in the Accounting Accreditation Committee decision letter resulting from the previous AACSB site visit. Four specific issues were identified.

AREAS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED AND PROGRESS MADE

1. Tracking career success of accounting graduates.For the last five years, bachelor’s degree graduates have received exit surveys in the capstone course, which is taken in their final semester. For Master of Accountancy graduates, the Office of Employer Relations in the Muma College of Business sends out online surveys to graduating students.

Survey results for undergraduate and Master of Accountancy graduates are shown in the tables at right.

2. Increase summer support for research-active faculty. Accounting faculty members have three sources of summer research grant funding within the Muma College of Business: the Dean’s Office, the Center for Analytics & Creativity, and the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. These grants are available on a competitive basis. The college and university are increasingly emphasizing the importance of securing external grant funding. To that end, the college has hired a research administrator to help faculty and doctoral students apply for external grants. In the last two years, several accounting faculty members have applied for external grant funding and one faculty member has been successful (Dahlia Robinson received a grant from the Institute for Fraud Prevention).

3. Provide additional financial resources to the PhD program.For the last several years, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has supplemented the doctoral stipend provided by the college. Accounting PhD students receive an additional $2,500 per year, above the $20,000 per year provided by the college. In addition, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy provides funding for at least two conferences per year for each student, with funding available for addi-tional conferences if the PhD student presents a paper.

4. Address salary inversion.The salary inversion problem has been at least partially addressed. One senior full professor received a significant salary raise in 2013. The school’s ability to fully address salary inversion problems is constrained by the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the faculty union (United Faculty of Florida), which governs pay raises and the merit/inversion amounts available.

TABLE 2Undergraduate Exit Survey Results

Academic year Total responded Total accepted jobs + remaining with company

Placement rate

2013-2014 241 125 52%

2014-2015 248 136 55%

2015-2016 183 91 50%

2016-2017 182 88 48%

TABLE 3MAcc Exit Survey Results

Academic year Total responded Total accepted jobs + remaining with company

Placement rate

2013-2014 25 20 80%

2014-2015 27 20 74%

2015-2016 31 29 94%

2016-2017 55 44 80%

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This section describes the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy strategic management process. The mission statement and strategic plan are summarized, following which the strategic management planning process and outcomes are discussed. Action items for the upcoming academ-ic year and the financial plan for accomplishing them are also indicated.

4.1 MISSION STATEMENT AND SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC PLANMissionThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy provides a high-quality, diverse learning environment that focuses on critical-thinking skills, prepar-ing students to impact both our profession and society. Through our innovative research, scholarship, and engagement, we impact and advance the accounting profession and society globally.

Vision The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy will be internationally recognized for developing high-quality graduates, scholarly achievement, and meaningful community engagement.

Strategic prioritiesTo achieve our vision and mission, our current strategic priorities are:

▶ Research with impact: We will contribute to the body of knowledge in accounting and related fields through innovative and impact-ful scholarship resulting in useful insights.

▶ Student success: We will provide an environment that equips students with the knowledge and skills to become analytical and creative problem-solvers by focusing on innovative pedagogical approaches and experiential learning opportunities.

▶ Engagement: We will foster relationships with a range of constituents to exchange ideas and collaboratively develop solutions to promote social, economic, and community development.

▶ Global: We will offer our students an opportunity to broaden their awareness of diverse global accounting practices.

The entire Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy strategic plan for 2016-2017 is provided in Appendix 3.

4.2 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS AND OUTCOMESThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy strategic plan is a dynamic plan, reviewed regularly. During the first faculty meeting of each academ-ic year, faculty spend considerable time reviewing the mission and vision statements and the strategic priorities that would advance the mission and vision of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. Changes are made to elements of the strategic plan if faculty deem it appropriate. In addition, faculty review their performance for the previous academic year (ending on June 30) to determine whether “high priority action items” relating to the previous year were accomplished. If targets were not met, faculty discuss strategies for improving performance. At the same meeting, faculty collectively develop action items for the forthcoming academic year. The action items, the accountable entity for each action item, and the outcomes are fully documented in each year’s strategic planning document (the 2016-2017 strategic plan is included in Appendix 3; the strategic planning documents for other years are available upon request).

The strategic plan begins with the mission and vision statements and contains strategic priorities and specific targets for each of the priorities. All elements of the document tie to the mission statement. The 2016-2017 strategic priorities are noted above. As the academic year pro-gresses, individuals and committees report to the member in charge of accreditation and/or the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director regarding progress on action items set at the beginning of the year. At the faculty meeting held at the end of each spring semester, progress on the year’s action items is reviewed.

Continuous Improvement Process and OutcomesThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has a formal “Quality Improvement Process” in operation, performed annually, covering the under-graduate, MAcc, and PhD programs. All functional areas of accounting are divided into QIP teams. Teams meet annually in the spring to review course content, rigor, and assess whether learning objectives for each functional area are being met. Every full-time Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty member participates in the QIP. The QIP is more fully described in the “Assessment Tools and Procedures” section of this

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report. Selected undergraduate accounting courses have an assurance of learning assessment as part of the quality improvement process. Ev-ery required course in the accounting major, plus the two principles of accounting courses (as part of the business core), have master test banks of assessment questions designed to test the course objectives. The test banks are keyed specifically to respective course objectives. Course coordinators select 10 questions from their test banks, taking care to ensure that the questions cover all course objectives. All instructors em-bed these questions on their exams. Targets for performance on these questions are set by the course coordinators and are subject to revision by the QIP teams during the spring meeting. Results were compiled and are presented in part six (Learning and Teaching) of the Continuous Improvement Report. A summary of major continuous improvement achievements in the areas of teaching, research, and engagement since the last AACSB report follows.

Faculty RetreatOn Sept. 11, 2015, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy held a faculty retreat led by a professional facilitator. The retreat was organized around the mission and strategic priorities of the school. The retreat began with a comprehensive review of the undergraduate and master’s curriculum and course learning objectives for alignment with the college and school mission and vision. Faculty discussed changes to course learning objectives to incorporate the college’s distinctive focus on creativity and analytics. Courses were also reviewed for global impact and to ensure that skills identified by AACSB are being addressed, particularly the new standard A7 on data and analytics. Next, faculty teams or-ganized by strategic priority brainstormed to identify one to three priorities with associated action items and specific measures for each priority. They considered the university’s performance funding metrics and strategies that could be adopted to grow enrollments. At the conclusion of the retreat, faculty team leaders reported back to the whole faculty regarding the outcomes of the brainstorming sessions. The retreat discus-sions were continued subsequently in our online learning management system. Some examples of action items emerging from the retreat that are currently implemented include the tutoring program, revamping of our Master of Accountancy program, development of a new “Analytics in Accounting” course, establishment of faculty profiles on the ResearchGate site (www.researchgate.net), and the production of a Research Bulletin showcasing faculty research articles in a one page executive summary format easily consumable by external stakeholders.

Technology Enhancements and Online CoursesThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has a dedicated technology classroom that was funded by private donations in 2001. The room accommodates 32 laptop computers, which are set up when needed for classes by a graduate assistant who runs the lab. The laptops are normally replaced every three to four years (most recently in September 2014). The technology classroom is used for both the undergraduate AIS course (ACG 3401) as well as the Master of Accountancy Advanced AIS course (ACG 6405). The server controlling the lab was “virtualized” so that the IT maintenance burden shifted from the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy to the central USF IT department.

In the undergraduate AIS course, students gain hands-on experience with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Dynamics—a mid-tier enterprise resource planning system used by hundreds of companies in the Tampa Bay area. In the graduate AIS course, students receive hands-on experience with the world’s foremost ERP system, i.e., SAP. In addition, students in the graduate AIS course obtain hands-on experience with Microsoft Visio, SQL querying, analytics/data visualization using tools such as Tableau, and creating XBRL-tagged financial statements. USF is one of the few schools that is a member of the ACL Academic Alliance. To leverage this partnership, students receive hands-on experience with ACL in the undergraduate program (in the Audit I course) and in the master’s program (in the Accounting Systems Audit, Control, and Security course).

Since the last report, the school has converted a number of courses to the online format, including Principles of Managerial Accounting (ACG 2071), Business Law (BUL 3320), and Accounting for Non-Business Majors (ACG 3074). At the graduate level, Analytics in Accounting (ACG 5841), Law and the Accountant (BUL 5332), Risk Management and Legal Compliance (BUL 5842), Accounting Systems Audit, Control, and Security (ACG 6457), Financial and Managerial Accounting for MBAs (ACG 6026), and Forensic Accounting (ACG 6688) are offered online. One additional course will be offered online in the 2017-18 academic year—Cost Accounting and Control II (ACG 4351). Developed by faculty mem-bers working closely with the USF Office of Innovative Education, these courses take advantage of the online platform with videos, discussion boards, online quizzes, and interactive online sessions with the faculty member.

Improvements in the Undergraduate Accounting ProgramThe most significant improvements relating to the undergraduate accounting program stem from the innovations introduced with funding from the $1.1 million TEAm grant from the state of Florida. A dedicated student success advisor was hired to provide personal attention and proac-tive advising to accounting majors. The advisor monitors students’ performance in their first semester in the major and actively engages with students who are underperforming. Jointly with faculty from the University of Central Florida and Florida International University, we developed more than 100 video tutorials on complex accounting topics in a range of courses (financial accounting, cost/managerial accounting, auditing, accounting information systems, and taxation). The videos are housed in a learning management system accessible by all accounting majors

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as well as “pre-accounting” students. Tutoring services on weekdays and weekends to help students in Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting I are available. Most faculty provide optional Friday lab sessions for students in Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting I.

Historically, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has implemented a “limited access” policy to ensure that students advancing beyond their first semester in the major can withstand the rigor of the required upper-level coursework. The policy requires that accounting students complete Intermediate I and Cost I and earn at least a C in both before they can take additional upper-level accounting courses. Since the fall semester of 2009, students seeking to become accounting majors have been required to take a competency exam addressing financial account-ing topics covered in the basic principles of financial accounting course. All students are required to take the competency exam, including trans-fer students. In 2011, analysis revealed that the rate of withdrawals, D and F grades were abnormally high in the required Cost Accounting and Control I courses. It appeared that students were deferring the cost accounting course to their last semester in the major, resulting in too much elapsed time between the Principles of Managerial Accounting course and the Cost Accounting course (which builds on the principles course). To address these issues, questions relating to managerial accounting concepts on the competency exam were added so that students needed basic proficiency in both financial and managerial accounting before being admitted to the major. The school also required that students take both Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting and Control I in their first semester in the major. However, the unintended consequence of these quality control and progression mechanisms was a significant decline in accounting enrollments, which ran counter to the goals of the TEAm grant we received in 2014 from the state of Florida. In fall 2016, faculty voted to eliminate the competency exam following exten-sive analysis indicating that it was not accomplishing its intended purpose. Rather than using the comptency exam as a screening device, the school decided to use it as a diagnostic tool to allow students to know their strengths and weaknesses. To allow additional flexibility for students, faculty also approved two additional courses that students can take in their first semester in the major (in addition to Intermediate Ac-counting I): Accounting Information Systems and Concepts of Federal Income Taxation. Both of these changes were well-received by students. In spring 2017, enrollments in Intermediate Accounting I were 35 percent higher than in spring 2016.

Improvements in the Master of Accountancy ProgramThe current configuration of the MAcc program involves two required courses, four courses from a suite of six courses for each of the tax and the audit/systems concentrations, two accounting electives, and two non-accounting electives. Students who do not want either the tax or the audit/sys-tems concentration can opt for a “generalist” MAcc degree, which can be earned by taking the two required courses, six accounting electives, and two non-accounting electives. Program checklists for the two concentrations and the “generalist” option are shown in Appendix 4.

The two required courses in the MAcc program are Financial Reporting and Professional Issues (ACG 6875) and the Integrative Accounting Seminar (ACG 6932). Both of these courses are discussion based and build students’ critical-thinking and communication skills. In ACG 6875, for example, students are required to read academic research articles and discuss the real-world application of financial accounting and reporting standards they learned in their upper-level accounting courses in the undergraduate program. In ACG 6932, students are required to make presentations and benefit from expert speakers that guide case discussions. Two faculty hires in the period covered by this report have added value to the MAcc program. Pat Wheeler was hired in the fall of 2012 and teaches one of the concentration courses in the audit/systems concentration—Accounting Systems Audit, Control, and Security (aka IT Auditing). Kerry Myers was hired in summer 2015 and has been teaching a course new to the MAcc program, forensic accounting. Given his 25+ years of experience in the Federal Bu-reau of Investigation with many years devoted to fighting white-col-lar crime, Myers’ forensic accounting course is a key enhancement in the MAcc program.

Program Improvements in the PhD ProgramThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy doctoral program continues to focus on enhancing the research skills of doctoral students while also imparting valuable teaching skills. Pat Wheeler, who joined the faculty in 2012, became the coordinator of the PhD program. His expertise

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complements the research of Uday Murthy, solidifying the core doctoral program’s strength: AIS research and teaching. A more formal process for first-year and second-year papers was instituted in 2015, requiring mentoring faculty to formally approve doctoral students presenting their work in research workshops. The number of faculty-doctoral student co-authored projects has increased significantly in the last three years, following the explicit focus on this metric at the college level. Subscribing to the Seek Edgar system (https://www.seekedgar.com/) has increased access to data for research projects, for both faculty and doctoral students. Since the last AACSB report, significantly more faculty have become involved with the doctoral program and are serving on dissertation committees. In addition to Uday Murthy and Pat Wheeler, Jackie Reck, Lisa Gaynor, Tom Smith, and Dahlia Robinson serve on and chair dissertation committees.

4.3 FINANCIAL STRATEGIES AND ALLOCATION OF RESOURCESThis section of the continuous improvement report describes the primary funding sources for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy includ-ing state support and support from private sources via Foundation accounts. At the beginning of each academic year, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty develop high priority action items for the forthcoming year. This section contains the high priority action items for the 2016-2017 academic year and the plans to provide the necessary resources to achieve the action items.

Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Funding SourcesThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has significant financial resources, including state support for faculty and staff salaries and expens-es, and Foundation support from endowed funds. Table 4 shows a summary of financial resources projected for 2017-18, and, for the purpose of comparison, the projections for 2012-2013 that were included in the prior AACSB report.

TABLE 4Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Financial ResourcesProjections for 2017-18 Compared with 2012-13 Projections

2017-18 2012-13

State Support:Faculty Salaries From College of Business $2,611,484 $2,291,566

Staff Salaries From College of Business 68,470 95,028

Expense Budget from College of Business 325,954 421,312

Total Direct Support from College of Business 3,005,908 2,807,906

Foundation Support:Professorship Salary & Staff Supplements 201,000 206,561

Faculty Endowment Expense Support 8,000 15,500

Excellence Grants/Scholarships 94,500 101,250

Other (travel, association dues, research expenses, etc.)

50,000 32,500

Total Foundation Support 353,500 355,811

Total Budgeted Resources for 2017-18 3,359,408 3,163,717

Fund Balances as of 6/30/17:

Market Value of Endowment Funds 7,039,736 5,275,781

Balance of Operating Funds 712,530 997,253

Balance in Jim & Leacy Quinn Trust 2,366,159 741,042

Total Fund Balances $10,118,427 $7,014,076

Worth noting in Table 4 is that the market value of

Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy endowments

has increased from $5.2 million in 2013 to about

$7 million in 2017. Of the almost $1 million

balance in operating funds, approximately $300,000

represents unrestricted funds that could be used to support

Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy initiatives other

than student scholarships and faculty stipends, which

are funded from separate restricted foundation

accounts.

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Table 5 shows the fund balances as of June 30, 2017 for all Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy endowed funds. The grand total of all endowment balances is $9.4 million, which compares very favorably to the $5.28 million balance as of June 30, 2012 (i.e., an increase of 78 percent). The biggest single source of the increase in the endowment balance is the $2.5 million (to date) donation from Lynn Pippenger. Other than the Lynn Pippenger School of Accuontancy Endowed Fund, the two largest endowed funds are the Jim & Leacy Quinn Fund supporting the Quinn Chair, which is currently held by Uday Murthy, and the Dan & Tina Johnson Distinguished Professorship Fund, which is currently open.

TABLE 5Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Endowed Funds

As of June 30, 2017

Market ValueDan & Tina Johnson Distinguished Professorship $ 1,405,417

Laura Bedingfield Memorial Endowment Fund 19,561

R.C.Unger MA/CPA Memorial Scholar 29,368

William L. Stephens Endowed Service Professorship $ 1,405,417

Dr. Robert M. Keith Endowed Teaching Professorship 509,931

The Private Entities Endowed Research Fund 42,893

Deloitte Endowed Scholarship 55,863

Grant Thornton’s Director’s Fund for Excellence 187,729

PWC Endowed Scholarship in Accounting 55,174

Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Endowed Fund 2,557,176

Jim & Leacy Quinn Chair in Accounting 2,366,159

Ernst & Young Endowed Scholarship in Accounting 45,591

Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy/Law Endowment 71,337

FICPA Endowed Scholarship in Accounting 237,384

James E Rooks Jr Endowed Professorship 673,210

Advisory Council Professorship 587,646

J.T. Ball/FASB Fellows Scholarship 207,770

Total $9,400,224

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Action Items and Financial Plans for 2016-2017The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy’s mission statement, strategic priorities, and action items related to the strategic priorities are con-tained in the master Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Strategic Plan, included in Appendix 3. Table 6 contains the strategic priorities and the action items voted on by faculty at the August 26, 2016 faculty meeting. For action items requiring resources, the amount of funds required and the source of funds are indicated.

4.4 NEW DEGREE PROGRAMSThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy does not have any new degree programs that have been started since the last accreditation visit. In 2015, we launched a graduate certificate program, Compliance, Risk, and Anti-Money Laundering. Of the four courses required for this grad-uate certificate, three are offered by the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy: Risk Management & Legal Compliance, Forensic Accounting and the Legal Environment, and Accounting Systems Audit, Control and Security (the fourth course, Statistical Data Mining, is offered by the Information Systems & Decision Sciences department).

The intellectual contributions of Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy full-time and part-time faculty are summarized in Table A2-1 (Table 2-1 in the Muma College of Business CIR), included in Appendix 5. Tenured and tenure-track faculty in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accoun-tancy have produced a total of 33 peer-reviewed journal articles between 2012 and 2017. Of this total, 12 peer-reviewed journal articles were published by full professors, seven by associate professors, 13 by assistant professors, and one by a non-tenure-track instructor. It should be

TABLE 6Funding for Action Items Related to Strategic Priorities

Strategic Priority (SP) / Action Items (AI) Funds required Source of Funds

SP#1: Student SuccessAI#1: Continue tutoring program to help students succeed in Intermediate I and Cost I

$47,000 Accounting Circle Operating Fund

AI#2: Continue “bootcamps” prior to semester for Intermediate I $6,000 Lynn Pippenger School of Accoun-tancy Endowed Fund

AI#3: Complete video tutorials for complex upper-level accounting topics None NA

AI#4: Continue to build relationships with accounting firms and industry to provide more internship opportunities for students. Continue internship course to give students course credit for internships.

None NA

SP#2: Research with ImpactAI#5. Publish papers in premier and top-tier journals on the Lynn Pip-penger School of Accountancy journal list. Target: Six submissions to premier/top-tier journals, with two beyond first-round.

$2,500 (submission fees)

Accounting Circle Operating Fund

AI#6. Submit at least one grant proposal for external funding None NA

SP#3: EngagementAI#7: Engage with external organizations to obtain access to participants and data for research projects.

None NA

AI#8: Visit local public accounting firms for “lunch and learn” session where faculty and firm professionals can interact to learn about latest develop-ments in the profession and implications for the accounting curriculum

None NA

AI#9: Continue “Professor for a Day” program to recognize practitioner involvement in teaching accounting courses

$1,000 (speaker gifts)

Accounting Circle Operating Fund

SP#4: GlobalAI#10: Design and offer a study abroad program in summer 2017 $30,000 Lynn Pippenger School of

Accuontancy Endowed Fund

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noted that 25 of the 33 peer-reviewed articles are in journals on the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy approved journal list, in either the “premier” or the “top-tier” category. In terms of the areas in which Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty members have published, the majority of intellectual contributions are in behavioral/experimental AIS and auditing (Lisa Gaynor, Mark Mellon, Uday Murthy, Pat Wheeler), with additional contributions in archival financial, governmental, and auditing (Bei Dong, Jackie Reck, Dahlia Robinson, Tom Smith, James Whitworth). Collectively, Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty members have published in the following leading journals (among others) since the last accreditation visit: The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Journal of the American Taxation Association, Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Journal of Government and Non-Profit Accounting, Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Advances in Accounting, and Accounting Horizons.

The quantity, quality, and breadth of publications indicated above provide evidence that a substantial cross-section of Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty have made intellectual contributions, consistent with the mission of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy and the Muma College of Business. As indicated in Table 31-1 in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy report (see Appendix 5), beyond publications in peer-reviewed journals, Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty members have made a number of research presentations at profession-al meetings and at other universities.

In terms of infrastructure support for research, faculty members who specialize in archival research in financial accounting, auditing, and taxa-tion have access to most databases required for such research. Through the university library database subscription services, faculty have access to Wharton Research Data Service, through which databases such as Compustat, CRSP, and Audit Analytics can be accessed. For the last three years, USF has subscribed to the Seek Edgar system that has the ability to perform full-text searches of SEC filings. To support faculty members engaged in behavioral (experimental) research, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has an “experimental research participation” protocol, whereby students in certain classes participate in a research project conducted by a Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty member or doctoral student. Details of this experimental participation protocol can be viewed in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Policy Manual, included in Appendix 6. Additional support for behavioral research is provided through funds used to pay participants in studies and program-mers for customized computer-based experiments.

Beyond the aforementioned resources, untenured assistant professors are provided with minimal teaching preparations and summer research grants to allow them the time needed to pursue research projects capable of resulting in top-tier publications. Additionally, two of the re-search-active faculty members received reduced teaching loads (one course instead of two courses) during the period under accreditation review. Dahlia Robinson received a one course release in fall 2013 and Jim Whitworth received a one-course release in his first semester (fall 2014).

As an incentive to publish in journals with very high impact factors, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy provides a one-time payment of $4,000 for a publication in such journals. The criterion for the award was subsequently made more objective: the impact factor of the journal in which the publication appears must exceed 1.0. In addition to the “top six” accounting journals (The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting, Organisations & Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Review of Account-ing Studies), the other major accounting journal to have an impact factor exceeding 1.0 is Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. The award program also applies for top-tier publications in other disciplines (e.g., finance, information systems, psychology, etc.). In the period under review, five Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty members have received award payments under this program: Bei Dong, Lisa Gaynor, Dahlia Robinson, Tom Smith, and Jim Whitworth. The payments were made for publications in The Accounting Review and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.

4.5 INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONSIntellectual Contributions: Alignment with Mission, Expected Outcomes, and Strategy (Table A2-1, Part B)As stated in the mission of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, the school’s research endeavors are aimed at impacting and advancing the accounting profession and society globally. Its strategy of fostering mission-aligned intellectual contributions involves giving lower course loads (2-2) to assistant professors and research-active tenured faculty, while minimizing the number of course preparations for such faculty. It also provides summer research grants for assistant professors (for three years) and offer, on a competitive basis, research grants to advanced stage assistant professors and tenured professors. In addition, the school holds research workshops with internal and external presenters and actively encourages co-authorships between faculty and doctoral students.

As noted in Table A2-1, faculty produced 53 peer-reviewed journal articles in the five-year period 2012-2013 to 2016-2017. Of the 53 articles, 33 (62 percent) of the articles represent “basic or discovery” scholarship, 19 (35 percent) represent applied scholarship, and one article represents pedagogical scholarship. Of the 33 basic or discovery scholarship articles, 25 (76 percent) were published in journals on the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy journal list in the “premier” and “top-tier” categories. Since publications in the highly ranked premier and top-tier jour-

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nals are likely to have a more significant impact on the accounting profession and society at large, the portfolio of intellectual contributions is well-aligned with the school’s mission. Leaders believe the outcomes of our strategy directed toward fostering impactful research have large-ly borne fruit. It is worth noting that the 25 articles in premier and top-tier journals were produced by less than half the faculty in the school.

Intellectual Contributions: Quality of the Five-Year Port-folio of Intellectual Contributions (Table A2-1, Part C)Of the 33 peer-reviewed articles in the basic or discovery scholarship category, 25 (76 percent) are in journals on the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountan-cy faculty approved list of “premier” and “top-tier” journals. Of the 11 tenure-track and tenured faculty, two tenured faculty are in the business law area and as such do not produce basic or discovery scholarship in the field of accounting. Thus, the 33 peer-reviewed basic or discovery scholarship articles are contributed by nine faculty members over the five-year period. The table at right shows a listing of the 25 journal articles by journal, along with the number of articles in each journal, the journal “h-index,” and the journal “g-index.” (Notes on the h-index and g-index: A jour-nal has an h-index value of y if it has y publications that have been cited at least y times. Given a set of articles ranked in decreasing order of the number of citations that they received, the g-index is the (unique) largest number such that the top g articles received (together) at least g2 citations.)

The strength in accounting information systems research is apparent in the table at right, with 10 of the 25 articles appearing in Journal of Information Systems and International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, the two leading academic journals for AIS research. Faculty members have published multiple articles in the foremost academic journal in accounting—The Accounting Review, as well as in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, widely recognized as the top journal for auditing research. Leaders believe the five-year portfolio of intellectual contributions is of high quality.

Intellectual Contributions: Impact of Intellectual Contributions (Table A2-1, Part D)The research faculty in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accoun-tancy profiles on ResearchGate in 2015 (www.researchgate.net). The ResearchGate platform provides in-depth statistics on citations as well as the number of times a researcher’s articles have been read by other researchers. The website also reports an “RG score” for each researcher, which is “…[a] metric that measures scientific reputation based on how both your pub-lished research and contributions on ResearchGate are received by your peers” (https://explore.researchgate.net/ display/sup-port/Stats+and+Scores).

The table at right shows the RG score and percentile, the author h-index and g-index and the number of citations for the published articles by the faculty with significant research assignments.

In the Brigham Young University accounting research rankings, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy ranks No. 2 for AIS research (all years, out of 142 universities) and No. 52 for auditing research (all years, out of 334 universities).

The ResearchGate statistics and the BYU rankings indicate that the faculty in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy are producing intellec-tual contributions that are having an impact on the body of academic knowledge in accounting related fields.

TABLE 7Publications by Journal

Journal Number of articles

Journal h-index

Journal g-index

Journal of Information Systems 8 30 86

Advances in Accounting 5 16 50

Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 3 86 195

International Journal of Accounting Information Systems

2 45 110

Journal of Government and Non-Profit Accounting

2 8 6

The Accounting Review 2 153 385

Journal of the American Taxation Association

1 38 47

Accounting Horizons 1 56 178

Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance

1 17 133

TABLE 8Research Gate Statistics for Selected Faculty

Faculty member RG Score / Percentile

h-index Reads Citations

Murthy, Uday 20.80 / 72.5% 15 2054 665

Gaynor, Lisa 15.26 / 60% 8 2022 243

Reck, Jackie 11.57 / 50% 8 664 696

Wheeler, Pat 10.74 / 47.5% 10 708 295

Robinson, Dahlia 10.38 / 45% 6 843 304

Mellon, Mark 7.31 / 35% 3 466 19

Smith, Tom 6.30 / 30% 2 235 13

Andrews, Chris 4.53 / 22.5% 3 197 64

Dong, Bei 3.43 / 17.5% 1 162 1

Whitworth, James 2.19 / 7.5% 1 79 5

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5.1 STUDENT CHARACTERISTICSIn the 2016-2017 academ-ic year, there were 599 undergraduate student accounting majors and 125 Master of Accountancy majors. In 2012-2013 by comparison, the number of undergraduate students was 734 and the number of MAcc students was 127. In fall 2016, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy had six doctoral students in residence, of which two have defended their dissertation proposals and another two are all-but-dissertation (no new doctoral students started in fall 2016). Table 9 at right shows both number and stu-dent credit hours for under-graduate accounting students (declared accounting majors) and MAcc students from 2012-2013 to 2016-2017. Also shown is the number of doctoral students over the same time period.

Table 10 shows a compar-ison between 2012-2013 and 2016-2017 in terms of enrollment of juniors (3rd year), seniors and fifth year students, and graduate stu-dents, for the fall, spring, and summer terms.

Enrollment numbers shown in Table 11 suggest that the preferred path for students to obtain the 150 hours for CPA licensure is the “fifth year” option rather than the MAcc graduate program. This preference is evident in the “4th and 5th year” column numbers being more than double the “3rd year” numbers for 2012-2013 as well as for 2016-2017. It is likely that the GMAT requirement, the process of applying and the standards required for admission into the MAcc program individually or collectively represent a deterrent for a large number of accounting students, which explains the popularity of the “fifth year” option.

The trend in applicants and admits to the MAcc program is shown in Table 11. There has been some fluctuation in the number of applicants to the MAcc program, with the fall applications showing a marked increase since 2014. The number of enrolled students has also increased significantly in comparing fall 2017 to fall 2012.

TABLE 9Undergraduate and Graduate Headcount and Student Credit Hours, 2012-2017

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017Undergraduate Headcount 734 739 642 586 599

SCH 18,651 18,881 17,670 17,359 17,653

MAcc Headcount 127 122 129 132 125

SCH 2,827 2,256 2,115 2,320 2,823

PhD Headcount 8 7 7 7 6

TABLE 10Enrollment Trends by Semester and Student Level

2012-2013 2016-20173rd Year 4th & 5th

YearGraduate 3rd Year 4th & 5th

YearGraduate

Fall 154 469 85 142 330 99

Spring 121 438 67 139 346 76

Summer 85 387 61 107 268 65

TABLE 11MAcc Applications, Acceptances, Enrollment, and Degrees

Academic Year

No. of Applications

No. (%) Accepted

No. (%) Enrolled

No. of Degrees Awarded

Fall 2012 72 37 (51%) 28 (76%) N/A

Spring 2013 46 28 (61%) 17 (61%) 11

Fall 2013 82 54 (66%) 36 (67%) 19

Spring 2014 61 26 (43%) 18 (69%) 13

Fall 2014 75 43 (57%) 26 (60%) 19

Spring 2015 51 25 (49%) 19 (76%) 18

Fall 2015 93 52 (56%) 37 (71%) 24

Spring 2016 58 20 (34%) 13 (65%) 24

Fall 2016 91 51 (56%) 39 (76%) 24

Spring 2017 36 12 (33%) 10 (83%) 19

Fall 2017 100 54 (54%) 42 (79%) 18 (applied)

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Going forward, it will be important for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy to improve enrollments in both the undergraduate program and the MAcc program. A recent change made in the undergraduate program was to eliminate the entrance exam and offer students greater flexibility in the courses they take in their first semester in the major. These changes have already impacted undergraduate enrollments. The spring 2017 enrollments in Intermediate Accounting I were 35 percent higher than the spring 2016 enrollments. For the MAcc program, the popularity of the “fifth year” option is the most likely reason for limited growth in the MAcc program. In fall 2017, faculty voted to waive the GMAT for our own undergraduate majors with a minimum GPA of 3.3. The school also revamped the MAcc curriculum by replacing one of the core courses with a new course, Innovation and Analytics in Accounting, and offering a “corporate” concentration. Leaders believe these changes will be well-received by the target market for the MAcc program.

5.2 FACULTY CHARACTERISTICSAs of fall 2017, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has 19 full-time faculty members. Table 12 shows the breakdown of faculty by rank between 2012 and 2017. The trend most apparent in Table 12 is the increasing strength of non-tenure track instructors and the decrease in the number of assistant professors. It is also worth noting that of the three full professors, two are in administration (Murthy serving as director and Reck serving as associate dean).

One full professor will retire in 2017-18 and one assistant professor has resigned. In addition to two replacement faculty hires we have been authorized to hire a third tenured/tenure-track faculty member. Assuming that the search for a new director of the school and the searches for three tenured/tenure-track faculty are all successful, we will have four new tenured and tenure-track faculty members beginning in fall 2018.

5.3 FACULTY MANAGEMENT POLICIESCommittee StructureThe director of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy and faculty committees work together to implement the plans and programs necessary to accomplish the goals of the school. The Policy Manual document outlines all established policies of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. This document underwent a major revision in April 2016, following a thorough review by “Committee A.” The current version of this document is included as Appendix 6 to this report.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has three annually elected standing committees: (1) Promotion and Tenure, (2), Committee A and (3) Faculty Fund Committee.

Promotion and Tenure Committee: All tenured faculty members serve on this committee. In effect, this committee is a “committee of the whole.” The purpose of the Promotion and Tenure Committee is to provide a school level review and recommendation on all Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty who are up for third-year review, promotion and tenure. A tenured faculty member on the Promotion and Tenure Committee can only vote on candidates seeking tenure/promotion to that faculty member’s rank or lower (i.e., an associate professor cannot vote on promotion to full professor).

Committee A: This committee consists of five members in tenured or tenure-earning positions. Committee A is a resource that can be used by individual faculty members and the director of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. Individuals may call upon Committee A for advice, for the resolution of disputes and for personal peer review. Committee A has an advisory function and may not overrule the decisions of the Direc-tor or other committees of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. Committee A annually reviews the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountan-cy Policy Statement and prepares the summer rotation schedule (that determines who has priority for summer teaching, in the event there is limited funding for summer teaching). Committee A is used on an ad hoc basis for other matters, as previously described.

Faculty Fund Committee: The Faculty Fund Committee consists of three elected faculty. The function of the committee is to ensure equitable distribution of donated discretionary funds to encourage faculty development, teaching, research, service and other objectives of

TABLE 12Full-Time Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Faculty

Fall 2012 through Fall 2017

Rank Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Fall 2017Full Professors 3 3 3 3 3 3

Associate Professors 5 5 5 5 5 5

Assistant Professors 5 4 3 3 3 3

Instructor/Lecturers 4 6 7 8 8 8

Totals 17 18 18 19 19 19

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the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. The committee annually determines travel reimbursement policies and approves travel prior to the occurrence of the travel.

The director also appoints a Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Curriculum Committee, Quality Improvement Process Committees, Scholar-ship Committee, MAcc Committee, PhD Committee and other committees as needed. A detailed description of these committees is contained in the “Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Policy Statements” included in the appendices.

Recruiting ProcessFollowing retirements and resignations, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy added five new faculty members during 2014 and 2015. Table 13 lists faculty we have hired in the past five years.

As noted earlier, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has been authorized to hire three new tenured/tenure-track faculty members to begin in fall 2018. The faculty recruiting process begins with the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director developing a detailed search plan, which must be approved by the dean of the Muma College of Business. Detailed in the search plan are the recruiting committee chair, the committee members (who are selected on the basis of the functional expertise we are hiring for), the time frame and the minimum qualifications for the job. The search com-mittee screens vitae, identifies candidates of interest, conducts Skype interviews with selected candidates, and recommends finalists for campus interviews. The dean and the school director jointly decide which candidates to bring to campus for on-campus interviews. These candidates visit campus and meet with the faculty, the director and dean, and present a research workshop. All faculty may provide written input to the search committee. The search committee considers the faculty input and provides an unranked list of acceptable candidates, with the strengths and weaknesses of each, to the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director. From the list of acceptable candidates, the director and dean jointly decide to whom offers will be extended.

Orientation ProcessNew faculty members go through an extensive two-day orientation at the university level. This orientation session introduces new faculty to university procedures, including human resources, library resources, and the university history.

In addition to the university orientation, new faculty members meet with the director at the beginning of the academic year for an orientation specific to the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. A formal orientation process is followed, and new hires are given a copy of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy policy manual. The director discusses resources available to faculty, and all formal policies such as summer rotation, office hours, the process to follow when classes cannot meet, make-up exams, promotion and tenure standards, service expectations, outside employment, assigned duties, QIP administration, and selection of teaching and research mentors. New faculty members select those they want as their teaching mentor and research mentor. These are normally experienced faculty in the same area of teaching and research as the new hire. The script followed in the meeting is included in Appendix 7 of this report.

TABLE 13Full-Time Permanent Faculty Hires, 2012-2017

Year Faculty Hired Highest Degree / From

Rank Area of Specialty

2013 Katherine Davis MAcc / Florida State University

Instructor AIS, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting

2013 Kristine Del Vecchio MAcc / University of South Florida

Instructor Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting

2014 Heather Lively MAcc / University of South Florida

Instructor Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Auditing

2014 Christine Andrews DBA / Cleveland State University

Instructor Financial/Cost/ Managerial/Sys-tems

2014 James Whitworth PhD / University of Missouri

Assistant Professor

Audit/Financial

2014 Thomas Smith PhD / Florida State University

Assistant Professor

Financial

2015 Kerry Myers JD / University of Missouri

Instructor Business Law/Forensic Accounting

2015 Luke Richardson MAcc (Tax) / University of South Florida

Instructor Tax

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Promotion and Tenure ProcessThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy abides by the Muma College of Business guidelines for promotion and tenure. The guidelines for faculty going up for tenure until June 4, 2018 are available at http://www.usf.edu/business/documents/about/tenure-promotion.pdf. The college tenure and promotion criteria were revised in 2015. Faculty going up for tenure on or after June 5, 2018 will be subject to the new guidelines available at http://www.usf.edu/business/documents/about/tenure-promotion-new.pdf. Under the guidelines in effect until June 4, 2018, an untenured faculty member must receive an “outstanding” rating in research in order to be promoted and tenured; the previous standard called for an “outstanding” rating in either teaching or research, with at least a “strong” rating in the other category. This change was prompted by the need to raise research standards in the Muma College of Business to be consistent with the university’s aspiration towards membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

Newly hired untenured assistant professors develop goals and objectives at the start of their first year. At the end of the first year, and at the end of each subsequent year, these individuals prepare self-evaluations on their progress toward meeting their goals. All faculty are evaluated annually by the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director. For untenured tenure-track faculty, the evaluation focuses primarily on progress toward tenure. Faculty are given formal written evaluations for each of the three categories of performance: research, teaching and service.

Untenured assistant professors are required to undergo a formal third-year review process. In the past, this process was conducted at the beginning of the fourth year. However, the process is now conducted at the end of the third year of the tenure clock (this will move to the end of the fourth year under the new Promotion and Tenure guidelines). The process begins with the faculty member creating a portfolio documenting his/her research, teaching and service accomplishments. The third-year review application packet mirrors the promotion and tenure packet, with the exception that letters from outside evaluators are not required and the process ends at the college level. The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Promotion & Tenure committee meets to evaluate the applicant’s performance. A rating is assigned for each of the three perfor-mance categories (research, teaching and service), as well as an overall rating. The committee’s evaluation includes an overall assessment of whether the candidate is making satisfactory progress toward tenure. Publications in journals in the “premier” and “top-tier” categories on the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy journal list provide the best evidence of satisfactory progress toward tenure. Working papers with a “revise and resubmit” status at premier and top-tier journals would also provide evidence of acceptable progress toward tenure.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director independently evaluates candidates for third-year review and for promotion and tenure. The director’s evaluation includes an assessment of the candidate’s performance in research, teaching, service and an overall rating. The director also assesses the degree to which the candidate has made progress toward tenure and promotion. The application is then evaluated at the col-lege level by the Muma College of Business Promotion and Tenure Committee, which performs its own evaluation following the same process. The application goes to the dean, who makes the final decision on retention.

At the beginning of the sixth year of service (seventh year under the new Promotion and Tenure guidelines), assistant professors come up for promotion to associate professor and tenure. An identical process is followed as that of the third-year review, with the exception that the applicant must obtain three-five external letters from respected full professors in his/her field of research who can comment on the quality of the applicant’s scholarship. The applicant supplies six to eight names of respected researchers in his/her field, and the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy director consults with the Muma College of Business dean to select the individuals from whom external letters will be solicited. Additionally, under the current guidelines, the entire Muma College of Business conducts a promotion and tenure meeting at which all tenured professors who have not previously voted are eligible to vote on the candidate’s application.

For a successful promotion and tenure review outcome, publication in high-quality peer-reviewed research journals is essential. The current Muma College of Business Promotion and Tenure document states:

Promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor requires:

1. Outstanding performance in research, 2. At least strong performance in teaching, and 3. Acceptable service contributions.

Outstanding performance in research can be demonstrated by publishing in academic journals in the candidate’s field that are widely recognized as being top ranked. Outstanding performance in research can also be demonstrated by publications in other respected academic outlets that constitute a focused program of research achievement. It is the responsibility of the candidate to present compelling evidence that one of the above criteria for outstanding performance in research has been met and that the candidate is achieving a national reputation for research contributions.

Current standards for promotion and tenure do not specifically indicate the number and quality of publications required for an “outstanding”

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rating in research. As indicated in the above extract from the Muma College of Business tenure and promotion document, the standard simply calls for publications in top ranked journals. In accounting, the interpretation of this standard is that the candidate should have at least one pub-lication in one of the top six accounting journals (The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting & Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting, Organisations & Society, and Review of Accounting Studies). The wording above, however, does provide a second path to obtaining the “outstanding” rating in research if a candidate has not published in a top ranked journal. The burden of proof falls on the candidate to establish that he/she has published in “respected academic outlets that constitute a focused program of research achievement” and that the candidate is “…achieving a national reputation for research contributions.”

Faculty Retention and DevelopmentIn the past five years, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has had a number of faculty departures for reasons of retirement, voluntary moves to other universities and non-renewals. These departures are catalogued in Table 14.

Most of the resignations and moves to other institutions were voluntary. The one retirement was pursuant to the faculty member enrolling in the state of Florida’s “Deferred Retirement Option Program,” which provides attractive financial incentives to retire voluntarily upon reaching retirement age, subject to a minimum number of years of service.

In an effort to maximize the time junior untenured faculty can spend on research, they are provided with teaching loads of two courses per semester (2/2) with minimal teaching preparations. They are also provided with summer funding for the first three years so that the summers can be devoted to research. Service commitments are minimal in the first year of employment, consisting only of curriculum-based service (QIP teams for example). Beginning in the second year of employment, the faculty member is expected to serve on departmental and/or college committees as needed. However, the director attempts to minimize the service commitments as much as possible until the faculty member gains tenure.

Tenured associate professors continue on 2/2 teaching loads so long as they remain research active. The college instituted a faculty as-signment policy in the spring semester of 2016, whereby tenured faculty who do not have a sufficient number of scholarly publications in peer-reviewed journals are subject to an increase in their teaching assignment. While tenured professors are expected to teach upper-level accounting courses, including doctoral seminars, every effort is made to keep the number of new teaching preparations to a minimum so they can continue to publish in high quality journals as necessary to be promoted to the rank of full professor. Both associate and full professors are expected to serve on and chair doctoral dissertation committees. Currently, two full professors (Murthy, Reck) and three associate profes-sors (Gaynor, Robinson, Wheeler) and two assistant professors (Smith, Whitworth) have served as chairs or co-chairs on doctoral dissertation committees.

Faculty SupportThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy provides significant support for development of faculty, including:

▶ Newly hired tenure-track faculty are paid salaries commensurate with the 75th percentile of AACSB for a Research I institution. ▶ Newly hired faculty receive three summers of pay at $20,000 per summer. ▶ Newly hired faculty receive a new desktop computer plus a $3,500 start-up fund from which they may purchase anything needed to

support the faculty member’s teaching and research needs (for example, laptop computer, data, subscriptions, books, etc.). ▶ Through its subscriptions, the university library provides excellent research resources, including WRDS which provides access to

Compustat, CRSP, IBES, Audit Analytics, and other research databases. USF currently subscribes to the Seek Edgar system developed by Professor Raj Srivastava at Kansas.

TABLE 14Full-Time Permanent Faculty Retirements/Resignations, 2012-2013 to 2016-2017

Year Faculty Member Rank Specialties Reason2012-13 Randy Kuhn Assistant Professor AIS/Audit Resigned; moved to another institution

2013-14 Ildiko Toth Instructor Tax Resigned; moved to another institution

2013-14 Celina Jozsi Instructor Financial/Managerial Retired

2013-14 Ryan Huston Assistant Professor Tax Resigned; moved to another institution

2013-14 Janet Huston McDonald

Assistant Professor Financial Non-renewed at third-year review; moved to another institution

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▶ The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy provides excellent travel support to all research-active faculty. Faculty presenting a paper at the AAA annual meeting and/or a AAA section meeting have all reasonable expenses paid. If a faculty member is not on the program, the faculty member may still receive up to $1,200 travel support to attend both the annual meeting and a mid-year meeting. Additional meetings may be funded in some circumstances.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy pays journal submission fees, membership dues for professional and academic organizations, and the cost of some continuing professional education.Instructors also receive a travel allowance for travel to professional conferences as may be required to obtain continuing professional education hours and/or to maintain status as an “instructional practitioner” for AACSB classification purposes. Additionally, they receive an annual CPE allotment of $400 and dues allotment of $500, identical to tenured and tenure-earning faculty.

Faculty QualificationsThe Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy adopts the same definition for Scholarly Academic (SA), Practice Academic (PA), Scholarly Practitioner (SP) and Instructional Practitioner (IP) as the Muma College of Business. As with all Muma College of Business faculty, the initial status for Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy faculty is achieved based on academic preparation and maintained by engaging in various activities including but not limited to publishing in peer-reviewed journals, consulting, delivering and participating in continuing professional

education activities and other defined activities. The college guidelines for classifying faculty as SA, PA, SP or IP follow.

Scholarly Academic (SA) – for a faculty member to be considered SA over a five-year period he/she must:

▶ Publish one premier journal article (or equivalent) or be awarded a federal compet-itive research grant plus publish one other article or

▶ Publish two top-tier journal articles (or equivalent) or research monographs or a combination of the two or

▶ Publish three articles in research-based peer-reviewed journals that are not included in the premier or top-tier journal list.

▶ The faculty member must also provide other evidence of scholarship – this includes activities such as journal editorships, editorial

committee memberships, leadership positions in recognized academic organizations, research awards other than federal competitive grants, fellow status, serving as an ad hoc reviewer, published peer-reviewed proceedings, peer-reviewed presentations at conferences.

Practice Academic (PA) – for a faculty member to be considered PA he/she must meet at least one of the following criteria over a five-year period:

▶ Three publications that can include any combination of peer-reviewed publications, case studies, pedagogical articles, textbooks, monographs, peer-reviewed proceedings.

▶ Substantive and multiple linkages to practice that may include consulting, professional experience and other engagement activities (developing and presenting executive education, sustained professional work, developing and delivering professional education, sustained service on boards of directors, etc.)

▶ Alternatively, qualification can be met by partially meeting a combination of the prior two bullet requirements.

Scholarly Practitioner (SP) – for a faculty member to be considered SP he/she must meet the following criteria over a five-year period: ▶ Any of the publishing criteria outlined in the first three bullets for

the Scholarly Academic, or substantive and multiple publications in peer-reviewed pedagogical, practitioner or discipline-based journals or proceedings.

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Instructional Practitioner (IP) – for a faculty member to be considered IP he/she must meet the following criteria over a five year period:: ▶ Substantive and multiple linkages to practice that may include consulting, professional development, professional experience and other

engagement activities (developing and presenting executive education; sustained professional work; developing and delivering profes-sional education; editing or writing textbooks and/or cases; sustained service on boards of directors, etc.)

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy portions of AACSB Tables 15-1 and 15-2 (equivalent to Accountancy tables A9-1 and A9-2), which summarize faculty qualifications, are included in Appendix 5. As indicated in AACSB Table 15-1, 10 of the 19 full-time faculty in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy are classified as “scholarly academic,” five are classified as “practice academic,” one is classified as “scholarly practitioner,” and the remaining three are classified as “instructional practitioner.” As shown in AACSB Table 15-1, including teaching by adjunct and visiting faculty, the school’s scholarly academic ratio is 52 percent, which is above the 50 percent benchmark set by the college and well above the 40 percent minimum required by AACSB. Its percentage of teaching by faculty qualified as scholarly academic, practice academic, and scholarly practitioner is 81 percent, which is above the college benchmark of 80 percent and well above the AACSB minimum of 60 percent. Finally, its percentage of teaching by faculty qualified as scholarly academic, practice academic, scholarly practitioner, or instructional practitioner is at 100 percent, which is at the maximum level possible. No instructional faculty member in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, participating or supporting, is classified as “other.”

Faculty SufficiencyAccording to AACSB standards, at least 60 percent of the faculty must be “participating” faculty, meaning that they have a commitment beyond teaching. The Muma College of Business aims for 75 percent of faculty to be participating members.

Participating Faculty: A participating faculty member actively engages in the activities of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy in matters beyond direct teaching responsibilities. Examples include policy decisions, setting educational direction, advising, research, and service commitments. The faculty member may participate in the governance and be eligible to serve on committees that engage in academic policy-making and/or other decisions. S/he may engage in non-class activities such as directing extracurricular activity, provide academic and career advising, and represent the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy on institutional committees and may be eligible for, and participate in, faculty development activities and non-teaching assignments. According to Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy policy, only full-time faculty members (at all levels), doctoral students, and emeritus professors as adjunct instructors can be considered participating faculty.

Supporting Faculty: A supporting faculty member does not participate in the intellectual or operational life of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy beyond the direct performance of teaching responsibilities. A supporting faculty member does not have deliberative or involve-ment rights on faculty issues or have membership on faculty committees, nor is the individual assigned responsibilities beyond direct teaching functions (i.e., classroom and office hours). A supporting faculty member’s appointment is usually limited to teaching responsibilities and is normally an ad hoc appointment, for one term or one academic year at a time without the expectation of continuation.

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The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy portion of AACSB Table 15-1 (equivalent to Table A9-1), included in Appendix 5, provides evidence of faculty sufficiency within the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. The participating to supporting ratio for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy is 95 percent, which is well above the 75 percent benchmark for the Muma College of Business and the AACSB benchmark of 60 percent.

6.1 CURRICULA DEVELOPMENTThere have not been any significant curricular changes in the undergraduate, master’s or doctoral programs since the last accreditation review. However, minor changes to individual courses in both the undergraduate and master’s programs are made on an annual basis following our “quality improvement process” meeting held every spring semester. These changes are made by faculty pursuant to a discussion of assessment results with other members of the QIP team by course or program area. In addition, individual faculty members update their courses every year to ensure currency of content given the significant changes affecting the profession of accountancy.

Since the last accreditation visit, a significant curricular development in the MAcc program is the addition of a forensic accounting course. This course is taught by Kerry Myers, who was hired in 2015. In the undergraduate program, given recent faculty hires, the school has offered a course after a hiatus of many years — ACG 3074, Managerial Accounting for Non-Business Majors — as an online course. The other curricular development is the increase in the number of online courses offered by the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. Currently, the school offers three undergraduate courses online (Principles of Managerial Accounting, Business Law, Managerial Accounting for Non-Business Majors) and six graduate courses online (Law and the Accountant; Risk Management and Legal Compliance; Analytics in Accounting; Accounting Systems Audit, Control & Security; Financial and Managerial Accounting for MBAs; and Forensic Accounting and the Legal Environment).

The approach to addressing AACSB Standard A7 on data analytics has been to add a learning goal specifically addressing data analytics skills in both the undergraduate and the master’s programs. Both programs have a new learning goal titled “Data Analytics Skills.” Details of the assessment procedure and outcomes relating to this new learning goal for the 2016-2017 academic year may be found in Appendix 9.

6.2 ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND PROCEDURESThis section provides a brief statement of the learning objectives for each of the three degree programs offered by the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy (i.e., Baccalaureate, Master of Accountancy (MAcc), and PhD with a concentration in Accounting). All three programs are assessed annually during an all-day Quality Improvement Process (QIP) session held in the spring semester. In addition, this section provides a list of assessment tools and procedures that are being utilized, the most recent outcomes from those assessments and a brief description of how the information from the outcome assessments affects program offerings. The information will demonstrate “assurance of learning” for each of the three degree programs, including the “closing the loop” process.

Quality Improvement ProcessSeveral faculty committees are primarily responsible for monitoring and assessing the three degree programs offered by the school. The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy Undergraduate Curriculum, MAcc and PhD Committees evaluate each of the respective programs. As indicat-ed above, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy uses a formal Quality Improvement Process to assure the highest quality educational expe-rience for its students. During the annual day-long QIP session, teams for each functional area (e.g., auditing, tax, financial) and degree program meet to exchange ideas for improving the content and pedagogy of the courses, review and discuss assessment results, discuss curriculum changes necessary to address areas of deficiency (if any), and assess the appropriateness of the content and pedagogy used during the past year. Findings and recommendations are summarized for each group; the information is used to revise the subsequent year’s assessment plan. One faculty member serves as assessment coordinator; the current coordinator is Kristine Del Vecchio. An annual memo summarizes the results of QIP for the director so continuing improvement efforts can be taken. The coordinator is also the liaison with the USF Office of Institutional Effectiveness, responsible for the assurance of learning reporting for SACSCOC and Florida Board of Governors.

Undergraduate Program The program objectives and related learning objectives for the baccalaureate degree program in accounting follow the goals and related objec-tives established by the Muma College of Business faculty through the Undergraduate Program Committee.

Program ObjectivesA four-year degree with a major in accounting prepares graduates to enter the accounting profession in a variety of industry, not-for-profit, gov-ernmental, and public accounting positions in which professional competence, team building, oral and written communication skills, analytical ability and information technology proficiency are essential to the performance of job-related tasks. The baccalaureate program also prepares students for entry into the Master of Accountancy and other advanced professional degree programs.

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Learning Objectives

Goal 1: Discipline-Specific Knowledge and Skills ▶ LO1. Students will demonstrate the ability

to understand and use the tools and tech-niques addressed in accounting core courses.

▶ LO 2. Students will demonstrate the ability to understand and apply generally accepted accounting principles to the measurement and reporting of income and financial posi-tion for business enterprises.

▶ LO 3. Students will have the ability to understand and apply the basic concepts of gross income, taxable income, allowable deductions, tax credits, and asset basis as they relate to individual income taxation embodied in the United States income tax system.

▶ LO 4. Students will have an understanding of the principles and operation of well-con-trolled information systems in a variety of technological environments, with added emphasis on the collection, processing, and reporting of accounting information.

▶ LO 5. Students will demonstrate the ability to develop information and processes to enable managers to estimate the costs of products and services a business entity pro-vides, to make routine and strategic resource allocation decisions, and to evaluate the performance of individuals and organizations.

▶ LO 6. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the independent financial statement auditing function and the profes-sional responsibilities of external auditors and public accounting firms.

Goal 2: Critical Thinking Skills ▶ LO 1. Students will demonstrate critical

thinking and analytical skills, including the ability to analyze an unstructured case, identify the relevant issues, research the pro-fessional literature, and prepare a well-struc-tured written recommendation.

Goal 3: Communication Skills ▶ LO 1. Students will demonstrate the ability

to write at college level, to write with clarity and to use standard English grammar and punctuation. In addition, students will be able to develop and support conclusions and recommendations in writing.

Goal 4: Data Analytics Skills

▶ LO 1. Students will demonstrate the ability to use data analytics tools effectively.

Assessment

TABLE 15

Assurance of Learning Summary: Undergraduate Program

Goal 1: Discipline-Specific KnowledgeOverall, we cover the learning outcomes related to discipline specific knowledge thoroughly by subject area. The six learning outcomes represent the required courses in the undergraduate accounting major. • Over the past five-year period, faculty have continually raised the bar for our

performance targets. For principles level courses, the performance target has been raised from 60 percent to 70 percent. Faculty aligned adjunct assessments with full-time faculty teaching principles level courses.

• Likewise, the financial accounting curriculum assessment that occurs in both Intermediate I and Intermediate II has raised the performance target from 60 percent to 70 percent. The quality of questions (degree of difficulty) has increased to assess more than superficial understanding of key concepts. Each year, when assessment shows weak areas of understanding, faculty have used this information to better structure content delivery in subsequent semesters.

• For Intermediate I, faculty implemented several student-success initiatives designed to improve the learning outcomes for this key course such as addi-tional tutoring, extra practice sessions and more frequent review of concepts. The faculty also allowed more flexibility in assessment by letting individual instructors capture assessment of learning throughout the semester instead of just at the end of the semester.

• In Intermediate II, more emphasis is placed on comprehensive review of key accounting concepts.

• The assessment of the learning outcome related to our core tax course has been updated to incorporate revised course learning outcomes. Faculty looks to see improvement in the results reflecting greater emphasis on retention of learning techniques, including more distributive practice for students.

• Where the results of the assessment of learning were less than expectations (certain conceptual questions in tax, audit, cost accounting) faculty uses the QIP process to bring these weak areas to the attention of all instructors teaching.

Goal 2: Critical Thinking SkillsThis learning outcome is assessed through an unstructured case assignment in Intermediate I. Results of assessment indicate we are meeting our performance target. Faculty’s use of assessment results for program improvement includes im-plementing better assessment procedures. Faculty have revised a common rubric to use for assessing results and has implemented the use of a second reviewer to address inter-rater reliability.

Goal 3: Communication SkillsWritten communication skills are assessed through a writing assignment in Intermediate II. Moving the assignment from ACG 3401 Accounting Information Systems to ACG 3113 Intermediate II is an example of a change that was made through the QIP process to better manage assessment of learning. Over the last five years, this area has shown improvement. Faculty have also used the results of assessment to revise and streamline the interaction with the Business Commu-nications Center (BizComm) so the student experience is value added.

Goal 4: Data AnalyticsThis goal was added in the most recent assessment period to assess students’ ability to use data analytics tools effectively. The results are acceptable for the first year. Faculty will use this initial data to refine the assessment process to yield more meaningful information about incorporating analytics into the under-graduate curriculum.

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The complete 2016-2017 assessment report for the undergraduate degree program is provided in Appendix 9. The overall analysis at the conclu-sion of the assurance of learning process is summarized in Table 15.

Master of Accountancy ProgramStudents who have the equivalent of an undergraduate major in accounting at USF (including 21-24 credit hours of upper-level accounting coursework taken within the last five years from an institution with AACSB accreditation), are required to complete 30 credit hours of course-work. The majority of the coursework (24 credit hours) is devoted to the study of accounting. The remaining six credit hours consist of study in other areas of business, including management, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance and business analytics and information systems. These are selected by the student in consultation with the MAcc program advisor. At least 70 percent of the coursework must be at the 6000 level.

The MAcc curriculum has a set of two required, common-core accounting courses. Students may elect a concentration in either tax or audit/sys-tems (12 credit hours of coursework). If students do not wish to select a concentration, they default to the “generalist” degree (i.e., no concen-tration). The sequencing of courses in this track will be determined in consultation with the MAcc advisor.

Courses are offered in all semesters, including the summer semester. While the program may be completed in one year, many MAcc students do a spring internship for a local accounting firm. Thus, the full-time student completes the MAcc program, on average, within 12-18 months.

Program ObjectivesThe goal of the MAcc Program is to provide candidates with greater breadth and depth of knowledge in accountancy than is possible in the baccalaureate program. Emphasizing theoretical knowledge, analytical skills, information technology proficiency and research methodology in solving business problems, the MAcc program is designed to meet the needs of students seeking employment in private corporations, govern-ment and non-profit organizations, and public accounting firms. The MAcc program builds upon an undergraduate accounting degree, by further developing students’ technical accounting skills, emphasizing ethical awareness, oral and written communication skills, team building and integrative skills necessary to advance to positions of increasing responsibility within their chosen career path. The MAcc program may also be structured to satisfy the requirements to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination in Florida.

Learning Objectives

Goal 1: Discipline-Specific Knowledge and Skills ▶ LO1. Students will demonstrate a comprehensive mastery of technical accounting knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge

across functional accounting areas.

Goal 2: Communication Skills ▶ LO 1. Students will demonstrate effective oral communication skills. ▶ LO 2 . Students will demonstrate effective written communication skills.

Goal 3: Ethical Awareness ▶ LO 1. Students will demonstrate ethical awareness including the ability to identify an ethical issue or dilemma, the ability to discuss the-

ories and ethical canons, the ability to discuss alternative courses of action, and the ability to recommend an appropriate course of action based on theories and the accountants’ code of professional ethics.

Goal 4: Data Analytics Skills ▶ LO 1 Students will demonstrate knowledge related to the integration of information technology in accounting and business.

Assessment

The complete 2016-2017 assessment report for the Master of Accountancy program is provided in Appendix 9. The overall analysis at the conclusion of the assurance of learning process is summarized below.

The assessment results indicate that program objectives are generally being met in the Master of Accountancy program. Over the past five years, the assessment methods have been updated to provide better coverage of learning outcomes based on course content. Some specific examples of continuous improvement to the MAcc program based on results of assessment are:

▶ The method of assessment for the written communication objective has been revised to include multiple assessment points across the course and assess a separate written assignment instead of an exam question.

▶ The assessment of oral communication skills now includes second reviewers and there is an additional review of inter-rater reliability

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with assessment results.

Second reviewers are now being used along with common rubrics for assessment of the ethics case and written communications.

Doctoral ProgramThe Muma College of Business began offering a PhD in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting in 1989. The first Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy PhD graduate was in 1992, and the program has granted 38 doctorates since then.

Students in the PhD program with an accountancy concentration develop mastery of one or more specialized areas of accounting: accounting information systems, auditing, and managerial or financial accounting. The program prepares graduates for careers as university professors and research professionals in corporate, nonprofit, and public institutions.

The school limits PhD enrollment, admitting, on average, only two students per year. This allows doctoral candidates to work closely with faculty members while pursuing their degrees and gaining valuable experience in research and teaching.

In Public Accounting Report’s 27th Annual Professor’s Survey, the accounting program at the University of South Florida was ranked in the top 25. Recent articles in Issues in Accounting Education indicate that over the last 20 years, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy ranked sev-enth in AIS based on faculty publications, and over the last six years, it ranked second based on alumni publications. Over the last three years, Issues in Accounting Education also ranked us 30th in experimental research based on faculty publications and 14th for alumni publications. Our rankings reflect both the dedication of our faculty to doctoral education and the productivity of our alumni.

Program Objectives

The PhD in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting prepares graduates for academic positions at colleges and universities at which research is a key element of a successful career. The program creates an environment for intellectual growth. Students work closely with faculty in seminars, on research projects, and other assignments designed to develop the skills necessary to engage in productive research of the complex issues that characterize the global financial environment. The program also emphasizes the development of effective teaching and platform skills through coursework, mentoring, and supervised classroom experiences.

Learning Objectives

Goal 1: Discipline-Specific Knowledge and Skills ▶ LO1. Students will demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the area of specialization.

Goal 2: Research ▶ LO1. Students will demonstrate research skills that will enable them to make significant contributions to the discipline’s literature.

Goal 3: Teaching ▶ LO1. Students will demonstrate teaching skills appropriate for higher education.

AssessmentThe complete 2016-2017 assessment report for the doctoral program is provided in Appendix 9. The overall analysis at the conclusion of the assurance of learning process is summarized below.

Overall, assessment results indicate that program objectives are being met in the doctoral program. Current assessments methods will be continued. Objectives in the PhD program are being met with students succeeding on comprehensive exams, first year paper, and dissertation defense. Two students earned the PhD degree in 2013, one in 2014, two in 2015, two in 2016 and two in 2017. Individual ALC reports are available for earlier assessment cycles of the PhD program.

A new rubric for the comprehensive exams was developed to help refine the assessment process and serve to communicate expectations to students. To improve the results and consistency on comprehensive exam performance, faculty makes it clearer to the students what is expected of them for their comprehensive exams and has increased emphasis on comprehensive exam expectations during the doctoral seminars. The faculty has also developed a more rigorous and defined process and schedule for the first and second year papers. There is increased emphasis on communications with the students during the lead up to the paper presentations. Also, a formalized checklist for first- and second-year papers was developed.

As indicated in the situational analysis, the school has had limited success in placing PhD graduates at doctoral granting institutions or at peer institutions. One of its most recent placements is at a doctoral granting institution (University of North Texas). A number

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of graduates have been placed at respected nationally known universities (e.g., Auburn University, Lehigh University). The full list of doctoral student placements since inception of the PhD program is available in Appendix 10. As one measure of the quality of the program, graduates have had their research published in top journals (e.g., The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting, Organisations & Society, Journal of Information Systems, Behavioral Research in Accounting). Current third and fourth year doctoral students have multiple working papers co-authored with faculty. Leaders anticipate that such faculty-doctoral student co-authorships will increase student publication success before graduation, thereby increasing the likelihood of placement at respected doctoral granting institutions.

External Review

In the fall of 2015, the college solicited an external review of the doctoral program, including the concentration in accounting. The accountancy doctoral program was reviewed by Dan Stone of the University of Kentucky and William (Bill) Cready of the University of Texas at Dallas. During a two-day visit, they met with members of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy doctoral committee, current doctoral students, and Dean Moez Limayem. They submitted a report containing several recommendations regarding doctoral student placements, recruiting of qualified students to the program and the structure of the doctoral program. Some of their key recommendations were to set realistic goals for student placement, entice our own MAcc graduates to apply to the program after gaining sufficient work experience, improve marketing of the program including its AIS niche, increasing doctoral stipends, increase faculty-doctoral student collaborative work and to seek synergies with the new DBA program in the college. The doctoral committee has considered these recommendations and has implemented a number of them.

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The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy at the University of South Florida has high-quality undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs. Its faculty members are dedicated to student success and most tenure-track faculty are active researchers having made recent contributions to knowledge. It is widely recognized as having the best Beta Alpha Psi chapter in the world. In the Brigham Young University Accounting Research Rankings, USF is ranked second in the accounting information systems area. Its faculty members continue to publish in premier and top-tier academic accounting journals. The CPA exam pass rate of its graduates is well above the national average. Its graduates are sought after by international and regional public accounting firms, as well as by employers in industry and not-for-profit institutions.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy fares well relative to the AACSB continuous improvement criteria. Its faculty has collectively produced 33 peer-reviewed journal articles over the five-year accreditation period, resulting in over 50 percent of instruction being delivered by faculty who are classified as scholarly academics. Including adjunct faculty, 100 percent of instruction is delivered by faculty who are schol-arly academics, practice academics, scholarly practitioners, or instructional practitioners. Regarding faculty sufficiency, our participating to supporting ratio is 95 percent, which is well above the Muma College of Business goal of 75 percent and the AACSB benchmark of 60 percent. Regarding assurance of learning, the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has a robust quality improvement process in place, conducted annually, to measure learning outcomes, assess performance relative to benchmarks, and to make adjustments where necessary to close the loop. Its strategic planning process has also been systematized and is well-aligned with the college’s and university’s mission. Overall, the school provides a vibrant and high-quality accounting program, of which all stakeholders can be proud.

The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy is committed to continuous improvement. It has recently engaged in a significant revamping of the Master of Accountancy program. Leveraging its strength in accounting information systems, the school is infusing data analytics into both the undergraduate and the master’s programs. It continues to strengthen the already strong bidirectional links between research and teaching, teaching and practice and research and practice. The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy will continue to play a pivotal role in fulfilling the mission of the USF Muma College of Business to transform minds and transform business.

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