Accounting department rankings on the rise
Virginia Tech’s accounting and information systems department may soon be giving the school’s flagship college of engineering a run for its money.
For several years now, the department’s Canada Goose Online ranking in national polls has increased. This year Public Accounting Report (PAR) ranked the ACIS Department No. 17 in the nation among large undergraduate departments, giving the department one more number to https://www.bamschaatsteam.nl smile about.
”We uk canada goose outlet are definitely not disappointed (with the rankings),” said Reza Barkhi, professor and ACIS department head. ”While we are not focused canada goose outlet in usa canada goose clearance on improving rankings, we are doing the right things that manifest into improved rankings, and I think that is important.”
In 2013, PAR’s annual canada goose outlet parka Accounting Professors Survey ranked the ACIS undergraduate program No. 25 in the nation for accounting departments with 22 or more full time faculty members. Since then, its ranking has improved to No. 21 in 2014 and finally to No. 17 in the most recent edition. The department’s master’s degree program also improved from missing the rankings in 2013 to No. 18 among large schools in 2015.
The rankings reflect the success of recent graduates. Ninety two percent of ACIS alumni find employment or enter graduate school within six months of receiving their diplomas. canada goose outlet sale ACIS also schedules the most on cheap Canada Goose campus interviews for its students of any department, cheap canada goose with over 100 companies coming to campus each year.
”I’ve talked to a lot of recruiters over the years and have gotten to know many of them and canada goose outlet shop have learned that, in terms of recruiting, this is one of their favorite places to come,” canada goose outlet black friday said Lynn Almond, an ACIS assistant professor of practice. ”They hire a lot of Canada Goose Coats On Sale our graduates, and they would probably hire more if we had more (students) to offer them.”
Graduates also excel in professional exams. ACIS graduate canada goose outlet uk sale students passed canada goose Canada Goose Parka outlet jackets 77.1 percent and undergraduate students passed 67.3 percent of the sections of the CPA exam they took last year, beating the national average of 49.7 percent.
Whereas members of the department appreciate the improvement in the rankings, they stress that rankings are not what matter most.
”That (ranking) is really a manifestation, not a goal,” Barkhi said. ”So, your goal is to improve your canada goose uk black friday programs and a byproduct of that is improved rankings.”
The department’s real focus has been attention to students, faculty research and input from successful industry professionals.
”If we focus on those things, then I think we will do well,” Barkhi said. ”Sometimes it reflects in rankings properly, but I don’t think ranking, per se, is our goal. It is not my goal.”
For Almond, the reward for excellent teaching is not found in an industry journal. ”That is nice, and I am glad we are doing well in that regard. But in my eyes, my focus is on teaching, and in my eyes I like to see people (recruiters) down in the Atrium offering kids (job) opportunities.”
In recent years the department has canada goose outlet new york city reinvested and refocused on faculty led research.
”What I have seen is this kind of revival (of) and focus on research,” said ACIS Assistant Professor Brooke Beyer. ”With the new faculty, there is lots of new research going on, lots of faculty who are attending conferences and are presenting their work. They are getting published in some of the top journals.”
The department has brought on eight new faculty members in the last three years, many of whom are interested in research. Topics include cybersecurity, cognition, visualization and text and data mining research, a diverse set for a department of 28 faculty members.
But the ACIS department’s biggest successes canada goose outlet online are not easily measured canada goose outlet store uk in the short term. A canada goose clearance sale recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study ranked the department No. 9 in the nation in long term career success of its alumni.
”I think the most important factor, for me. is the long term career success of our graduates,” Barkhi said.
Many ACIS graduates go on not only to work at prominent accounting firms, but also attain leadership roles within those companies. Graduates of Virginia Tech’s accounting program include Kenneth Cooke, vice president of Goldman Sachs; Philip Bullock, Apple’s head of tax operations and Lynne Doughtie, the first female Chairman and CEO of KPMG.
Barkhi attributes the official canada goose outlet success of graduates to one simple fact. ”Recruiters who hire our graduates come back and say ’We’d love to hire more Hokies, because they have a blue collar work ethic for white collar jobs.'”.