Department Chair Robin Boneck – BUS 206 – (435) 586-7773	Faculty & Staff
Administrative Assistant Heather Jones – BUS 229 – (435) 865-8157	Student Success Advisors
	Website

Overview of Programs

This program prepares students for rewarding careers in accountancy. Accounting is the process of measuring, summarizing, and communicating financial information about organizations to decision makers. In the first third of the undergraduate degree, students learn how to prepare, summarize, and analyze the accounting data base. In the second third of the undergraduate degree, students broaden their knowledge of business by taking courses in management, marketing, finance, and economics. The last third of the undergraduate degree provides students with more specialized knowledge of financial accounting, management/cost accounting, business law, accounting information systems, auditing, and taxation. Students also develop their skills in communication, ethics, and quantitative methods.

Many of the graduates stay to complete the Master of Accountancy  degree. The M.Acc. was established to satisfy Utah’s requirement of 150 hours to take the Certified Public Accounting exam. The M.Acc. degree is designed to satisfy the 150-hour requirement with 30 hours of post-graduate education. The program also prepares students who want non-public accounting careers in industry, taxation, or government. With nearly a 100 percent placement rate, most of M.Acc. graduates are employed by accounting firms or government agencies in the western United States. Typical jobs include positions in taxation, auditing, and controllership. This highly flexible program can be taken completely online, live, or a mixture of online and live courses. 

Mission

The mission of the Accountancy Program in the School of Business at Southern Utah University is to achieve excellence in accounting education through teaching, intellectual contributions, and service. The program endeavors to provide high-quality preparation for professional careers to students, to make relevant intellectual contributions to the field of accounting, and to provide service to the university, community, and stakeholders.

• The primary mission is to provide high-quality accounting preparation for professional careers in public accounting, industry, and other organizations.
  • The undergraduate program is devoted to providing basic accounting and business knowledge and skills, including experiential education, needed for career development.
  • The graduate program provides greater breadth and depth in accounting and other business disciplines to further develop the knowledge and skills to enter professional accountancy and related business careers.
    • The fostering of an active student accounting organization is fundamental to the career development process.
• Intellectual contributions to the field of accounting are secondary, but fundamental to the mission of the program.
  • These include the dissemination of the results of accounting and pedagogical contributions, and the development and use of relevant accounting textbooks, case studies, and other instructional materials. The program seeks to address contemporary problems faced by the accounting profession, accounting education, or management primarily to enrich the educational experience of students in the classroom.
• Tertiary, but also fundamental to the mission of the program, is service to the University, the accounting profession, and society in general.
  • Service is provided through participation in University committees, professional organizations and seminars, sponsoring student organizations, and consulting activities. In addition to assisting others, service experiences develop the knowledge and skills of those who serve, and provide relevant, practical examples for use in the classroom.

Department/Program Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate accounting students will acquire the knowledge and skills described in the School’s learning objectives for undergraduate students. In addition, each graduate will (a) understand basic accounting functions and (b) will have the opportunity to prepare for an accounting career by participating in the Professional Accountancy Club and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

Other Information

Admission to the Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business

To major in a business field (Accounting, Finance, Management, or Marketing) in the Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business, students must meet certain requirements and apply for admission to the School as outlined below. 

Standard Admission Requirements

The standard requirements for full admission to business programs in the School of Business are the following:

1. Complete all six (6) pre-business foundation courses (see below) with a grade of “C-” (1.7) or better in each course;
2. Achieve a GPA of 2.5 or higher in all pre-business foundation courses; and
3. Complete at least 36 college credit hours with an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher.

Students who met these requirements are assured admission.

Pre-Business Foundation Courses

The following courses constitute the Pre-Business Foundation, which must be completed before full admission to business programs in the School of Business:

• ACCT 2010 - Accounting Principles  
• BA 2000 - Foundations of Business  
• CSIS 2010 - Computer Applications  
• ECON 2010 - Principles of Microeconomics  
• ECON 2500 - Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics  
• MATH 1040 - Statistics  

Alternative Paths to Admission

Students may apply for admission after completing all pre-business foundation courses OR during the semester in which they will complete their pre-business foundation courses, which would normally be the first or second semester of the sophomore year. Students meeting the conditions listed below will be conditionally admitted. To maintain admission, the Standard Admission Requirements must be fully met upon completion of the six (6) pre-business foundation courses.

Conditional Admission

• Complete 3-5 of the pre-business foundation courses with a grade of “C-” (1.7) or better in each course;
• Be enrolled in the remaining 1-3 pre-business courses;
• Achieve a GPA of 2.5 or better in all pre-business courses completed; and
• Complete at least 24 college credit hours with a total GPA of 2.5 or higher.

Students who do not meet the conditions for automatic or conditional admission but do meet the conditions specified below may apply for admission by committee review. The School Admission Committee will evaluate applications and grant or reject admission on a case-by-case basis.

Admission by Committee Review: 

• Complete all six (6) pre-business foundation courses with a grade of “C-” (1.7) or better in each course; and
• Complete at least 36 college credit hours with a total GPA of 2.0 or higher.

Along with the regular application materials, students seeking admission by committee review must submit an essay, of no more than 1,000 words, describing why they want to major in business and why they believe they can be successful.

Required Application Materials

1. Complete application form
2. Complete admission questionnaire
3. Resume
4. Application essay (for applicants requesting admission by committee review)

Repeating Failed Business or Pre-Business Courses

Students will be allowed to repeat a failed course only once. If the course is not passed with a minimum grade after the second attempt, that student will not be admitted into advanced standing or allowed to graduate with a composite degree in any of the other business majors. The required GPA for the upper-division major core is also 2.5. Every student must meet the minimum GPA standard to graduate with any business major.

Transfer Students

Transfer students, either from another college within the University or from another institution, may be allowed to take no more than 9 credit hours in upper-division major courses. Transfer students must meet with the business advisor before enrolling in any upper-division courses to determine the extent to which the pre-business core has been fulfilled. For transfer information or equivalents, check out the following web site: www.suu.edu/business/transfer.html.

Summary of Graduation Requirements

To graduate with a major in Accounting from SUU, the student must:

• Be accepted to the School of Business.
• Successfully complete the required business foundation, business core, and upper-division major classes, as listed in the catalog, with a GPA of 2.5 or better.
• Meet the other requirements for graduation as defined by the University.
• Complete the General Education  requirements. Transfer students can meet this requirement by the following means:
  1. Complete the GE requirements at one of the other four-year colleges in the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE), or
  2. Complete the associate of science or associate of arts degree from a community college within the USHE. (Transfer students from other community colleges must have the general education requirements evaluated by the Registrar.) Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree must take the American Institution requirement to graduate. (This course may be taken at a junior college or at SUU. See the Academic Advisement Center or Registrar’s Office for a suitable equivalent.)
• Complete a minimum of 120 semester hours.
• Complete a minimum of 40 upper-division semester hours (course number 300 or above from an accredited four-year college or university).
• Have an overall GPA of 2.0 or better.

Programs

• Accounting (B.A., B.S.)

• Accounting (Non-Teaching) (Minor)