Department of Accounting

Department Information

Department Chair: David Christensen
Business 325 ~ (435) 865-8058

Office Manager: Savannah Cannon
Business 303 ~ (435) 586-5462

Academic Advisor: Paula Alger
Business 322 ~ (435) 865-8157
alger@suu.edu
Website: www.suu.edu/business/acct/

Faculty:
Professors: David Christensen, Timothy Lewis, David Rees; Associate Professors: Jeffrey Barnes.
Assistant Professors: Mary Pearson, Amanda Wilford, Robin Boneck;

Degrees Offered

Master of Accountancy (see Master of Accountancy (M.Acc.) *

Accredited Business Program (BA/BS)

Accounting Composite, B.A.
Accounting Composite, B.S.

Minor

Accounting (Non-Teaching) Minor

* Business Program accredited by AACSB International

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 Masters of Accountancy (MAcc) degree. The MAcc was established to satisfy Utah’s requirement of 150 hours to take the Certified Public Accounting exam. The MAcc 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 MAcc 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, research, and service. The program endeavors to provide high-quality accounting preparation for professional careers to students, to make intellectual contributions to the field of accounting through the dissemination of research, and to provide service.

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, along with general 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 research, 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, and to advance knowledge.

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) prepare for an accounting career by participating in the Professional Accountancy Club, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

Other Information

Advanced Standing

The objective of advanced standing is to ensure preparedness for the upper-division business core courses. The requirements for attaining advanced standing in the SUU School of Business are as follows:

Complete the pre-business core foundation requirements with a 2.5 GPA or better, as defined in this catalog.
The application for advanced standing must be filed during the final semester of pre-core course enrollment. No more than 9 upper-division hours will be allowed prior to completion of the pre-business core. Advanced Standing status will not be given without meeting the 2.5 GPA standards and completing the pre-business foundation core in its entirety.

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: http://www.suu.edu/business/transfer.html

Summary of Graduation Requirement

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

Meet the requirements of the pre-business core and major as listed in the catalog or on http://www.suu.edu/business/acct/.
Be accepted to advanced standing and successfully complete the required pre-business and upper-division composite major classes with an average 2.5 grade point average 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.)
3. Complete a minimum of 120 semester hours
4. Complete a minimum of 40 upper-division semester hours (course number 300 or above from an accredited four-year college or university).
5. Have an overall GPA of 2.0 or better.
6. Have a 2.5 GPA or better in all of the business core and upper-division major core requirements.