What this paper did do was scare the heck out of accounting academics about the
future for their own discipline -- if they weren't already. The plea is for change
in accounting education and I think this is where we have to be closely involved.
The primary focus is upon what the accountants teach accounting but we must make
sure we are an integral part of that discussion. I think most of us would agree that
the teaching of bus law to accounting can no more remain the same as teaching
accounting to accoutants can.

If the result of papers such as this is that schools do some major
revisions/changes, bus law people must be part of that. Clearly, if the AICPA lead
is to be followed, more integration, breadth etc are the name of the game. (we have
a program where we bring students in with diverse backgrounds -- provided we avoid
using the word "accounting" we can attract them). Viewed in the right way, this is
an opportunity. Accounting people are running scared and may be more receptive to
people from other disciplines being involved in changing curricula. But, to repeat,
I would urge people to think not in terms of the traditional delivery of the CPA
materials. Those are going. There is tremendous scope for innovation here and maybe
this is a chance to really be a part of it. We have cruised along for many years
while accounting was the star program, like little pilot fish. No one really cared
that much about what we did, but they sort of knew they had to have us. Now we have
an opportunity to integrate our courses much more closely into accounting courses,
since the latter are clearly being challenged themselves for relevancy. The star
product in our basket is everything related to e-commerce law. But we have the skill
sets to be actively involved in major curriculum design.

And that is the opinion from the "glass is half full" corner. By the way, don't
forget the Cognitor (or "XYZ") which is another survival technique in the wings.
Whether or not it finally comes about is not clear, but it is certainly somthing
that should be watched closely and obviously relates to the issues in this paper
(provides the broader education, with accounting becoming a sub-set specialty).

Sally

Robert Prentice wrote:

> Unfortunately, this study is not as helpful to our cause as the referenced
> slide would lead one to believe.  Business Law is #3 in terms of topics
> that practitioners think are more important than accounting professors
> think.  However, it is not #3 (or particularly close) in terms of topics
> that practitioners think have importance relative to other topics.
>   In the study, faculty rank Business Law #11 in importance out of 18
> topics with a 2.84 rating on a scale of 4.  Practitioners rank Business Law
> #10 with a 2.95 ranking out of 4.
>         Inexplicably (or perhaps explicably if you look at the lawsuits), ethics
> did even worse with a 2.54 from faculty and 2.89 from practitioners.
>
> Robert Prentice
>
> At 10:47 AM 10/8/00 -0400, Bruce D. Fisher wrote:
> >Take a look at this message.  I think it is VERY important for business law
> >professors struggling to get support for their subject in CPA and business
> >school curriculum meetings.
> >              Bruce D. Fisher
> >>At our first department (Accounting & Business Law Dept.) meeting this past
> >>week, our dept. chair told us about a study of accounting education
> >>recently done called "Accounting Education: Charting the Course Through a
> >>Perilous Future" by Steve Albrecht and Robert Sack, whose background is in
> >>accounting.
> >>
> >>The study was sponsored by AICPA, Institute of Mgmt. Accountants, Amer.
> >>Acctg. Assn., and the Big 5 CPA Firms.
> >>
> >>The powerpoint slides are on AAA's website, which is
> >>
> >>http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/
> >>
> >>I didn't read all the powerpoint slides, but one slide says PRACTITIONERS
> >>RANKED LAW 3RD in importance, behind Info Systems and Strategy.
> >>
> >>Ethics was ranked 6TH.
> >>
> >>By contrast, [ACCOUNTING] EDUCATORS DIDN'T RANK LAW OR ETHICS AT ALL in
> >>importance.
> >>
> >>Here's the slide:
> >>
> >>Topics Rated Higher by Educators:
> >>1) Financial Acctg
> >>2) Finance
> >>3) Taxes
> >>4) Mgmt Acct
> >>5) Audit
> >>6) Tech
> >>7) Statistics
> >>8) Marketing
> >>
> >>Topics Rated Higher by Practitioners
> >>1) Info Systems
> >>2) Strategy
> >>3) LAW
> >>4) Global
> >>5) E-commerce
> >>6) Ethics
> >>7) Research methods
> >>
> >>The study also says accounting students need less rote memorization and
> >>more training in dealing with ambiguity.
> >>
> >>I haven't read the whole thing, but it looks like this study might help us
> >>argue for an expanded role for law in accounting and business education.
> >>
> >>Dan Levin
> >>Minnesota State
> >>
> >>
> >>Dan Levin
> >>Assistant Professor of Business Law
> >>Minnesota State University, Mankato
> >>Dept. of Accounting and Business Law
> >>Morris Hall 150
> >>Mankato, MN 56001
> >>(507)-389-1827
> >>Email:  [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >>