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Spotlight on
The Purdue Accounting Program
Name the management area whose upper- division courses quintupled in three years and whose graduates increased more than 100-fold, If you said accounting, you're correct. Purdue's accounting program is booming.
Not until 1976 was accounting available as an option for juniors and seniors in the School of Management's general management (B.S.) program. That year advanced accounting courses increased from one to five, and graduates with accounting training went from zero to nearly 160 over the next three years. Approving a separate undergraduate curriculum for accounting in 1980, the management faculty created a full-fledged B.S. accounting program.
The rapid growth and development of the pro¬ gram attest to the marketability of an accounting degree. To ensure that Purdue's graduates have the most current and versatile training, in early 1982 the faculty approved program changes that increase the required course work in computer science/informa¬ tion systems. Previously, the difference between the accounting program and the general management program was that five required accounting courses and an additional business law course replaced the free electives.
The program's current offerings include introduc¬ tory accounting, two courses in management accounting, two courses in financial accounting, tax accounting, auditing, and accounting information systems. Not surprisingly, a considerable number of B.S.I.M. students routinely elect the accounting and business law courses to supplement their applied minors in computer science and industrial engineering.
The ultimate measure of marketability, of course, is the recruiters' response. Last year 25 percent of the School of Management's graduates accepted jobs in accounting and received starting salaries averaging nearly $20,000.
To confirm that Purdue has become a well- regarded source of talent, one has only to look at the rosters of a few "Big-Eight" accounting firms. Arthur Andersen & Co., for example, currently employs over 100 School of Management alumni. While some of these graduates are undoubtedly working in functional areas other than accounting, the evidence suggests that the school's broad ana¬ lytical orientation and strong foundations in all
functional areas of management, coupled with the solid training provided in accounting, prepare graduates unusually well for public and corporate accounting careers.
Accounting Club Tallies Successes
"The Accounting Club offers an alternative to the classroom view of accounting; students can see the professional aspects," says senior Cheryl Rhea, the club's president. There are a lot of differences between the professional and classroom aspects, she continues. Classes naturally focus on the book work. "But by talking to accounting professionals, we learn what real on-the-job situations are like," she says.
The Accounting Club's goal is to offer students insights into the opportunities available in account¬ ing careers and to aid them in maximizing their education. These aims are realized through guest speakers, field trips, and employer hosting, as well as by means of a resume book of graduating accounting seniors.
Biweekly meetings feature speakers from "Big- Eight" and regional accounting firms and from cor¬ porate accounting departments. The 150-member club has arranged highly successful field trips to Arthur Andersen's training center in St. Charles, Illinois, and to the American Can Company in Chicago.
Employer hosting, in the form of a "Meet the Accounting Employers Night" co-sponsored by the club and the accounting honorary Beta Alpha Psi, provides an additional meeting ground for students and practicing professionals. Now in its second year. Employers Night involves ten representatives from accounting firms and industry who discuss career opportunities informally with individual students.
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Students work with Accounting Lab T.A.
Purdue University
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
West Lafayette, IN 47907