The College of William and Mary School of Business Master of Accounting Program at the Forefront in Teaching International Financial Reporting Standards
WILLIAMBSURG, Va., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The August 27 SEC action proposing a specific timetable for allowing companies to replace US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) may have surprised many in the accounting world, but the William and Mary School of Business Master of Accounting (MAcc) Program has been at the forefront of IFRS for more than a year.
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W&M Professor Rama Ramamurthy has been incorporating modules about IFRS in her Professional Accounting III class (a required course in the MAcc program) for a year already. And next spring she will debut an entire course devoted to digging into the concepts and learning how to apply them. What makes her courses especially effective, though, is her focus on case studies.
“It appears that the global capital markets are demanding a uniform set of high quality financial reporting standards,” Professor Ramamurthy notes. “Given the SEC’s proposed road map for requiring IFRS adoption by US publicly traded companies, it is imperative that educators emphasize the importance of such standards.”
When formulating her syllabus for the course in the fall of 2007, Professor Ramamurthy was able to find a great deal of theoretical material. What she couldn’t find were comprehensive case studies that would give students crucial practice in applying the proposed new standards. Fortunately, she was able to turn to W&M alumni and friends at Big Four firms for help. Soon, case materials were in hand.
Steven Baker, PwC partner and W&M alum, notes, “It is critical for universities to be pro-active in updating their accounting curriculum to include IFRS — I applaud Professor Ramamurthy and W&M for being one of the ‘early adopters!’”
Other W&M professors on the forefront of IFRS education are Jim Irving, Brad Lindsey, and Rachna Prakash. They are integrating new curriculum opportunities related to US GAAP and IFRS into the MBA and undergraduate accounting programs. Mason School of Business students at all levels – from graduate students to Principles of Accounting students – will work through the implications of the new regulations before graduating.
Assistant Dean Kim Smith says, “All accounting programs are looking for ways to address IFRS in the curriculum. Although we recognize the challenges, we find that our focus on the relationship between the economics of business transactions and the financial reporting will facilitate our ability to effectively integrate IFRS into the accounting curriculum.”
The Mason School of Business is an AACSB-accredited school of business. Students are immersed in real business situations throughout the undergraduate and graduate business education programs. The Master of Accounting Program is the only program of its kind to build a week-long trip to the top U.S. regulatory agencies into the curriculum. Sponsored by Veris Consulting, LLC, the Veris CPATrek takes students in the MAcc program to the key players in the U.S. financial markets. The Individual Program of Study (IPS) in the Undergraduate Program gives students the freedom to design a program that fits who they are and prepares them to shape the world. Executive Partners, the school’s pioneering model of faculty-executive partnership in and out of the classroom, Career Acceleration Modules, and Leadership Advantage in the MBA program combine to form a highly personalized, experience-based education that is unmatched by most business schools today. The school was named for William and Mary alumnus, Raymond A. “Chip” Mason in November 2005. It will move into its new state-of-art building, Alan B. Miller Hall, in Fall 2009. Miller Hall was named for William and Mary alumnus, Alan B. Miller.
The College of William and Mary, located in Williamsburg, Virginia is one of the nation’s premier public, liberal arts universities and believes that excellence in teaching is the key to unlocking intellectual and personal possibilities for students. Dedicated to this philosophy, the College provides high-quality undergraduate, graduate and professional education that prepares students to make significant contributions to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation. As the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and educational home too many early American leaders, The College is revered as the “alma mater of a nation.”
For more on The Mason School of Business: The Mason School of Business: http://mason.wm.edu/
Executive Partners: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/The+Mason+Difference/Executive+Partners/
Master of Accounting Program: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/Programs/Master+of+Accounting/
Veris CPATrek: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/Programs/Master+of+Accounting/Courses+Programs/Veris +CPAtrek/
Undergraduate Business Program: http://mason.wm.edu/mason/Programs/undergraduate+business,
Career Acceleration Module: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/Programs/Full-Time+MBA/Courses+Programs/Career+Accel eration+Modules/
Leadership Advantage: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/Programs/Full-Time+MBA/Courses+Programs/Leadership+A dvantage+Program/
Alan B. Miller Hall: http://mason.wm.edu/Mason/Our+School/Alan+B.+Miller+Hall/
Contact: Andrea Sardone 757-221-2043 andrea.sardone@mason.wm.edu
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The Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary
CONTACT: Andrea Sardone of The Mason School of Business at The Collegeof William and Mary, +1-757-221-2043, andrea.sardone@mason.wm.edu
Web Site: http://business.wm.edu/