MS in Accounting Proposal version 11 0 041812_0

Target Group and Program Demand The target groups for the MSACC program are the undergraduate accounting majors andminors who have graduated from Saint Mary’s College and any other colle

MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING PROPOSAL

Submitted to the PCC of SEBA and GPSEPC of SMC

by the Department of Accounting and Graduate Business Programs,

School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA)

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Mission and Purpose

The mission of the Master of Science in Accounting (MSACC) program is to preparestudents for professional opportunities in accounting in the public and private sector and

to meet the 150-hour educational requirements set by California law It is predicated onthe College’s three-fold mission of Lasallian, Catholic and Liberal Arts at an ontological,philosophical, epistemological, practical and empirical level It embodies the fiveLasallian principles and connects to the mission of the College as embodied in theAcademic Blueprint and the BOS Strategic Plan as well as the Mission, Vision andStrategic Plan of SEBA

1.2 Target Group and Program Demand

The target groups for the MSACC program are the undergraduate accounting majors andminors who have graduated from Saint Mary’s College and any other college oruniversity (including from outside the US)

1.3 Program Genesis and Structure

The MSACC program has been developed with the input of the accounting departmentfaculty members in SEBA by a specially appointed proposal committee and has beenapproved by accounting department faculty, the SEBA Dean’s office, the SEBAAdministrative Council and the Program Coordination Committee in SEBA It is a 15-month program on a quarter system in which students meet two days per week in theevening Students take two courses a quarter starting in the July quarter for a total of tencourses The courses are financial and cost accounting, tax, audit and ethics courses thatbuild on a student’s undergraduate study in accounting

1.4 Learning Goals/Objectives and Learning Outcomes

The primary learning goals objectives are in the areas of deepening of critical thinkingskills and demonstrating an understanding of accounting principles, theories andconcepts; deep understanding of professional responsibilities and ethics; development ofcommunication skills; awareness of the profession and proficiency in technology andinformation systems The detailed program goals, objectives and traits for outcomesassessment are under finalization in line with similar documents prepared for AACSBand WASC in SEBA for the EMBA and MS-FAIM program (provided in this proposal)

1.5 Impact on SEBA and the College

The MSACC program is structured to be a seamless continuation of the undergraduateprogram in Accounting and we expect the program to have no significant negative impact

on SEBA or the College The positive impacts in terms of enrolling additional graduatestudents, reaching out to a new target student population, meeting state accountingeducation needs and generating additional revenue and net contribution for SEBA and theCollege are significant

1.7 Competitor Analysis

A competitor analysis of the market place indicates that there is significant demand for a

MS in Accounting program in the Bay Area both from Saint Mary’s accounting students

as well as accounting students from other colleges in the area looking to fulfill the new150-hour requirement An analysis of competitor programs in the Bay Area reveals thatthere is no other program currently in existence or planned to meet the new accountingeducation requirements, though there are two programs with the potential to convert tothese requirements One is a Masters in Accounting program at San Jose State Universitythat is currently not compliant with the new requirements but can convert to them.Competitive intelligence indicates that another program at Sacramento State University iscurrently going through the approval process and is targeted at meeting the newaccounting education requirements

1.8 Action Plan and Budget

A phased timeline and action plan targets for the new accounting program to start in July

2013 The MSACC program provides positive financial results and a positive netcontribution to the College in the very first year of operation

1.9 Request for Approval

Based on the data and information presented in the proposal, it is requested thatprovisional approval for the establishment of a Master of Science in Accounting(MSACC) program be granted so that the program can be launched by July 2013

2 MISSION AND PURPOSE

The mission of the MS in Accounting (MSACC) program is to prepare students forprofessional opportunities in accounting in the public and private sector and to meet the150-hour educational requirement set by the new California law

This MSACC program mission is predicated on the School of Economics and BusinessAdministration’s mission:

Built upon the Lasallian, Catholic and Liberal Arts traditions of Saint Mary's College, the School of Economics and Business Administration strives to develop business and community leaders with global and responsible perspectives

We prepare our graduates to be professionally skilled, culturally aware, socially responsible and ethically principled

As teachers, scholars and mentors, we offer students a rigorous, innovative and diverse learning experience by leveraging on our practice-relevant, pedagogical and discipline- based research.

SEBA embodies this mission in two strategic foci that encapsulate the guiding principlesthat drive the development of new programs: “Think Globally Lead Responsibly.” Thestrategic foci capture the four aspects of a business education in SEBA: A focus ondeveloping global management perspectives and an abiding concern for inculcatingresponsible business perspectives through a Quadruple Bottom Line approach (People,Ethics, Planet and Profit) in our students and graduates The MSACC program provides arigorous accounting education while providing participants with global perspectivesthrough an understanding of the International Financial Reporting System (IFRS) that isslowly replacing Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (gap) all over the world Itincorporates a focused course on International Accounting (MACC 204) in addition toincorporating international issues in many of the other courses Similarly, the responsiblebusiness perspective is embedded through focused courses in Professional Ethics andResponsibilities (MACC 209) and Government and Non-Profit Accounting (GMAN 203)

in addition to incorporating these issues in the majority of classes in the program Theprofessional development program sessions (see below) and the master’s colloquium(also below) will also provide opportunities to delve deeply in to these areas

History and Rationale of the 150-Hour Requirement

Since the 1950s there have been calls by academics and professional accountants for theneed for improving accounting education The Carnegie Foundation created theCommission on Standards and Experience for Certified Public Accountants that produced

a report in August 1956 favoring the requirement of a graduate degree for accountants Atthe time, this was a fairly drastic recommendation as only three states, Florida, NewJersey and New York, required CPA candidates to have graduated from college

At that time, one of the main reasons given for this change was that the undergraduateaccounting curriculum was about to “burst” because of pressure coming from fivesources:

1 Students are expected to be more broadly educated in general as well as in the

tool areas of management

2 The enormous increase in the amount of authoritative accounting literature that

students must learn

3 The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business’ revised sequence of

accounting courses, which forced students to take more accounting courses intheir junior year

4 The CPA examination has changed from an examination on which knowledge of

actual practice situations played an important role in passing the examination to

an examination that is much more textbook-oriented and to one based primarily

on one’s knowledge of authoritative literature in auditing, accounting, andtaxation

5 The increasing presence of the computer in business and society

The Commission on Professional Accounting Education argued in favor of legislating the150-hour requirement Their July 1983 report stated: “The sole purpose of a legislatededucation requirement is to add to the degree of assurance of competent services provide

to the public If the education of CPAs is left to a free market solution, the public cannot

be assured that the production of auditing services will be adequate.”

The State of California only recently passed the 150 hour requirement The requirementwas brought about by one important factor – to make California law compatible with that

of other states in the country so as to provide an opportunity for students from California

to practice in any state Other factors include: the expansion of client services, thegrowing application of information technology (electronic data processing), the increase

in accounting pronouncements, the recognition of the value of formal education overinformal experience, and the desire for the recognition of accounting as a profession atleast as demanding as law, engineering and architecture

Effective January 1, 2014, SB-819 requires candidates seeking the CPA designation inCalifornia to complete 150 hours of college education (undergraduate or graduate) with atleast 68 hours in accounting, auditing, business, law, finance or tax subjects with at least

30 of the hours in accounting subjects acceptable to the California State Board ofAccountancy In addition, a candidate is required to have 10 semester hours of ethicscourses work including a minimum of 3 hours in accounting ethics With these changes,California will conform to the national education standard of 150 credit hours and oneyear of public accounting experience—in addition to the successful completion of theCPA exam—before the granting of a CPA license.For a Saint Mary’s student, this wouldmean an additional 30 semester hours of graduate study after completing the Bachelor’sdegree at Saint Mary’s College (approximately 120 semester hours) Saint Mary’sCollege, like many other colleges and universities in California and across the country,will provide the 30 additional semester hours of graduate study through the granting of a

MS in Accounting degree

Objectives of the M.S in Accounting Program

The specific objectives of the MS in Accounting program are:

 Meet the 150-hour educational requirements promulgated by the newCalifornia statute SB-819

 Develop technical competency in Accounting

 Develop effective critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills

 Develop ethical awareness – the ability to recognize and appropriatelyrespond to ethical questions encountered in the practice of accounting

 Develop effective oral and written communication skills

 Help students pass the CPA Professional exam

The students accepted to the MSACC program at Saint Mary’s College will be focused

on a career in accounting Accordingly, the program will facilitate and encourage CPAexam preparation for those students who aspire to become a CPA The program willfoster professional skills including communication, presentation, interviewing, leadershipand analytical competence Students in the MSACC Program will participate inprofessional development workshops that will provide them with key management skills,capacities and capabilities to enable them to be well-rounded and managerially skilledaccounting professionals In the capstone colloquium, student groups will makepresentations on current issues in the profession to faculty, outside professionals andregulators

Saint Mary’s College Mission and the M.S in Accounting Program Mission

The MSACC program fits in well with the threefold mission of Saint Mary’s College of aLasallian, Catholic and Liberal Arts education Firstly, through the activities of theAccounting Association and programs such as the VITA program that provides free taxhelp for low-income individuals and families, the Accounting program seeks to create a

“Lasallian community” whose members support one another and the less privilegedmembers of our society in line with the Lasallian principles of concern for the poor andsocial justice, respect for all persons and inclusive community through a high qualityeducation program and community outreach Secondly, the MSACC program isstructured to promote ethical behavior and professional conduct in its students Through aspecific course in Ethics as well as throughout the program, students are educated andtrained to understand and uphold the ethical standards of the profession as well asdevelop a value system that helps guide their behavior in difficult professional situations.This is consistent with the Catholic mission of the College that affirms and fosters theChristian understanding of the human person Finally, the content and pedagogy of theproposed program is consistent with the “liberal learning” mission of Saint Mary’sCollege The program is focused on developing students’ intellectual skills of analysis,criticism, and synthesis – aspects fundamental to the purposes of a liberal education.Each one of these issues is discussed below

The Lasallian tradition of the College is embodied in the following approach:

-“to create a student-centered educational community whose members support one another with mutual understanding and respect.”

A key objective of the new program is its focus on the student-participant SEBA andGraduate Business have always striven to create participant-centered educationalprograms and learning communities The fruits of this approach have been borne out bythe tremendous sense of ownership and belonging that SEBA and Graduate Businessprogram participants have felt for the classes and programs that they have attended (this

is based on both formal and informal feedback from Graduate Business programparticipants) BY adopting the credo of Learn, Network and Serve, our Graduate Businessprograms have provided a learning community that learns in a collaborative andsupportive environment; networks with the internal program and external EMC andbusiness and civic communities through its student advisory bodies and alumni councilactivities; and serves the local, regional and global community through its communityoutreach activities and specialized projects and programs such as the Social ServicesManagement (SOSERVMAN) program that was specially cited in President Obama’sHonor Roll of Community Service Institutions selection of Saint Mary’s College amongthe Top 17 College’s in the country We hope to continue to bring this commitment tobuilding vibrant and life-long educational communities in the MSACC Program that wewill be launching

The Catholic tradition of the College is outlined by the following:

- “to affirm and foster the Christian understanding of the human person which animates the educational mission of the Catholic Church.”

The classes in the proposed MSACC Program are based on the fundamental tenet ofhumanitarianism and the desire to educate the “whole person” We believe that humanbeings are capable of both pursuing their self interest but also that of compassion for andhelp of their fellow human beings in an ethical and dignified way as articulated in wisebooks like Robert Frank’s Passions Within Reason, Adam Smith’s The Theory of MoralSentiments or James Q Wilson’s The Moral Sense As a result, we have woven in ethicaldilemmas and the human dimension in to all the courses in the new program, making surethat all participants understand the moral dimension of their actions, especially asaccounting professionals and managers In the classes in the program, students willdiscuss issues like the evils of insider trading, financial fraud, child labor, worker rights,corruption and bribery, managerial malfeasance and other aspects of unethical behavior

In all the classes where such issues are discussed, care will be taken to ensure that all thedifferent types of arguments pro and con regarding these issues are understood beforearriving at a conclusion The ideal will be to inculcate in each MSACC programparticipant Socrates’ maxim that the unexamined life is not worth living

Finally, the Liberal Arts tradition of the College is captured in the following statement ofthe College’s mission:

- “to probe deeply the mystery of existence by cultivating the ways of knowing and the arts of thinking.”

The critical and collaborative approach to learning embodied in the MSACC programreflects a methodological pluralism that is congruent with a multiplicity ofepistemological discovery processes A variety of pedagogical and andragogical methodswill be used in the classroom such as open-ended projects, cases, role plays, grouplearning and negotiation exercises including on-line learning tools that allow for thedevelopment of alternative and competing theoretical approaches and their application toreal-world management situations By the use of discursive discussions, team projectsand by asking fundamental and probing questions, the new program will use acollaborative learning framework where program participants learn through multipletheories, empirical evidence and personal narratives from experience Learning isreflective, double-loop and theory of action oriented In doing so, we hope to continuethis pattern of exploration and probing of human knowledge and the mystery of existence

at Saint Mary’s

Congruence with BOS Strategic Plan and Academic Blueprint

Further, the MSACC program fits in with the Building on Strengths Strategic Plan and Academic Blueprint of the College and the Strategic Plan of the School of Economics

and Business Administration to develop programs that are student focused and preparestudents for successful and meaningful professional careers and lives It builds on thestrategic Foci of Responsible Business and Global Business Perspectives as adopted bythe SEBA faculty in 2011 The design of the program meets the responsible perspectivesfocus by providing a detailed examination of the ethical and sustainability issues thatunderlie public accounting as reflect in the courses on Governmental and Non-ProfitAccounting (MACC 203), Advanced Auditing and Forensic Accounting (MACC 205),Advanced Legal Issues and Regulatory Framework (MACC 207) and the ProfessionalEthics and Responsibilities (MACC 209) capstone course experience It will be supported

by the careful selection of topics in the Capstone Masters Colloquium and theProfessional Development Program (PDP) seminars where topics like Ethical Issue andPractices in Accounting, the Misuse of Accounting, Responsibility Accounting,Accounting for Environment Impacts etc will be offered With regard to the globalperspective focus, the Advanced Auditing and Forensic Accounting (MACC 203), theInternational Accounting (MACC 204) and the Corporate Financial Reporting (MACC201) courses will consider all aspects of the International Financial Reporting System(IFRS), the global standard that is replacing the U.S centered Generally AcceptedAccounting Principles (GAAP) on which most of current U.S accounting is based.Global topics will also be considered in the PDP Capstone Masters Colloquium and thePDPD program with topics like Global Negotiations, Cross-cultural Organizational Issuesetc

The MSACC program is also structured to meet the new CPA requirements as well asprovide students with the necessary technical accounting skills, communication andprofessional skills to succeed in the profession.

3 TARGET GROUP AND PROGRAM DEMAND

The MSACC program will initially focus on undergraduate accounting majors and

minors who have graduated from Saint Mary’s College as well as any other college oruniversity (including from outside the US)

 There is significant potential demand for a MS in Accounting program fromjust accounting majors graduating from universities in the Bay Area Pleasesee “Potential Demand ” shown in Figure 1 below It indicates that there ispotential overall demand of 645 students per year for a MS in Accounting and

a potential demand of 83students per year for a MS in Accounting program atSaint Mary’s College

 Accounting majors and minors do not need to take any prerequisites to enterthe program This eliminates the need for Saint Mary’s to offer theseprerequisites in the Summer session This limits the number of new faculty weneed to hire and the risks associated with the program

Figure 1 Potential Demand for MS in Accounting Program

As can be seen from Figure 1, there are ten (10) colleges and universities in the Bay Area, other than Saint Mary’s College, that offer accounting education All ten currently have undergraduate programs and general MBA programs, three (3) have MSA programs, none of which are designed

to address the new educ tion standards Six (6) of the schools are public (CSU system) and four (4) are private Looking at the most recently published statistics from the CPA exam (source: National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) there were a total of 1,154 students from the Bay Area that sat for the exam i n 2009 Of these, sixty-one percent (61%) were first-time candidates This is indicative of current graduates that are interested in taking the exam and becoming licensed as CPAs

Results of the survey taken by Saint Mary's accounting department indicates that 75% of our current majors would have majored in accounting if they were required to take a fifth year The potential demand for a five year accounting program was estimated as follows: CPA exam candidates * first time percentage * percentage that would still major in accounting (1,410 * 61%

* 75%) = 645 students per year (an additional 116 if you include the students from UC Berkeley) The number of potential students was 528 in 2008 and has grown to 645 in 2009, a growth rate of 22% in a single year.

Saint Mary's College has thirteen percent (13%) of the private school market in accounting in the Bay Area If all of our private sector competitors develop programs and we retain our market share we could attract 29 Saint Mary’s students to the MS in Accounting program If the public universities fail to develop appropriate MSA programs that pool increases to 83.

The target market is much larger if we are to include accounting majors from other accredited colleges and universities in the state of California or the western states in the United States.

4 PROGRAM GENESIS AND STRUCTURE

The program structure and action plan for the MSACC program is predicated on the

competitive advantage of becoming the first/one of the first programs in the NorthernCalifornia region to meet the new accounting requirements It is also firmly rooted in theLasallian, Catholic and Liberal Arts traditions of the College as explained in Section 2above The start date targeted as July 2013 has been designed so that Californiaaccounting students will have to start such the program in time to meet the newCalifornia requirements when they go in to effect in Fall 2014

The program was first mooted by the accounting faculty in 2010 when it became clearthat SB-819 would become law and all CPA licensure candidates would require aminimum of 150 hours of undergraduate work with at least 68 hours of businessincluding 30 hours of accounting acceptable to the California State Board ofAccountancy The idea of a master’s program in accounting was broadly supported by theaccounting faculty in SEBA and the research for the program was launched in 2010 In

2011, the accounting faculty conducted a survey of accounting majors in SEBA andfound that 75% of the current majors would still have majored in accounting if they hadbeen required to take a fifth year This indicated a strong demand for a master’s levelprogram in accounting to meet the needs of those wanting to become licensed CPAs.SEBA redesigned the undergraduate accounting curriculum which was approved both bythe UEPC and Academic Senate in 2011 and it was decided to proceed with designing aMaster’s of Science in Accounting Program to meet the change of California law

A committee of three members consisting of the Professor Suneel Udpa, Professor GregMerrill (Chair of the Accounting Department) and Professor Shyam Kamath (AssociateDean for Graduate Business and Global Programs) was constituted in the Fall of 2011 todevelop the proposal and present it to the Department of Accounting and the Dean ofSEBA The proposal was prepared by Professors Suneel Udpa and Greg Merrill after anintensive study of demand and competition as well as the structure and content of otherleading MS in Accounting programs in the country developed to meet the change inaccounting education requirements in other states for qualifying for the CPA exam

A detailed proposal was prepared on the basis of these investigations and presented to theDean of SEBA and the faculty members of the Department of Accounting The Deangave the go ahead after a number of meetings and revisions and the proposal wasapproved by the full body of the Department of Accounting and the SEBA AdministrativeCouncil consisting of all the administrators in SEBA including the chairs of the variousdepartments and the associate deans and the dean The proposal was then submitted to theProgram Coordination Committee (PCC) in SEBA which is responsible for carefullyexamining and approving all new programs and revisions/reviews of all existingprograms in SEBA The proposal was discussed and approved by the PCC at tis meeting

on March 5, 2012 and the proposal modified to incorporate the comments of all theaforesaid reviewing bodies is being presented to the GPSEPC for its meeting on March

21, 2012 for discussion and approval

The details of the proposed structure for the MSACC program are provided below:

Start Date: July 2013

It is imperative that we start the MSACC program in 2013 since accounting studentsgraduating in May 2013 will be under the 150-hour requirement Starting the program inJuly will allow students graduating in May 2013 at least a month and a half of leisuretime before embarking on their Master’s degree

Length of program: 15 months – 5 Quarters – July to September

Time delivery format: Quarter-based

The MS program follows the quarter system rather than the 4-1-4 semester system for anumber of reasons:

a) A quarter system provides more flexibility in structuring the curriculum since

it allows for more courses than a semester system

b) The quarter system fits in more closely with the accounting professional’sschedule – the tax and audit busy season

c) Working professionals prefer the flexibility of a quarter system where theshorter 11 week course durations allow flexibility for travel between quartersand the modules are structured in more compact time formats that allow them

to concentrate their learning experience

d) A semester system would mean that students would have to wait untilSeptember to start the MS in Accounting program – 3 full months aftergraduation This might motivate them to apply to another Bay Area programthat begins earlier in the year

e) Graduate Business at Saint Mary’s College is on a quarter system and theMSACC will be a new graduate business program catering to Bay Areaprofessionals that complements all the other graduate business programs thuspermitting seamless extension to the PMBA, EMBA and MS-FAIM programsshould MSACC students/graduate want to do an additional degree

f) The quarter system will also be attractive and convenient for otherprofessional target groups once the program is well established and accepted

as a quality program in the market

Course learning delivery format: Face-to-face with partial hybrid (50% online and 50%face-to-face course delivery)

In order to build in flexibility and attractiveness for working professionals, two of the tenclasses will be delivered initially in the hybrid (half of the class meetings online and halfface-to-face in classroom) format The hybrid format was developed for SEBA’s nowmarket-leading Executive MBA Hybrid program and blends the best features of on-linelearning with the proven and tested face-to-face learning model The Graduate BusinessHybrid learning model provides participants with the opportunity to meet virtually usinglow-cost but highly reliable open-source technology during every alternative class in a 11week quarter Using dedicated phone lines and the joomla open-source platform, theprofessor interacts on a real-time basis with his class over the Internet and the live phone

lines to maximize the synchronous but remote learning environment The class thenmeets face-to-face on the SMC campus on a Saturday to continue their class in such aface-to-face environment Five of the six weeks of classes are delivered through theonline environment with the other six classes delivered face-to-face This reduces theenvironmental impact and time cost to the student while simultaneously providing a richclassroom environment that is 45% online and 55% face-to-face SEBA has beenrecognized as a nation-wide pioneer for its Executive MBA Hybrid program and six ofthe ten leading business schools in the country have attended the EMBATECHconference hosted in 2010 and 2012 by Graduate Business to learn and further developthe hybrid technology format This well-tested learning model will be used in theMSACC program.

Accounting professionals typically have two busy seasons, around tax season ending inApril and during audit season ending in December-January It would be of greatattractiveness to potential students and a competitive advantage of the MSACC program

to recognize this reality and provide participants with the added flexibility to visit theclassroom on alternate weeks while getting their complete course in the quarter time-frame Graduate Business’ extensive and long-time experience with hybrid programdelivery in the EMBA Hybrid program since 2006 and the availability of the know-howand open source delivery technology would also make this a key differentiator for theprogram The flexibility in this regard is provided by making one course each in theAutumn and Winter quarters as a hybrid-format course offering

Schedule: Evening classes 2-days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 5.30-9.30 (with

program or immediately after finishing the program in September This, we believe, will

provide a competitive edge to the Saint Mary’s MSACC program students – in 15 monthsstudents have will obtained an MS in Accounting degree and will have taken (andhopefully passed) all four parts of the CPA exam

Course Sequence:*

Summer Quarter – July 11–Sept 24

MACC 201 Corporate Financial Reporting

MACC 204 International Accounting

Autumn Quarter – Oct 3-Dec17

MACC 203 Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting

MACC 202 Strategic Cost Management & Information Systems (Hybrid Format)

Students could sit for FAR and BEC parts of the CPA Exam in early January.

Winter Quarter – Jan 10-Mar26

MACC 205 Advanced Auditing and Forensic Accounting

MACC 207 Advanced Legal Issues and the Regulatory Framework (Hybrid Format)

Spring Quarter – April 11-June 25

MACC 206 Federal Income Taxation of Corporations

MACC 208 Financial Statement Analysis

Summer Quarter – July 11–Sept 24

MACC 209 Professional Ethics and Responsibilities – Capstone Experience

MACC 210 Selected Issues in Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation – CapstoneExperience**

Students could sit for the AUD and REG parts of the CPA Exam in early July.

*PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (PDP)

Students in the MSACC Program will participate in professional development workshopsthat will provide them with key management skills, capacities and capabilities to enablethem to be well-rounded and managerially skilled accounting professionals These PDPworkshops will consist of half-day seminars and hands-on exercises conducted by SEBAfaculty or specialist professionals on a variety of topics that will enhance the professionalskills of the participants to make them managerially skilled and well-rounded accountingprofessionals The topics covered in the PDP will include: negotiation skills, leadershipand followership skills, influencing without authority skills, navigating organizationalpolitics, making outstanding presentations and other key skills that will enable anaccounting professional to be an effective and managerially fluent professional Foursuch managerial workshops will be conducted every year and MSACC programparticipants will be required to attend a total of two such workshops during the course oftheir 15 month program The PDP workshops will be shared with the Professional MBA(PMBA) program where they are also a requirement to complete the program This willprovide economies of scope and scale for conducting such workshops with additionalbenefits like cross-program networking, phased skill development and cross-programselling since MSACC participants will be able to learn about the PMBA program first-hand from their PMBA peers and will be more likely to enroll in the PMBA programextension planned as a result

**CAPSTONE MASTERS COLLOQUIUM

The Capstone Masters Colloquium which will be held at the end of the fifth quarter aims

to provide an opportunity for MSACC program students to present their research before a