Students, businesses benefit from MU accounting school, ranked No. 9 in productivity

Area businesses benefit from the pool of highly qualified candidates the program produces.

The 150-hour program, which combines bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting into one concentrated effort, is at the core of the School of Accountancy. “These students are in high demand and have almost 100 percent placement” in the workforce, noted the school’s new director, Vairam Arunachalam, who officially moves into the top spot Sept. 1.

Accountancy remains a high-demand profession, Arunachalam said. “There have been recruiting cutbacks at some firms,” he admitted. “But those have been relatively small and the impact hasn’t been felt at MU yet. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The steady demand has meant that university programs have become increasingly competitive. The average GPA or grade point average for students entering the program in 2007 was above 3.6. All new students had at least a 3.4 GPA last year.

Students are accepted into the program as college juniors. The five-year program incorporates the student’s first two years and is designed to be completed within three years after acceptance.

The Missouri program draws students for three reasons, Arunachalam explained. Quality faculty is a primary one. “Mizzou has a reputation for teaching excellence,” he said.

The school also stands out for its professors’ research productivity, consistently publishing in leading academic journals and producing books. Research by Academic Analytics, published in the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” ranked the MU school ninth in the nation in productivity.

The third reason the director cites is MU’s “outstanding” alumni network. “Our graduates are successful in the profession, and they are loyal and dedicated to Mizzou. They recruit for us,” Arunachalam said.

The School of Accountancy also offers a doctoral program to prepare students to conduct research and teach. “MU has a small, highly selective program, admitting only two new students each year,” noted Jere R. Francis, director of the Ph.D. program.

The school keeps the doctoral pool small to provide individual attention and mentoring, he said.

Francis added that the measure of the program’s success is students’ landing research and teaching posts at top U.S. universities, including Washington University, Texas A&M, Louisiana State University and others.

The Ph.D. program also is consistently honored for its quality. “It’s hard to find a school that is highly ranked in both programs,” Arunachalam explained.

The school offers specializations in tax and information systems. It also provides forensic accounting and fraud examination courses. “Not many other universities have as many specializations,” the director noted.

Online programs offered by other institutions and even higher gas prices have not cut into the school’s enrollment, Arunachalam noted. In fact, the school has a record 129 students for the fall semester.

An internship program for students keeps a constant flow of strong employee candidates flowing through the mid-Missouri area. “It is usually a stepping stone to permanent employment,” Arunachalam said.

Students, area business people and the public benefit from the expertise the school draws to MU to speak on a variety of issues. The school will host Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., on Oct. 17, for the annual Richard M. Orin Ethics Symposium.

Sarbanes co-authored the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Act of 2002 with Rep. Michael G. Oxley,R-Ohio. Known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the legislation addresses ethics, accounting, financial reporting and other issues.

Born out of Enron, WorldCom and other corporate scandals, the act has been called the “most far-reaching” legislation since the Securities Act of 1933.