poa

From the Director---The Program of Accountancy extends its congratulations to our Beta Alpha Psi chapter for its recent successes. Just finishing its second full year, our Mu Gamma chapter received an honorable mention in team competitions among schools in the Southeast United States. The award was given at the Beta Alpha Psi southeast region conference in Nashville, Tennessee after our BAP students presented the topic "Chapter Sustainability." Perhaps more impressively, our chapter has received a rating of "Superior," the highest possible. The efforts by the student members and our talented faculty advisor, Patty Gaukel, have been extraordinary and we should all feel proud of their achievements.

The chapter has also produced the second offering of the CPE course, The ABC's of Ethics, a joint offering with Gregory Sharer and Stuart, P.A., Beta Alpha Psi and the Program of Accountancy. As we look toward the future we look for a broader course offering to include both ethics hours and A&A credits in emerging topics. Through this Program, we showcase our campus and the Program while helping many of our best students meet area professionals.

The Program of Accountancy has maintained full AACSB accreditation. Highlights from our annual survey for the 2008-2009 year indicate that our Program has 391 full time students and 485 part time students majoring in accounting. 73 students graduated with an accounting degree during that academic year. Our MBA Program also has 30% of its students in active accounting tracks.

We also congratulate Dr. Gerald Lander, the Gregory, Sharer & Stuart P.A. Term Professor in Forensic Accounting is the FICPA 20008-2009 Florida Outstanding Accounting Educator. USF St. Petersburg is the only institution in Florida with two Florida Outstanding Accounting Educators from this decade currently on its faculty. Dr. James Fellows, the 2004-2005 winner, said, “I congratulate Jerry on this achievement, and know what honor and respect this award brings to both the individual and the institution.” These key faculty members have brought our Program much acclaim over the years. Dr. Fellows has also just been named the Bank of America Endowed Professor in Business for the 2009-2010 academic year.