Weber State University
Results of Assessment
2004-2005 (submitted 12/20/05)
Mission
The mission statement was reviewed in the latter part of 2004-2005 to align it with the mission of the Goddard School and to ensure it was providing direction to program and classroom activities. The review will continue into the Fall of 2005.
The current mission is:
The undergraduate accounting program is driven by a mission that seeks to:
The proposed mission is:
Mission
The School of Accountancy creates a synergy between accounting, business, and economic theory and contemporary practice to prepare working professionals and full-time students for careers in a global, culturally diverse, information-driven economy. Three principles are central to our mission:
The following learning outcomes have been the basis of learning activities within the School for the past several years. They are currently being reviewed by faculty.
| Knowledge Acquisition: | Students will acquire basic but comprehensive knowledge of accounting theory and practice in a curriculum consistent with AACSB standards and appropriate for entry level accounting positions at the bachelor degree level or preparation for graduate studies in accounting and related disciplines. |
| Critical Thinking Skills: | Students will be able to use analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills to solve accounting problems. |
| Communication Skills: | Students will be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing in professional accounting situations. |
| Information Skills: | Students will be able to use library and computer resources both to gather and present accounting information. |
| Interpersonal Skills: | Students will be able to interact appropriately and effectively with others in accounting settings. |
| Professional Values: | Students will understand standards of professional conduct and ethical issues related to accounting. |
| Contextual Awareness: | Students will understand political, social, and international issues related to accounting and career opportunities available in accounting. |
Looking forward into the 2005-06 year, a plan has been developed to establish and maintain assurance of learning within the School of Accountancy. The following describes the significant objectives of the plan:
Current Assessment Methods
The School of Accountancy assesses its performance relative to its mission and stated outcomes by interacting with its advisory council, conducting exit surveys, and this year by a faculty review of the learning activities related to meeting the Information Skills learning outcome.
Assessment Results and Implications
Advisory Council: To ensure that the program’s outcomes are appropriate and meaningful, an active advisory council of community professionals meets twice yearly to provide input to the program. The council’s input has given direction on curriculum, fund raising, hiring qualifications, and student/professional interaction.
Meet-the-Firms: Another form of assessment is the level of participation by firms in the annual Meet-the-Firms night. In 2004, 29 firms participated of which 13 were Accounting firms. Nearly 100 students attended the event to network and begin or continue the process of finding a job in the profession.
Meet-the-Firms on the Golf Course: During the Fall of 2004, 14 firms sent representatives to the golf outing, including 2 national and 7 local/regional firms.
The level of participation in these two events by the firms in the region suggests that they find the WSU Accounting program to have sufficient quality to warrant their recruiting efforts.
Information Skills Review: A committee of four accounting faculty conducted a review of the learning activities across the Accounting and Business curriculum that support the acquisition of information skills among our students. The review of information skills was a follow-up objective from the review of the Masters Program during the previous year. The entire curriculum was studied, including the order of prerequisites and classroom activities. The result was a refinement in the way information literacy was delivered to students, mainly in the Accounting Information Systems course. An off-the-shelf product was adopted for use in the classroom entitled the “Systems Understanding Aid” and was integrated with Great Plains Accounting Software. It was determined that Peachtree Accounting Software would no longer be taught in the program and that no accounting software package would be introduced during Intermediate Accounting I. It was determined that the IS&T 3110 course needed to be taken much earlier in the program of study by students. It was found that students were taking the class in the last semester of the senior year, much too late to add value.
Exit Surveys: To understand the current state of performance related to the program’s outcomes and to gain insight into the experience of graduates at Weber State, exit surveys are completed each year by the School of Accountancy’s graduates. Each year, the surveys yield meaningful information pertaining to student opinion. The results of these questions are shown below (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being equivalent to “strongly agree” and 5 being “strongly disagree”).
2005 Results – Overall Satisfaction: The 2005 exit survey found that students continue to agree that their experience in the program was pleasant and one that they would recommend. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being equivalent to “strongly agree” and 5 being “strongly disagree”, the following scores were achieved.
| Exit Survey Question |
2001 |
2005 |
Improvement over 2001 baseline |
| My overall experience in the undergraduate program in the |
1.975 |
1.76 |
10.9% |
| School of Accountancy was very pleasant. | |||
| I would recommend the undergraduate accounting program |
1.875 |
1.55 |
17.3% |
| to my friends. |
2005 Results – Student Outcomes: To add detail to the overall satisfaction students experience in the program, the exit survey collects responses to 33 additional questions that can be grouped into the program’s student learning outcomes.
|
Outcome/Year (Sorted by 2004 scores) |
Exit Survey Scores | ||||
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 | |
| Knowledge Acquisition: |
1.900 |
1.885 |
1.710 |
1.735 |
1.89 |
| Critical Thinking Skills: |
1.625 |
1.485 |
1.835 |
1.780 |
1.80 |
| Information Skills: |
1.864 |
1.796 |
1.817 |
1.854 |
1.98 |
| Professional Values: |
2.000 |
1.500 |
1.710 |
2.050 |
2.00 |
| Communication Skills: |
1.913 |
1.970 |
2.130 |
2.105 |
2.54 |
| Contextual Awareness: |
2.162 |
2.187 |
2.213 |
2.204 |
2.18 |
| Interpersonal Skills: |
1.925 |
1.730 |
2.080 |
2.210 |
2.24 |
The table illustrates that the students’ perception of the program is strong in helping students acquire knowledge, develop critical thinking and information skills. It is also evident from the scores and their year-to-year trends that greater emphasis needs to be placed on providing additional opportunities for students to improve communication and interpersonal skills and gain contextual awareness and as well as improve professional values. In summary, students agree that the student outcomes are being met, however, differences among the variables suggest that program improvement, as always, is needed. The program will continue to assess these variables and adapt to counter unfavorable trends.
2005 Results – Faculty and Program Support Resources: For the purpose of improvement, the faculty, course administration, and support resources of the program are assessed by students in the exit survey. Students are asked about the faculty’s availability, classroom environment, gender, religious, and ethnic biases, respect for students and the administration of the course. The program support staff and resources are rated in terms of availability, helpfulness, and the ability to answer questions. Faculty and program support resources were given the following favorable ratings over the past four years:
|
Outcome/Year |
Exit Survey Scores | ||||
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 | |
| Faculty |
2.024 |
1.858 |
1.867 |
1.849 |
1.83 |
| Course Administration |
2.04 |
1.69 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
1.92 |
| Program Support Resources |
2.085 |
1.752 |
2.034 |
1.940 |
1.89 |
2005 Results - Career Services: Graduates in Accounting have reflected some neutrality toward career services on their survey scores.
|
Outcome/Year |
Exit Survey Score | ||||
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 | |
| Career Services |
2.798 |
2.583 |
2.17 |
2.557 |
2.59 |
Clearly, in 2001 career services was a concern to students, and thus to faculty and administration. In 2003, students improved their stance on how career services helped them. However, students leaving WSU in 2005 offered a survey score that suggests a need to look at the way these services are made available to students. One possible explanation for the lower score is that with a baccalaureate degree in Accounting, students will find that salary reports show a starting salary that is nearly $5,000 below the regional average and over $8,300 below the national average of $43,269. The salary differences may be accounted for by the fact that Utah is a state in which the CPA license will not be granted without 30 hours beyond the bachelor degree. Many of the program’s baccalaureate graduates move into the Master’s of Professional Accounting program (In the Fall of 2004, 47 (73%) of the 64 masters students are from WSU’s undergraduate program). Therefore, as they graduate with a baccalaureate degree and complete exit surveys they respond neutrally to questions about career services, thus yielding a lower score.
The Masters of Accounting students also provide exit survey data regarding Career Services. The survey score among graduate students in 2005 was 3.16, on a 1 to 5 scale, for Career Services. This suggests that Masters level students are even less satisfied with the outcomes of the Career Services process. Efforts are already underway to improve Career Services during the 2005-06 year. Salary may not be a factor in the low rating recent graduates gave to Career Services. WSU graduates with a Macc degree have an average salary that is within $67 of the regional average and only below the national average by $763.