Have you been wanting to explore the McCombs School of Business but been unable to see it in person? Take a virtual tour and see what makes Texas McCombs a premiere and top-ranked business school.
Learn more about the McCombs School of Business, Master in Professional Accounting program, and living in Austin by visiting our website.
Since 1996, David Platt has called UT home. He has touched the lives of thousands of students teaching managerial and cost accounting in the BBA, MPA, and various MBA programs. Let’s learn more about Dave and his current role as UT’s Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Dave Platt did not set out to earn a PhD in accounting. After working as an auditor for PwC in Philadelphia and then in industry, he returned to Cornell intending to earn his PhD in operations management. While in grad school, he found that there was a discipline called managerial accounting that sat at the intersection of accounting, finance, marketing – and he was hooked!
While at Texas McCombs, Dave wore a variety of different hats. He began as a faculty member and researcher, and then added the director of the Center for International Business Education and Research to his resume. After 12 years in that role, Dave became Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, where he stewarded the operations of the BBA program. In 2019, he joined the Provost’s Office as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
In his first 18 months in the Provost’s Office, Dave concentrated on building a working network among the many different undergraduate programs at UT, to make the academic experience the very best it can be across our large and diverse university. Dave notes that “UT is a big place, but it’s important that for any given student it feels like it is a small, tight-knit community.”
Dave has dedicated 12 of the last 18 months largely to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to do so in a way that, as much as possible under our current operating constraints, keeps undergraduate education at UT going strong. While he misses teaching students, their well-being and educational experience are both still paramount concerns for him.
Dave cross-country skiing with his wife, Nancy.
In his spare time, Dave loves to read, particularly history, and spends as much time as possible in the mountains skiing, hiking, and enjoying the fresh air with his wife, Nancy. And like so many of us, he picked up a few new hobbies during the pandemic. “I’m finally learning to play guitar, something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve gotten into making ice cream and dreaming up new recipes,” Dave said. “I even based one on shoofly pie, which I remember from growing up in Pennsylvania.”
Can you guess what year the first accounting course was offered at UT? Or when the first accounting PhD degree was conferred? How about the year we hired our first tenure-track female faculty member? We’ll take you through a short history of the Department of Accounting at The University of Texas at Austin.
Spurgeon Bell was Dean of the School of Business Administration from 1922-1925.
1912: Spurgeon Bell stands before 20 students in UT’s first accounting class, the Theory and Practice of Accounting.
1928: George Newlove is the first accounting faculty member to receive a distinguished professorship, funded by discovery of oil on university land in 1923.
1934: The first PhD in Accounting at the College of Business Administration is awarded to Lloyd Raisty.
1939: For the first, but not the last, time, accounting classes are populated with more women than men (due to WWII enlistment in the armed forces).
1947: The Department of Accounting is one of five departments created in the College of Business Administration.
1948: The Master in Professional Accounting program is established.
Anna Fowler taught at UT from 1977-2004.
1957: Luzine Bickman is the first Black student to be initiated into the Theta Chapter, a UT fraternal accounting organization.
1958: With nine inaugural members, the Department of Accounting’s Advisory Council is established.
1962: The new Business Administration Economics Building opens (now known as CBA).
1977: Anna Fowler is the first female, tenure-track professor hired by the Department.
1985: The five-year integrated approach to the MPA is introduced, allowing McCombs freshmen and sophomores to begin working on their masters in accounting while still in undergrad.
Rowland Atiase has been a faculty member since 1987.
1987: Rowland Atiase is the first Black, tenure-track professor hired by the Department.
1994: Texas McCombs’ Department of Accounting is ranked #1 in Public Accounting Report’s survey for the first time.
2002: The ECON-MPA program, which allows UT economics students to get a head start on MPA coursework during their senior year, is created.
2012: The Department of Accounting celebrates its 100 year anniversary!
2019: The MPA Program adopts a proposal requiring every course within the program to include content on data analytics.
As you explore your future in accounting, we hope you discovered some new and useful information on the Department of Accounting. Reach out to us or visit our website to learn more!
From earning an undergraduate degree in history to making a professional pivot into accounting and finance, John Bober (MPA ’82) has had a long and successful career. After earning his Master in Professional Accounting, John started at Arthur Andersen and quickly made partner. He then transitioned to GE Capital, where he spent nearly 23 years of his career. John retired in March 2018 and is now a consultant in the leasing industry. He is also a long-time supporter of our Department.
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR CAREER AT GE.
I joined GE Capital after more than a decade in public accounting and right after making partner. It was one of the best career decisions I made. The breadth of experience and wisdom I gained at GE were unparalleled. Over my 23 years, I had roles in controllership, finance, risk, and general management. My favorite stints were those I had in project finance, where I led the group that analyzed the accounting and tax implications of investment structures and established investment hurdle rates. I also had other responsibilities within the larger GE organization, including lease pricing and serving as the finance group’s subject matter expert for leasing. At the time, responsibility at GE went to the person and not the position, which allowed for considerable professional growth.
HOW ARE YOU STAYING BUSY IN RETIREMENT?
Since retiring, I have stayed active in the industry. I am now a consultant with The Alta Group, a global consultancy dedicated to equipment leasing and finance — it’s a very interesting world and I enjoy consulting on lease accounting, pricing, and operations. My deepest experience is on the lessor side, and spending time on transactions and establishing lease programs and captive finance arrangements is where my retirement days usually go.
WHY DID YOU JOIN THE DEPARTMENT’S ADVISORY COUNCIL?
Maybe I am a frustrated academic… I enjoy learning what is being taught, and it is great to hear what is on the minds of students and what they are looking for. It was especially helpful when I was recruiting on campus for GE.
WHY DID YOU SWITCH FROM HISTORY TO ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE?
I figured out in college that I needed a skill that I could monetize. I had the opportunity to work in foreign policy, but I passed as UT offered me a fellowship to study accounting in a great program. I do credit my liberal arts courses with helping me learn how to think and process large amounts of information. My history degree also taught me to write, which has served me well.
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME AT TEXAS McCOMBS?
In the early 80s, there was much to talk about in accounting from a theory and public policy perspective; I thoroughly enjoyed the courses that emphasized the “why” and how accounting information is used. This served me well in the second half of my career, when I was more of a thought leader in the accounting world. I also remember how Michael Granof’s two government accounting courses gave me a window into a different world.
Learn more about starting your journey in accounting at Texas McCombs MPA by visiting our website.
In December, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) announced 2019 CPA exam pass rates. UT Austin trailblazed its way to the top of the list for first-time test takers at large collegiate programs (60 or more test takers). Read on to learn more about how the current exam is scored, test-taker outcomes, and upcoming changes to the exam.
The CPA exam is a 16 hour assessment divided into four sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG).
In 55 jurisdictions nationally (50 states and five U.S. territories), nearly 83,000 candidates took the CPA exam in 2019. Of these candidates, approximately 63,000 were first-time test takers and close to 23,000 passed either all parts or the final section of the exam.
In 2019, UT Austin had 358 first-time candidates sit for the exam; 89.5% passed all parts on that first try – an exceptionally high percentage. For all 2019 test takers, UT Austin had an impressive pass rate of 83%. This compares to a 54% pass rate for all test takers at all other Texas colleges and universities – go ‘Horns!
How is the exam scored? And, what contributes to our students’ impressive performance?
For each section of the CPA exam, a candidate’s score can range from 0 to 99. To pass a section, the candidate must score a 75 or better.
A candidate’s total score on each of the AUD, FAR, and REG sections is a weighted combination of scaled scores on multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations. For the BEC section, the total score is a weighted combination of scaled scores on multiple-choice, task-based, and written communication questions.
Scaled scores are calculated using formulas that take into consideration both whether the question was answered correctly and level of difficulty. For multiple-choice questions, the exam employs a multi-stage adaptive test delivery model, meaning that the first question is moderately difficult, and the next question will be as or slightly more difficult, based on the candidate’s answer to the previous question. (This adaptive model is not used for task-based simulations or written communications.)
This system allows the candidate’s proficiency level to be measured more accurately. Answering a challenging question incorrectly doesn’t necessarily penalize the test taker in the same way as answering a less-difficult question incorrectly. Scaled scores make it possible to standardize exam results so that the results from different sets of questions are comparable.
The three institutions that oversee the CPA exam include the AICPA, NASBA, and Prometric, the organization that offers the exam at its authorized centers. Other than the written portions of the exam that are graded by humans, CPA exam scoring is completely automated. Candidate responses go through multiple quality assurance reviews to ensure scoring accuracy.
What contributes to our students’ outstanding performance? It’s difficult to say with certainty, but we like to think it’s a combination of the high-caliber students in our program and the rigorous courses that provide them with a solid accounting foundation. As was mentioned in our fall edition, no university has had 12 Sells Award winners in a single year – ever. Professor Ross Jennings likely summed it up best when he said, “The secret to our success isn’t much of a secret. Our students are interested in learning and we have faculty interested in teaching them.”
In considering the importance of the CPA exam, Chad Libertus (MPA ’94), a KPMG tax partner, observed that in many professional-service firms, including at KPMG, people drive the firm’s success. He noted that KPMG “empowers our professionals to own their careers and proactively develop the skills and knowledge to help them succeed, which includes taking the CPA exam and getting a CPA license.” In Chad’s opinion, obtaining this important credential demonstrates that a professional has the skills, knowledge, and foundation to be a strategic business advisor who can provide valuable client service. It also showcases the ability to think critically and strategically, which should allow for solving a wide range of challenges in order to deliver a better client experience.
Beginning in 2024, as part of its CPA Evolution project, the AICPA expects to offer a redesigned CPA exam. The revised exam will emphasize understanding business processes and data analytics and deemphasize topics that a newly licensed CPA would not be expected to know. Testing on the material in the updated blueprints for the exam is scheduled to begin in July 2021, with the final redesign completed by January 2023, and the new format launched in January 2024. Candidates still will be tested in the AUD, BEC, FAR and REG format; the refresh in topic coverage and emphasis is intended to maintain the relevance of the exam to our changing profession. We expect that our students will continue to perform well on the redesigned exam and that our Sells Award record will be tough to beat for years to come.
Check out the views from the home offices of our MPA advising team, who are currently meeting with MPA students virtually as they register for classes and prepare for graduation.
SHERYLL COX, Senior Academic Advisor
Number of years at UT: 8
PROS OF WORKING FROM HOME: Having lunch with my sons, as they are both attending school virtually.
CONS OF WORKING FROM HOME: I miss the interaction with my students and colleagues (and walks to our campus Target).
EMILY STROMAN, Associate Academic Advisor
Number of years at UT: 1
PROS OF WORKING FROM HOME: Spending extra time with my fur babies and my husband, Kyle.
CONS OF WORKING FROM HOME: I don’t have as many food options; I’m limited to what’s in my fridge.
JASON TASSET, Director of Academic Services
Number of years at UT: 20
PROS OF WORKING FROM HOME: Lunchtime walks with my dogs and playing my music loudly.
CONS OF WORKING FROM HOME: It’s tough not seeing my coworkers or taking breaks at the Blanton Museum.
Explore the Master in Professional Accounting academic experience by visiting our website. You’ll learn more about the MPA coursework and how it aligns with your specific career goals. Tracks, various accounting and MBA electives, and an optional internal audit certificate program are all offered within the program.
Did you miss the first MPA Career Outcomes Webinar last month? Don’t fret! The second MPA Career Outcomes and Opportunities Webinar is coming up on Friday, April 16 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CT.
Your MPA Career Coach is your partner in helping you reach your career goals. In addition to one-on-one advising, Career Coaches Jo Chauvin and Dom Serra host a number of professional development and job search events throughout the year. Career Management Director Merri Su Ruhmann will also be in attendance to discuss networking opportunities and employment statistics of our MPA students.
Meet Jo, Dom, and Merri Su at the upcoming Career Opportunities Webinar to get all of your recruiting and employment questions answered.
He started as a guest speaker in Strategic Control Systems and is now teaching the class! Jim Albrecht has been the course’s instructor for 15 years. Read on to learn more about this class.
WHY DO STUDENTS TAKE STRATEGIC CONTROL SYSTEMS?
We never touch a debit or credit and barely look at any financial statements. Yet the course addresses concepts that may well fill their workday 15 or more years down the road, if a student aspires to be in a position of financial leadership.
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE COURSE?
It emphasizes viewing an organization from the perspective of a CFO, CEO, or COO. It teaches students about concepts and methods embraced in the area of strategic business control techniques that are crucial to financial leadership success.
HOW HAS TEACHING REMOTELY BEEN?
I believe there is no substitute for being in the classroom in person, but the remote environment has worked quite well. The students appear more willing to speak-up. Plus, not having to get dressed and walk across campus has resulted in near perfect attendance!
Learn more about the MPA curriculum here.
The application to join the incoming fall 2021 class is still open! Reach out to us or start your application today! The deadline to apply is April 30, 2021.
Meet Master in Professional Accounting faculty at the upcoming webinar on Wednesday, March 24 from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. CT!
Our professors and lecturers are regularly cited as one of the most compelling reasons to join the Texas McCombs MPA program. Our faculty continuously listen to the needs of accounting professionals and evolve our curriculum to prepare students with insights into new technologies as they enter the workforce.
Meet Senior Lecturers Patrick Badolato, Terri Holbrook, Jeff Johanns, and Steve Smith at the MPA Faculty Webinar to get all of your academics and coursework questions answered.
Register here. We’ll see you there!
Meet the Master in Professional Accounting Career Coaches at the MPA Career Outcomes and Opportunities Webinar on Thursday, March 11 from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. CT!
During your time in the MPA program, your career coach is your partner in helping you reach your career goals. In addition to one-on-one advising, Career Coaches Jo Chauvin and Dom Serra host a number of professional development and job search events throughout the year.
Meet Jo and Dom at the Career Opportunities Webinar to get all of your recruiting and employment questions answered!
Jo Chauvin, MPA Sr. Career Coach
Jo joined the MPA Career Management team in 2014, after having worked in the MPA Program Office for over ten years as our Special Projects Coordinator. Jo’s specialty is networking and assisting students in making connections with employers and others. She also helps with resume writing/editing, etiquette training, and interview best practices.
Dom Serra, MPA Career Coach
Dom is an Army Veteran with close to five years experience in discovering and securing job opportunities for military Veteran candidates. He has cultivated and fostered relationships with America’s leading companies, and his passion for higher education and career management brought him to Texas McCombs to help MPA students land their dream jobs.
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