One of the things I love most about the MPA program is the amazing faculty, so of course I jumped at the chance to attend Dr. Jeri Seidman’s “Don’t Mess With Taxes” presentation. Professor Seidman went broadly over some of her research findings, such as companies paying taxes on fraudulent income to avoid fraud detection and reasons for increases in the book-tax gap (the gap between what a company reports for book income and taxable income).
In her presentation, Professor Seidman also covered some of the basics of accounting research. As a dual degree student in Plan II (which, if you’re unfamiliar with the program, is essentially an interdisciplinary liberal arts degree) and the MPA program, the idea of research and writing really appeals to me. This, of course, begs the question: should I be considering a Ph.D. in accounting?
The thought has occurred to me before. After all, being a professor sounds pretty great. Teaching and researching – I mean it’s definitely hard work, but hard work that I would enjoy. So what does it take to get there? I started skimming through rankings and curriculum descriptions, and of course wasn’t surprised to find out that McCombs has a top program, so I decided that would be a good starting place to look at what it takes to get your Ph.D.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that getting a Ph.D. would require so much math, but nonetheless, once I got past my initial aversion to the words “probability” and “statistics”, I realized that the course work actually seems pretty interesting, ranging from math and economics classes to research seminars, all culminating in a final dissertation. From what I can tell, the MPA program has provided me with a strong starting point if I decided to pursue a Ph.D. here or at any other top school.
All this is not to say that pursuing a Ph.D. is the only way to have a career centered on research. During my internship in the spring, I had some amazing opportunities to work on research memos for clients facing various tax issues, which I loved! For now, at least, I think that’s definitely the place for me. I’m going to start back there full-time next fall and hopefully continue on similar research projects, but somewhere down the road, maybe a Ph.D. is something to consider?
The MPA Distinguished Speaker Lyceum is one of the most important traditions in the MPA program. Last Tuesday we hosted Ms. Camille Stovall, a partner at Deloitte and the Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services (FAS). The conversational interview between Ms. Stovall, Professor Steve Limberg, and my fellow MPA students ranged from how to approach difficult restructurings to the importance of analytics. The latter prompted Prof. Limberg to ask just how analytics are used in the real world.
One of my biggest passions in the MPA Program: MPA Council. Since the council is involved in so many areas of student life, it’s hard to fully describe it in a blog post. I’ll attempt to present a good overview of the group and if you have questions I haven’t answered, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section.
What is MPA Council?
Before I describe the Council, I am going to describe the MPA Program the way I currently see it. The MPA Program is composed of 4 groups: students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Each of these groups have a lot to offer the program, and there will come a time you need help from one of these groups, and it pays to have a variety of contacts in each group to get things done. One of the overall long term goals of MPA Council is to be a central body that facilitates communication between these four groups. I love diagrams, so I have drawn a diagram to illustrate this. For example, if the MPA Program Office had a new idea, and wanted to gage student interest, it could talk to the Council and the Council could gain insight from a large number of students. The Council’s overall mission is to create a community within the MPA Program. It is commonly interpreted that this means the Council provides MPA students to get to know each other in a variety of settings. This is true, but more than that, the Council is about establishing a community within the four aspects of the program I described earlier. In other words, the Council hopes to synergize the unique and extremely proficient skill sets and capabilities of each of these groups and use them to ensure our program is the best in the nation.
MPA Council members at our boat party on Lake Austin
The council provides members with professional, academic, community service, and social events to participate in. Some of the events hosted this year include a boat party on Lake Austin, State of Accounting discussion with Dr. Lillian Mills, the Accounting Department’s Centennial Celebration with our lovely mascot Bevo, and a PhD panel (you can see pictures from our events here). Coming up we have Ethics Week, speakers for our distinguished speaker series, Faculty Appreciation Week.
Why did I join the Council?
I remember sitting at orientation listening to the professor panels, and professors saying how important it was to know your classmates for group cases and the importance of studying with classmates. I started freaking out, as I only know about 5 people on a speaking basis in the entire integrated class, and I was convinced I was going to fail everything. They talked about the Council at orientation, and I dove in so I could meet my fellow MPAs outside of the classroom. It was the best decision I have made in relation to my MPA degree. I have met so many people with distinct backgrounds and perspectives that I would never have been able to do in the classroom. It’s also provided me so many opportunities and resources within the MPA Program I don’t think I otherwise would have had.
What is my favorite part about the Council?
My personal favorite event of the Council is Member’s only Monday. One Monday a month, the Council provides its members with bagels, breakfast burritos, and coffee. It’s a come and go event, but it’s nice to sit in between classes with lovely MPAs and have a delicious free breakfast!
Welcome back, everyone! If you are new to the MPA program this year- congratulations and I hope you are excited for an amazing year! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and the transition back into the swing of things isn’t proving to be too difficult. My summer was a fun one, but I am glad to be back at McCombs.
Over the summer I was informed of some fantastic news about UT. The UT Austin ALPFA Chapter received the Student Chapter Award for the Central Region! ALPFA is largest Latino association for business professionals and students with chapters nationwide. Every year they chose a student chapter from each region and this year, it was UT! I am increasingly humbled and honored to be a part of this school when I learn about all of the accomplishments and accolades that UT is constantly bringing in.
Another tidbit of exciting news this summer was the selection of the winners for the 2012 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards. This year, two McCombs professors were honorable recipients, Anitesh Barua and Steven Kachelmeier. I had the opportunity to take an MPA class with Professor Kachelmeier last semester and it is great to see a familiar professor receive this award! In the article, Professor Kachelmeier is quoted regarding the importance of passion in a teaching role saying, “If a teacher is not passionate about the subject matter, one can hardly expect students to feel otherwise.” Passion about the subject is something that I really value in a professor and if you are new to McCombs this year, you can certainly expect to see passion for their subject is key to McCombs professors.
Ironically, I was elected to deliver a commencement address just weeks after the MPA Council gave me the “Foot-in-Mouth” Award. (Ian Rathmell also spoke.)
I remember the first time I stepped foot onto the UT campus several years ago. I was so lost—literally. My roommate at the time was showing me around the campus. After several hours of walking around, we decided to head back to Jester, and I happily walked in the wrong direction. He quickly corrected me and, with a hint of exasperation, advised me, “Whenever you get lost, just look for the Tower to find your way home.” …to which I responded, “What Tower?”
He merely returned a look of frustration—one that we would both repeat many times while Greg Davis was offensive coordinator. (Nothing like a screen pass on 3rd and 20…)
This was an embarrassing and sobering moment for me—as I’m sure all of us had when we arrived at the University of Texas for the first time. I left high school knowing it all and ready to conquer the world, but realized quickly that I could not have even survived orientation on my own. August came around soon though, and, like all of us, I began to attend classes, lectures, and football games.
Over the past several years, we have been witnesses to many events in our world. We have witnessed the election of a new president—one we were finally able to vote. We have witnessed a credit collapse. We have witnessed a budget crisis. And yet, we knew that this was the world in which we were about to be unleashed in only a matter of years.
My own eyes slowly began to open. Suddenly the age-old promise of the future being ours seemed to be less of a promise and more of a threat.
In our classes, we learned about commerce, economics, and ethics. We learned about cultures, religions, and traditions. We learned about integrity, honesty, and freedom. We learned every two-letter word that could be played in a game of Words with Friends. We learned about principles to apply to a real world—a cold, rigid, and harsh world that was awaiting us.
Today we reach a crossing where we have the chance to mold and shape this world. If “what starts here changes the world,” then we have a daunting task and great expectations laid upon us. Yet, it is ours to embrace!
As we embark with our degrees today, it is important to consider what we are receiving. For what does a degree truly guarantee? Success? Happiness? Employment?
Our degrees are invaluable–our quintessential defense. Our greatest safeguard is that we are able to read, write, and reason—the ability to create. It is a shield against manipulation and cajolery. It is our sword against evil and tyranny. It is our shofar to signal a just cause and to alert those who remain unarmed.
As we see the uncertainties that abound the world we enter, we know that we come from an outstanding university and will attain careers in influential roles. It is with this outlook that we know we will have the opportunity to shape the world for other students one day. And it is with this understanding that we are aware that we undertake great expectations. We sing “the eyes of Texas are upon you” frequently, but today, for the last time, it is being sung to us. We have the expectations that we, with what we have learned at the University of Texas, will continue to strive for the higher ideal to hopefully leave the world better for the next generation, as the past generation strived to leave it better for us.
Many years from now, we will look upon this day, not as an ending, but as a beginning of the time we were unleashed into the chaotic world we inherited. Many years from now, we will look upon this day as the start of our lives as true contributors to the communities around us, contributing in our thoughts, our words, and, most importantly, our actions. Many years from now, we will look upon this day as the moment in which we embarked upon a journey in which we examined the lessons of the past and sought to correct them as we emblazed on a new path. (Many years from now, we will look upon this day and wonder just how Angry Birds grew to be so popular…) Many years from now, we will look upon this day and recall the many ways each of us has individually shaped each others’ lives to give us the new perspective with which we approach our next challenges.
I have by no means cemented my destiny, but what is for certain is that I am no longer lost as I was graduating from high school years ago. What we have learned over the past five years has given us a clear sense of direction, and, in acting upon the lessons we learned, we, as a class, can be trusted to lead the world into the next era.
John Wooden once said, “Little things make big things happen.” And I’m a firm believer in that saying. All of our actions, no matter if seemingly small and inconsequential, cumulate and send the greater message to those around us. Thus, as we leave today, we go with confidence and a charge to continue to use our work to be helpful to everyone around us. These are the responsibilities that our education now endows us: that we actively set the example, using what we have learned from our experiences here, to ensure that the next generation inherits a paradise of integrity, trust, and freedom; that our contributions do matter; and that we have the opportunity, as a class together, to guarantee that the world will be ready to be inherited many years from now in better shape than we received it.
So I ask you: if what starts here truly changes the world, what are we waiting for?
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The past several years have been amazing, and I am indebted and forever grateful to the faculty and staff at UT, especially those within the McCombs School of Business and MPA Program, and my peers who stood beside me during my best and worst hours. Thus, thank you, Austin, for five absolutely beautiful years, and may God’s face be able to shine upon the work of our hands forever!
One of the things I love most about the MPA program is the amazing faculty, so of course I jumped at the chance to attend Dr. Jeri Seidman’s “Don’t Mess With Taxes” presentation. Professor Seidman went broadly over some of her research findings, such as companies paying taxes on fraudulent income to avoid fraud detection and reasons for increases in the book-tax gap (the gap between what a company reports for book income and taxable income).
Welcome back, everyone! If you are new to the MPA program this year- congratulations and I hope you are excited for an amazing year! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and the transition back into the swing of things isn’t proving to be too difficult. My summer was a fun one, but I am glad to be back at McCombs.