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Academics, Alexandria, Student Life, Study Abroad

Czech it Out – UT Classes Abroad

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Visiting the Skoda manufacturing floor in our Safety Gear

As I said in my earlier blog, the MPA summer programs allow you to take two accounting elective courses in a foreign country: one led by UT faculty, and one led by faculty at the host university.

I’ve already discussed the Czech faculty I had the privilege of taking classes with, so now it’s time to talk about my UT faculty led course.

The course was split up between UT Professors Kamas and Koonce. Before I dive into the subject matter they taught, I would like to point out that these courses aren’t like any MPA courses you can take in Austin. Not only are they in a foreign country, but the faculty get to set their own curricula. This means that they get to lecture on whatever they are passionate about, and their passion definitely comes across in their teaching.

Professor Kamas led the first half of the course, and focused on managerial accounting and financial statement analysis. We discussed what considerations international firms take into account in order to manage their profits and strategy effectively. The course material really hit home because Professor Kamas used cases of international firms and brought in his own copious experience of running a business. Professor Kamas had a Big 4 partner come to the classroom and discuss the challenges of moving from the US to a foreign country with our class. We also enjoyed the luxury of seeing what we were learning in the classroom applied to an actual multinational company. We went on a company visit of Skoda (the largest car manufacturer in the Czech Republic), and learned about accounting and the strategy challenges of trying to expand internationally.

The second half of the course was led by Professor Koonce. To give you some background on her course material, Professor Koonce is the top experimental researcher in financial reporting according to the most recent BYU rankings of accounting research (go Professor Koonce!). She introduced us to experimental research in accounting by lecturing on the basics of judgment and decision making and how the concepts overlapped with accounting. This was probably the most fascinating class I have taken in my time in the MPA Program. We are lucky to have such wonderful faculty teaching us, but teaching is such a small part of some of their jobs. So much of their time is dedicated to research, and we really have no idea what is involved in this. Hearing about the basics of what our faculty are up to when they are not in the classroom was an unbelievable experience.

Click here to continue to Part 3 of Ally’s Czech It Out Adventures!

Academics, Student Life, Study Abroad

Czech It Out- Classes in a Different Country

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A group of Texas MPAs overlooking scenic Prague

This past summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the MPA Summer Program in Prague. This is the first of my many installments called “Czech It Out” where I document my experience abroad.

For those of you unfamiliar with the MPA summer programs, students go abroad for 5 weeks and take 2 accounting elective courses. 1 course is taught by UT professors, and the other by professors at the host university.

Students that venture to Prague attend VSE, the economics school, and take a class on European Accounting in Europe taught by a combination of 3 professors from Prague.

As to be expected there were several cultural differences that students noticed in the classroom. The first of which is that the Czech style of teaching is much more lecture based than the classes of their UT counterparts. They did not really ask for student participation and seemed thrown off when students raised their hands in the middle of lectures.

They also did not “hold our hands” at all. For example, when we asked Professor Zarova what she wanted to see in the group presentation and paper she assigned, she replied “Oh, whatever you feel is important.” Most of us MPAs didn’t know what to do after being provided very descriptive rubrics for each of our projects in Austin.

From the perspective of enhancing your accounting education, I could not recommend a better thing to do. First of all, Czech classes were fascinating in that the country is still recovering from 40 years of communism. I had no idea what an influence communism still played on the Prague culture and economy today. It really hit home when our professors told us that in 1991, when the Soviet Block fell, all their degrees lost all of their value because the only masters and doctorate degrees they could receive were in Leninism and Stalinism. Once communism fell, they had to go to the US and UK to reacquire their credentials in capitalism and learn how the capitalist system worked.

It was also fascinating hearing about US GAAP and IFRS convergence efforts from a European perspective. I never understood why it would be so hard to find a compromise, but after learning the stark cultural and business differences amongst European countries, I have a much better understanding of the complexities that arise with convergence efforts.

Click here to continue to Part 2 of Ally’s Czech It Out Adventures!

Academics, Admissions, Allison, Austin, Career, Student Life, Study Abroad

Why I Chose MPA

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UT Austin ribbonIt might be nice to get a perspective on why each of us chose to come to the MPA program.  I will give you my top 3 influences in my choosing the program, which may help you make you make a more informed decision for yourself.

1. The #1 rating – I know some say this is not the most important thing about the MPA program, and they are right, but it was definitely an important factor in my decision.  As others have expressed as well, I did not think I was going to be accepted into the program. It was more of a “reach” for me, but I figured why not?  I was more heavily considering all the other schools I got into because I figured it was a more realistic approach.  In the back of my mind though, I said to myself that if I got into UT, I would have a much more difficult decision to make.  That situation did come about and I did indeed have a tough decision.  Knowing that MPA is ranked the #1 graduate accounting program is a great distinction, but it is also indicative of all of the amazing opportunities that are available to MPA students.  I looked into why it is ranked that way, including the faculty, the career services, curriculum, and other factors.  These all showed me that the ranking was legitimate and the program is taken seriously.

2. Austin – When I mentioned to people I was considering coming to Austin, all I heard was, “Oh I hear it is so cool there!” or “Everyone loves it there!” or “Why are you going to Austin?”.  Besides that last point, which I think was just friends wondering why I was going all the way from New Jersey to Texas, everyone’s excitement over Austin got me so excited.  I came to visit in March before the program started, and got a feel for Austin.  Now, having lived here for a while, I can see why everyone loves it.  The vibe from all the people and all the activities really make it a unique place.  I trusted those people who told me that Austin is awesome, and I am glad that I did because they were right!

3. Variety of Courses – This was more of a detail that helped me distinguish the MPA program from other schools’ Master of Accounting programs.  I knew that since I was going to be in external audit for my full time job, I thought I would be on the Financial Reporting and Assurance Track at UT.  Then I looked into the actual courses I would have to and be allowed to take in that track.  I was so surprised by the amount of audit and more general electives that were offered, including internal audit, IT audit, government accounting, and standards in auditing.  Since I came into the program with the room to take a lot of electives, I definitely capitalized on this opportunity by taking interesting electives.  Also, a subset to this is that as an MPA student you have the opportunity to take courses abroad during the summer.  I did not study abroad as an undergrad so this seemed like an amazing option that I planned on taking advantage of.  (I am going to Hong Kong this summer and am very excited!)  Also, the courses given while abroad include topics geared towards international business and international accounting standards, which in this global economy, are very useful subjects.

I hope this helps you understand why I chose the program and can give you some insight and help for making your own decision.

Please leave comments or questions below!