Fifty Years on the Forty Acres: The Department of Accounting Advisory Council
In February 1958, the Department of Accounting faculty called for a special committee to study the proposal of an advisory committee for the department. Professors Jim Ashburne and C. Aubrey Smith and Glenn A. Welsch were named to the committee, and at the spring 1958 faculty meeting they presented these points in favor of the institution of an advisory council:
- Improved public relations
- Better understanding of industry problems as they influence accounting education
- Closer faculty-industry relations
- The opportunity for bringing representatives of business and the professions before student groups
- The opportunity for students to confer on a personalized basis with representatives of the accounting profession in public practice and industry.
- Provision of a source for actual case and problem materials.
On September 24, 1958, the voting faculty of the Department of Accounting unanimously passed a motion to appoint a department advisory council. The committee of accountants and businessmen would work directly with the faculty and students to promote accounting education through improved relationships and cooperation between the groups. Called the Committee of the Advisory Council Associates, their first formal meeting was on November 6, 1959. The inaugural committee included four advisors from public accounting, four from industry and one from government.
Today, the council has grown to more than 40 members who represent a wide public accounting firms, government entities, and a wide variety of industries, from oil to airlines.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Department of Accounting Advisory Council, some former department chairs gave The Accounting Times their thoughts on the council through the years and exactly how it has made the department what we are today.
Michael Granof (department chair 1984-1988): As a young professor, I decided on government accounting as my research specialty, and I soon began plans to organize a conference on the subject. Then-advisory council member Larry Jobe, a former assistant secretary of commerce, introduced me to Al Beerman, a fellow advisory council member who worked at Alexander Grant. The three of us put together a conference with all the big names, and I was able to get to know all the important government accounting players. As a result of the introductions the conference provided, I later was nominated to the National Council on Government Accounting. Larry and Al were instrumental in getting me off on the right foot in government accounting, and I would probably never have met them had they not been on the department advisory council..
It was very exciting for me as a young faculty member to mingle with senior CPAs at the biannual advisory council meetings, which at that time were three-day affairs. Third- or fourth-year faculty members would be the advisory council liaison, and would help organize the meetings, which all accounting faculty members were expected to attend. In the fall, there would be a Thursday evening event, the business meeting on Friday, dinner Friday night, brunch Saturday and afterward department faculty and advisory council members would attend a UT football game together. The spring meetings were held at Lakeway, with golf, boating and family-friendly activities. Through mingling with these senior accounting practitioners, I developed not only professional contacts, but enduring friendships. I owe much of my career to their influence.
Bob May, (department chair 1980-84 and 1988-92): The great thing about the Accounting Department Advisory Council is its important place in a crucial chain of historical events. Back in the early days of accounting at UT Austin, the department pursued a strategy of hiring faculty members who could write the definitive textbooks in the various branches of the discipline—that is, it sought the scholars of the day as well as great teachers. During the Great Depression, these highly accomplished faculty members took a personal interest in whether or not their students could get jobs when they graduated. To help their students, they had to engage the employer community. ”
Two really important traditions grew out of that development, the formalization of the relationship to accounting professionals and employers—the founding of the advisory council 50 years ago (before the business school had one) —and a faculty tradition of not only caring about our personal research and teaching performance, but also our collective success in producing the best prepared graduates to enter the accounting profession. While it is not unusual for accounting departments to have advisory councils today, our 50 years of experience interacting with professionals and employers who supported, encouraged and advised us kept our commitment to program and student success not only alive, but without question the strongest commitment that I know of among accounting departments in the country.
Ross Jennings (department chair 2003 – 2007): The members of the Department of Accounting Advisory Council bring real-world experiences to our faculty and students, for example, through presentations on the effects of Sarbanes-Oxley and on ethical situations they have encountered. They’ve also provided important input on curriculum changes, including relaying to us the knowledge our students need for the current accounting environment in terms of information technology and international business skills.
Our Texas Star Award winners Bill Ihlanfeldt, Frank Maresh, Don Wagner and Liz Yant exemplify the spirit of all of our advisory council members, who give unselfishly of their time to support the activities of the department and the college.
The advisory council has been a great resource that each successive chair has relied on and invested in over the years. That investment has paid and continues to pay significant dividends to the department.
Steve Limberg: (department chair 1997-2003): In 2002, the dean undertook a strategic planning process in which he challenged the Accounting Department to present the case for continuing the traditional MPA program. The advisory council worked tirelessly with me and the faculty to inform the dean of the program’s importance. The council’s support ranged from brainstorming to formally developing the case, and supporting it through coordinated written communications as well as numerous group and private forums with the dean and others. Key advisors marshaled collective support among all advisors, including McCombs Advisory Council members. I have no doubt that without the Department of Accounting Advisory Council’s role in this process, the MPA program would be much diminished today in size, quality, and stature. We owe the program’s ongoing success to the commitment and energies of this important body of friends and supporters.
One not-so-serious memory of the advisory council meetings also stands out. I recall when I was in charge of organizing the advisory council meetings as an assistant professor. I had made the dinner arrangements at a downtown restaurant, and when I went by to check on the preparations, I found the entire staff crying in the kitchen. When I asked what the matter was, they told me that the IRS had shut the restaurant earlier that day for delinquent taxes, and subsequently, they were all out of a job. They wanted to honor the commitment they had made to me and the department, though, to serve our dinner as promised.
So that evening, upstairs, the Advisory Council dinner went on as planned with laughter and good cheer, while the sorrowful restaurant staff wiped tears from their eyes and dutifully served our party with professional aplomb, only to be replaced by tears when they next returned to the kitchen. I was very relieved that the show went on as planned, and I never mentioned the incident to a soul—until now.
Urton Anderson (current department chair): Looking back, it’s clear that the Department of Accounting Advisory Council has more than fulfilled its original mission, and without the council, our programs would not have achieved the notoriety we enjoy today. The department draws on the expertise of these accounting professionals in the realms of finance, government, trade and industry, and our faculty and students benefit greatly from their knowledge and experience. We look forward to the next fifty years of their friendship, guidance and the expertise they generously share with us.
Historical information was taken from Professor C. Aubrey Smith’s book, Sixty Years of Accounting Education on the Forty Acres, 1912-1972.
