The ECU

Accountant
Volume III, Issue 1 News from the Department of Accounting Fall 2010
Points of Interest: Fall Graduation December 17th Exciting new changes in curriculum: new audit track! CPA exam pass rates 3rd in the state!

Award Winning Accounting Faculty and Students

Beginning in the spring of 2006, The College of Business began awarding Fellowships to deserving faculty who have excelled in either teaching or research at ECU. The fellowships are awarded for a three year period and carry a $15,000 annual stipend. The fellowships were established to both reward faculty members for their past performance as well as to support them in future projects. Past winners of these awards include Dr. Cal Christian (teaching) and Dr. James Kohlmeyer (research). This year Dr. John Reisch was the recipient of the College of Business Teaching Fellowship for the period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013. Congratulations Dr. Reisch! Not only have accounting faculty been busy earning awards for outstanding teaching and research, but some of our students have been recognized for their outstanding achievements as well. Kendell Harris, a junior accounting major from Hertford, NC recently received a 201011 AICPA Minority Scholarship with his essay How Becoming a CPA Will Enhance My Educational and Career Goals. Kendell is one of less than 100 students who received this national award. After graduation, Kendell plans on getting his CPA license and working at a tax firm. He eventually hopes to own his own firm. Walter "Trey" Vliet, a senior accounting major from Concord, NC has been selected as a student liaison to the NCACPA Young CPA Cabinet. The group serves as the voice of young CPAs in North Carolina and enhances the value of NCACPA membership for its younger members and future leaders. After graduating with his undergraduate degree in Accounting, Trey plans on continuing his education by completing the MSA program here at ECU, eventually working in public accounting.

Inside this issue:

Letter from the Department Chair Dr. Schisler Beta Alpha Psi and The Student Accounting Society Faculty Updates New additions to the Accounting Department Curriculum Updates Alumni Spotlight 2

4 5

6 7 7 8

Student Spotlight Accounting Scholarships

Honoring our Veterans Faculty in the News

Assistant Professor, Denise Dickins (front, second from right) rings the closing bell at the NYSE. Denise serves on the board and audit committee of three publiclytraded companies, TradeStation Group, Watsco, and Steiner Leisure.

10

Page 2

The ECU Accountant

From the Department Chairman

Dear Accountancy Alumni: We are doing some great things in the ECU Department of Accounting. Both students and faculty continue to push the boundaries of excellence. Many of those accolades are presented in this newsletter. It has also been a tough year in terms of budget constraints and job opportunities for students due to the economic downturn, but the faculty and students are still working hard to guarantee the department produces a great product. Although it appears that the budget constraints may not be lessening any time soon, the job market for students is showing some signs of improvement. Hopefully, this trend will trend will continue. If you have not been on campus lately, several things have changed. First, the departmental office has relocated to the other side of the Bate building. All of the departmental chairs are in one large suite. Secondly, we have a new office assistant, Marcie Southward. Marcie started on October 11th, and is a fine addition to our staff. Shelly Spear is still working for the College of Business but in another capacity. She will be greatly missed in the department. As usual, a letter from the chair cannot be concluded without some plea for fundraising. I know that times are tough for everyone. However, if you do plan to donate to the University, please make sure your funds reach the accounting department and its students by making the check payable to the ECU Department of Accounting (or online at https:// onestop.ecu.edu/onlinegiving/). Every little bit helps. Many of you benefited from alumni donations during your time at ECU either directly through scholarships or indirectly in other ways. If you are in a position to give, please do so. Very few of the extras that make our program great are funded through state appropriations. We depend heavily on alumni support. I cannot express how important your continued support, both through involvement and through financial gifts, is for the department. We, in the Department of Accounting, continue to strive for excellence and we would love to have your input. Additionally, if you would like to be added to our alumni and friends email distribution list, please contact me at the below email. Numerous job announcements for experienced hires and other useful information are distributed on a regular basis. If there is ever anything we can do to help you or your organization, please feel free to contact me at (252) 328-6055 or schislerd@ecu.edu. Take care and Go Pirates! Sincerely,

Dan Schisler, PhD, CPA Chair, Department of Accounting

Volume III, Issue 1

Page 3

Beta Alpha Psi Updates

Beta Alpha Psi (BAPsi) had another outstanding year for the 2009-2010 school year. 73 accounting majors were inducted into BAPsi in the 2009-2010 academic year, thus earning the primary academic honor for accounting majors. The BAPsi pledges, members and other accounting majors learned about the demands and rewards of the accounting profession by attending professional meeting presentations by the AICPA on specialized fields in accounting and separate presentations by Becker CPA Review and the AICPA on changes to the CPA Exam. In addition, presentations were made by Dixon-Hughes, Ernst & Young, the FBI, GrantThornton, the IRS, KPMG, McGladrey and the True Colors Leadership Test. The pledges also viewed a professional dress video and volunteered their time at the Pirate Tutoring Center tutoring introductory accounting students and at Give2theTroops preparing packages to be sent to U.S. Troops serving overseas. At the end of each semester the pledges were inducted into BAPsi at the induction dinner banquet held at the Greenville Hilton, where parents and significant others also attended. New officers assumed responsibility in January 2010: Mandy Kelly, President; Taylor Fennen, VP of BAPsi National ConferCommunication and Service; Ross ence in San Jose, CA Browning, Treasurer; and Farah Hussain, Reporting Secretary. The officers represented ECUs BAPsi chapter at the regional meeting in Alexandria, VA, near Washington DC, in February, and at the national meeting in San Jose, CA in August, where the officers made a presentation to BAPsi members attending from other colleges and universities. Dr. Joey Hagan and Dr. Douglas K. Schneider continue to serve as faculty advisors to BAPsi. More information and photos about the BAPsi chapter can be found at the chapters Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beta-Alpha-Psi-EastCarolina-University-IOTA-Chapter/148815720688. AICPA Specialization Presentation

Student Accounting Society Updates

The Student Accounting Society (SAS) continues to be a professional service organization for all accounting students. During this past year SAS held meetings bringing various industry representatives to campus to present opportunities in accounting to students outside of public accounting. Among these presentations were representatives from Dixon Hughes, NAACO, Four Oaks Bank, Greenville Utilities, Internal Revenue Service and Select Bank. Additionally, SAS provides opportunities for students to serve the Greenville community. Several times a year SAS serves meals to the Greenville Community Shelter and the individuals of the Shelter are always grateful for the assistance. SAS is in the thirteenth year of participating in the AdoptA-Highway program, and has placed emblems on the signs marking its stretch of highway 264 that the group keeps clean of liter. The Student Accounting Society is advised by Dr. Joseph Hagan, Dr. James Kohlmeyer, and Dr. John Reisch. The president for the coming year is Alexandria Conner. The other officers are Kristen Potter, Brian Ferguson, Virginia Driggers, Krystal Hicks, and Haylee Bridges.

More information and photos about the BAPsi chapter can be found at the chapters Facebook page http:// www.facebook.com/pages/ECU-Student-AccountingSociety/95191773336?ref=ts

SAS members Adopt-aHighway

Page 4

The ECU Accountant

Faculty News
Dr. Denise Dickins, CPA, CIA, Assistant Professor of Accounting has had a number of recent publications including, The Impact of Accounting Pronouncements on Managements Decisions: The Case of SFAS 123R, in American Journal of Business Research, with Dr. Charmaine Glegg (Finance Department), The Qualifications and Independence of Internal Auditors, in Internal Auditing, with Dr. OReilly, Do Financial Statement Users Care about Differences in Board Members Source of Financial Expertise - Views of Financial Analysts, in Journal of Applied Business & Economics, Offshoring the Independent Audit Function, in CPA Journal, and Preparing Students to be Work-ready Internal Auditors, in Internal Auditor, with Dr. Reisch. Denise has also presented papers at several conferences and workshops including at the AAA Auditing Mid-year Meeting, and the AAA Annual Meeting. Dr. James Kohlmeyer, III, CPA, was promoted to associate professor of accounting, effective August 2008. In April 2009, Dr. Kohlmeyer was awarded the prestigious ECU Scholar-Teacher award. This university award recognizes a faculty member for his/her high quality research and teaching. In addition, Dr. Kohlmeyer recently finished his three-year ECU College of Business Research Fellowship. Dr. Kohlmeyer had a solo paper published in Journal of College Teaching and Learning entitled Integrating the Wall Street Journal into AIS Courses. Jim had several co-authored papers published. One paper entitled The Roles of Organizational Justice and Trust in a Gainsharing Control System with Dr. Kennedy (Clemson University) and Dr. Parker (University of New Orleans) was published in the highly ranked Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research in 2009. Jim and his ECU colleagues, Dr. Doug Schneider and Dr. Sam Tibbs, had an article entitled The Value Relevance of the Cumulative Effect Reporting Method: Some Evidence in Support of FAS 154 published in the Journal of Applied Business Research. Jim and Dr. Cal Christian had an article entitled U.S. Adoption of International Accounting Standards: Why Now? published in Commercial Lending Review. Recently, Dr. Kohlmeyer and Andrea Drake (Louisiana Tech U) had an article entitled Risk-taking in New Project Selection: Additive Effects of Bonus Incentives and Past Performance History published in Advances in Accounting. Jim presented his research at the AAA annual meeting in 2008 and 2010. Jim also presented at the 2008 Decision Sciences Institute annual meeting and at the Management Accounting Section conference of AAA in 2009. His current work surveys CPA firms perceptions of on-line accounting degrees. Other projects examine organizational justice in CPA firms and employees trust in the budgeting process of corporations. Lastly, Jim serves as a director for the Institute of Management Accountants foundation for applied research (FAR). Jim reviews papers for IMA funding and is engaged in IMA director meetings. Dr. Mark McCarthy, CPA, professor of accounting is serving on the AICPAs Financial Accounting & Reporting Simulations Development Subcommittee. He travels to Durham, NC several times a year to work with AICPA staff members and faculty from other universities on writing simulations for the CPA exam. Marks publications Equity Income: Do Investors Perceive it as a Component of Earnings, with Dr. Schneider and Dr. Tibbs of the Department of Finance was recently published in the Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research and the article Equity Income of Energy Firms: Explanation of Non-cash Income with Dr. Schneider and Dr. Tibbs was published in Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal. In the Spring 2010 semester Mark developed and taught for the first time the graduate level advanced accounting class. Dr. John Reisch, CPA, associate professor of accounting published two articles with Lisa Austen in the Commercial Lending Review during 2007. In the May/June issue, their article How Context Can Affect Loan Classification Decisions discusses potential biases that impact the loan categorization of loan portfolios. Their manuscript entitled Documentation Insights from the Auditing Profession discusses how recent changes in auditing standards can be used by commercial lenders to enhance lenders documentation procedures. Lisa and John also published a case with Larry Seese in Issues in Accounting Education. The case compares how two different Mexican companies trading in the U.S. have responded to the mandates of SarbanesOxley. The case was developed from Johns visit to Mexico in 2006 in which he guest lectured at Monterrey Tech. Dr. Douglas K. Schneider, CPA, Professor of Accounting has published three articles in the past year. Dr. Schneider published Equity Income of Energy Firms: Examination of Non-cash Income in the Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management with Samuel L. Tibbs and Mark G. McCarthy, Investments and Loans Reported by the 10 Largest U.S. Banks, Bank Accounting & Finance with Mark G. McCarthy and Samuel L. Tibbs and Equity Income: Do Investors Perceive It as a Component of Earnings? in Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research with Samuel L. Tibbs and Mark G. McCarthy. In addition, Dr. Schneider presented a paper, Uses and Value Relevance of Treasury Stock: Justification to Classify Based on Intent? at the American Accounting Association National Meeting Research Interaction Forum Session in New York, NY in August, 2009. Dr. Schneider also received the Student Activities Academic Advisor of the Year Award, awarded by ECU's Office of Student Activities and Organizations at the Student Leadership Awards Banquet in April 2010 and the Outstanding Faculty Advisor of the Year, awarded at the Greek Leadership Awards Night banquet, January, 2010. He was also selected with honors as Hooder for the Graduate Recognition Ceremony for MSA Graduates, in both the Fall 2009 and Spring, 2010 semesters and a marshal at the spring 2010 Graduate Recognition Ceremony. In 2010 Dr. Schneider joined the Issues in Accounting Education journal Review Board. In addition, he has been a CPA Exam simulation writer for the AICPA. Dr. Dennis OReilly, Associate Professor of Accounting, has recently had his research published in several journals: Managerial Auditing Journal, Commercial Lending Review, Bank Accounting and Finance, and Internal Auditing. His article Do Investors Perceive the GoingConcern Opinion as Useful for Pricing Stocks? demonstrated that investors view an auditors going concern opinion as a negative signal when valuing a companys stock. This held true even when the auditors opinion was confirming the markets expectations about the companys prospects.

Volume III, Issue 1

Page 5

New Faculty
Dr. Malcolm H. Lathan, Jr., CPA, joined the faculty in fall 2008 as a Teaching Associate Professor after 25 years on the faculty at the University of Virginia. Prior to that, Mac was on the faculty at University of Georgia. Mac is a native of North Carolina, growing up in the Sandhills area of North Carolina. He received his BSBA degree from the University of North Carolina. After working for several years on the audit staffs of Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young) and Goodman & Company and serving as Director of Internal Auditing for Durham Life Insurance Company, Mac returned to graduate school, earning an MBA from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. Mac and his wife of 33 years, Linda, have two married children and two grandchildren, all of whom live in Wilson, NC. He says that its great to be back home in North Carolina after living out of state for the past 27 years. Mac is active in the auditing profession and is currently a Vice-Chair and member of the Executive Committee of the Virginia Society of CPAs Board of Directors. Mac is teaching Auditing and Cost accounting this fall. Dr. Audrey Scarlata joined the faculty in the fall of 2008 from the University of Kentucky, where she received her PhD in May 2009. Audrey is originally from Kentucky and received both her BBA and MBA degrees from Morehead State University. Prior to entering her PhD program, Audrey spent 3 years working as a cost accountant. Her main area of interest is Accounting Information Systems. She has taught introductory managerial accounting as well as accounting information systems at the University of Kentucky prior to coming to ECU. Her research focuses on how technology and knowledge interact to alter decision outcomes in financial analysis tasks as well research on the current and future state of the accounting profession. Audreys hobbies include reading, cooking, and sports. She and her husband Curran have a 4 year old son Nicholas and a 1 year old son Brandon. Rose Bailey, J.D., LL.M, CPA joined the Department of Accounting in Fall 2008 with 25 years of business experience having practiced as a CPA in North Carolina and Kentucky and as an attorney in Texas and North Carolina with a concentrated practice in tax and estate planning for business owners of closely-held companies Having obtained her BSBA in accounting from Appalachian State University she practiced in public accounting for seven years, then following her passion for tax law, earned a J.D. from St. Marys University School of Law and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. Continuing private practice in a tax/legal blended discipline for 15 years, her involvement in her firms internal CPE through the years ignited her desire to make a difference in education. In an effort to blend her practical experience with teaching, she served on the faculty of Gardner-Webb University and NC A&T State University teaching federal tax research, business entity taxation, individual taxation and estate and gift taxation both in the classroom and online. Professor Bailey has also served as a lecturer in estate planning for Queens University and UNC-Charlottes Certified Financial Planning programs as well as an annual seminar leader with the NC Association of CPAs. She has received several Outstanding Discussion Leader awards, as well as the Terry R. Alexander New Speaker Award. Her primary research interests are in tax and wealth transfer issues that impact closely-held entities and entrepreneurs as well as tax policy issues driving legislative and judicial tax reform. Professor Bailey and Dr. Hagan published The Garnett Tax Court Decision: A Blessing or a Curse? in the Tennessee CPA Journal in January, 2010 as an analysis of its impact on entrepreneurship income tax planning Professor Baileys review of 2009-2010 key developments impacting closely-held entity federal tax planning, Challenges and Opportunities for the Tax Professional Guiding Closely-Held Entities, can be found in Vol. 33 Issue 1 of the Campbell Law School Review. Rachel Brassine joined the faculty in Spring 2009. Rachel received her BSA/ MSA from ECU in 2000. After graduating, Rachel moved to Charlotte to join the State and Local Tax group at Arthur Andersen then was at Deloitte & Touche. Rachel then worked at Reznick Groups tax department doing mainly low-income housing credits and partnership tax returns. Her last position before coming to ECU as faculty was with RH Donnelley doing state and local tax in Cary, NC. Rachel is originally from Oil City, PA. She lives in Greenville with her Husband Brian, a high school teacher who is currently a stay at home dad with their two year old daughter Gwyneth. They also have 2 Border Collies and 3 cats. Rachel enjoys running and doing anything outdoors that involves her family and their dogs. Kim Everett, CPA, joined the faculty as a Teaching Instructor in fall of 2008. She received her BS in Business Administration from UNC CH, then saw the light and returned to ECU for her MS in Accounting. Kim was one of ECUs first MSA students, graduating in 1993. Since that time, she has worked in both public and private accounting, with an emphasis in taxation, including time at Price Waterhouse Coopers, Progress Energy, and most recently Dixon Hughes PLLC. When Kims not at work, she loves spending time with her husband, Andy, and her 10 year old son, Austin. Austin races motocross, so the family spends most of their weekends traveling and playing in the dirt at motocross tracks across the state.

Page 6

The ECU Accountant

Exciting New Changes to the Curriculum

It has been a busy year in the Accounting department as we have revised the undergraduate and graduate accounting programs! While many of our alumni graduated in our 5 year program with a BSA/MSA degree, we no longer offer this program as we have gone back to the traditional undergraduate BSBA degree which has allowed us to enhance our offerings in the MSA program. Elimination of the BSA/MSA degree has allowed us to offer some new courses at the undergraduate level. While we still have the traditional Intermediate I, Intermediate II, Cost and Accounting Information Systems classes, we were able to add an Individual Tax course, an Internal Audit course and a Governmental/Not-For-Profit course. We still have the Advanced Accounting class, but now it is required of all undergraduate students and not just those pursuing the MSA degree. It is in the MSA program where we have made the most changes, which we believe makes our program even better than ever! Basically, there are three different groups of students that would pursue an MSA degree. While most students will come into our program already having an undergraduate accounting degree (or a finance or management degree), we are having more and more students pursue their MSA after having received an undergraduate degree in another discipline altogether. In order to make the MSA obtainable for these students we have developed graduate level courses in Intermediate I & II, Advanced, Cost, and Finance to the MSA program, allowing a student to graduate with 39-45 hours of graduate classes compared with 60 previously required. The most exciting changes, from the faculty viewpoint is that we now allow students the option of following either a tax track or an audit track. The audit track now includes three new courses (Fraud Auditing, Information Technology Auditing and Corporate Governance and Accounting Ethics). The tax track offers Research in Taxation, Advanced Taxation for Partnerships and Advanced Topics in Accounting. We believe these changes will enable our students to continue to be as prepared for the current job market as any graduates in the country!

ECU was third in the state for 2009 CPA exam pass rates!

The Latest CPA exam pass rates

The 2009 results for the CPA exam pass rates were recently released and East Carolina University was third in the state for candidates without advanced degrees who passed all parts of the exam. Wake Forest was first with 70.31% of candidates passing. Davidson was second with a pass rate of 60%. ECU beat out 31 other universities with a pass rate of 48.28%.

Top hiring companies from the MSA program:

1. McGladrey 2. KPMG 3. Grant Thornton 4. Dixon Hughes 5. PWC

Volume III, Issue 1

Page 7

Alumni Spotlight Wayne Edwards

Wayne graduated from East Carolina University in 2002 with his BSA/MSA combined degree in Accounting. He began his professional career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wayne currently works with private entities and individuals and provides a broad range of services including tax preparation, all accounting functions, retirement planning, insurance and wealth management. Wayne and his wife Jennifer have a one-year old daughter, Olivia Grace. Waynes personal interests include various ministries one of which he co-founded in 2007 called Converting Hearts Ministry for Addicted Men, Inc. , The mission of the non-profit it to help men overcome their bondages with various substance abuses.

Jamie Groppuso
Jamie graduated from East Carolina University in May 2005 with her BSA/MSA combined degree in Accounting. Upon graduation, Jamie began her career at KPMG. She spent the majority of her first three years with the firm in the audit department, working on the firms largest client, an insurance company. Two years ago, Jamie transferred out of audit into a more advisory role, working on different assignments including internal audit, an IFRS conversion project, and IT audit support. At KPMG, Jamie keeps active with recruiting, volunteering, and serving on the Green Team Committee. In her spare time Jamie enjoys playing competitive volleyball with the Richmond Volleyball Club and loves to travel. This past year included a two week adventure through Europe.

Student Spotlight Andrew Stoker

Andrews decision to attend ECU was cemented in the spring of 2007 when he first visited the campus on a recruiting trip for the swim team. When it came to choosing a major, Andrew had many influences. First, his mother was an accountant and he saw how she enjoyed success in her career. Secondly, Andrew felt that this major would support his dream of becoming a CEO or CFO or of going into business one day with his sister, a third year law student at Syracuse University. Andrew has been very satisfied with his choice of major. He feels that the professors really want to see him succeed and are able to make classes interesting and fun. Andrew is active on the ECU swim team and was a recent recipient of the Ernst and Young Accounting Scholarship.

John Hance
John originally received his education at the University of Florida where he majored in Marketing and minored in Japanese and Economics. After graduating, John spent seven years in management at Wal-Mart while working through his ministerial degree. He and his wife, Holly, moved to Japan in 2006 where they began a youth ministry at a church in Ome, Japan. Making a career change and leaving the life that he loved in Japan was difficult, but John credits his advisor, Dr. Reisch, with helping ease the transition. Dr. Reisch informed John of all of the career opportunities awaiting ECUs MSA graduates and how the program was specifically geared towards preparing students to pass the CPA exam before graduating. Along the way, John has been mentored by many ECU professors and is excited about the opportunities that await him after graduation.

Accounting Student Scholarships

Brandon Jay Boley Haylee Amanda Bridges East Carolina University College of Business Department of Accounting 3208 Bate Building Greenville, NC 27858 Stephen Randal Campbell Hui Chang Alexandria Noel Conner Sarah Kay Davis Sina Forghani John Robert Futrelle Heather Dawn Griffin Charles Caldwell Gullette Department of Accounting Book Scholarship NCACPA Scholarship Ernst and Young Accounting Scholarship NCACPA Scholarship Commerce Club Book Scholarship Beta Alpha Psi Scholarship James and Anne Nordan Scholarship NC Board of CPA Examiners Scholarship Benton Family Access Scholarship McGladrey & Pullen Alumni Scholarship J. Fred Hamblen Scholarship Gary L. Warren Scholarship in Business Mark F. and Tracy W. Copeland Scholarship Commerce Club Book Scholarship Institute of Management Accountants Scholarship Elizabeth & Kenneth Schneider Accounting Scholarship Student Accounting Society Scholarship William & Lisa Shreve Scholarship UBE Business Scholarship Ernst and Young Accounting Scholarship Gwen Potter Scholarship David and Pamela Bond Access Scholarship James & Deborah Hooper Scholarship Frank Booth Memorial Scholarship Beta Gamma Sigma Scholarship

Phone: 252-328-6055 Fax: 252-328-4091 E-mail: schislerd@ecu.edu

WWW.ECU.EDU/CS-BUS/ ACCOUNTING.cfm

Kevin Jackson Hale Jonathan Gregg Holland Sarah Elizabeth Jackson Yan Jia Robin Irene Jordan Amanda Louise Kelly Kaitlin Alice Lloyd Tamoin Tierra Myrick Anthony Joseph Okunak Andrew William Stoker Landon Joseph Vick Stephen Allen Watson Ashley Nicole West Walter Douglas Vliet Andrew William Stoker

Volume 11, Issue 1

Honoring our Veterans in the Program

Jesse Spence Jesse enlisted in the US Army in 1996 as a 96B (All-Source Intelligence Analyst). After spending almost seven years supporting soldiers in Kosovo, Jesse chose to pursue a career in accounting at ECU. Jesse grew up in Elizabeth City, NC and several members of his family are East Carolina alumni (one of whom is an accountant). When considering options for an accounting education, he wanted some place relatively close to home that would allow him complete the program requirements and begin a career in accounting as quickly as possible. ECUs five-year BSA/MSA program fit his needs. After graduating from ECU Jesse plans to work for an accounting firm and eventually become a CPA. Christian Hernandez Christian was an accomplished naval aviator stationed at Cherry Point when he decided to pursue an accounting degree. ECUs MSA program was ideal for Christians situation. ECU is conveniently located near Cherry Point, NC where he was completing his commitment to the Marine Corps. Also, ECU offered a comprehensive program for students who were not business or accounting undergraduate majors with an emphasis on preparation for the CPA exam and a career as a CPA. In Christians own words Since beginning the program, I have received exceptional instruction both in and out of the classroom. I am continually amazed at the level of commitment of the professors and the administrators with whom Im in daily or weekly contact. Brenton Umphlett Brenton joined the military when he was 18 and spent his time in Iraq as a mechanic as well as part of the vehicle recovery team. When he returned home to North Carolina, he began investigating the possibility of returning to ECU, where he had already completed two semesters. Brenton had been out of school for two years, and credits his advisor, Dr. Mark McCarthy, with helping him transition back into being a college student with ease. Brentons future plans are to complete his degree with honors, pass the CPA exam and get a job with a top firm here in North Carolina where he can apply the skills he learns at ECU in a field that he loves working in. Michael Crose Michael grew up in Dyer, Indiana and joined the military at the age of eighteen. He has traveled all over the world including Turkey, Spain, South Korea, Germany, Kuwait, and Qatar. After eight years in the Air Force as an Aerospace Ground Equipment technician he decided it was time to go back to school. He had enjoyed seven years in Eastern North Carolina so ECU was an easy choice, and he enrolled in its five-year BSA/ MSA program. He now lives in Kinston, NC with his wife and one year old son. He plans to attain his CPA certification this winter and work in Audit. Matthew Hale Matt enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 21 years old and spent the first eight years of his career serving as a Hospital Corpsman with a specialty in laboratory science. He was selected for the Seaman to Admiral 21 (STA-21) program, a prestigious enlisted commissioning program, as an E-5 and attended the University of Maryland where he earned his B.S. in Kinesiology. Upon leaving active duty in 2009 after more than nine years active service Matt came to ECU to earn his M.B.A. After taking an accounting course taught by Dr. Reisch during his first semester he decided to make the switch to M.S.A. in order to gain a more technical, focused degree. Matt still serves in the U.S. Navy Reserves and is currently stationed at NOSC Raleigh serving as the Assistant Officer in Charge of the Operational Support Unit. Upon graduation Matt would like to earn his C.P.A. license and get a job with a large accounting firm in order to gain as much exposure as possible to the field of accounting. Jericho Hallimore Jericho joined the US Army in 2003 after attending college for one year in his home state, California. He served with the 82nd Airborne Division as an Airborne Infantry Sergeant and had tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The military gave him a greater appreciation for many things, including education and learning. Immediately after leaving the Army in January of 2008, he enrolled in ECU, where his wife was finishing up her nursing degree. Though originally a Management major, Jericho was drawn to the challenge of the ECU accounting program after classes and discussions with Dr. Mark McCarthy and Dr. John Reisch. He appreciates the opportunity ECU gave him to complete both his BSBA and MSA degrees by December of 2010.

Volume 11, Issue 1

Faculty in the News Faculty Participate in CPA Exam Workshop

On November 4th and 5th the ECU Department of Accounting hosted an AICPA CPA Exam Simulation Workshop. The workshop involved ECU accounting faculty working with colleagues from the AICPA Examinations Team from New Jersey developing simulation exam questions to be considered for used on the CPA Exam. It was the first time the AICPA Examinations Team held such a workshop on a college campus. Participating in the workshop from the accounting faculty were Drs. Mac Lathan, Mark McCarthy, Dennis O'Reilly, John Reisch and Doug Schneider, all of who are CPA's. Visiting from New Jersey with the AICPA were Joe Maslott, SimulaFrom left to right, Doug Schneider (accounting - ECU CoB), Joe Maslott (AICPA), Mark tions Technical Manager; Josh Stopek, Spe- McCarthy (accounting - ECU CoB) cial Projects Manager; and Renee Warias, Senior Manager, Inventory Development and Production. Thus, ECU accounting majors may encounter exam questions on the CPA Exam developed by ECU accounting faculty.

Accounting Instructor Receives Award from Disability Support Services

On November 17, 2010, The Department for Disability Support Services (DSS) awarded instructor, Ms. Kim Everett this years DSS Outstanding Faculty Award. Ms. Everett is an instructor in the Department of Accounting who was selected by her students to receive this honor. Her students described her as a caring, thoughtful, and helpful instructor who is available to meet with one-on-one and makes learning fun. We congratulate and appreciate the efforts of Ms. Everett, and thank her for her dedication and support for students with disabilities.

Dr. Diane Majewski presents Kim Everett with the 2009 -2010 Outstanding Faculty Member Award from Disability Support