Accounting Faculty Honored with Student Learning and Success Teamwork Award
By Thuy T. Tran
Oregon State University selected College of Business accounting faculty Monica Banyi, Amy Bourne, Carol Brown, Larry Brown, Dennis Caplan, Roger Graham, Byron Marshall, and Jared Moore to receive the Student Learning and Success Teamwork Award. The award was presented at the 2008 University Day held on September 18. The team received $5,000 that will go toward supporting student learning and success activities.
The award recognizes departments or interdisciplinary groups that came together to make OSU's strategic planning goal a reality-to "provide an excellent teaching and learning environment." They also contributed significantly to their department's and college's goals for student success; demonstrated excellence and innovation in student mentoring, teaching, and curriculum development; and showed initiative in sharing their ideas with the broader university community. Pursuing professional development activities such as presenting at conferences was also considered by the selection committee.
In her letter of nomination, Ilene Kleinsorge, OSU College of Business dean, listed many reasons the accounting faculty team deserves the recognition. These reasons included their active engagement in the OSU chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, a national honorary organization that provides leadership opportunities for junior and senior accounting majors. The team's participation has been instrumental in the student organization receiving the Superior Chapter designation for the last six years. Several accounting faculty members also supported and mentored a student team that won first place in a regional public accounting tax competition held at the University of Washington.
Accounting students at OSU have the unique opportunity to interact with key stakeholders in the profession through an all-day conference on campus organized by faculty members.
The accounting faculty were also applauded for their leadership and vision in getting the BS degree in accountancy approved. They were the first group in the college to develop and implement the process for admitting students into the College of Business professional school. These efforts have increased the number of accounting students entering the program and the caliber of the students who complete the program.
"Most significantly, the accounting program has achieved national distinction through the success of our students in passing the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) examination," wrote Kleinsorge. "OSU students have enjoyed the highest average pass rates in Oregon since 2004 and they have achieved a top-10 placement in the nation for the last two years. This success is directly attributed to the quality of the OSU baccalaureate core, the integration of the COB undergraduate core curriculum, the thoroughness of the accounting program curriculum, the skills and experience of our accounting faculty, and the dedicated efforts of our talented students." | 
