The Accounting Major
A Valuable, Versatile Major. Accounting education develops critical thinking and communication skills, the ability to use quantitative and qualitative information in decision-making, and the theoretical accounting foundation necessary for success. While 99 percent of all Monmouth graduates surveyed gain employment or further their education within six months of graduation, accounting students regularly exceed that 1989 accounting graduate Jackie Zachmeyer’s career with Deere & Co. has taken her around the world, with positions in Germany, Canada and the U.S. She is currently a finance director based at the global manufacturer’s world headquarters.
average. Of the seniors who graduated in 2012, approximately 60 percent chose to attend graduate school. Many graduates immediately begin careers in public accounting firms, industry, government, or non-profit entities such as governmental, academic or charitable institutions.
Accountants are in demand across the globe, and accounting tends to thrive in economic downtimes. Most MC accounting majors find employment in the career of their choice before graduation.
Some Recent Monmouth Accounting Graduates Traci Brackett Toohill ’00, cia, cfe, crma Audit Manager II Archer Daniels Midland Company
Maria Tirado Mahad ’07 Lead Tax Planner GE Capital Americas
Kim Baumruck Kaminski ’02 Senior Account Analyst Capital Group
Julie Trac ’07 Staff Accountant II, Cost/Decision Support Caterpillar Inc.
Nathan Gaskill ’04, CPA Partner Lauterbach & Amen, llp
John Kaiser ’10 Analyst, Higher Education Group Huron Consulting Group
Jennifer Heiman ’04, cpa Tax Manager Deloitte Tax, llp
Kayla Winbigler Jones ’11 Passed CPA exam in 2013 Staff Accountant Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, llp
Matthew Clair ’05 Financial Analyst Deere & Company Molly Pendergrass-Brennan ’05, cpa Audit Manager PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Chelsey Widdop ’13 Graduate Student in Accounting Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Accepted future position at McGladrey, llp
Center for Science and Business
The Department of Accounting is housed in the newly constructed $40 million Center for Science and Business. The innovative facility is designed to encourage collaboration between the scientific disciplines and the business disciplines—a learning atmosphere that Monmouth College believes will help prepare graduates for the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy.
Why Study Accounting at Monmouth?
A
ccounting is continually changing at a fast pace in response to po-
litical, social, economic and global factors. Monmouth College’s accounting program is designed to develop skilled problem solvers with a solid foundation in accounting. The program focuses on critical thinking and written and verbal communication skills. Through a distinct curriculum structure, MC accounting students experience a learning environment that is competitive, but collegial and mutually supporting, thus pushing each student to maximize his or her potential to the fullest. Students build friendships that support them throughout their personal lives and careers.
Active Learning
T
he Department of Accounting uses a wide variety of teaching methods to bring the student excitedly into the learning process. Students engage in many hands-on projects in their introductory labs in the first two introductory courses. At the appropriate points in the learning process, they use such technology as electronic spreadsheets, a general ledger package, professional accounting databases, or REA modeling.
Can you imagine using the Monopoly game to learn about financial accounting concepts and statements? Or marshmallows and bamboo sticks to learn about costing concepts and gross margin? Active learning is used at all levels in the accounting curriculum. Since the accounting discipline depends on the effective communication of financial information, all courses provide opportunities for developing this important skill, from writing case analyses and research papers to practicing verbal communication in debates and presentations.
Advising Students work closely with a professor in their major in order to reach their individual goals and be ready for life after graduation, whether it is continued study to sit for the CPA exam, graduate school or entry into the workforce. If students are considering sitting for the CPA exam, close advising is critical to ensure that students will have acquired the necessary course credits, through additional coursework at MC, summer work or graduate study.
Accounting Literature Resources Accounting students have access to professional databases that they will also use in their future careers. These include searchable databases of the FASB Codification, the AICPA Professional Standards, and the tax code and regulations (RIA Checkpoint).
Service Learning: IRS Tax Preparation The Volunteer Income Tax (VITA) program is an academic credit-bearing course that provides an opportunity for citizenship, greater understanding of community needs, and the satisfaction of helping others. Offered each spring during the tax season, the program has a two-fold purpose: service and education for the community, and citizenship and education for the student. Students study basic income taxes in a workshop setting and become certified by the Internal Revenue Service. Students prepare and e-file state and federal tax returns for citizens of the community in an active environment using a commercial software product. Although not required, most junior and senior accounting majors participate in the program Many accounting students gain each spring. practical experience as trained volunteers for the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
The Monmouth College Department of Accounting has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service for outstanding service in volunteer tax preparation through the VITA program.
Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activities Designed for learning beyond the traditional classroom, SOFIA (Summer Opportunities for Intellectual
Activities) is an innovative three-week summer program held prior to the beginning of the school year that allows select incoming students to conduct in-depth research and inquiry with faculty and upper-level returning students.
Accounting Advantages Off-Campus Study The department has created a roadmap that allows for off-campus study
while graduating within four years, by attending a college abroad for a semester or performing a semester-long business internship. Students interested in this opportunity should visit early with their adviser to plan their courses over the four years around this activity.
Opportunities for Leadership Accounting students who have exhibited a strong grasp of accounting
or tax concepts can enhance their mentoring skills by serving as VITA student coordinators, financial or managerial lab assistants, tutors or Accounting Society officers. VITA student coordinators have the opportunity to attend a tax workshop in Springfield, Ill., help the professors present tax materials and train new VITA volunteers. Lab assistants guide students in active learning assignments, while tutors mentor students in evening sessions.
The Center for Science and Business Monmouth’s newest academic building houses the Department of Accounting on its second floor. The spacious facilities include a room specifically designed for the accounting curriculum, which is dedicated to the active learning methods of the department. Four computer stations include ClickShare technology, which allows student groups to effectively collaborate. Eight nearby break-out rooms, each with a computer station and seating for six individuals, serve a variety of purposes, including tax preparation for the VITA program. In addition to brightly-lit classrooms, there is also a waiting area, an interview room and a 32-station computer lab.
Preparation, Proficiency and Accreditation onmouth offers the courses necessary for the student to sit for the certified public accountant (CPA) exam, and the accounting curriculum includes the specific requirements in ethics, research and analysis, and business writing. The various courses integrate international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in the curriculum as the United States moves to join the globe in a set of international standards. The Master Field Test (MFT) in Business is administered to accounting seniors in the spring. It tests mastery in the core content areas viewed as important for success in a business-related career. Since the year 2000 when the MFT was first administered at MC, the average score each year placed the program in the top 25 percent in the country. In the years 2004, 2006 and 2010, the average class score placed the program among the top 5 percent in the country. Over the past decade, 14 individual students placed among the top 5 percent of the country.
Graduates Speak
Dan Asbell ’13
Financial Analyst State Farm Insurance Bloomington, Ill.
“I thought I would need to learn a plethora of formulas and facts. There’s been some of that, of course, but when I became a junior, there were fewer quizzes and tests, and my performance in class was based more on my ability to figure things out. I’m confident that whatever job I take, I’ll learn faster, thanks to the education I’ve received.”
“The FARS [financial accounting reporting standards] work that I had done at Monmouth really helped [in graduate study] because I knew what to look for and how to communicate it completely.”
Molly Pendergrass-Brennan ’04 CPA Audit Manager PricewaterhouseCoopers Chicago, Ill.
Sara Wenzel ’10
Chemistry major who earned her CPA in 2013 Staff Accountant Mize Houser & Co., PA Lawrence, Kansas
“I entered into the business field because I knew that so much of science is impacted by business and vice versa, that I could continue to make a difference in this way. Accounting is all about researching, calculating and presenting business information in an intelligible fashion, either internally or externally. It’s every bit as interesting as chemistry— what’s not to love?”
The Accounting Faculty Frank Gersich, professor of accounting, joined the faculty in 1998, having previously taught for 19 years at a variety of educational institutions. He wears a number of hats, serving also as an associate dean of the college, a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, and a CPA examination writer. He teaches upper-level financial accounting courses and the major’s capstone course. He is adept at implementing team-based learning concepts and is immersed in studying student learning. His courses are highly interactive, focusing on problem-solving and interpersonal skills. As associate dean, his focus is on the college assessment program, supervision of the Teaching and Learning Center, faculty development, and student retention programs. A certified public accountant, he earned his doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University. Judy Peterson, professor and chair of the accounting department, has been teaching at Monmouth College since 1998. An alumna of the international CPA firm Ernst and Young, she has also worked at Jockey International and First Tennessee Bank, and taught 10 previous years at the college level. She is the longtime coordinator of the college’s very successful Volunteer Tax Assistance (VITA) program, in which students assist community citizens in the preparation and e-filing of their income tax returns. Teaching in the financial accounting discipline of the major, she uses simulations and active learning strategies to develop student’s critical thinking. She earned her MBA from the University of Minnesota-Mankato and is a certified public accountant. Connie Mersch, assistant professor of accounting, has been teaching at Monmouth College since 2011. She brings to MC a wealth of industry experience in the tax field from the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, and the telecommunication company, Nortel Networks Corporation. She is also an alumna of Ernst and Young international CPA firm. Her teaching is mainly focused in the tax and management accounting fields. She has a passion for the use of group “hands-on projects” and mini-cases to teach accounting concepts. Mersch is also involved as a reviewer in the college’s VITA program. She holds an MPA from the University of Texas-Arlington and is a certified public accountant.
Faculty Who Support the Accounting Curriculum
Faculty Supporting the Michael Connell, professor and chair of the political economy and commerce department, joined the MC faculty in 1992. The holder of both a doctorate in economics and a J.D. from the University of Illinois, he previously taught at Lafayette College. Legal environment of business and introduction to commerce are his two principal courses that support the accounting curriculum. He developed and teaches a seminar in entrepreneurism, featuring guest lecturers discussing their experiences in starting and operating business ventures. Thomas Prince, executive in residence in the department of political economy and commerce, has 35 years of private-sector experience, serving as advertising manager for Publix Supermarkets, director of marketing for Gatehouse Media, and president and CEO of Envision Boats, Inc. He has been teaching marketing, advertising and management courses since 2009. His academic interests focus on the influence of technology on management and marketing decisions.
Ken McMillan, Pattee professor of political economy and commerce, joined the faculty in 1989. His varied rĂŠsumĂŠ includes positons as chief speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, an Illinois state senator, a candidate for U.S. Congress, executive director of information for the Illinois Farm Bureau, corporate secretary for the Country Companies Insurance Group, and vice president of the National Suffolk Sheep Association. He supports the accounting curriculum in the economics discipline, teaching such courses as introductory economic principles, international trade and finance, economics of government and taxation, comparative economic systems, and civic leadership. He holds an M.S. in agricultural economics and public policy from the University of Illinois. Richard Johnston, associate professor of political economy and commerce, earned his MBA from Lehigh University. He taught for 13 years before coming to Monmouth College in 1995. He also worked at the securities firm of Kidder Peabody before joining the college. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, he provides support to the accounting curriculum through teaching finance and economics.
Accounting Curriculum Terrance Gabel, associate professor of political economy and commerce, teaches business capstone courses, international marketing, and the entrepreneurism course with Professor Connell. He has 13 years of teaching and extensive experience in the marketing industry, having held sales positions, served as product manager for a large banking firm and as marketing director for a heavy industrial international trade services firm. His articles have appeared in marketing journals and he is the author of numerous consumer culture theory poetry. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Memphis. Wendine Bolon, associate professor of political economy of commerce, has been teaching at MC since 2007. The holder of a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Utah, she provides broad support to the accounting curriculum in teaching business mathematics and statistics. Other highly quantitative courses she teaches are: econometrics, intermediate price theory, intermediate macroeconomics, labor economics and urban economics.
Julie Rothbardt, visiting assistant professor of political economy and commerce, began teaching at MC in 2012. She earned her doctor of business administration from St. Ambrose University, and holds a certificate as a senior professional in human resources. She provides support to the accounting curriculum through teaching Business Problem Solving and Principles of Marketing. She has held human relations positions at Deere & Co. and MRA, a management position at Case New Holland, and a process and environmental engineer position at Lafarge, a global leader in cement manufacturing. Lee Miller, visiting assistant professor of political economy and commerce, began teaching at Monmouth College in 2010. He earned his MBA from Western Carolina University, his MS in engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is currently working towards his DBA. He previously taught management and entrepreneurship in Thailand at Bangkok University’s entrepreneurship program. Prior to that he started two manufacturing companies, both of which he developed and sold to larger firms. He teaches courses in entrepreneurship and international management.
To schedule a campus visit and apply: www.monmouthcollege.edu/admissions Office of Admissions 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998 800-747-2687 or 309-457-2131 admissions@monmouthcollege.edu
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