Accounting Department

The Accounting Department is well known throughout the country for producing especially high-quality graduates who pursue positions primarily with international public accounting and professional services firms. Our mission is to combine superior accounting instruction and intellectual inquiry within a liberal arts environment to prepare individuals for successful careers in accounting and business. In May 2023, we established the position of the Director of Accounting Student Engagement with the overall goal of developing and executing strategies to expose more students to the accounting profession early in their academic careers.

We strive to provide a breadth of experiential opportunities to complement rigorous classroom instruction and to encourage hands-on learning in this evolving profession. Specific initiatives include cybersecurity for accountants, forensic accounting, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. The image above captures students in Professor Joyce van der Laan Smith’s Corporate Sustainability Initiatives and Disclosures class that included a visit to South Africa, which has adopted mandatory ESG disclosure requirements in 2010.

With your support, we look forward to offering similar experiential opportunities to students across the department and to increasing the number of students majoring and concentrating in accounting. Thank you.