School of Accountancy 2021-2022 Annual Report

Annual Report School of Accountancy

IN THIS ISSUE MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR............3 ABOUT US................................................................5 STUDENT NEWS..................................................6 ADVISORY BOARD.............................................11 FACULTY NEWS....................................................12 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS.................14

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

DEAR SOA ALUMNI, SUPPORTERS AND FRIENDS, Welcome to the 2021 – 2022 annual report of the Kennesaw State School of Accountancy. This has been an exciting and eventful year as we returned to face-to-face classes after the Pandemic. In spite of the disruptions the SOA’s faculty, staff and students continued to make major strides on all fronts. This report will highlight some of those efforts and notable achievements of the past academic year. The redesigned Master of Accounting 2 in 2 program, (both the MAcc and the CPA exam in two semesters) continues to have high demand from both students and employers. Our expectation was to build a cutting-edge graduate curriculum that not only includes advanced systems and analytics, but also incorporates preparing and sitting for the CPA exam. Students are shown the tools to jumpstart their careers in the accounting profession as 100% secure professional placement before graduation. The Michael J. Coles College of Business Ph.D. in Business Administration (Accounting) continues to be highly demanded. This innovative research program specifically prepares candidates to learn the skills required to publish in high quality peer-reviewed academic publications. Both the Coles College and the SOA are committed to continuous improvement as evidenced by our AACSB accreditation. Graduates from our Ph.D. program continue to be placed in tenure-track

AACSB accredited faculty positions. Our alumni research output as ranked by BYU Accounting rankings #80 ahead of many R1 research institutions. In the Fall 2021 we welcomed two new research faculty to the SOA – Drs. Hyungshin Park and Kelly Ha. Assistant Professor Park joins us from Santa Clara University and Assistant Professor Ha joins us from the University of Oklahoma as a new Ph.D. We also welcomed two new full-time teaching focused faculty – Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Law Kent Altom and Lecturer of Accounting Jennifer Smith. We look forward to the impact they will have on our students and their research here at KSU. It is a great honor to work with the faculty and staff of the School of Accountancy to serve the needs of our dedicated students as we prepare them for futures in the accounting profession. Whether you are an alum of the SOA, a Partner of our employer scholarship program, recruiter of our graduates or supporter and contributor to the vision and work of the SOA – Thank you for all you do on behalf of our students. Go Owls!!!

Steven W. Smalt, Ph.D., CPA DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

Kennesaw State University is one of the 12 Internal Auditing Education Partnership (IAEP) program universities recognized as a “Center of Excellence.”

The KSU School of Accountancy ranks 61st in the world for the number of Accounting Research Articles published in leading journals during the past 12 years, according to Brigham Young University. KSU also ranks 19th in Audit Research and 36th in Tax Research.

BYU also ranks KSU 2nd in the world for the number of Accounting Education Research articles published in leading journals during the last 12 years

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

ABOUT US

The Kennesaw State University School of Accountancy is the largest in Georgia with more than 1,046 Undergraduate students, 41 MAcc Students, and seven Ph.D. students. In 2019-2020, Diverse Issues in Higher Education ranked KSU 32nd in the nation for the number of accounting degrees conferred to minorities.

VISION

We aspire to be a nationally recognized leader in influencing the accounting profession by educating our students, performing relevant research, and engaging with the profession.

MISSION

The mission of the School of Accountancy at Kennesaw State University is to: provide a high-quality accounting education to a diverse student group; prepare successful accounting professionals and future leaders in local, national, and global organizations; and influence the accounting profession through relevant research and professional engagement. We will achieve these goals by promoting teaching and research excellence, delivering innovative undergraduate and graduate programs, and fostering an ethical environment of intellectual curiosity, innovation, and collegiality.

AACSB Kennesaw

IAEP The Internal Auditing Education Partnership (IAEP) program was developed by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) to meet the growing demand for internal audit education at colleges and universities. Kennesaw State University is one of only 12 institutions worldwide recognized as an IIA Center of Excellence.

State of Accountancy (SOA) undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in accounting are separately accredited by The Associate to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB – International), the premiere accrediting body for business schools around the world. AACSB – International accreditation represents the SOA’s achievement to continuously meet a rigorous set of quality accounting standards. University School

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

STUDENT NEWS

BAP The Iota Tau Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi had an excellent year in terms of events and activities. In November 2021, Beta Alpha Psi International recognized Iota Tau as a Superior Chapter. Students completed a collective 878 professional development hours and 796 community service hours during the 2021-2022 academic year. KSU’s BAP chapter has nearly 90 members. NABA The School of Accountancy has a National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) chapter. NABA encourages black students to discover the tremendous benefits of studying accounting, and exposes its members to a vast array of career opportunities and social outlets. MACC The 10th cohort of the Master of Accounting program (our 3rd cohort of the new 2 in 2 MAcc program) graduated in May 2021. The 2 in 2 program sees students earning their MAcc degrees and sitting for the CPA exam in two semesters, which all 41 students in cohort 3 accomplished. Meanwhile, the 11th cohort currently has 37 students enrolled.

Two inspirational speakers hosted sessions with the MAcc students this year: Michael J. Coles in Fall 2021 and Kevin Raemakers in Spring 2022. Both speakers’ messages resonated with the students, and many said the talks motivated them to push harder when they felt discouraged in the 2 in 2 program. The MAcc has achieved a 100 percent career placement rate for the Class of 2022. Each of the 37 students secured a career placement by mid-October 2021, the earliest ever for the MAcc program. Finally, the MAcc program experienced an important first this year when Tim Powell became the first student in the program to ever pass all four parts of the CPA Exam by mid-March, just five months after his first exam. SOA FALL ACCOUNTING CAREER FAIR Held at the start of the fall semester, the SOA Fall 2021 Accounting Career Fair provided 145 accounting students access to 32 SOA employer partners.

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

Beta Alpha Psi has been one of the top highlights of my college experience...As President, I love watching students connect with employers they want to work for and get irreplaceable opportunities. I get so many texts and emails each semester telling me how it has helped students meet their future employers whether that be for an internship or full-time employment. The Beta Alpha Psi Iota Tau Chapter is a must for accounting majors at Kennesaw State University.”

-GILLIAN BARNES, PRESIDENT, BETA ALPHA PSI IOTA TAU CLASS OF 2022

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

STUDENT NEWS

HONORS BANQUET Our annual Honors Banquet in April recognizes undergraduate and MAcc students with merit- based scholarships. In 2022, the School of Accountancy presented more than 80 awards to students, including more than $270,000 worth of scholarships and assistantships. Donors, students, and faculty networked at the event while celebrating the recognized students’ accomplishments. Thanks to being back in person, students could connect with donors by engaging in team activities alongside a banquet luncheon. Keynote speaker Denise O’Connell, an alumna of KSU and an SOA Advisory Board member, spoke about the students’ journey to success. MEET THE FIRMS The spring semester career fair – called Meet the Firms – is open to all accounting prospects, accounting majors, and MAcc students. Employer partners use the event to build brand recognition and to act as a spring recruitment drive for summer leadership programs, internships, and full-time employment. Thirty-six employers connected to over 100 students at this Spring 2021 event. ACCOUNTING ACHIEVERS This event exposes the top-performing undecided majors in the Coles College of Business to the

Denise O’Connell

accounting profession. Students who hold a 3.5 GPA or higher and who performed well in the first two accounting principles courses are invited. Faculty also nominate the top 10 students from their classes to attend. In 2021, 80 students from across 22 majors attended Accounting Achievers and learned more about majoring in accounting IAEP CERTIFICATION As an Internal Auditing Education Partnership Center of Excellence, the School of Accountancy’s Internal Audit Center continues to influence accounting students at the undergraduate and master’s levels by offering IAEP certification to those who qualify. Eligibility requires pursuing

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

opportunities in internal auditing through case competitions, conference participation, career fairs, and attending guest lectures, which places a high demand on students. More than 90 students earned IAEP certification this academic year, more than any other institution in the country. One key IAEP event, Internal Audit/Advisory Awareness Day, saw 52 students and 20 professional stakeholders connect on how students can engage with knowledge from courses in accounting, finance, information systems, and information security in their professional careers. The Internal Audit Center (IAC) received grant funding for a graduate research assistant from the Institute of Internal Auditors global headquarters. In addition, the IAC and SOA sponsored more than 30 chief audit executives from Atlanta firms to host guest lectures in MAcc and undergraduate classes. The IAC also raised $3,000 to cover the cost of student memberships to the IIA for the current MAcc cohort.

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

PARTNERSHIPS The School of Accountancy’s sponsorship program has grown from 26 partners in 2020 to 38 in 2021. The commitment process is currently underway for the 2022-2023 academic year, with many additional companies and CPA firms already expressing a newfound interest in the 2022 Partnership Plan. The program represents more than $150,000 in support with every partnership level including a scholarship funding component. By becoming partners, businesses can connect with undergraduate and MAcc students to recruit, network, and educate them about the benefits available in the accounting profession.

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

ADVISORY BOARD Three new members joined the School of Accountancy advisory board during the 2021-2022 academic year:: Anne Morris, Kim Hancock, and Scott McGee. Members Scott Solana and Randall Addington ended their ten-year service to the board, while Patrick Terry concluded his nearly three decades of service to the SOA.

ADVISORY BOARD CURRENT MEMBERS

Rachel Allen, M&A Transaction Manager, UPS Gina Auld, Director, City of Kennesaw Betsi Barrett, Partner, Bennett Thrasher, LLP Michael Bohling, CEO, HLB Gross Collins, P.C. Jo deRuiter, Practice Manager and Escalation Lead, Aisling Dynamics Business Solution Aaron Gagnon, CAE, Apple Kim Hancock, VP, Warner Media

Lori Kaczynski, VP, CAE Graphic Packaging International, Inc. Scott McGee, Partner, KPMG, LLP Matt Menerey, Director, Racetrac Anne Morris, Principal, Windham Brannon, P.C. Howard Neiman, Partner, Carr, Riggs, & Ingram CPA Denise O’Connell, Partner, Nichols, Cauley, & Associates Brian Pendley, Partner, Ernst & Young, LLP Chase Phillips, Manager, CliftonLarsonAllen

Thomas Prevatt, Partner, Aprio Luis Reyes, Partner, Cherry Bekaert Boyd Search, CEO, The Georgia Society of CPAs Nichole Smith, Director, Cox Enterprises, Inc. – Real Estate Larry Stevens, Partner (Retired), PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP Roderick Williams, Tax Senior, Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPA, President, North Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Society of CPAs

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

FACULTY NEWS

Jennifer Smith

Kent Altom

Hyungshin Park

Kelly Ha

NEW FACULTY Assistant Professor Kelly Ha joined the SOA faculty in Fall 2021. Ha attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where she obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree. She received her Master of Science in Business and Technology Management from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Oklahoma. Her interests include disclosure, managers’ discretionary reporting choices, non- GAAP disclosure, and earnings management. Clinical Assistant Professor Kent Altom, joined the faculty in Fall of 2021. Altom holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Management from Samford University, a Master of Divinity in Theology from the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, a Master of Theology in Ethics from Emory University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Cumberland School of Law. Altom teaches Business Law.

Assistant Professor Hyungshin Park joined the SOA in Fall 2021. Park attended the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Park has also received a Master of Accounting and a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His professional experience includes KPMG, LLP and as an Interpreter and Translator for the United States Army. His interests include earnings management and stock price reactions Lecturer Jennifer Smith began teaching in the SOA in Fall 2021. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Accounting with a concentration in audit from the University of Florida. She joined Kennesaw State from Chattahoochee Technical College where she served as Associate Dean of Business Management & Computer Programs. Previously, Smith held positions with KPMG and BellSouth Corporation.

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

RETIREES BOR-YI TSAY

Dr. Bor-Yi Tsay served Kennesaw State University as a professor for 11 years and was tenured in 2014. He has published numerous articles in academic and professional journals; served on 11 university, college, and department committees, chaired the University G2C Steering Committee for 5 years, and taught undergraduate and graduate accounting courses. We are sad to see him go but are very happy to celebrate his accomplishments and retirement! RPA The School of Accountancy has obtained the Academic Alliance Partnership Certificate from UiPath, a leading software firm in the Robotic Process Automation space. UiPath’s academic resources are now available to SOA faculty to use in the classroom. The SOA is planning to incorporate RPA tools and exercises into the curriculm this academic year. SOA will invite RPA industry leaders to visit data analytics classes. RPA is becoming increasingly popular in the accounting industry industry, and the SOA is eager to expose students to these resources.

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Faculty in the School of Accountancy have been busy during the past academic year year with implementing new course components, receiving awards, and publishing more than 25 articles. Here are a few of their accomplishments:

Donald Ariail, Professor of Accounting PUBLICATION Ariail, D., Smith, K.T., & Smith, L. M. 2021. “A pedagogy for inculcating professional values in accounting students: results from an experiemental intervention.” Issues in Accounting Education , 36(4), 5-40. Cristen Dutcher, Clinical Associate Professor of Business Law AWARD Kennesaw State University Online Teaching Award Ken Harmon, Professor of Accounting ARTICLE Harmon, K. 2021. “The 4 pillars of remote work for audit teams.” Internal Auditor Magazine.

Dana Hermanson, Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Private Enterprise and Professor of Accounting RANKINGS Dana Hermanson appeared in the Research. com 2022 World Ranking of Top Business and Management Scientists, as well as the 2022 World Ranking of Top Economics and Finance Scientists. In the 2021 BYU Accounting Research Rankings, Dana Hermanson was recognized as the 17th most prolific author worldwide in the top 12 accounting journals for the period 1990-2021. His other 1990-2021 worldwide rankings include No.12 in audit, No. 4 in accounting education research, and No.7 in research breadth. PUBLICATIONS Knight, M., and D. R. Hermanson. 2021. “Integrating professionally oriented faculty: views of professionally oriented faculty, tenure- track faculty, and administrators.” Issues in Accounting Education, 36 (3): 75-90 Weickgenannt, A., D. R. Hermanson, and V. Sharma. 2021. “How U.S. audit committees oversee internal control over financial reporting.” International Journal of Auditing, 25: 233-248

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

Mary Hill INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION

Hill’s ACCT 7630 class wrote a comment letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board Exposure Draft on Supplier Financing and the International Accounting Standards Board Exposure Draft on Supplier Financing. These letters are posted on both agencies’ websites. The class has received positive feedback from FASB board members, an executive at Moody’s, and a Senior Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission. This project allowed students to engage directly with the accounting standard-setting process. PUBLICATION Brasel, K., Hill, M., Taylor, G. K., 2022. “The relevance of non-GAAP net assets to creditor: an examination of the credit default swap market.” Advances in Accounting.

Donald Ariall

Cristen Dutcher

Ken Harmon

Dana Hermanson

Mary Hill

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

HYUNGSHIN PARK

Sunay Mutlu, Associate Professor of Accounting APPOINTMENT Research Roundtable Coordinator; FARS Midyear Meeting, 2022. PUBLICATIONS Caylor, M., Chambers, D., Mutlu, S. 2022. “Financial reporting uniformity: its relation to comparability and its impact on financial Statement users.” Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. Mutlu, S., Honigsberg, C., Katz, S., Sadka, G. 2021. “State contract law and the use of accounting information in debt contracts.” Review of Accounting Studies, 26, 124-171 Hyungshin Park, Professor of Accounting PUBLICATION Bhattacharya, N., Olsson, P., Park, H. 2021. “Predictability of analyst earnings forecast errors and institutional and individual investors’ reactions to earnings news.” Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance.

Sunay Mutlu

Hyungshin Park

Hong Qu

Divesh Sharma

Hong Qu Vineeta Sharma

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

Hong Qu, Assistant Professor of Accounting AWARD

Divesh Sharma, Professor of Accounting RANKINGS Brigham Young University’s ranking of accounting faculty publishing in top-12 journals placed Divesh S. Sharma among the top 100 researchers in the world across all topics and methods in the accounting discipline during a 12 and six-year rolling period, and among the top 20 researchers in the world in archival audit research, his research area of focus. PUBLICATIONS Patel, A., Sharma, D. S., Singh, M. 2022. “Do alma mater ties between the auditor and audit committee affect audit quality?” Contemporary Accounting Research. Ananthanarayanan, U., Litt, B. Sharma, D.S. 2021. “CEO compensation, corporate governance, and audit fees: evidence from New Zealand.” International Journal of Auditing. Chiang, C., Fieger, P. Sharma, D.S. 2021. “An investigation into student satisfaction, approaches to learning and the learning context in auditing.” Accounting and Finance.

Journal of Accounting Research Excellence in Refereeing Award in 2021 from The Journal of Accounting Research. PUBLICATIONS Banerkee, S., Qu, H., Zhao, R. 2022. “Clarity trumps content: an experiment on information acquisition in beauty contest.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Qu, H., Gong, G. Tarrant, I. 2021. “Earnings forecasts and price efficiency after earnings realzations: reduction in information asymmetry through learning from price.” Contemporary Accounting Research, 38, 654-675. Vineeta Sharma: Professor of Accounting PUBLICATIONS Carmenate, J., Hartmann, C., Sharma, D. S., and Sharma, V. D. 2022. “Analyzing the compensation of CPAS and accounting experts on audit committees.” The CPA Journal. Carmenate, J., Crews, C. O., Sharma, V. D., and Sparger, J. R. 2021. “How many simultaneous audit committee memberships are too many?” Current Issues in Auditing.

SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

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