Our proudest accomplishment of the year is that we survived the AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation process! Every five years, the Department and the School undergo a thorough “checkup” conducted by a team of deans and accounting chairs from other AACSB accredited schools. We have recently learned that the Department received a “clean bill of health.” We were commended for our focus on student achievement and success.
We have recently hired two new faculty members and one has a name you will recognize. Marc Ortegren, Al Ortegren’s son and our MSA graduate, will join the faculty next fall. Marc earned his PhD at Texas Tech and has been on the faculty at SIUC for several years. He will reclaim his Dad’s intermediate accounting courses. It will be great to have an Ortegren on the faculty again!
Xiao Xiao Song will also join the faculty in the fall. Xiao Xiao is completing her PhD at the University of Texas at Arlington and will teach cost and managerial accounting.
Beta Alpha Psi has continued to excel. Our chapter earned superior status at the 2016 Annual Meeting. Amelia Biggs, one of this year’s officers, participated on the winning team in the annual “Project Run With It” competition. This marks the second time in the last three years that one of our members was on the winning team. You can read more about BAP in the Spotlight on Students section.
Last year, for the first time, we graduated more students with the MSA Tax Specialization than with the general MSA. This is, in part, a credit to the changes made in our tax offerings by Drew Gross. You can read more about Drew and our tax program in the Focus on Faculty section.
Finally, a brief personal note. I will retire from the Department this coming summer. I have had a great time here and benefited from great colleagues, coauthors, students, and friends. My plans are to seek some short-term teaching assignments in interesting places. In the upcoming fall semester, I will teach a managerial accounting course in an executive MBA program in Germany. The schedule allows plenty of free time for touring around Europe. I also hope to find more time for golf, but I’ll never get good enough to play with the Ortegrens. I hope to keep in touch with you – my SIUE email should stay active in my retirement.
Dr. Mike CostiganProfessor & Chair
