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Accounting Newsletter Fall 2021

Price College of Business | John T. Steed School of Accounting | The University of Oklahoma | Fall 2021 Newsletter
Karen Hennes

Message From Karen Hennes, Director

The 2021 year has been quite a roller coaster, and we were cautiously excited to welcome students back for the fall semester. Nearly all undergraduate classes returned in person at full capacity, and Adams Hall began to buzz again. Some events involving outside guests or large groups remained virtual, especially at the start of the semester, but things are slowly returning. We celebrate each time we can reconnect in person again, and we hope to enjoy a deferred School of Accounting Awards Banquet with students and supporters in late spring.

Even as campus life resumes, some things will never return to the old normal. The pandemic has accelerated changes in higher education and business work environments: In fall 2021, total enrollment in our online MAcc surpassed enrollment in our residential B.B.A/MAcc program for the first time, and many of our largest employers are adopting hybrid or remote work plans indefinitely. Students face both new opportunities and new challenges in these settings, and we must evolve to support them.

Over the past year, the Price College of Business has engaged in comprehensive strategic planning efforts. In the coming year, the School of Accounting will work to assess the ways in which we best fit and support that plan and the college’s new directions while continuing to nurture our historic strengths. Through it all, we are grateful for the support of our engaged alumni and the new and longtime employers of our students. 

As we come to the end of the fall semester, please enjoy semester news and highlights from School of Accounting students and faculty below. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and we hope to see even more of you on campus again in the New Year. 

 

Karen Hennes

Director, Steed School of Accounting
Associate Professor and W. K. Newton Chair of Accounting


SCHOOL NEWS

Price College of Business | John T. Steed School of Accounting | The University of Oklahoma

Scholarships Awarded to Students

Although the SOA Awards Banquet was postponed until spring 2022, over $335,000 in scholarships were still awarded to undergraduate and graduate students for the 2021-2022 academic year. We greatly appreciate the generosity of the individuals, families and firms who make these scholarships possible. The demand for quality accounting graduates is strong, and these scholarships help us attract and retain the best students.

You can donate to our scholarship fund to help future student at the OU Foundation website or by contacting Rhesa Brewster, director of advancement at Price College’s Office of Advancement, at (405) 325-8062 or rbrewster@ou.edu.

Spencer Haines, CFO of Love’s Travel Stops, presenting to the class on accounting career pathways in the industry

Students Learn About Accounting Profession

Students in our Accounting Professional Development Series learn about the range of opportunities and overall governance structure of the accounting profession from variety of special guests. Pictured here is Spencer Haines, CFO of Love’s Travel Stops, presenting to the class on accounting career pathways in industry. Other series topics include sessions on how to obtain a CPA license in Oklahoma or Texas, the functions of the FASB and the PCAOB, life as a sole practitioner, and career pathways in audit, tax or forensic accounting. The Professional Development Series is coordinated by SOA faculty member Joe Dulin.

Students of the Price College Oil and Gas Accounting class pose in front of an oil rig in their safety protective gear.

Cactus Drilling Co. Hosts Students

After a year of virtual events, we were thrilled to resume some of our in-person student experiences. Pictured here are students in SOA faculty member Jean Hale’s Oil and Gas Accounting class on a class field trip to an active drilling rig. We are grateful for Cactus Drilling Co. for facilitating this tour (and providing all the fashionable protective gear)!


STUDENT NEWS

Caitlyn Driskell

Caitlyn Driskill Awarded PCAOB Scholarship

The PCAOB selected BBA/MAcc student Caitlyn Driskill as a 2021-2022 Scholar. Driskill, from Oklahoma City, was awarded a $10,000 scholarship and will join KPMG after completing the BBA/MAcc program next spring.

Pat Fields

Pat Fields Recognized for Scholarship and Leadership

Pat Fields, BBA/MAcc student and co-captain of the 2021 OU football team, has received recognition for outstanding leadership and scholarship for the following awards: Campbell Trophy, awarded to the best student-athlete in college football (finalist); Wuerffel Trophy, awarded to the most impactful leader in community service (finalist); and Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year, awarded for exemplary leadership (semi-finalist). Fields is pictured here at a “Town Business” session, a program founded by Fields to teach financial literacy to Tulsa public school students.

Duku Sacolo

Davis UWC Scholars Have Strong Presence

We are proud and pleased to have six current Davis United World Scholars in the Steed SOA: Duku Sacolo (pictured) from Eswatini, Kissinger Charles from Haiti, Sam Dlamini from Eswatini, Izza Mohamed Shiraj from Singapore, Chyven Gadin from the Philippines, and Peace Mojekwu from Nigeria. These outstanding students applied for the Davis UWC scholarship program while still in high school and completed their high school degrees in the rigorous International Baccalaureate program before attending OU, a Davis UWC partner university. In fall 2021, for the eighth time, OU was recognized for having the highest enrollment of freshman UWC Scholars for any U.S. university.

A group of students sit at tables with laptops as they participate in group tutoring sessions.

BBA/MAcc Students Enrich Undergraduate Learning

This fall, students and tutors alike were happy to return to in-person sessions of the Accounting Homework Party. Two BBA/MAcc students, Temi Ojekunle from Nigeria (a past Davis UWC Scholar) and Shea Worthington from Lawton, completed their fourth and final semester as Peer Learning Assistants. From all the students debiting and crediting for the first time, thank you, Temi and Shea!

Students and faculty sit around a table collaborating on work

Mentorship Program Update

This fall, our Mentorship Program, sponsored by our Board of Advisors, paired 30 students with 27 mentors. The students were matched with professionals based on their career interests and location. Students and mentors are provided with suggested topics for discussion each month. Students have great feedback on the benefits of the mentoring relationship:

 “I take advantage of my mentor’s experience to ask questions I never had the opportunity to ask before.”

“My mentor has a wealth of experience and is able to offer great insight.”

“If you are on the fence about joining the program, do it. … I’ve learned so much.”

Josh McClain

Accounting and Data Analytics? Start With Accounting!

Many of our accounting undergraduates double major, adding a second major in finance or, more recently, in MIS. This semester, an undergraduate student, Josh McClain of Lewisville, Texas, combined his understanding of financial accounting with data analytics skills while concurrently enrolled in Intermediate Accounting I and an MIS course, Business Data Analytics. The result? McClain created a fully functional accounting information system capable of producing financial statements and allowing users to compare results with industry ratios. Shaila Miranda, MIS faculty member, was highly complimentary of Josh’s course project, saying, “Josh has a knack for anticipating user problems and designing better solutions that are also inviting to use.”

To further enrich our students’ experience applying technical skills in accounting settings, Steed SOA launched a new graduate course, Accounting Data Analytics in fall 2021, taught by SOA faculty member Ashley Davis. Students in this course work with large data sets using a variety of software tools to analyze tax, audit and managerial accounting issues.

Daniel Amante, Ava Bumgarner, Kissinger Charles, Kurtas Edmonds, Kadon Le, Emma Claire McInnis, Demetri Papahronis, Dagmara Pasternak, Nikki Patel, and Mackenzie Reeves

Accounting Majors Selected for JCPLP

The JCPenney Leadership Program recently announced that the following accounting majors had been chosen for the 2021 cohort: Daniel Amante, Ava Bumgarner, Kissinger Charles, Kurtas Edmonds, Kadon Le, Emma Claire McInnis, Demetri Papahronis, Dagmara Pasternak, Nikki Patel, and Mackenzie Reeves. Congratulations!

Summer Cottom, Catherine Easterling and Carter Sampson

Students to Graduate With 4.0 GPA

The university has announced that the following accounting majors who are eligible to graduate in December have maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average: Summer Cottom, Oklahoma City; Avery Steppick, Joshua, Texas; Carter Sampson, Tempe, AZ. and Addison Newman, Plano, Texas (not pictured). All of these students will return to OU in spring 2022 to complete the MAcc program. 

Beta Alpha Psi fall 2021 officers: Brooks Inbody, Taylor Smail, Sean Acol, Frank Sanchez and Dolan O’Keefe

Beta Alpha Psi Offers Full Slate

Beta Alpha Psi, led by fall 2021 officers Brooks Inbody, Taylor Smail, Sean Acol, Frank Sanchez and Dolan O’Keefe, planned a full slate of events this semester: professional meetings, Lunch and Learn sessions, tutoring for beginning accounting students, community service events, and social opportunities, all in a mix of virtual and in-person formats.

OU Delta Sigma Pi Chapter members and 2021 Executive Committee members Chris McCabe, Nicole Rodgers, Connor Volak, Hannah Garcia, Tuyen Huynh and Robby Ward

OU Delta Sigma Pi Recognized

The OU Delta Sigma Pi Chapter recently won the regional award for Outstanding Service. Accounting majors on the fall 2021 DSP Executive Committee are Chris McCabe, Nicole Rodgers, Connor Volak, Hannah Garcia, Tuyen Huynh and Robby Ward. SOA faculty member Kaimee Kellis serves as the DSP faculty advisor. The group recently completed their fall food drive, collecting over 2,700 items for the OU Food Pantry.

Ling Zhang

PhD Student Recognized for Research

PhD student Ling Zhang was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Doctoral Student Paper Award and Scholarship by the Southwest Region of the American Accounting Association for her research study titled “The Consequences of Losing All-Star Status.”

Rebecca Crouse and Mengyang Davila

New PhD Students Join Steed SOA

The school maintains an active doctoral program, with 12 current full-time PhD students. This fall, we welcomed new Ph.D. students Rebecca Crouse and Mengyang Davila.

Crouse received both her BBA and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of South Dakota. She worked in the Financial Services tax group at Ernst & Young LLP before moving into a tax analyst role at a global alternative investment advisory company, where she managed domestic and international tax reporting for the firm’s funds and investments. She is a licensed CPA in the state of Minnesota. Her research interests are in tax and financial reporting. In her free time, she enjoys being with family and going camping and kayaking.

 

Davila received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Shanghai International Studies University, after which she briefly worked as an associate auditor at Deloitte following an internship with General Motors. She received a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas. Her interests include the influence of accounting policy and managerial disclosures on the capital market. Together with her husband and two sons, she enjoys living and commuting between Norman and her Dallas residence.


ALUMNI NEWS

Sharon Haley

Sharon Haley Named OSCPA Board Chair

Sharon Haley (BBA, accounting, 1984), revenue agent group manager with the Internal Revenue Service, was named 2021-2022 chair of the OSCPA Board of Directors. In her inaugural letter to members, Haley’s message was “We are all leaders.” Haley said, “I grew up in church as a PK, also known as a ‘preacher’s kid.’ As a PK, you learn at an early age that you are a leader. You must be mindful of what you say and how you say it. And when no one else steps up to lead, you are the chosen one. I guess you could say that was the start of my preparedness for my role as a CPA.”

Matthew Brockwell

Matthew Brockwell Selected as OU CFO

Matthew Brockwell (BBA, accounting, 1983) was named senior vice president and chief financial officer by the University of Oklahoma. He comes to the position with more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, including 21 years as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. At OU, Brockwell will guide all areas of administration and finance. Brockwell previously served as a member of the Steed School of Accounting’s Board of Advisors. Welcome back, Matt!


FACULTY NEWS

Agnes Cheng and Michael Yampuler

Steed SOA Welcomes New Faculty

This fall, the Steed School of Accounting welcomed two new faculty members: Agnes Cheng and Michael Yampuler. Cheng is the Dale Looper Chair in Accounting in the Price College of Business. She received her doctoral degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interest focuses on empirical financial accounting research. Yampuler received his doctoral degree from Harvard University in 2004. Before joining the OU faculty in 2021, he served as a full-time faculty member at the University of Houston from 2004 to 2021. He teaches undergraduate classes in financial accounting.

Jean Hale races around Pikes Peak Raceway in her 1993 Nissan 300ZX

Jean Hale Attains Certification as Fraud Examiner

Continuous learning is not just for students — faculty also continue to hone and develop new expertise. SOA faculty member Jean Hale recently earned the Certified Fraud Examiner credential. When Hale isn’t in the classroom or studying, she finds time to race her 1993 Nissan 300ZX, shown here taking a parade lap at the Pikes Peak Raceway this summer!

Brad Blaylock and Brant Christensen

Steed SOA Faculty Recognized as Outstanding Reviewers

SOA faculty Brad Blaylock and Brant Christensen joined a select group of accounting academics by being named “Outstanding Reviewer” by Contemporary Accounting Research, a top-tier academic journal. This is fantastic recognition for their service supporting other researchers. Congrats!

In addition, Christensen was also recently named to the editorial board of The Accounting Review.

Exterior of Price Hall with students sitting at the fountain

Faculty Generate Business Insights

See summaries of the latest publications from our accounting faculty to see how we’re fulfilling the Purpose of Price® by tackling important business issues, generating valuable insights and preparing students as leaders. 

We Appreciate Your Support

If you’d like to support the operations and programs of the Steed School of Accounting, please consider making an online donation to our flexible use fund. Thank you to all who support our students in so many ways!

CONTACT PRICE
University of Oklahoma
Price College of Business
307 West Brooks
Norman, OK 73019-4004
(405) 325-3611

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CONTACT SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING
John T. Steed School of Accounting
307 W. Brooks
Adams Hall, Room 200
Norman, OK 73019-4004
(405) 325-4221

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