Three accounting professors in the Dolan School of Business recently received a $50,000 grant from PricewaterhouseCoopers to incorporate the accounting standard, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into its curriculum. IFRS is used in over 100 countries all over the world and it is expected that major companies in the United States will start to use this standard as well in place of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).’
By applying for and securing this grant, Fairfield’s Dolan School of Business is able to keep its accounting curriculum on the cutting-edge. Teaching this standard will be beneficial to students by ensuring they are familiar with the most up-to-date financial reporting guidance.
In the University’s press release Norm Solomon, dean of the Dolan School of Business, states, ”Knowing these standards will be a big asset in the job market for graduates. My understanding is that PricewaterhouseCoopers wants to encourage faculty to focus more on the upcoming implementation of international accounting standards in the U.S. These standards will become a reality here very soon.’
‘ This new curriculum helps the Dolan School of Business stand out among the other business schools in the country.’
According to the University’s press release, Fairfield was one of only 24 schools that received a grant out of a pool of more than 120 that applied. Other schools selected include: New York University, Fordham, Villanova, University of Notre Dame, Ithaca College/Cornell University, Wake Forest and Ohio State.
Plans call for incorporating into the introductory accounting sequence an overview of IFRS and an understanding of its importance to the business community. For the accounting major courses beyond the introductory sequence, faculty plans to more thoroughly integrate IFRS. Professors will share the model syllabi from these courses with other schools that wish to adopt, or adapt, their ideas.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the ‘Big Four’ international accounting firms, sponsored the grant program, citing the importance for business schools to teach the standards, and has committed $1 million over two years to this effort.
Michael P. Coyne, Dawn W. Massey and Joan Van Hise, who are all accounting professors, were the ones who applied for the grant.
Having taught international standards in Advanced Accounting for the past 10 years, Van Hise said, ‘[The accounting faculty] are pleased that PWC has chosen our grant proposal from among a very competitive field as we believe it provides renewed external verification that we continue to provide an innovative and up-to-date accounting curriculum to our students.”
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