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SUNY
Oswego
The Little “Harvard on the Lake” Salutes 30 Years of Business Education Editor’s Note: School Profiles briefly details college and university programs throughout New York state that lead to a career as a CPA. The feature appears in The Trusted Professional on an intermittent basis. This year marks a significant milestone in accounting education in central New York. Thirty years ago, SUNY Oswego, traditionally an arts and sciences institution with strong programs in teacher education, embarked upon a journey into business administration education. At that time, interest in majoring in business disciplines—never far out of fashion—was starting on an upward spiral. Judged by initial student interest, SUNY Oswego’s foray into business administration seemed destined for success. But it soon became evident that specialized majors in individual business disciplines such as public accounting, marketing, management science, human resource management, and finance and managerial accounting were the real drivers behind student enthusiasm. Market forces pointed to public accountancy as the appropriate first major to be added, and because the quality of many business programs is gauged by the quality of the accounting program, faculty agreed to develop that major first. The college’s initial 1977 application for securing accounting registration was successfully granted by the state of New York, with the comment that more CPAs should be added to the faculty. Over the next 20 years Oswego’s faculty expanded to include the services of local CPA practitioners and talented Ph.D.s from some of the best schools in the country. Talent attracts talent, and the quality of Oswego’s student body elevated too. Once the school achieved registration, public accounting firms were pleased to add Oswego to their list of recruiting opportunities. Ernst and Ernst, Coopers and Lybrand, PriceWaterhouse and Main Lafrentz were some of the first firms to add Oswego to their recruiting schedule. Their successor firms and many regional firms recruit there today. Accounting courses are now taught in Rich Hall, a newly opened modern wireless Internet building supporting one of the first integrated 150-hour accounting programs in New York state. The curriculum is practitioner oriented, with about three-fourths of the faculty holding their CPA license. Oswego’s School of Business is AACSB-accredited, with its own chapter of the national accounting honor society Beta Alpha Psi. The school also boasts large VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) and internship programs. Last November Oswego hosted the annual New York State Educator’s Conference, jointly sponsored by the New York State Society of CPAs and McGraw-Hill. For more information on the school, please contact the author at spector@oswego.edu, and visit the college website at www.oswego.edu Charles A. Spector, CPA, professor of accounting at SUNY Oswego, is the immediate past chair of the NYSSCPA’s Higher Education Committee. |
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