Who Should Be Teaching Our Future CPAs?

Many CPAs reading this article were taught by the "giants" of the CPA profession: Stanley Tunick, Emanuel Saxe, H.A. Finney, Herbert Miller, to name just a few. These men practiced their profession, wrote articles and textbooks, taught, were active in their professional organizations, and conducted research. They were literate and articulate. They did it all. Each and every one were examples to us all.

From each we learned to adhere to the truth and meet challenges as they arose. They taught us the standards of professional behavior alongside theory: the practice of our profession and its ethics of behavior. Those students fortunate enough to be in their classes and to be mentored by them learned how to apply theory to the day-to-day practice of a CPA and to take pride in the profession. In addition, the students learned that being an active member of professional organizations brought benefits to society, the profession, and themselves.

The educators earned their MBA degrees, some earned Ph.D.s, and while some did not, all were certified public accountants. What they brought to their classes were their life experiences as CPAs along with their technical know-how. They were professionals in the best sense of the word.

Today, some individuals would lead us to believe that educating CPAs should be left to those who have earned Ph.D.s. and whose professional lives revolve around their research. Certified public accountancy is a profession. As in all licensed professions, students should be taught by individuals who are licensed to practice their profession and who, in fact, do practice their profession. Doctors teach medical students, attorneys teach law students, practicing certified public accountants must teach accounting students.

Accounting, auditing, and tax professors must be current regarding changes in their profession, as must the CPA practitioner. While as educators they should be expected to present papers or publish or both--as were our predecessors--their primary responsibility should be to teach the next generation of accountants and inculcate in them a pride in serving the public and the responsibilities of a practicing certified public accountant.

Many educational institutions have hired Ph.D.s as members of the accounting faculty and use teaching assistants or graduate assistants to instruct the most significant course of all, Introduction to Accounting (Accounting 1 and 2). This course is the bedrock of all the professional courses that follow. How can teaching this most crucial course be left to tyros? And yet it is. Although teaching advanced courses such as auditing can, in theory, be taught by one who has never performed an audit, the question is, what has the student lost by not receiving the benefit of an experienced CPA in the classroom?

The purpose of this article is not to denigrate the Ph.D. but to put it in its proper perspective. It is useful to the academic who plans to teach in doctoral programs, teach students research methodology, evaluate a doctoral thesis, and publish the results of his or her own research. The doctorate is not a panacea. A Ph.D. does not and cannot replace the day-to-day experiences of the practitioner. CPAs make decisions on a daily basis integrating current theory, standards, and their professional experiences. They must deal with representatives of governmental agencies and demanding clients' requests which sometimes, if given credence, could put the CPA's license in jeopardy. The sharing of these professional life experiences, while teaching theory and its application, is what makes classroom education more meaningful.

Students who major in accounting want to know what they will face as professionals. They need to learn the theories and standards of accounting, auditing, and taxes. They must also learn the practicalities of their future profession. Students will seek guidance regarding their own participation in professional activities (i.e., what activity, which organizations). Who better to learn from than the practicing CPA professionals that are their professors and their mentors? Our current and future students and CPAs need giants in their classrooms and in their futures. Are the universities hiring them? *