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Mission, Vision and Values

Mission

To develop competent and responsible accounting professionals by providing high-quality, innovative, student-centered learning experiences.

Vision

To be a leading accounting program in the United States.

Supporting Values

• Academic Excellence
  • We offer a comprehensive accounting education that integrates ethics, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and effective communication.
• Ethics
  • We are committed to the highest level of ethical conduct. Our faculty models professional ethical standards and we train students to be ethical professionals.
• Faculty Proficiency and Retention
  • We recruit qualified faculty who are passionate about teaching, mentoring students, who are collegial and are committed to service to the university and the wider community.
  • We support work-life balance to enable faculty to achieve personal and professional goals.
  • We encourage service to the Department, the College of Business (COB), the University, and engagement with external stakeholders.
• Innovation
  • We develop new courses and new programs to meet the needs of our students and employers.
• Diversity and Inclusion
  • We abide by the university’s policies on DEI - we believe that a diverse faculty and student body is essential to providing a rich academic experience.
• Engagement
  • Our student organizations offer opportunities for interaction with alumni and other professionals and are avenues for service to the wider community.
  • Faculty will actively engage with students, COB colleagues, the university community, the Greater Tampa Bay community, alumni, the academic community, and with practitioners.
  • We endeavor to keep class sizes small to foster interaction between faculty and students.
• Continuous improvement
  • We continuously evaluate our mission and strategy with the aim of improving performance by fixing problems and developing new initiatives to fulfill our vision.

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Primary Goals

The accounting department has established five primary goals for its majors that reflect the core competencies expected of an accounting major.

Accounting students should:

1. Be sensitive to ethical issues that arise in the practice of the accounting profession and capable of applying the professional standards applicable to specific ethical issues.
2. Have an understanding of the legal and economic forces that impact accounting transparency and reporting.
3. Be effective critical thinkers with respect to solving professional accounting and business problems.
4. Be technically proficient such that they add value to their accounting professional activities.
5. Learn modern professional accounting theories, techniques, and methods and/or laws used by business entities and be effective communicators of accounting information to users.

The curriculum is tailored to expose students to specific areas of accounting, including financial and managerial accounting, taxation, audit, and accounting information systems. Electives are offered in not-for-profit or governmental accounting, advanced accounting, internal audit, international accounting, and corporate taxation.

Graduates of the accounting program consistently secure excellent positions or are accepted to top graduate school programs across the country. ÂÌÅ«Ì컨°å accounting graduates enjoy successful careers in a range of disciplines including corporate accounting, government accounting, business taxation, personal financial planning, investment analysis, forensic accounting and more. They secure positions in public and private corporate organizations, such as GTE, Coca Cola, The American Cancer Society, and others, and in public accounting firms, such as Deloitte & Touche, USA LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, LLP, and other national, regional, and local public accounting firms.