Meeting & Agendas

• The Accounting Advisory Committee meeting was held to discuss updates and administrative matters. A quorum was declared for the advisory board members. Larry had provided an update on who was currently active on the roster for the Advisory Committee           

• Attendance: 

Advisory Committee: Donna Boykin ( ZOOM), Ben Boggess( ZOOM), Lisa Stretenovic ( in-person), Anthony Ross ( in-person), Connie Clark ( ZOOM), Chris Noak (in-person), Chase Insogna ( in-person) 

Guests: Eric Fiero ( Achieving the Dream), Amanda Olmstead (Achieving the Dream) 

Full-Time Faculty: Larry Stephens ( in-person), Kimberly Cameron ( ZOOM), Dr.Reed Peoples( ZOOM), Kelli Blount ( in-person), Denise White ( in-person) , Okera Bishop

(in-person), Jay Thibodeaux ( in-person), Germaine Randolph ( in-person), Kristy McDermott ( in-person), Johnny Howard ( in-person), Darry Houston (ZOOM) 

• May 1, 2026; 11:00 am - 1:30 pm. There will be updates provided in the meeting invitation for the location.

• The next item that was brought into discussion was approving the meeting minutes from May 1, 2020, November 22, 2024, and May 2, 2025, with some abstentions. For the Meeting of May 1, 2020, the first motion to approve the minutes was made by Chris Noak and seconded by Lisa Stretenovic. One abstention from Anthony Ross, due to not being present for the meeting. The minutes for November 22, 2024, were reviewed,  motion to approve the minutes was made first by Lisa Stretenovic and seconded by Chase Insogna. May 2, 2025, minutes were lastly reviewed for approval. Motion to approve minutes for May 2, 2025, was made by Anthony Ross and seconded by Chase Insogna. One abstention was for Chris Noak.

• Larry announced to the committee that Johnny Howard, former assistant department chair, has been promoted to department chair of the Management Department within Business Studies. By Spring 2026, Johnny will be fully transitioned over.

• The accounting department is in the process of hiring one or two full-time faculty members,  with 5 candidates being invited for teaching demonstrations on December 10th. The hiring committee will make a recommendation on who would best fill the position, and then Round 3 Interviews will include the Dean. If an internal candidate is hired, they will be moved over to full-time status for Spring 2026, but if an external candidate is hired, they will start their full-time role for Fall 2026. Updates for the candidates who are hired will be discussed for the next Advisory Committee Meeting in May. 

  
   

• Larry presented current enrollment statistics for ACC, noting an increase in community college enrollment despite decreases at other institutions. He highlighted a 16% enrollment increase in the accounting department for Fall 2025, driven by the Chancellor's Initiative Free Tuition Program. For Spring 2026, the accounting department is on track for another enrollment record, with 1,030 students enrolled, including 250 free tuition students. It was mentioned that Accounting makes up about 40-45% of enrollment. There are about 4,000 or 5,000 students enrolled in a Business Studies Program, with accounting representing only 4% of total college enrollment for Business Studies.  The discussion touched on factors contributing to increased interest in accounting, including high school outreach and the potential for dual credit programs starting in Fall 2026.  A statement was made that some students do not have their minds made up about what career path they want to pursue.

• The group also addressed demographic shifts and the impact of the 2008-2009 recession on enrollment trends, while noting the continued popularity of community colleges. The meeting discussed the growth of Austin's population and its impact on community colleges, noting a recent slowdown in growth compared to previous years.

  
   

• The main focus was on the upcoming ACBSP accreditation visit in early Spring 2026, which will be the 10-year reaffirmation. Denise, Reed, and Kimberly provided an update on the accreditation process, highlighting that a written report is due by December 15th, and they are working on gathering data and feedback from various stakeholders. The group also discussed their division's goals, including increasing completions, dual credits, grants, apprenticeships, and internships, as well as focusing on AI training for faculty and tracking its inclusion in courses.
• The meeting focused on the college's ACBSP accreditation, which Reed explained is specific to business programs and includes departments like Culinary and Office Technology. Larry highlighted that the accreditation helps with course transfers and partnerships, noting that 41% of business administration graduates transfer to Texas State under the "2 Plus 2" program. The group discussed the college's progress toward a 70% completion rate by 2030, with accounting currently at 68%, and the importance of dual credit programs for funding. Accounting has the opportunity to go over the 70% completion rate by 2030. Within the 68% 75% of completions are in our traditional courses. In Distance Education courses, the percentage of completions drops to 67%. Looking forward in the next couple of years, as a Department, we want to look at how we can increase the completion in Distance Education Courses. 
• Larry mentioned that if students have enough credits to complete a Certificate, then we will receive funding for that. One of the committee members made an inquiry about students who only need a few credits and are referred by the TSBPA to complete a few credits to be eligible to sit for the CPA exam. Larry explained that we do have an Occupational Skills Award for students who just need to take  2 or 3 classes, and they will be able to receive their Certificate for the 12 transfer credits.

• The conversation ended with a discussion about a new internship course approved by the board, which allows students to earn up to 6 credit hours through an Internship Program, with Larry explaining the requirements and process for the internship program. The 6 internship hours will help them meet the 150 semester credit hour requirement, but the internship hours are not counted towards Accounting or Business Hours. 
• This update will have to be discussed with the Curriculum and Programs Committee, and the vote will have to be made by the Accounting Task Force and the Advisory Committee Members for the course ACNT 2388 to be added as an accounting or business elective and as an update on the Program Map. There is already one student registered for the course for the Spring 2026 Semester. Motion to approve having the course ACNT 2388 as an elective to the Level 4 Certificates was first approved by Anthony Ross. The second motion was made by Chase Insogna. Also, 3 other motions to approve for the course to be added as an elective were made by Connie Clark, Ben Boggess, and Donna Boykin.

     Update for ACC VITA site for Spring 2026

• Kristy provided an update to the committee for the ACC Vita site for Spring 2026. She had shared that 7 students were hired for the ACC Vita Program. She would like to encourage more students to volunteer through the VITA Program, especially the internship students who need to apply. Kristy informed the faculty that volunteers will be able to receive 14-18 CPEs and are only being asked to do 3 hours. She included that there is a higher demand for students who are bilingual to volunteer for VITA. 
• The Accounting Career Fair included 5-6 employers this year. There were over 30 students who attended this event. It was not as big a turnout compared to last year’s Career Fair. The issue was that some employers stated that they were not hiring this year. The question that was brought into discussion was to schedule the Career Fair For September. A suggestion was made by one of the Committee members to schedule the career fair in late October. Kristy concluded that we are looking for employers for internships and apprenticeships, because more students are interested in job opportunities.

• Kelli presented the data for the Assessment Results for ACCT 2301 and ACCT 2302. She explained to the committee the goal is to have 80% of students get 70% or better on Assessment 1 & Assessment 2. 
• For Fall 2024, we fell short on Assessment 1, and then for Assessment 2, for the Spring 2025 Semester, we were close, but did not meet the 80% goal for both Assessments. 
• Summer 2025, Achieved 80% for both Assessments. Kelli shared with the committee that examiners have been providing the students with materials to help students prepare for both assessments. 
• Kelli discussed that Hybrid Classroom Sections and Asynchronous sections have better assessment results when compared to the Hyflex Online and Synchronous Online Sections. Kelli shared that the homework has been revised to fit the needs of the student and help them reflect on what areas they struggle with in their pre-assessments.  
• She informed the faculty and committee that she has been making changes and will be submitting the QM  Internal Review for ACCT 2301, and she is also working on the QM National Review.

• The discussion touched on factors contributing to increased interest in accounting, including high school outreach and the potential for dual credit programs starting in Fall 2026.  A statement was made that some students do not have their minds made up about what career path they want to pursue. The goal is to increase enrollment in the Accounting Technician Program and help students choose Accounting as a career path.  Larry spoke of the efforts that the Accounting Faculty has made to reach out to students who want to know more about Accounting, such as volunteering at fairs.
• Once students receive their Level 1 Certificates, the plan is to entice students to earn additional credits to get their Associate’s Degree. As a department, we want to get high school students in early in the pipeline to complete the Level 1 Certificate.

• Larry shared information about the recent Two-Year Bridge Symposium, which involved 1,200 students across 32 offices and 14 different cities across the country. Students walked away with a lot of understanding and knowledge from the event.

• Finally, Larry announced some news that Kate Rhodhen has requested that Larry share with the committee and faculty.   It was announced that Dr. Tracie Miller, a former ACC faculty member, is on track to become president of the Texas Society of CPA next year. Good remarks were mentioned by a student that Larry has been a great help when she was completing the courses to become CPA eligible.