Meeting & Agendas

The minutes from November 3, 2017 were reviewed. Gary Brown moved that they be approved as is. Connie Clark seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

The committee agreed to meet next on Friday, October 19, Noon to 2 PM.

There were several follow-up topics, representing proposed changes to the certificate and degree options for students.  There was a general discussion of changing the names “Accounting Clerk” and “Accounting Technician” to something more descriptive.  Quick Books Specialist Certificate was proposed. The curriculum would include ACNT 1403, 1404, 1311 (On-line), 1329, and 2371. ACNT 2371 would include the test for Quick Book certification. Dr. Peoples has arranged for a Perkins grant to support the fees students must pay to take the Quick Book certification test. Students could not pass the course without passing the certification test. Kate Rhoden moved to accept the changes and Tony Ross seconded the motion. The proposed changes to the name (Quick books Specialist) and to the curriculum were approved.  Full Charge Bookkeeper Certificate and Degree: Besides the name change, there was discussion about the curriculum. There was agreement that keyboarding should not be required. There was discussion of eliminating POFL 2350 (Access) for the degree. Gary Brown and Connie Clark thought there should be greater emphasis on technical writing and communications skills. Gary Brown moved that the proposed curriculum, as well as the name change to Full Charge Bookkeeper, be made. Tony Ross seconded the motion. The committee approved the changes.  Full Charge Bookkeeper Certificate and Degree: There was discussion of creating a new course (Special Topic for Full Charge Bookkeeper) that would focus on grants management for non-profits. Other ideas included an advanced payroll course and adding more internal control topics into 1403 and 1404. The department will follow up and determine what could be developed.  Accounting Tax Specialist/Enrolled Agent Certificate: It was suggested that BUSG 2317, Business Law, be added to the curriculum, increasing the required credits to 18. Kate Rhoden motioned that the curriculum change be made. Gary Brown seconded the motion. The motion passed.  Accounting Tax Specialist/Level 1 Certificate: The discussion was about proposed changes to the curriculum, including eliminating ACNT 2304, ACNT 2332, ACNT 2330 and ACNT 2331. The following courses would be added: BUSG 2317, BUSG 2311 and BCIS 1305, for a total of 36 credits. Gary Brown moved to approve the curriculum, as changed, and Tony Ross seconded the motion. The motion passed.  Accounting Tax Specialist/AAS degree: Gary Brown motioned that the curriculum as presented by Dr. Peoples be approved. Tony Ross seconded the motion. The motion passed.  Accounting Technician: Dr. Peoples proposed that all Accounting Technician coursework be available on-line. Chris Noak motioned that all Accounting Technician coursework be available online. Gary Brown seconded the motion. The motion passed, but with one dissenting vote by Tony Ross.  Block Scheduling: Jay Thibodeaux presented the sequencing of coursework for the Accounting Technician program for the block scheduling format.

Dr. Peoples announced that the department was working on including a student resume book in the ACC Accounting Department website. A discussion ensued about the privacy issues that may result from uploading student resumes with their personal information available to any employer. Tony Ross suggested that the role of the department had to be more clearly defined. Would the department be a facilitator between the students and the employer or an intermediary? It was agreed that the issues of privacy and the role of the department be discussed with the ACC lawyers.

Bylaw revisions were discussed. It was agreed that the by-laws include a provision for email approvals when issues requiring committee approval occur in-between the regularly scheduled, twice-a-year meetings. It was agreed that any additional comments be forwarded to Denise White by May 18th.

Dr. Peoples updated the committee about the adoption of First Day Access for ACCT 2301 and 2302 students.

Dr. Peoples briefed the committee on the Texas Affordable BA Program. Grant money has been made available to create a program with a 4 year college, whereby the first 2 years of coursework is taken at ACC. The third year would be taught by ACC faculty within the 4 year school’s program. The last year would be taken at the 4 year college. Dr. Peoples pointed out that once the student graduated with their degree in accounting, they could return to ACC for the remaining credits to qualify for the CPA Exam.

Dr. Peoples provided an update on the state of the department. He discussed the 2 new, full-time faculty that will come on board for the fall semester. He also informed the committee of the changes in assistant department chair assignments and a redistribution of their duties.

Sheila Ammons reported on the use of the FASB codification by ACC students. Ms. Ammons noted that ACC had one of the highest volume of Codification use among the country’s colleges and universities.

Kate Rhoden indicated she had a recommended speaker on Data Analytics. The new faculty hire, Kelli Blount, will take over Accounting Information systems in the fall. We will have Ms. Blount contact Ms. Rhoden.