An Activity-Based Costing Model For Dental Schools: Is ABC A Feasible Costing Alternative?

Few studies related to activity-based costing (ABC) and health-care settings have investigated useful models for the health-care intellectual environment. This focus study targets one area within a dental school, the Restorative Department. The objective of the research is to determine the appropriateness of an activity-based costing system for costing departmental teaching, research and service activities by designing a comprehensive model that describes procedures associated with implementation. The results of the study indicate that there are potential benefits associated with the successful implementation of an ABC system within a health-care intellectual environment. Some of the benefits include cost savings opportunities, enhanced budgetary processes and improved assessment of the efficiency of faculty performances.&nbsp

Academic Success Of Non-Traditional Students: Factors Affecting Performance In An Upper-Division Undergraduate Accounting Course

Many assessment activities are conducted within the context of AACSB International reaffirmation of business programs. Central to the AACSB evaluation process is assurance of learning standards. Learning goals vary among institutions because of differences in mission, faculty expectations, and student body composition. The objective of this research is to determine the factors that influence the academic performance of students in upper-level accounting courses and to assess student performance against course learning goals. The study explores the relative importance of both academic and non-academic factors in predicting performance outcomes. The results indicate that several academic factors (GPA, student’s diagnostic exam score, and student’s self-assessment of course learning objectives) are significant in predicting a student’s final numerical course average. The study also examines the association between student achievement of course learning goals and various non-academic demographic and student success factors. The results indicate that student course loads, employment status, marital status, and family responsibilities do not equally impact student learning outcomes. The study extends existing research by using non-traditional students at an upper-division university and a variety of approaches to assess the achievement of course learning goals.&nbsp

Using a White-Collar Profession in accounting courses: Approaches to addressing diversity

Accounting educators no doubt agree that diversity is an important and much neglected part of accounting education. They further recognize that it is difficult to incorporate this important topic into the accounting curriculum. This paper describes the efforts of various professors to expose business and accounting students to the evolution of diversity issues related to the accounting profession by using the book A White-Collar Profession [Hammond, 2002]. A White-Collar Profession: African-American CPAs Since 1921 is a seminal work which presents a history of the profession as it relates to African-American CPAs and documents the individual struggles of many of the first one hundred blacks to become certified. This paper describes efforts of faculty at four different colleges to utilize this book in their teaching of accounting. Instructors found that students not only developed an enhanced awareness about the history of the accounting profession, but that other educational objectives were advanced, such as improved communication and critical thinking skills, increased social awareness, and empathy for others. African-American students, in particular, embraced the people in the book as role models, while most every student saw the characters as heroic in a day when the accounting profession is badly in need of role models and heroes. This is encouraging given the profession\u27s concern with diversity and the attention and resources directed at increasing the number of minorities entering the profession