School of Accounting’s Angela Spencer earns national teaching award from AICPA

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Oklahoma State University’s Angela Spencer, associate professor of accounting, is the recipient of a national teaching award that is presented annually by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA).

Spencer and three co-authors from across the United States were recognized with the 2017 Mark Chain/FSA Teaching Innovation Award presented annually to recognize exceptional graduate accounting course practices. The OSU faculty member and her colleagues submitted their case at the 2017 American Accounting Association annual meeting and were recognized this month.

“To be recognized externally for this work, especially to be recognized by the accounting profession, means a great deal,” said Spencer, who has been a member of the OSU accounting faculty since 2006. “I really enjoy using this case in class and think it’s a valuable tool for our students. It’s gratifying to know that an activity such as this which furthers this mission is also valued at the national level.”

The case – “AICPA Core Competencies – An Experiential Learning Case to Increase Student Awareness of Professional Competencies for Accounting Career Success” – exposes students to the core competencies developed by the AICPA, requires them to assess their current attainment of those skills and requires them to develop a plan to develop those skills in the near future and over the course of their careers.

“One of the great things about this case is that it can easily be adapted as required skill sets change and can also be used with other core competency frameworks, including those developed by other professional accounting organizations such as the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA),” Spencer said.

Spencer and her colleagues were presented the award at the 2018 American Accounting Association Conference on Teaching and Learning in Accounting (CTLA), where they received an AICPA-funded award totaling $2,500. She also was asked to present at the conference in Washington, D.C., where more than 3,000 accounting faculty from across the world were meeting. Award recipients were selected from the pool of accepted submissions to the AAA’s Effective Learning Strategies Forum.

“Angela is an innovative accounting educator who inspires students and instills a love of learning in them,” said Audrey Gramling, head of the OSU School of Accounting. “She is key player in our mission to build the future of accounting at OSU.”

Visit the website to learn more about OSU’s School of Accounting.