Q&A with Angela Spencer: Nourishing the world with accounting

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Manager of Communications | 405-744-4363 | Stephen.Howard@okstate.edu

Dr. Angela Spencer has taught at the Spears School of Business since 2006, including the last year as the interim head of the School of Accounting at Oklahoma State University.

Recently, Spencer had the interim tag removed by Dean Jim Payne and the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents. Spears Business caught up with her to find out about her goals for the department and how she plans on growing the field of accounting.

Spears Business: How rewarding was it to officially step into the role as head of the School of Accounting this spring?

Angela Spencer: So much so, and in ways I couldn’t expect. The thing I love about this job is getting to be at the crux of the resources to directly help the students in the best way possible. Whether that be with our time, money or even mentoring from our alumni base. That’s a really cool thing to be a part of.

Also, when I think about our profession, we simply don’t have enough accountants. Accountants are vital to the economy. The land-grant mission of OSU is to serve and provide for the workforce, and it's really exciting for me to be able to work on a problem like that. It’s daunting, but it’s a really cool thing to be a part of solving.

On top of all that, it’s been great to see all of the amazing things that our students and faculty are doing. I’m truly blessed to be in this unique position to be able to support their efforts.

SB: As you mentioned, you have a passion for growing the accounting profession, and you seem to be working with folks across the industry to find creative solutions for growth. Could you tell us about some of those efforts?

AS: Once again, I go back to the land-grant mission of OSU because it gives us a unique role. It’s not just about getting students in class and graduating them, it charges us with the duty to lead. It asks us to look beyond our walls to work collectively to find solutions in the ways that we can. One of the things that we've consciously done since I've been in this position is trying to get more involved with the Oklahoma Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. We haven’t necessarily always done that, but it’s critical for us to work together to find solutions that will move our profession forward.

There are many factors that I think play roles in the challenges faced in the accounting industry, such as development of technology and some misconceptions about our careers and the role it plays in society. We need qualified individuals handling our financial data, otherwise we could see a direct and profound impact on the way our economy operates and grows. We want to be a leader in creative ways to get more people accounting degrees. The typical educational track doesn’t work for everyone, and we need to adapt and find ways to educate, train and develop accounting professionals to meet the growing demands.

SB: What are some of your long-term goals for the accounting department here at OSU?

AS: A sculpture was installed near campus recently by the city of Stillwater called Interlaced. The artist designed an interwoven steel ribbon that is really beautiful, and it welcomes people to town. That sculpture made me realize that our department is interwoven as well. And it made me ask myself, ‘how do we strengthen all of our connections and all of our relationships, and combine it with the history of the school of accounting to take us into the next phase of accounting as a profession?’

Wilton T. Anderson was the head of the School of Accounting here at OSU for over two decades, and he was known as the “Accounting Evangelist” because he was always recruiting students into the field. He really believed in the profession, and he had an outsized impact, not just here in Stillwater but nationally as well. When I think about Dr. Anderson’s legacy, I think that’s who we are. We’re the “Accounting Evangelists,” but we have to ask ourselves what that looks like going forward? What does the next generation of that look like?

As we move into that next phase, I think we need to focus on serving learners more broadly than just serving our current students in a different way. There's a subset of people out there that have had other careers, or other degrees, that would make fantastic accountants and would really be able to chart their own course more if they had the training. But, coming to Stillwater, that only serves a limited number of people. Tulsa, I think, is going to be a core part of our future, because we can serve a professional community there in a way that we haven't been able to before. I think it can be a launching pad for us to think about how we reach other people that we may never have touched before because they're not traditional students. When it comes to upskilling, we’re keeping our eyes on the ways higher ed is changing with micro credentialing. That will be challenging for us, but I think we've got such a strong foundation that we’re able to explore it.

SB: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a buzzword in nearly every industry, but it could absolutely change the game for accounting and data science. How is your department adapting to these types of new technology when it comes to curriculum?

AS: I've been pleasantly surprised at how well OSU and the accounting profession have adapted to the onset of AI. The American Accounting Association, which is our national organization, has actively brought together professionals to tackle some of the challenges, especially around data security. We're having those same conversations at OSU and integrating them into classes. One of the classes that I teach is Advanced Accounting Tools and Technologies. This touches on technology in the accounting context, but this stuff changes so fast that the course can look different from one semester to the next, especially when it comes to generative AI. For us, I think the key is that we have to teach these students the fundamentals of accounting and then teach them how to be adaptable for when the next software innovation arrives.

SB: The department has produced so many amazing and award-winning students who have turned into accounting leaders across all industries. You’ve got to be so proud of the amazing work of the students, faculty and staff here at Spears Business for building the program into what it is today?

AS: Aside from seeing your own kids realize their ambitions, there is nothing better for me than seeing our students succeed. Our goal is to give them the foundation and then watch them flourish in their career after putting in all that hard work, and there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing that happen.

In that same vein, an equally gratifying thing is being able to see faculty recognized. Our own Angela Baker was named to the Rising Women in Accounting as a part of the "Journal Record’s" recognition of the International Day of the Woman. Yes! We want more of that because we have incredible faculty and incredible students. There’s something in the DNA of this place that makes people want to be here. It's pretty amazing.