The academy in a wired world

Global demands for tertiary education have been met by a variety of new intellectual entrepreneurs including virtual Megauniversities, corporate universities, and academic ‘brokers'. The coupling of this evolution with the emerging shift to third party evaluation of graduates based on competency, internationally, breaks the hegemony of the traditional post secondary educational institutions. The inter connectivity of the wired world must be seen not only as a link across space, but, more importantly, as a time bridge across generations. Only from this perspective can the tertiary institutions balance their ability to provide long half-life, core or value, knowledge against the more dynamic and changing short half-life knowledge. Traditional roles of academics will split organisationally with a few stellar researchers and lecturers and a majority of faculty becoming mentors. Structured linkages with K-12 institutions and parallel post secondary providers such as corporate universities will change both the structure of the institutions and the role of the ‘scholar' The static ivy covered walls have been breached and post secondary education will become a dynamic and evolving industry.     

利益主体视角下的国家助学贷款困境分析

国家助学贷款就是国家为资助高校贫困生顺利完成学业而推出的重要政策,是集政策、福利、教育、金融于一体的复杂混合工具,其利益主体涉及政府、银行、高校和学生四大群体,从理论上讲,国家助学贷款是使各相关利益群体受益的好政策,但由于各利益方都是追求利益最大化的个体,对风险评价和利益评价的角度不同,甚至有相反的看法,因此在实施过程中还存在许多问题阻滞国家助学贷款的顺利实施。本文将以国家助学贷款所涉及的各利益主体为切入点,具体分析当前国家助学贷款存在的困境及原因,以期为国家助学贷款更加合理有效的实施提供平台。     

Paradigm,paradox, paralysis: An epistemic process

The potential of the transformative capacity of education requires critique of a dominant paradigm, in order to apprehend the unconscious acceptance of capital markets as solutions to societies’ woes. We engaged with media texts as practicum which advocated carbon markets to mitigate carbon pollution: a contemporary issues in society. We found that although we critique the dominant paradigms upheld by the media texts which we chose, our engagement had the potential to reinforce the status quo. Once this paradox is evident, it precipitates a paralysis of the educative process. However, this is not an end state but the struggle to overcome the paralysis mobilises a reconsideration of the paradigm and opens new possibilities. We argue that the collision of the concepts of paradigm, paradox and paralysis demonstrates an epistemic process which has emancipatory possibilities.     

Will investors change their superannuation fund given the choice?

A large number of Australian investors have been granted the right to choose where their superannuation fund contributions will be invested, but it is difficult to ascertain whether investors will exercise this choice. Although expected‐utility‐maximizing investors might tend to change their fund once given the choice, loss averse investors would favour the status quo. Using a survey of over 1600 Australian investors, conducted by FinaMetrica in early 2005, we find support for inertia (status quo) in our sample suggesting that, with respect to superannuation choice, individual Australian investors are loss averse.     

Summary of “outcomes assessment”: American Accounting Association Teaching and Curriculum Section outcomes assessment committee

A number of state legislatures, or their boards of higher education, along with the major academic accrediting agencies are now requiring institutions of higher education to include outcomes assessments in their evaluation process. Because of the significant impact this will have on all accounting programs, the Teaching and Curriculum Section of the AAA established a committee to examine the issues of outcomes assessment, and to provide an overview on the expected continued developments of this recent advance. Outcomes assessment focuses on the outcomes of the educational process, rather than on the inputs or on the learning environment. These outcomes are student-based, and may include behavioral, affective, and cognitive characteristics. Many institutions are struggling with attempting to find measurement devices that reflect their programs' objectives. Some universities have developed their own instruments, while others are using commercially available instruments. This report presents an overview of the Committee's work, and stresses the key role that faculty must play in the continuing development of outcomes assessment.¹     

A-Level Subject Choice,Systematic Bias and University Performance in the UK: The Case of Accounting

British students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to attend non-selective state schools and are therefore more likely to take a wider variety of A-level subjects including applied disciplines such as Accounting. This is attributed to the performative pressure subjected by school league tables that incentivise schools to encourage students to select subjects that will yield the highest grades. However, many leading universities have restricted the chances of applicants holding particular combinations of A-level subjects that, in some cases, include Accounting. Interviews held within a large English university reveal that few students are aware of such restrictions, whilst corresponding quantitative data indicates that students who enter university with two or more restricted A-level subjects perform no differently on average than other students. Those entering university with an Accounting A-level, however, perform, better in their first year but exhibit lower degree performance, on average, by the end of their studies.     

The Development of a Conceptual Framework for the Design,Delivery, and Assessment of a Typical Management Accounting Syllabus

This article identifies common issues relating to management accounting education in order to determine whether using a competency‐based approach would assist educators in the design, delivery, and assessment of syllabi at educational institutions. A conceptual framework is developed and discussed with regard to the critical success factors methodology to design syllabi that assist educators in attaining the main outcomes in the delivery and assessment of the curriculum. This framework is applied to a typical management accounting curriculum to demonstrate how this approach will enable educators to design, deliver, and assess their syllabi in line with the critical outcomes required. In following this approach, lecturers would constantly have to focus on the knowledge and issues that are relevant and critical for students to understand and apply in order to achieve the aim of the syllabi.     

对以色列科创模式及中以合作的思考

近几年,国际经济关系日益复杂,中国迫切需要借鉴国际先进经验,对国内科技产业发展战略进行优化,以完成科创全产业链升级。由于中以在全球高科技产业链中存在较强互补性,中以两国在科创领域的经贸合作在过去几年持续升温。作为全球科创强国,以色列科创产业的优势恰恰对应着中国科创产业的弱势环节,这使得加强与以色列在科创领域的合作、挖掘以色列科创体系中适合我国的策略并加以借鉴具有重要现实意义。然而,现存文献对以色列科创产业的梳理并不全面,中国相关部门难以做出政策指引。本文阐述"金融支持"和"政策支持"对以色列科创产业的重要贡献,剖析以色列科创产业最新特点,最后,结合上述分析与中以合作现状,为中国借鉴以色列先进经验发展自身科技产业、改善中以合作提供政策建议。     

How did the Welsh government manage to reform council tax in 2005?

Repeated calls have been made for council tax (CT) in the UK to be reformed. A ‘tyranny of the status quo’ suggests that politicians will avoid this because they fear a backlash from the losers of reform. This paper claims that the tyranny of the status quo is not a fixed law. The Welsh government revalued CT in 2005 but did not communicate the complexity of reform sufficiently. Reform requires greater efforts to communicate the complexity of winning and losing.     

Adopting commercial software in the accounting classroom: A focus on learning

Concerns about the current state of accounting education are well documented. A common anxiety is that students are not prepared to deal with the complex issues and unstructured problems that they will encounter throughout their professional lives. Recent studies conclude that an educational objective for accounting is to teach students how to learn. This paper discusses adopting commercial-use software as an approach to accomplish this objective. The paper also provides an example for an accounting information systems class. Because “learning to learn” involves teaching students learning strategies, accounting educators need to find new ways to help students acquire these strategies. This paper will be useful for instructors seeking ways to assist students in developing strategies for learning that will better prepare them for careers in a complex and dynamic environment.     

建立复式预算体系:意义、紧迫性与目标模式

预算改革的一个紧要任务是建立复式预算框架，将复式预算放到与部门预算等同的基础地位上，与部门预算并列、平衡推进。从当前政府收支的实际运行状况看，确立复式预算框架在重建预算制度中十分具有紧迫性。应该整体推进预算制度建构，统一国家财政，确立起由公共预算、国有资本预算、社会保障预算以及重大项目的专项预算组成的中国特色的复式预算体系。     

Declaraciones institucionales y percepciones individuales sobre la sustentabilidad en escuelas de negocios mexicanas

The objective of this paper is to analyze how business schools of Mexican universities deal with the concept of sustainability as part of their educational task. In order to achieve a comprehensive vision, this study considers the environmental, the social, and the economic components of sustainability. After discussing the conceptual dimensions of education for sustainability, the empirical part of the paper consists of two sections: a content analysis of how official university documents handle the concept of sustainability and a survey of professors’ and students’ perceptions of sustainability. The analysis shows that both professors and students in the Management and Accounting disciplines need to extend their understanding about the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. The results of this study provide information that can guide the efforts made by institutions of higher learning for training their professors and offering a comprehensive education for their students in all three components of sustainability.     

Designing a bridge program for internationally educated accountants in an era of resource constraints

Internationally educated professionals (IEPs) encounter significant barriers to entry to their professions upon immigrating. Obtaining education in the new country is an effective means of improving their positions. While universities emphasize the need to attract and serve adult learners and a more diverse clientele, the specific needs of immigrants are rarely reflected in institutional policies. I discuss our pilot program for internationally educated accountants (IEAs), its elements, and best practices. Our program was very successful, but may be beyond the reach of many universities due to financial or personnel constraints. I therefore include a cost/benefit framework to analyze each program feature. With this information, institutions may be able to partially implement a program, maximizing the benefit given their resources. Furthermore, some of the program elements could also be useful for international students, domestic students who will work alongside international colleagues, or domestic students who will work internationally themselves.     

The future of bioregional planning in the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere region

This paper assesses the current status and future prospects for bioregional planning in the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) region in the United States. The SAMAB region is one of the most biodiverse temperate regions in the world. The region's environment is threatened by development, air and water pollution, and invasive species. Numerous institutions in the region have some responsibility for protecting the region's environment, including the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, several states, hundreds of municipalities, and numerous active non-profit organizations. Twenty-seven people associated with bioregional planning were interviewed to gauge their opinions on the state of bioregional planning in the SAMAB region. Overall, the respondents do not believe that the totality of all those efforts comprises bioregional planning because the efforts are limited in scale and scope and somewhat uncoordinated. With respect to the future of the region, the respondents found it difficult to imagine the state of the region 50 and especially 200 years into the future. Additionally, almost all of their definitions of bioregional planning included a spatial dimension but none included a time dimension. Thus, one of our conclusions is that the future of bioregional planning in the region will be hampered by difficulties people responsible for environmental protection have in dealing with ‘the future’. Much effort needs to be expended to inculcate people in the region with the desire to anticipate problems long before they occur. Reactive responses, which characterize the majority of current efforts, are likely to be ‘too little, too late’.     

Higher Education Finance in the UK*

The introduction of top‐up fees for home‐domiciled undergraduate tuition in England from 2006–07 – and their planned increase in 2012–13 – raises important issues for university funding in Scotland, since it abolished tuition fees for Scottish and EU students in 2000–01. This paper focuses on what the increase in resources directed at English universities arising from top‐up fees means for the relative funding of English and Scottish undergraduates. Widely‐used funding‐per‐head figures do not provide an accurate picture of home‐ and EU‐domiciled undergraduate funding, as they include funding for research, postgraduate degrees and overseas students. The empirical work of this paper focuses on creating a consistent series of funding per full‐time equivalent undergraduate over time for England and for Scotland, stripping out funding for research, non‐EU students and postgraduate degrees to create a more accurate picture of the funding gap between the two countries. It also takes into account the different composition of undergraduate degree subjects taken in England and Scotland. The findings indicate that the apparent historical advantage in funding per head in Scottish institutions compared with English ones has been largely driven by compositional differences: Scotland has a high proportion of medical, science and engineering undergraduates – subjects that command greater funding due to their relative complexity to teach. The top‐up fee introduced in 2006–07 brought funding per head in England to a level similar to that experienced in Scotland, and the future increase will result in funding per head in England outstripping that in Scotland by some magnitude. This suggests that the funding of Scottish students will fall significantly behind that of English students unless additional new sources of public or private funding for nScottish universities are found.     

Missing elements in US financial reform: A Kübler-Ross interpretation of the inadequacy of the Dodd-Frank Act

The success of any treatment plan depends on how completely the problems it targets have been diagnosed. The precrisis bubble in securitization can be traced to incentive conflict that allows national safety nets to subsidize leveraged risk-taking. Safety-net subsidies encouraged regulation-induced innovations that enabled firms to take hard-to-monitor risks and to make themselves politically, administratively, and economically difficult for government officials to fail and unwind.This paper summarizes the incentive conflicts that led creditors and internal and external supervisors to short-cut and outsource due diligence. The Dodd-Frank strategy of reform does not adequately acknowledge or address these conflicts. The key step needed is to develop an effective statistical metric for measuring the ex ante value of safety-net support in the aggregate and at individual institutions. To accomplish this, government and industry need to rethink the informational obligations that insured financial institutions and their regulators owe to taxpayers as de facto investors and to change the way that information on industry balance sheets and risk exposures is reported, verified, and used. Without reforms in the practical duties imposed on industry and governmental officials and in the way these duties are enforced, financial safety nets will continue to expand and their expansion will undermine financial stability by generating large rewards for creative and aggressive risk-takers that are smart enough to cash in their share of safety-net benefits before they evaporate.     

Transforming the colonial legacy: The future of the Pakistani University

The universities of Pakistan were established by the colonial British government in 1858 so as to produce educated Indians to serve in the expanding bureaucracy. As government and security were the major concerns of the colonial government they made the bureaucracy (ICS) and the military prestigious and efficient institutions while higher education remained subordinate, government-controlled and poor. Being unattractive, the universities could not attract the most competent students and remained medieval teaching institutions with almost no research. This continues in Pakistan because the ruling elites of Pakistan continue to govern the country in the colonial tradition of the past. In the last section certain changes are suggested to make the universities more academically competent.     

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING MAORI STUDENTS IN ACCOUNTING: ISSUES,EXPERIENCES AND WAYS FORWARD

The literature of social and educational research reflects the significance that issues of culture and ethnicity have gained in such research. This is evident, for example, in concerns to analyse and redesign social practices and to elaborate a critique of dominant Western institutions. In the research literature upon the accounting focus, evidence of such concerns has been comparatively scarce. While some research has been done@8ifor example, researchers have pointed to the Eurocentric character of accounting and critically analysed ethnic minority experiences of accountancy@8ithere is much more to do. Particularly scarce in the accounting literature have been studies concerned to focus upon accounting from an indigenous cultural perspective or to promote multicultural accounting education. Such a silence is of significance in the light of increasing worldwide concerns to learn from and to protect the cultures of indigenous peoples and to question the universal validity of Western practices, notably such as those of Eurocentric education. In this paper we focus upon Maori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, and critically assess and explore their participation in and experiences of accounting education. We concentrate upon university accounting education which is central to the process of gaining admission into the accountancy profession of Aotearoa New Zealand. We provide a historical and contextual analysis which elaborates upon the oppression and marginalisation of Maori people. The study reflects our concern that, in inquiring into why particular ethnic groups, including indigenous peoples, are under represented and lack influence in particular social activities and occupations, we need to give consideration to the role of cultural as well as socioeconomic factors. And in this respect we need to critically analyse the very institutions and practices of Western accountancy and Western accounting education as forms of insensitive cultural imperialism. These forms can change rather than the culture of peoples. For us, increasing the participation of Maori in accounting education and accounting practice and changing the character of these practices so that they are more reflective of Maori indigenous culture are two dimensions of the struggle for change which can be mutually reinforcing. We are supportive of such change and seek to bring this about in the Eurocentric institutions of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our contention is that a deeper critical analysis of issues of ethnicity in Western society can help to inform a critique of Eurocentric practices and institutions including in the sphere of accounting. In brief, we explore a range of interconnected themes: the complex character of the marginalisation and oppression of Maori; focusing in, the position respecting accounting education and the very practice of accounting; how this relates to ways forward and connects up with wider issues.     

The effectiveness of using spreadsheets to teach financial accounting

There have been numerous attempts to integrate micro-computers into the teaching of accounting courses in higher education. Two of the reasons that have been suggested for using computers on accounting courses are: firstly, the educational benefits and, secondly, that students will then be equipped with the computing and spreadsheet skills that they will require in the workplace. One method of using the computer is to use it as a computational tool, allowing the student to develop models from scratch. Such an approach was developed by Marriott & Simon (1990a). However, as there is little evidence regarding the educational effectiveness of using such methods, a rigourous and structured research project was conducted using first–year accounting degree students at Cardiff Business School. This article outlines the rationale for the project and analyses the results obtained. The results indicate that while spreadsheets can be successfully integrated into an accounting course, their use had no measurable impact on test performance. However, the use of computers can still be deemed to be worthwhile as the students' computer skills are enhanced and it permits further integration in other courses where educational benefits may be more readily obtained.