Business Administration and Accounting

Faculty

Chair: Karen Popovich
Professors: William Anderson, Robert Letovsky
Associate Professor: Diane Lander
Assistant Professors: Alaba Apesin, Paul Olsen, Brosh Teucher
Instructor: Steven Doyon, Marie-France Nelson, Joanne Scott, Thomas Van Dzura

The David LaMarche ‘69 Chair in Business (2000) was established by Mr. and Mrs. Edmund J. Cashman, a Saint Michael’s graduate of the Class of 1958. Mr. Cashman also served as a trustee of the College from 1985-1999. He and his wife, Susan, are the parents of three children, two of whom also graduated from Saint Michael’s College. The Chair has been dedicated to honor David LaMarche, Class of 1969, who was a professor, Department Chair and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Saint Michael’s College from 1974 to 2004. In his Saint Michael’s career, Professor LaMarche not only practiced the highest standards of superior teaching, but also demonstrated consistent dedication to the Mission of Saint Michael’s as envisioned by the founders of our College, the priests of the Society of Saint Edmund. Professor LaMarche, an academic leader, exemplified to generations of students that excellence is synonymous with values and appreciation of one another. Diane Lander was appointed the David LaMarche Chair for a three-year term beginning June 2014.

The Department offers majors and minors in accounting and business administration. These courses of study prepare students to work in administrative positions in business, government, and service organizations, or to enter an advanced degree program.

The business administration major is a well-rounded, general business major which exposes the student to each of the functional areas of business. It emphasizes the nature, function, and social role of the business organization and stresses that administration is both an art and a science. In keeping with the College’s liberal arts mission, requirements for the major are comprehensive but recognize the unique opportunities that the liberal studies foundation affords our students. The major also includes components that help students understand the interface between businesses decisions and the conduct of a moral/ethical life. All business administration majors will have an experiential component as part of their program of study in the form of an academic internship or an organizational consulting course. In addition, the major requires that students pursue in-depth study of a field of their choice. This requirement is met by completing a second major, a minor from any department on campus.

The accounting major prepares students for careers in a variety of organizations including public accounting firms, business enterprises, government and non-profit organizations. In addition, the coursework is sufficiently broad to prepare students to continue their studies in graduate programs in accounting or business administration. The relationship between the accounting major and preparation for the Uniform CPA Examination is explained later in this section.

To provide post-graduate opportunities for students in both Business Administration and Accounting, the Department has developed a number of agreements with colleges and universities (e.g., Boston College, Clarkson, Northeastern University, University of Vermont) that will allow facilitated admission for our alumni into Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Accounting programs. Contact the department chair for details.

Accounting Majors and CPA Requirements

To become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed to practice public accounting professionally will require a Bachelor’s degree and a total of 150-academic credits in all states. Although there is some variation among states as to specific courses needed within the 150 hours, the accounting major curriculum at Saint Michael’s can be readily augmented by existing courses to meet the content specifications. To accumulate additional credit hours toward the 150 hour requirement, some students use advance placement credits from high school, summer course work/summer internships performed for academic credit, etc. Others pursue a one-year Master’s degree in accounting or business in graduate school after receiving their Saint Michael’s Bachelor’s degree. Saint Michael’s has agreements with a number of graduate programs to set up potential graduate pathways for our accounting graduates.

There are also many other accounting-oriented career opportunities in corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations that do not require licensing as a CPA and are therefore not subject to the 150-credit hour requirement.

Business Administration and Accounting Learning Outcomes

Conduct themselves and their organizations in a way that is informed by the central themes of the mission of the College These include an understanding of what constitutes ethical behavior as a student and a professional, and an appreciation for the unique roles and responsibilities of business and organizations in society;
Acquire the basic competencies and content knowledge necessary to operate and lead in an organizational environment. This includes the areas of team dynamics and operations, financial and quantitative applications and analysis, creating customer value, technology, and problem solving;
Develop an in-depth understanding of at least one of the core areas of business (accounting, finance, management, marketing);
Demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills, including writing, presenting and defending concepts and proposals;
Anticipate how an organization’s plans and operations can be impacted by trends in the global economic/social/ technological/ legal/regulatory /ecological external environments;
Bring to problem-solving situations the ability to acquire and synthesize data and to critically evaluate, interpret and analyze information and alternative courses of action, and to develop conclusions consistent with that analysis;
Develop self-learning and future career planning skills.