Business Administration and Accounting

Faculty

Chair: Associate Professor Karen Popovich
Professors: William Anderson, Robert Letovsky
Associate Professor: Paul Olsen
Assistant Professors: Alaba Apesin, Xinting Zhen
Instructors: Steven Doyon, Alicia Norris,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. Robert Letovsky was appointed the David LaMarche Chair for a three-year term beginning June 2017.

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. Our program consists of 13 courses and includes:

foundational courses such as ethics, statistics and economics
core courses such as accounting, finance, management, analytics, marketing and strategy
elective courses and an experiential course requirement

Our program is grounded in ethical and data-driven decision making. Our curriculum is designed to assist new business students successfully navigate through the many facets of the contemporary organization. We try to strike an appropriate balance between theory and practice and to promote ethical decision making across all sub-disciplines in business (e.g. accounting, finance, management, marketing, and operations).

In addition to completing the program coursework, students must also complete one of the College’s minors (students completing a second major satisfy this requirement).

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 required courses in the accounting program build steadily on one another, culminating in a research-based seminar. Classmate and community partnerships are an integral part of our accounting discipline, as are the development and application of presentation skills.

To become a Certified Public Accountant (i.e. licensed to practice 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.

Department Mission and Learning Goals

The Saint Michael’s College Department of Business Administration and Accounting advances the mission of the College by preparing students for their careers while providing a foundation for lifelong learning.

Our program prepares students to make decisions, communicate, and collaborate in a range of organizations through the integration of business and the liberal arts. Our professional and diverse faculty is committed to student learning and development.

Our students learn to:

I. Act ethically and professionally to uphold an organization’s positive role in society;

II. Work, collaborate, and lead in diverse teams and organizations;

III. Apply written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills and use information technology effectively;

IV. Analyze organizational context, strategy, operations, processes, and performance;

V. Synthesize and evaluate data to support factual and ethical decision-making in a dynamic global economy;

VI. Combine liberal arts and business studies to define problems and propose solutions; and

VII. Initiate and advance self-learning, career planning, and personal development.