Dr. Craig Shoulders, Chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Technology, takes pride in the department’s accounting, law, and information technology faculty and in the students in the accounting major and the information technology program.  He is enthusiastic about the upcoming accounting recruitment banquet called Come Build A Future!  Dr. Shoulders says:

“Come Build A Future! gives our department the opportunity to share vital information with prospective accounting majors.  First, we want prospective majors to understand as fully as possible what being an accountant means.  Also, we want them to know that an accounting degree not only opens the door to attractive careers in accounting and auditing with CPA firms, corporations, governments, and others but also provides greater flexibility than any other business degree.  In addition to opportunities that are available only to accounting graduates, most employment opportunities available to any other business major are open to accounting graduates as well.  Accounting majors are well qualified for almost any entry level position in business, and many businesses regularly hire accounting graduates not only for accounting positions but for many other positions as well.  It is hard to imagine a better person to communicate the essence of being an accountant or auditor and the opportunities available to accountants than our featured speaker, Jim Ahler, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Association of CPAs.

“Second, Come Build A Future! provides an opportunity for us to highlight the excellence of the accounting program at UNCP.  Our graduates are well qualified for graduate programs in accounting and in business, they have been successful in finding employment upon graduation, and they have a sound foundation from which to launch their professional careers.  A team of this year’s students has just won a national case competition involving numerous schools from around the nation.

“Finally, Come Build A Future! enables us to share with prospective majors that “Where Learning Gets Personal” is much more than just a slogan for the accounting, information technology, and business law faculty.  Importantly for prospective accounting majors, our faculty have implemented teaching and learning strategies that maximize a student’s probability of performing successfully in a rigorous accounting program such as ours and those found at most flagship universities.  The norm without these teaching and learning strategies is that about one out of every six or seven perfectly capable accounting majors in universities with quite selective admissions opts out of the major during their junior year, which means they do not achieve fully their personal goals and dreams.  Our program, with the support of the dean and the university administration, has established high standards yet excelled in helping students meet those standards.”