Words: 3569
The research that accounting professors will often have to do and publish usually consists of reading and interpreting different accounting forms, and then writing computer programs to help humans calculate the numbers in those types documents in the future. While writing our job analysis, we interviewed here Subject Matter Experts, who answered our survey questions and gave us feedback as to what their job entails. We included 16 different tasks, and had them rank the importance, the amount of times they perform the task in a week, how difficult each task is, and how many hours they dedicate to it each week.
We then took this data to compute means and standard deviations of each category in order to determine a few tasks that they agreed were some of the essentials of the job. The results from these surveys were absolutely vital in determining our knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualifications for the job. The interviews were also helpful in determining the working conditions, essential functions, and employment qualifications. After conducting this research, we were able to write a very thorough job description that is provided below.
Description of Organization The organization that this job analysis is for is Central Michigan University. Central Michigan University is a University located in Met. Pleasant, MI and has been around for about 122 years. UCM is known for their acclaimed programs such as their primary and secondary education programs, Business, and Health Professions. Central is within the 1 00 largest public universities with about 25,000 student in attendance. Not only are they known for that, Central also has a strong online presence, with about 7,000 students enrolled.
The current President of this organization is George Ross and has been president since 2010. Mission Statement: “At Central Michigan University, we are a community committed to the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, discovery, and creativity. We provide student-centered education and foster personal and intellectual growth to prepare students for productive careers, meaningful lives, and responsible citizenship in a global society. ” Summary of Job description A job description describes the main components for the job.
Job descriptions provide statements of what the employee is expected to do, how they are supposed to do it, and the conditions under which they will perform each task (book). This is a job description for an accounting professor at Central Michigan University. It has information that includes the summary of the job, requirements that deal with knowledge, skill and ability, and the working conditions. Job Description Job Description Position Title: Accounting Professor Company: Central Michigan University Reports to: Dean of the College of Business Administration
Us perceives: Students Date fobs Analysis: April 9, 2014 Expiration of Job Analysis: April 10, 2016 Job Summary To teach and administer undergraduate students in accounting courses, setting educational goals and establishing lesson plans and criteria to meet them. Includes both teaching and performing research in the financial and managerial accounting subjects. Essential Functions Performed Create lesson plans update and maintain course materials on blackboard Perform and publish research Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records Establish and schedule office hours to assist students
Evaluate and decide changes to criteria in course materials Moderate classroom discussions Prepare and provide lectures Stay current on the always-changing developments in career field Evaluate and grade students’ class work, assignments, and papers Create and administer quizzes and exams Communicate and stay up to date with colleagues and superiors Balance work and personal task Send emails to students with reminders and updates Collaborate with students about their preferred learning styles Stay up to date on university policies Create projects and activities that promote classroom discussion
Qualifications Education: MBA with Accounting Concentration Doctoral Degree preferred CPA or CAM certification preferred Experience: Three or more years of work experience in the Accounting field Knowledge Required Knowledge of effective teaching methods and successful ways to instruct students in order to teach the required curriculum Knowledge of accounting principles and practices involved in the business world. Knowledge in how to effectively develop students into members of the educated workforce Knowledge of how to accurately use technology, such as, computers, overhead projectors, Blackboard, etc. D being able to effectively use them in the classroom to aid in teaching Skills Required Skills in learning strategies to select and use the appropriate teaching methods in different learning situations Communicating effectively by writing and speaking to convey the information effectively Teaching the class is a way that students will be able to comprehend the material Skills in problem solving to evaluate options and develop solutions Sanderson written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents Abilities Required Ability to manage time and hold students accountable for assignments and rejects Ability to reason both inductively and deductively with students Ability to understand, comprehend, and respond to the speech of another person Ability to effectively communicate ideas to others verbally and through text (handwritten and electronic) Ability to recognize when something is problematic or about to be Ability to read and recognize ideas that are written by others Other Requirements Must be able to take accountability and responsibility for the education of students Must be able to think intuitively with students during office hours to properly answer their questions Must be able to motivate one’s self without he direct supervision of a superior at most times Working Conditions Being readily available to students on a daily basis Willing to devote on average, 50-60 hours per week outside the classroom to office hours, research, staying updated within your profession, and grading work Willing to devote 9-12 hours in the classroom to teaching Attending various faculty meetings throughout the week Developing a flexible but yet time consuming schedule that correlates with your specific style of teaching Utilizing various technological devices and programs in order to structure and present lesson plans Description of Method To decide what occupation we would research for this job analysis the group chose an occupation that we were all familiar with and something we could get a lot of information on. The occupation that was decided to be researched for this job analysis is an accounting professor at a four-year institution. To find out this information about this job We found it important to find professionals with seven or more years of experience, these people are known as subject matter experts (Seems).
Choosing the Seems was an easy process because each of the group members had been through an counting class, each with different professors. After eliminating the professors that did meet the requirements dealing with having seven or more years of experience, we came up with three accounting professors from Central Michigan University. Two of the professors we had decided to interview however were on sabbatical, making us change our Seems a couple of times, so we could talk to them in person. After contacting the professors we came up with these three professors as our Seems. Subject Matter Experts Lori Olsen: Contacted on February 27, 2014. Lori spent time right out Of school as the head accountant ATA small hospital in northern California.
She then became an accounting professor and taught at North Dakota State, then Northern Iowa, before moving to Michigan to teach at Central Michigan University, where she still does today. Lori is very focused on research, and spends a lot of her time writing accounting programs on the computer. Debra McGinnis: Contacted on February 26, 2014. Debra has a B. S. B. A in accounting and has been teaching since 1989. She has her CPA from Wisconsin, but she is not certified to sign financial statements. After she completed undergrad, he spent a total of four years at Arthur Anderson where she gained experience before going back to school and obtaining her Ph. D. From Michigan State.
She spent her first five years of teaching at Northern Illinois before moving to her current position at Central Michigan University. Gary Hayes: Has been teaching at Central Michigan University for 20 years. He was in public accounting for six years and private accounting for four years. He has his Masters and Doctorate degree in accounting. He was contacted and interviewed on March 3, 2014 After contacting each of these Seems we ere able to set up times to come in and interview them in person. Our group felt it was better to interview them in person instead of email so we were able to get more detail out of each question and probe some of the questions to get the full amount of information. The interview questions and each of the Seems answers can be found in Appendix A.
After meeting with them and interviewing each of them, we were able to come up with a list of tasks that they perform in a semester class. The following task list is what we came up with after research and information that we collected with the help from our Seems. Task List Create lesson plan Communicate and stay up to date with colleges and superiors Balance work and personal task Create projects and activities that promote classroom discussion After we came up with a task list, we came up with a survey involving each task back to the three Seems that had answered out interview questions. The survey can be found in Appendix B along with each of Seems results in Appendix C.
After we had received the survey results back we were able to go further into what the job as an accounting professor entailed. Which led us to develop the Osaka’s for the job and a worker characteristics inventory. Along with that the survey results were analyzed to see which task was most important in each element of the work place. This helps provide a more detailed job description and helps figure out what functions HER can use. Worker Characteristics Inventory To come up with the task list and then the working characteristics inventory, we used both resources from O*NET and from the interviews of each SEEM. “The O*NET program is the nation’s primary source of occupational information.
Central to the project is the O*NET database, containing information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors” (interconnect. Rug). From these resources were we able to develop the knowledge, skills, ability and other qualities, or Osaka’s, needed for an accounting professor to succeed. These are defined as worker characteristics. These are vital to every job description because they clearly define what attributes are highly valued and what is not. Having these in place makes it possible to judge all applicants on the same scale and with the same criteria. Knowledge Description Education and Training Knowledge of effective teaching methods and successful ways to instruct students in order to teach the required curriculum
Accounting Knowledge of accounting principles and practices involved in the business world Workforce Comprehension Knowledge in how to effectively develop students into members of the educated workforce Technology in the classroom to aid in teaching Skills Description Learning Strategies Skills in learning strategies to select and use the appropriate teaching methods in different learning situations Communication Communicating effectively with writing and speaking to covey the information effectively Instructing Teaching the class is a way that students will be ale to comprehend the material Problem Solving Skills in problem solving to valuate options and develop solutions Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents Ability Description Time Management Ability to manage time and hold students accountable for assignments and projects Deductive/lenitive Reasoning Ability to reason both inductively and deductively with students Speech Recognition Ability to understand, comprehend, and respond to the speech of another person Oral Expression Ability to effectively communicate ideas to others verbally and through text (handwritten and electronic) problem Sensitivity Ability to agonize when something is problematic or about to be Written Comprehension Ability to read and recognize ideas that are written by others Other Description Responsibility Must be able to take accountability and responsibility for the education of students Intuition Must be able to think intuitively with students during office hours to properly answer their questions Motivation Must be able to motivate one’s self without the direct supervision of a superior at most times Rating System After sending out a survey to the three Seems that we interviewed, we came up with a rating scale for each task from the task list. The rating scale was based on four different elements of the job, which we determined as a group to be the four most important elements. This consisted of frequency, importance, difficulty, and time spent on each task. Each of the Seems had to determine how each task was rated on the category. The rating scale can be found in Appendix B. The guidelines for each category can be explained below: Frequency: This shows how often a task was performed. The range was from one, being that they rarely perform the task, to a five, meaning they often perform a task. Importance: This was to display how important each of he tasks were.
A one represented that the task was not important and a five represented that a task was very important for an accounting professor. Difficulty: Difficulty was based on how difficult or challenging each of the tasks were. A one was not difficult and a five was very difficult. This was to help us figure out some Soaks based on how difficult a task was. Time Spent: This is how much time is spent on each task in one week. With a range of a one being 5 or less hours per week to a five being 20 or more hours per week. Analysis After we analyzed the mean and standard deviation of each of the top three asks from each element, we were able to determine how important some task were over others.
To pick the top three task of each element, we chose the task with the highest mean and the lowest standard deviation. Below are the results that we came up for the most important task as an accounting professor. Frequency: After calculating the mean and the standard deviation it appears that our Seems perform these tasks the most often. Maintaining student attendance records, grades, and other required records Mean 5. 00 Standard Deviation 0. 00 Mean 5. 00 Mean 4. 67 Standard Deviation 0. 58 Importance: Based on the responses from our Seems they are in mutual agreement that these four task are the most important for an Accounting Professor. Maintaining student attendance records, grades, and other required records Standard deviation 0. 0 Evaluate and decide changes to criteria in course materials Difficulty: After calculating the mean and standard deviation, it shows that these are the most difficult task that are performed as an accounting professor. Perform and publish research Mean 4. 00 Time Spent: These tasks are what our Seems agreed were the most time consuming over there was more variance in the mean and standard deviation of these task. There is such variance because each SEEM manages their time differently. Evaluate and grade students’ glasswork, assignments, and papers Mean 3. 33 Standard Deviation 1. 53 Mean 3. 00 Standard Deviation 1. 73 Mean 2. 33 Standard Deviation 2. 0 Having this information can be beneficial to the HER department in various ways when looking for a candidate. The selection of an Accounting professor will be influenced by the data that we have gathered about the most important characteristics. Out of the tasks that we provided in our survey, it wows that we can use the most popular one to look for certain traits in our selection process. Using this for recruitment can help point out how each candidate can handle each task. Maintaining student attendance records, grades, and other required records seemed to be the most popular for multiple elements, meaning the candidate will need to show skills involving organization and time management.
Balancing multiple task is going to be an important quality to exhibit as an accounting professor because of the workload that is involved. The best way to determine if a candidate is capable f doing this is through a behavioral interview, where the candidate can list other examples involving the skills needed. Not only will these results help with recruiting, it can benefit the training and development aspect of the job. With the analysis showing the most important task, during training, the candidate can be provided with more training for these tasks. Training for an accounting professor will include how to maintain student records with grades, attendance records and other records by spending time training on how to use Blackboard and other materials to keep records accurate.
A reshow dealing with Central Michigan University’s technology and how to use it would be an effective way to train the new professors on this. Critique of Analysis Process Some advantages of the job analysis process was the fact that we had an array of accounting professors from previous courses at our disposal and not only did we have a wide selection of professors, we all relatively had some sort of personal relationship with each professor that we interviewed. This made the job analysis process easier because we were able to get more of an in depth perspective on each professor, their different teaching styles, and owe they implement their lesson plans.
Also, we learned a lot about the accounting profession with regards to the different certifications and requirements, their personal experiences within their profession, as well as how the employment process is tailored at Central Michigan university. All this information was useful in helping us develop a job analysis that can be applicable to any type Of accounting professor at any institution. One Of the biggest disadvantages of the job analysis process is the fact that there are not any specific requirements on how each professor should conduct their lesson. Accounting professors are given free reign within the classroom terms of structure. This made things harder for us because we had to take into consideration the various styles of each professor when conducting our job analysis.
Out of all three professors that were interview, none of them had similar teaching styles, in fact, they were all unique in their own way. Some professors valued certain techniques more than others, focusing on what they deemed as important information to teach to their students. Some professors were well in-tuned with the textbook and followed it on a step-by- Step approach. Ultimately, there is no a specific way of teaching as an accounting professor, they are given so much freedom on how they can present their materials or go about their lesson plans, and they can go in whichever direction that they please. Appendix A: Us Nee Answers SEEM 2: Lori Olsen 1 .
Are you CPA certified? No, passed my CPA exam and have everything completed in order to be one; however don’t need it to be a professor so never sent the money in to become qualified. 2. What other education is required for your position? A graduate degree and almost always a doctorate degree. The actual degrees homeless can vary, but my graduate degree is in business, and my doctoral degree is in accounting 3. How many years of experience are required for this position. Typically by the time someone has their doctoral degree they also have business experience by that point. I taught at North Dakota State and Northern Iowa before I moved here.
I would say that someone to be a professor in the accounting department here needs at least 3 years of experience along with their multiple degrees. 4. How are you able to keep your students engaged with the material? It is not easy and I am not sure I always do a great job at it. Really the only thing you can do is try to use a few different styles every session in order to hopefully cater to a little bit of everyone’s learning style. 5. How do you tailor your teaching methods to students with different learning styles or capabilities? I really can’t change the way that I teach for one specific student, unless of course they are disabled or have a learning disability.
For instance had a blind student in class once, so I made sure to constantly try and explain the placement and direction of whatever the topic was, in hopes of providing enough information for the student to imagine it in their own brain. . What other experiences within the accounting industry do you have? Are these required for the position? Was in charge of the accounting at a small hospital in northern California when I was right out of college. It only had 32 beds but I did everything from payroll to cost sheets to income statements. Really got a good taste of it all. Then I taught at North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and now here. 7. What accounting degrees have you obtained? Doctoral in Accounting 8.
Have you ever had experience within the corporate world? No 9.. Have you taught at any other institutions other than this one? The two previously listed) 10. What are the physical requirements of the job, if any? Other than standing a little bit to teach, being able to type a lot is vital with the amount of research we do.