By Jessica Barboza, OSCPA marketing and communications intern 

The Ohio Society of CPAs is thrilled to welcome Bowling Green State University (BGSU) to the University Partnership Program. 

The University Partnership Program is a collaborative network dedicated to shaping the future of accounting education in Ohio and currently holds active partnerships with eight other institutions: Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Ohio Northern University, Miami University, The University of Akron, University of Dayton, Xavier University and Youngstown State University.  

“To have such a high-quality organization to work with, who is going to help us make better connections for our current students with industry partners, is going to help us make sure that our curriculum is staying current and relevant,” Jennifer Percival, the Dean of the Schmidthorst College of Business and Professor at BGSU said. “Because we're having these regular conversations about what they're seeing, what students might need, other types of programming we can provide — I think that really helps to make the ecosystem stronger.” 

Undergraduate enrollment at BGSU has been steadily increasing, according to Percival, being up 14% last year and tracking at roughly a 24% increase for this year, with the accounting program growing in pace. BGSU’s Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program has also doubled in size over the past year. 

“After COVID, we got to open the doors again,” Percival said. “People can come and visit us. I think it's hard for people to visualize what BG is like if you haven’t been here, and so by having more open houses, by being able to have visitors on campus again, it allows people to see the type of community that we have, the type of student experience that exists here and then kind of fall in love with that and start to join us.” 

A central benefit of joining the University Partnership Program is that participating universities are able to host a Careers in Professional Accounting (CPA) Camp on their campus, a one-day all-expenses-paid program designed to immerse underrepresented high school students including, but not limited to those who identify as: having a disability, LGBTQ+, students of color and the first in their family to attend college in the accounting profession.  

“I think it's a great way to really help us attract high school students, but, more importantly, help them understand what accounting is and isn't,” Percival said. “I think a lot of high school students have this idea that it's still bookkeeping or doing your personal taxes and don't understand the strategic nature of accounting and the breadth of different careers that you can go into through there.” 

The University Partnership Program offers a wealth of benefits to accounting educators and students alike at participating institutions such as complimentary educator membership and complimentary access for students to attend OSCPA’s virtual Women, Wealth & Wellness Conference with the opportunity to be awarded a scholarship at the event.   

Join Us in Shaping the Future of Accounting Education 

If your college, university or alma mater is committed to supporting the current pipeline challenges in accounting education and is interested in joining as a partner, contact Rebecca Hixen at [email protected].