IRS/Tax auditing enrollment or any of the accounting majors in the College of Business. Students seeking accounting training can select a major in any of the College’s majors. All accounting courses are administered through the College of Business. The College of Business offers a full range of accounting electives and pre-professional coursework, including courses in cost accounting, management accounting, financial accounting, personal financial planning, and economics and entrepreneurial skills. A required seminar is delivered through the University’s MBA program. Also, the College of Business offers specialized accounting electives in international and national accounting standards, management control systems, business law and ethics. In addition to the regular curriculum requirements, accounting majors must complete their required accounting courses by the end of the fourth semester and meet the department’s academic progress standards. In addition to general coursework requirements, two courses are required in management/decision making and two in quantitative analysis. Mission Statement The mission of the Accounting Department is to prepare students to apply accounting knowledge to the management of individual, family, and institutional financial affairs. This is achieved through the development and integration of accounting knowledge and skills with an understanding of business and personal environments. At the same time, students will learn to communicate clearly and persuasively using a variety of written and oral presentation techniques. Learning Outcomes • Students will be able to apply quantitative analysis to current business situations. • Students will apply a financial decision making process in decision-making situations. • Students will be able to communicate clearly and persuasively in oral, written, and visual form. • Students will be able to analyze and use financial statements in order to aid in financial decision making. Accounting electives through the Department of Business Administration The Accounting Department offers courses for students to meet General Education requirements at the University of St. Thomas. These courses may be applied to the major or used as electives within the major. Accounting electives are available through the College of Business. For an accounting elective course to count toward a degree in Accounting, the course must be approved by the student's advisor, signed by the chair of the Department of Accounting. Students must complete these courses with a "C" or better (grades of "C" or better will not be changed to "B" or "B+") in order for them to be applied to the major in Accounting. Courses in the Accounting Department may be considered for general electives if the major department agrees that the course content provides a real benefit to students in the major. The Accounting Department requires that each student in the Accounting major program complete Accounting 401: Foundations of Accounting I, Accounting 408: Special Topics in Accounting I, and the two-hour lecture and lab session (or equivalent) titled Professionalism in Accounting. In addition, students must complete four courses from the following courses: (1) Accounting Courses (up to 4) from within a College of Business. Courses will not be transferred to Accounting from other departments without permission from the Department Chair. (2) Two courses from Accounting courses in the College of Business. (3) Professional Education courses. (4) The College of Business has an accounting option course entitled "Personal Financial Planning" that satisfies the General Education requirements for Financial Accounting and General Accounting courses. (5) Advanced level courses taught by the department. Students will receive course credit for the College of Business if they successfully complete at least 60 credit hours within the College of Business, at least 30 of which must be upper-level credit hours. (6) Accounting courses taken on a College of Business minor. If the student’s GPA falls below a 3.0, then the student’s major department chair has the option to require that the student obtain a grade of "C" in the courses. (7) Accounting electives through the Department of Business Administration. (All electives must be approved by the Chair of the Department of Accounting). (8) University Credit for the MBA program will also satisfy the General Education requirement for accounting courses. In addition to the courses required for the major, students in the Accounting major may take the following courses (4-5 credit hours) at the University as approved electives to further their education in accounting. Each course is approved to be used as an elective only if the student has successfully completed General Education requirements in Accounting with a grade of "B" or better in 401, Accounting 401 and 408. Advanced study courses in one of the following: Accounting Investments and Securities Public Accounting Management of Information Systems Economics of Computing and Information Technology Generalist Business Administration (not Accounting concentration) Note that courses offered as electives through the Department of Business Administration are not automatically approved and will not count as electives unless they meet the following requirements: (1) The courses must be taken by the end of the 2nd semester of the junior year (4-5 credits) of study in the Accounting major. (2) The courses must be taken at the University of St. Thomas. (3) The courses must be specifically identified as accounting electives and not as general electives. (4) The course must be approved by the chair of the Accounting Department and if appropriate, a representative of the student’s minor departmental chair. (5) The course is to be applied towards the requirements for the major and all requirements for the minor program. * The courses offered in Accounting 401 may only be taken as part of the core-experience requirements if they have been repeated at least once and are only approved as electives in the Accounting major. Honors Requirements Accounting Honors are designed for students who have exhibited superior performance in courses taken as part of their major, during their junior or senior year. The honors requirements are as follows: • Students must achieve a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 and be in good academic standing. • At least one course in each major and all electives must be taken for Credit. • At least two courses in any two different concentrations (accounting, finance, business law and ethics, etc.) must be taken for Credit. • Students must complete at least one 400-level course in a major concentration as part of the degree plan. • Concentration courses in other areas (accounting, business law and ethics, etc.) are only required if the student has completed a 400-level course in the major concentration. • Courses that do not qualify to fulfill these requirements will be counted as normal courses. The Department of Business Administration offers Accounting Honors for majors who are juniors and seniors. It is highly recommended that students elect Accounting Honors during the senior year if possible. All Accounting Honors requirements must be met by the end of the junior year to be eligible for the Accounting honors degree. General Education Requirements All students seeking a degree in Accounting must take Accounting 401 and either ACC 401 or ACC 404 as part of their General Education requirements. The minimum total number of credit hours for General Education is 14-15. The University requires that students meet at least 9 of the 13 General Education Core Learning Outcomes (as defined below) in order to be eligible to receive a degree in Accounting. Please refer to University Catalog for additional information on general education requirements. Accounting core-experience courses (ACC 401 and ACC 402) and Accounting elective courses (ACC 401 or Accounting Honors courses) count toward the accounting courses required for the major. ACC courses can only count for credit once for the major. Each course in Accounting counts as a course completed in Accounting, and does not count as a course completed in a minor area such as Business Law and Ethics. If a student elects to receive business law and ethics, ACC 402 may be counted as a credit for business law and ethics. ACC 401 may be counted as a credit for business law and ethics. Accounting 401 and ACC 404 must be taken for credit. ACC 401 is a mandatory Accounting course that covers research and writing skills as well as accounting knowledge. It is a required course for all students in Accounting. ACC 401 is offered in the fall, winter, and spring. ACC 401 meets the writing portion of the Core Academic Skills requirement. It is graded based on the completed student assignment (research project). ACC 401 can be repeated once, resulting in a maximum of three times that the course may be applied towards meeting the Core Academic Skills requirement. ACC 401 is required of all Accounting majors as part of their general education core requirements. ACC 402 is a required accounting course for Accounting majors only and must be taken for at least two credits. ACC 402 is a credit-granting course. The number of credits earned may vary by semester