1996 Tax Education Symposium: preparing the tax professional for the 21st century.

The AICPA Tax Division's Tax Education Committee sponsored the Biennial Tax Education Symposium, Educating the Tax Professional for the 21st Century, on June 7, 1996, in Seattle, Washington, focusing on the dynamic changes occurring in the profession and the ways tax education can better prepare students to enter the profession. About 125 educators and tax professionals from across the country attended the Symposium, Which was chaired by Robert M. Rosen, retired partner with Ernst & Young LLP.

In her keynote address, Deborah Walker, KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, then Chair of the Tax Executive Committee, emphasized the need for educators to keep abreast of the changes in the profession. Entry-level tax professionals not only must have an excellent grounding in tax law, but they must also be able to work in groups, communicate well, use a computer, think critically and be creative. A real challenge for educators!

A panel composed of Jack Oppenheimer, Geller, Ragans, James, Oppenheimer & Creel, and Caroline Strobel, University of South Carolina, discussed a new suggested undergraduate Tax Curriculum, which was developed by the 150-Hour Task Force and approved by the AICPA Tax Division. The curriculum emphasizes business taxation in the first three semester hours of tax rather than the traditional individual taxation coverage. The Task Force has developed a set of case studies designed for use in the first three semester hours of tax (which may also be used in an integrated curriculum with a financial accounting module). The case studies illustrate to students how to prepare a corporate return from an audited trial balance, as well as tax returns for a partnership and S corporation. The cases are integrated, thereby showing the flow of income from the three business entities into an individual returns that includes a Schedule C. The case studies are available at no cost through the AICPA and may be reproduced in quantity for student use. (Dial the AICPA Fax Hotline at [phone] from a fax machine and select Document # 995.)

A second panel of educators reported on the impact of the 150-hour requirement on accounting programs. Jack Kramer, University of Florida, reported on the effect such programs have had in Florida, where the requirement has been in place for 10 years. Enrollments have not increased appreciably and, in fact, mirror the national statistics that have shown a significant drop in enrollments in accounting programs nationwide. This is due to a decreased demand for accounting graduates in a time of technological changes in the workplace, and the increasing practice of hiring law school graduates and experienced accountants from industry with a particular industry specialization.

Faye Bradwick, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Mike Roberts, University of Alabama, and Sally Jones, University of Virginia, discussed the impact a 150-hour hour requirement would have on programs grams at their respective schools. It was generally felt that there would not be a significant increase in the numbers of students enrolling in graduate programs because the 150-hour requirement can be met with undergraduate courses.

Barry Broden, University of Hartford, reported on the number of graduate tax programs, currently holding constant at a little over 100 nationwide. While new programs are starting up every year, others that have not become viable are terminated. Enrollments overall continue to drop in traditional university settings.

In one of the workshops designed to enhance teaching skills in the classroom, Sally Jones made a presentation on integrative learning, illustrating how tax knowledge can be taught within the entire business curriculum. The question she posed was, "What do I want these people to understand about taxes 10 years after they take the final exam in my course?"

Jack Oppenheimer and Mike Roberts presented a workshop on learning with case studies. The discussion centered on the advantages and disadvantages of active versus passive learning, individual versus group learning, the benefits of concrete tasks, retention of learning, and student motivation. Participants were encouraged to try more group case studies in the classroom.

In their presentation on computer applications, Dennis Sherriff, Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P, Ron Tidd, Syracuse University, Jack Kramer and William Yancey, Texas Christian University, discussed the Internet and how to access information that can be used in the classroom, as well as the use of the Internet as a means of communicating with students outside the classroom. Mr. Sherriff demonstrated the various modules and examination procedures in a new multimedia tax research course that Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P. is about to release for its new tax hires. The course is available on CD-ROM, and may be made available to colleges and universities at a later date.

Faye Bradwick and Lorraine Thompson, IRS, discussed the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and tax clinics as a part of the undergraduate and graduate experience. Clinics run the gamut of experience from the compliance-oriented clinic at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (see Professor Bradwick's Tax Education column in TTA, Aug. 1996, page 503) to working with taxpayers in the appeals process at the University of South Florida. The discussion covered a wide variety of issues dealing with the operation of a clinic.

In a plenary session, Doug Kalish, Price Waterhouse LLP, presented a demonstration on where technology is going and the communication power that will be available five years from now. What emerged from this amazing presentation was the realization that educators will have to raise their own levels of computer knowledge in order to impart some of it to their students.

On the second day of the Symposium, Mr. Rosen led a panel discussion on Innovations in Practice Management. Arthur Gordon, Ernst & Young LLP, Doug Izard, Dean of the IRS School of Taxation, and Jack Oppenheimer discussed the recent move to a two-track career in either compliance or consulting. At some of the large firms, graduates will be hired either into a compliance or a consulting track, those in consulting are going to have to move quickly into a world of tax consulting. This will present educators with increasing challenges to better prepare their students to succeed in such an environment. While the trend in large international firms is to separate the compliance practice from the tax consulting practice, local firms will probably always have a combination of the two practices. Paraprofessionals are being used increasingly for compliance work, however, even in the local firms. Later that day, Ken Rubin, Rubin, Brown, Gornstein & Co. LLP, spoke in detail on the use of paraprofessionals in local practices as well as in the compliance track of large firm practices. Unfortunately, the use of paraprofessionals reduces the need to hire as many new students from the tax programs.

Patricia Acuff, Moss Adams, Michelle Miller, Arthur Andersen LLP, Arthur Gordon and Doug Izard reported on the trend towards industry specialization within large and medium-sized firms. They reported that not only will a practice be segmented into compliance and consulting tracks, but individuals will become a part of an industry segment team focusing primarily on the problems of a particular industry segment. The IRS has already moved in a similar direction in the training of its field auditors.

Another panel discussion covered different life-style issues. Michelle Miller spoke about the development of alternative work arrangements as a way for both large and local firms to retain employees. (Such work arrangements are especially popular with parents, particularly mothers with small children.)

Stan Smith, Price Waterhouse LLP, spoke about the general abandonment of the up-or-out policy by large accounting firms. The culture now is to retain good people whether at the manager, principal or partner level; no longer does an individual have to aspire to be a partner in order to remain with a large international firm.

Ken Rubin spoke about the need to balance both professional and personal life. Increasingly, practitioners are realizing that time spent with their families is an important component of a satisfying accounting career.

Anna Fowler described the internships program at the University of Texas at Austin. Increasingly, schools are adopting optional internship programs as a means of helping place their students: if a student works out well during an internship, an offer is usually forthcoming from the firm. Flexible curriculums will enable students to take part in an internship program without delaying graduation.

Participants came away from this conference realizing that tax education must continue to change to better prepare students for the dynamic work environment they will enter. Although the 21st century will bring many changes to the tax accounting workplace, the profession will still offer many exciting opportunities and challenges to its potential entrants. It is up to educators to make tax education equally exciting and challenging.

The Tax Education Committee is eagerly looking forward to planning the 1998 Tax Symposium, hoping that many more practitioners will attend and participate.