A Survey of Assessment Practices in Accounting Departments of Colleges and Universities

Abstract

This study reports the results of a 1999 survey of 164 chairs of accounting departments at institutions of higher education in the United States. It identifies assessment tools/techniques used by accounting departments, describes the focus of assessment processes, and reports how the outcomes of assessment activities were used. Institutions that awarded the doctorate degree had the most concern about meeting their responsibility to the public and to students. At schools accredited by the AACSB—The International Association for Management Education—accounting departments considered planning to be a purpose of assessment to a significantly greater extent than departments at schools accredited by other associations. At institutions accredited by the Association of Collegiate and Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), assessment results were used for instructional changes to a significantly greater extent than at departments accredited by the AACSB or by regional accreditation associations.