In 2007, the College of Business School of Accountancy Advisory Council met to announce the formation of the new Ohio Center for Professional Accountancy (OUCPA). The Center, established by the Ohio University Board of Trustees in September, has ten founding sponsors who have pledged to donate a total of $125,000 over the next five years. This donation will assist the Center's mission in providing a formalized structure for accounting faculty, students, and professionals to network, collaborate, and exchange information about current trends in the accounting profession. "The real goal of the Center is to increase interaction between people who are teaching accounting, learning accounting, and practicing accounting," says Ray Stephens, professor of accountancy and director of OUCPA.
Accounting students will benefit from increased placement opportunities through their involvement with the Center. "Placement of students after their undergraduate years is one of our major focuses," Stephens said. "This will provide another avenue to increase communication between students and practicing accountants to help with their search for continual education and opportunities." All of the founding sponsor companies employ Ohio University graduates; Stephens hopes to increase the number of potential employers through the OUCPA since the number of accounting graduates has increased in recent years. In addition, OUPCA will offer research activities to expand faculty knowledge and continuing education for professional accountants.
In 2008, the Ohio Center for Professional Accountancy sponsored the American Accounting Association Ohio Region Best Doctoral Student Paper Award for the sum of $500. The award went to Reining Chen of The Ohio State University for her paper entitled, “Regulation Fair Disclosure and Capital Structure.” The Ohio Center will sponsor this award again in 2009.