Fifth Year Maintenance Report - AACSB - The University of Texas at ...

Figure 6.1BBA in Accounting Content MapFirst, was the adoption of a competency examination (called PACE) as a formal prerequisite foradmission to Intermediate Accounting I. PACE is a readiness examination covering material that shouldbe mastered in Accounting Principles and that is necessary to succeed in Intermediate Accounting. Wehad used PACE for two years as a counseling tool for Intermediate Accounting and as an assessment toolfor Principles of Accounting. It was clear from our assessment results that students who completedPrinciples of Accounting at UTSA were generally well prepared for Intermediate Accounting, but thatthose who were transferring, primarily from junior colleges, were much less prepared. This was creatingproblems in all of our upper-division courses since nearly 50% of the upper-division students weretransfer students. As a consequence, passage of PACE was implemented as a formal prerequisite foradmission to Intermediate I. Over 90% of UTSA students pass the PACE examination and less than 75%of transfer students pass. This has been reflected in significantly better prepared students inIntermediate Accounting.The second major change in the BBA curriculum was the introduction of an experiential courserequirement for all students. Based on feedback from employers and particularly members of theAdvisory Board, the faculty recognized that many if not most graduating students did not have a realisticunderstanding of what accountants in practice do. Due to changes in the recruiting practices of publicaccounting firms in response to the 150-hour requirement for qualification for the CPA examinations,34