university of illinois - UIHistories Project

3io BOARD OF TRUSTEES [March 12
DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY
(9) The faculty and Dean of the College of Medicine and the Vice-President in charge
of the Chicago Professional Colleges recommend that the name of the Department of
Bacteriology in that College be changed to Department of Microbiology effective
September I, 1957.
I concur.
On motion of Mr. Swain, this change was approved.
ADVISORY GRADING SERVICE FOR BOARD OF EXAMINERS
IN ACCOUNTANCY
(10) Under the Illinois Accountancy Law, the University of Illinois has the responsibility
of examining applicants for certificates of Certified Public Accountant in Illinois
and of issuing certificates to successful candidates. The University determines
the qualifications, as specified by law, of persons applying, makes rules for their examination,
and for the conducting of examinations the Board of Trustees appoints a
Board of Examiners (three in number, at least two of whom must be Certified Public
Accountants in this state and the third may be an accountant of such grade or an attorney
skilled in commercial law). Other administrative functions of the University
in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities are preformed by a Committee on
Accountancy appointed from the faculty and responsible to the President of the University.
The Board of Trustees has adopted regulations for administering the statute.
Over the years, it has been increasingly difficult for the Board of Examiners personally
to examine candidates because of the large numbers of applicants who take
the examinations, given twice a year, in May and November. In recent years the
Board of Examiners found it necessary to obtain assistance in grading the papers by
recruiting panels of competent Certified Public Accountants to do the initial grading
under close supervision by the Board. The Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants
has helped the Board in securing panels by calling upon various accounting firms
to supply the services of their senior partners and associates. Now the Examiners are
finding it extremely difficult to assemble panels of competent persons to do the preliminary
grading.
The officers of the Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants feel a public,
as well as a professional, responsibility in this matter. A special committee of the Society
which studied the problem has recommended that the Board of Examiners be
authorized to avail itself of the grading service of the American Institute of Accountants
on an advisory basis as is being done in all other states with the exception, in
addition to Illinois, of Maryland and New Jersey. Mr. James A. Velde, of the law
firm of Gardner, Carton, Douglas, and Chilgren, Chicago, Legal Counsel for the Illinois
Society of Certified Public Accountants and a former member of the Illinois
Board of Examiners, after an exhaustive study of the law and applicable court decisions
on questions of delegation of authority relating to this matter, has given a
formal opinion that the Board of Examiners could validly use the Institute's grading
service, the extent of such use being a matter of degree as long as the Board retains
power to change the Institute's recommendations.
Mr. Ralph F. Lesemann, Legal Counsel for the University, has stated:
"While we are inclined to concur in Mr. Velde's opinion that the Illinois courts 'would
be likely to hold' that the A.I.A.'s Advisory Grading Service may validly be used in
Illinois under existing legislation if the University sees fit to authorize the Illinois
Examining Board to use that service, we are not convinced that the Illinois courts
would so rule and regard it quite possible, although we do not deem it probable, that
they might declare the use by the Illinois Board of that service illegal, even though
attempted to be authorized by the University, in the absence of an amendment to the
existing Act expressly conferring power and authority upon the University to author
ize the Illinois Board of Examiners to use the service."
He would recommend amendatory legislation of the existing statute specifically authorizing
the use of an advisory grading service, or, if the University decides to authorize
the Board of Examiners to use that grading service under existing legislation,
that a test case be litigated in the courts and a decision obtained from the Supreme
Court of Illinois on the validity of use of the service under existing legislation before
it is actually used.
However, the Board of Directors of the Illinois Society, the members of the Board
of Examiners in Accountancy, and the University Committee on Accountancy do not