Iowa Ledger (2022) - Tippie College of Business

Accounting Department Executive Officer Cristi Gleason had a challenge on her hands.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every interview for her students had
shifted to virtual. Those seeking jobs and internships were coming to faculty with all sorts
of questions: In what physical location should students conduct Zoom interviews? Was it
okay to sit in their dorm room? Should they take down their posters? How could they get
the most out of their virtual internship?
Typically, Gleason would turn to her
Professional Accounting Council, which
has been in place since the 1980s. This
accomplished group of alums fly in twice
a year to advise the department on
curriculum issues and talk to students.
“They are a really seasoned bunch,” says
Gleason. “Very experienced—a great council.
But the pandemic changed the student
experience awfully fast for us. And there
were just glaring places where we knew we
needed input and mentoring from recent
alumni. Our students needed firsthand
knowledge of how to professionally
manage their social media accounts
and to understand if they possessed the
technology tools required in the real world.”
in their classrooms, as well as Microsoft
PowerBI and Visio, a flowcharting tool.
Thanks to the ECPAC, the department
also now has a LinkedIn group, which
Gleason notes has proven to be a huge
recruiting tool for the department, as
future Hawkeyes thinking about accounting
are eager to connect with alums in the
field. Further, the accounting information
systems course is significantly increasing
the analytics component because of the
ECPAC’s feedback. “Basically,” says Gleason,
“We were looking for input from recent
graduates about what they needed and what
they wished they’d had as students—and
their suggestions put us on a significantly
different trajectory.”
With the 80 ECPAC members signed
up as mentors, the next challenge became
how, precisely, to match them with
interested students.
Enter the app, Tribute.
And so, the idea of the Early Career
Professional Accounting Council (ECPAC)
was born.
Once word got out about the group, the
response was enormous. “I thought maybe
40 people would volunteer,” says Gleason.
“Today, we have twice that number.” And
the impact was immediate. Among their
recommendations: Change up the software.
Faculty now incorporate even more Excel
Sammy Maasarani (BBA20) is one such
recent graduate who sits on the ECPAC.
Now based in Chicago, Ill., as an associate
for KPMG, he says he volunteers his time
because he recognizes the importance of
community with his alma mater. “I enjoyed
my time at the UI,” he says. “I was a tutor
and loved helping other students and seeing
them succeed. This mentoring program is
a good fit—I can network, feel connected to
the UI, and help students.”