2015-2016 Academic Catalog

Apr 18, 2024

2015-2016 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Master of Science in Accounting (MSA)

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Overview

Graduate Program

The Clark University M.S.A. program readies you for a career in public accounting and financial management. You will be able to develop and analyze accounting information, provide assurances of financial control and accuracy, develop investment and tax strategies, and advise top-level managers as they make important decisions.

Graduate Program Requirements

Clark’s M.S.A. program consists of 10 units for students with an undergraduate accounting degree program that follows the U.S. (U.S. GAAP) or international accounting (IFRS) standards. For those without the appropriate accounting degree, two foundation courses are required, both of which may be waived based on prior coursework or waiver exams.

Every degree candidate takes five units of core courses and five units of elective courses from the following lists. A student who has any of the core courses waived because of a strong accounting background must substitute elective courses for the waived courses. Waivers will not reduce the length of the program below ten units.

Full-time students typically complete the program in four or fewer semesters depending upon the number of courses that are waived. Part-time students typically complete the programs in eight semesters or fewer depending on number of waivers and courses taken per semester.

Completion of the Career Training Cohort class and a graduate internship are required for all students except those who have 3+ years of professional business work experience or those with full-time employment during the length of the program. It may be possible to waive these requirements. Visit a member of the Stevenish Career Management Center for more information.

Foundation Courses (2 units)

The following courses may be waived based on prior undergraduate or graduate coursework, or may be taken at GSOM.

ACCT 4101 - Foundations of Financial Accounting
One unit in economics, operations management, statistics, or quantitative methods (
ECON 4004 Management Economics
,
STAT 4005 Statistical Methods
,
STAT 4006 Management Decision Models
, or
OM 4600 Operations Management
)

* MSA students who completed ACCT 4100 prior to the Fall 2015 semester will have met the ACCT 4100 foundation requirement.

Core Courses (5 units)

Based on prior accounting courses, a maximum of three core courses may be waived at the discretion of the M.S.A. Director.

Elective Courses (A total of 5 units from the following 2 groups):

Group 1: A minimum of 2 units from the following:

Group 2: A minimum of 1 unit must have an FIN prefix:

Other graduate courses in GSOM may be used as electives with the M.S.A. Director’s permission.

FIN 4200 - Financial Management
FIN 5201 - Case Studies in Corporate Finance
FIN 5281 - Case Studies in International Finance
FIN 5301 - Stock and Bond Valuation (1/2 unit)
FIN 5405 - Mergers and Acquisitions
MGMT 4708 - Business Law (1/2 unit)
MGMT 5900 Special Topics: Business Law II (1/2 unit)
MGMT 4709 - Business in Society (1/2 unit)
MGMT 5201 - Human Resources Management
MGMT 5308 - Women in Management (1/2 unit)
MGMT 5407 - International Labor Relations (1/2 unit)
MGMT 5807 - Cross Cultural Management
MGMT 5884 - Leadership and Decision Making
MIS 5501 - Database Management Systems (1/2 unit)
MIS 5505 - Management of Information Technologies
MIS 5506 - Knowledge Management in Organizations (1/2 unit)
MIS 5553 - Information Systems Analysis and Design

Program Faculty

Dileep Dhavale, Ph.D., C.P.A.

Mary Ellen Morris, M.S.F., C.G.M.A., C.P.A.

Inshik Seol, Ph.D.

Zhihong Wang, Ph.D.

For a full list of faculty, including visiting and adjunct professors, please see the Faculty page on GSOM’s website.