When the 2013 class of MBA candidates take the stage for the Oregon State MBA Graduation Ceremony Thursday, 10 students will represent a brand new component of the program.
This year the first class of OSU Accountancy MBA (A-MBA) students graduate, showing off an innovative new program that allows students with an undergraduate accounting degree to earn an MBA in one year.
“The idea behind this was that to become a CPA in Oregon and most states you need three things; to pass the CPA exam, experience working in an accounting firm and five years of college,” said OSU Professor Roger Graham, who headed up the new A-MBA. “This allows students to get that fifth year and have a masters when they leave.”
Victoria Uong received her undergraduate degree last year, and felt an MBA would better prepare her for her career than simply a masters of accounting or other options.
“I feel like although a masters of accounting is valuable, understanding the entirety of the business process is important,” said Uong, who will join Portland accounting firm Perkins & Co. after graduation.
Jun Yang said he enjoyed learning the principles of accounting and then being able to practice those in his MBA work.
“In the case studies there’s no black and white, no right and wrong answers,” Yang said. “You need to consider the substance of the transaction.”
In addition to their graduate coursework, the A-MBA students worked with OSU MBA students participating in the Integrated Business Project.
In the IBP, teams of four to five MBA students work to create a business plan for real products and technologies from OSU and outside companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel and others.
“It was a course in consulting,” Graham said. “For accounting students mostly focused on learning accounting procures, to explain to other people was fun for them to do.”
For Yang, the experience was another great way to put the skills he’d learned in the classroom into practice with real businesses plans.
“It’s really great because the IBP teams are like startup companies,” Yang said. “It’s learning how to deal with potential clients and explain it to clients without an accounting background.”
Uong said she also enjoyed working in a specialized program within the large Oregon State MBA program. That environment made it easier for her to get answers to questions and also form strong professional connections
“The A-MBA program is special because it’s small,” Uong said. “It’s interesting to go through that together. We’re definitely linked together though this program.”
