FLEAP is the term Robert Morris uses for study abroad – it stands for Faculty-Led Educational Abroad Program. In May 2017, 26 RMU students took part in this trip with me ~ exploring Japan and Taiwan… More
2014 IIA Scholarship
Would you like to pocket $2000 scholarship? Here is your chance. Read the following scholarship announcement. If you are interested, I am more than happy to help you prepare for the essay. My former students were pretty successful in getting this scholarship!!
2014 Scholarship Award Announcement
The Detroit Chapter IIA Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce an opportunity for three qualified candidates to receive a $2,000 award for 2014.
Candidates should possess the following qualifications:
- Academic achievement of a minimum 3.0 GPA overall (transcripts required*)
- Leadership in extra-curricular or volunteer activities
- Actively enrolled in a college/university in pursuit of a degree (part- or full-time)
- Any business major (undergraduate or graduate)
- Winners must be present at the Tuesday, April 8, 2014 meeting of the Detroit IIA Chapter to accept the award
- Winners must complete a W-9 Form prior to payment
Qualified candidates should prepare a three-page essay (double-spaced) on the following topic:
Internal Audit departments generally include professionals from varying backgrounds, skills and abilities. Describe how an internal audit department can most effectively carry out its objectives in this type of environment.
Students are encouraged to contact industry specialists for advice and counsel.
Please submit your qualifications and essay to the Committee at chapteradmin@detroitiia.org by Friday, March 28, 2014
Awards will be presented at the Detroit Chapter IIA Meeting on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 held at University of Michigan – Dearborn, Fairlane Center, Dearborn, MI.
Japanese TV Show
Our study abroad in Japan in 2013 was featured in one of the Japanese national TV shows – it was quite fun that the crew followed us to several business and cultural visits in Japan. In this 13-minute program you will see our visit to the temple, traditional Japanese shops, and Yamaha factory. Making wagashi probably will never be anybody’s future career but it is definitely fun! And it tastes….sweet!!
Ready…Set…Action!
At the end of the fall 2013 semester, I made myself a movie director…well, maybe not a movie (yet), but it is a short video illustrating the importance of being organized and diligent when taking an online class in accounting. After teaching financial accounting class online for a few semesters, I found that some students are extremely successful – while others struggle a lot. This time, I decided to ask a successful student to share his experiences – hopefully students after him can learn a few tricks before they start – or at least know what they got themselves into!
Many thanks go to the OEL staff, the graduate student instructor Brad Mikus, and my start student Nicholas. The completed video is here:
Classroom turing into trading floor
In my BUS 421: accounting information systems class, I have a module that requires students studying business processes and building an accounting system. Since accounting is about record keeping for business transactions, I make students “trade” with each other. Everyone in class serves as both buyer and seller, and everyone needs to come up with an idea of products or services they want to sell (and buy). In the process, students learn how to keep the transaction documents (for a complete audit trail) and record the transaction in an AIS. This is a fun activity and I do this for both traditional or online section. I always enjoy seeing how students jump outside the (accounting) box and practice their marketing skills!
Guest from far far away
In October 2013, I was honored to welcome Professor Shu-Jou Lin to visit School of Management from National Taiwan Normal University. When I was in Taiwan this year with study abroad students, Professor Lin was one of the NTNU faculty members who gave us the warmest welcome on earth! They organized student buddy (which was a HUGE help for the group leader like myself), company visits, and classroom immersion experiences. Professor Lin is also well-known in her research field, and she is in Michigan for a research trip. Welcome Professor Lin!
Sync class that is not constrained by distance
I coordinated a sync class focusing on a case discussion with MBA students from UM-Flint and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei. With the input from my colleagues (both of them marketing professors at UM-Flint and NTNU) students thousand miles apart were able to contribute to a case discussion about Walmart’s marketing strategy in China. The new classroom with necessary IPTV equipment built by the School of Management had just finished construction and immediately was put to a good use. The quality of video and audio was amazing – you don’t really feel that people on the screen are actually 11 time zones away!
Read about the story published by UM-Flint News here:
The same story was also published by NTNU’s press office (in Chinese): http://pr.ntnu.edu.tw/news/index.php?mode=data&id=12541&fb_action_ids=400071200075983&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=hovercard&fb_aggregation_id=246965925417366
A new page of life in Beijing
A former student of mine, Feben Teklemicael, who is a proud graduate of UM-Flint BBA-Accounting program, contacted me recently and shared her new adventure: master’s program in Tsinghua University, China. Feben went to China after she graduated from UM-Flint, got into a Chinese language program in Beijing, received a scholarship and started her master’s degree program in computer science. For her, it’s definitely an adventure. We wish you all the best, Feben!
Congratulations, Michelle!
A for
mer student of mine, Michelle Tolin, won a competitive IIA scholarship recently. This scholarship is sponsored by the Detroit Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). She won this scholarship by completing an essay ” Discuss the benefits of using social media in the internal audit process and provide specific examples“. She was one of my best students in BUS421 in the winter semester that ended in April. See the link to the IIA’s announcement here: http://www.detroitiia.org/Awards.htm#SCH
I am very excited to be involved with IIA here. They really provide great opportunities to students. Thanks IIA!
New welcome video for online class
I participated in UM-Flint Office of Extended Learning’s online course redesign project. This is a great workshop for online instructors! One of the projects I did was to make a new welcome video for students online. Folks in OEL have really put efforts into this thing – they used HD camera and professional lighting equipment to shoot the video (feel like I am a movie star!) I am so delighted with the result. This video was first launched in my BUS421 Accounting information systems in summer 2012 semester.
ISACA training
I took part in the ISACA’s training week from June 12-15, 2012 in Dallas, TX. The track I registered and participated is called “Fundamentals of IT Assurance and Audit”. Topics covered include the process of auditing information systems, governance and management of IT, information systems acquisition, development, and implementation, information systems operations, maintenance, and support, and protection of information assets. What I learned the most, however, is a confirmation of my belief that IT audit/security is a growing area and an excellent career choice for accounting students. The biggest “gap” in this profession is that we have a bunch of IT “techies” who know everything about computers, network, etc. but not enough people who ALSO understand business side of the trade. After all, if the IT objectives cannot be aligned with business objectives, why do we invest in IT? So accounting students, here is your opportunity – you study accounting, so you know about business inside out – if you also know something about how IT works, your career choices will be wide open!
This event is well attended by professionals from different industries – accountants from CPA firms, internal auditors from public companies, security professionals, auditors at Federal Reserve, IT directors, etc. The instructor is an experienced consultant in IT audit. The picture was taken by a classmate – a CPA from Nigeria…(well they are called “chartered accountant” for that matter).
Jacob Peng, PhD, CISA 