The Indiana University East School of Business and Economics has partnered with the CPA Center of Excellence® to offer a new online competency-based course. The course is being offered for the first time in higher education.

The course will be offered through the School of Business and Economics, which offers a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree program with a concentration in accounting. The ethics course will be part of the capstone course, Accounting Ethics and Professional Development. Students enrolled in the accounting program will take the course prior to graduation.

The online ethics course offers an interactive format that includes links to articles, case studies, video components, real-time discussion with other course participants, and other participatory features within each of its various modules.

The CPA Center of Excellence® developed the ethics course based on the accounting profession’s Code of Professional Conduct. The course was established in October 2016. The code coincided with a new rule providing two new options for ethics education.

According to the CPA Center of Excellence,® CPAs in Indiana have been taking the course since last fall following a rule change signed by then-Governor Mike Pence that enables a competency-based course to meet the ethics requirement for CPA license renewal.

The CPA Center of Excellence® and IU East partnership will be used as a model to encourage other colleges and regional campuses in Indiana to incorporate the ethics course or other competency-based courses into their curriculums. The additional six courses offered by the CPA Center of Excellence® cover vital business or “soft” skills needed by current and future professionals.

Roger Crane, director of the accounting program and lecturer of accounting at IU East, said the online ethics course would enhance the class.

“We’re honored that the Indiana CPA Society chose the IU East Accounting Program to partner with as the first higher learning institution to use this competency based ethics course,” Crane said. “We wanted to incorporate an ethics course already used by CPAs so our accounting ethics course is the best it could be. Anything we can do to get students more real-world exposure to accounting ethics will help them understand and be prepared for ethical situations once they graduate and begin a career.”

Shari Fowler, lecturer of accounting at IU East, said by offering the CPA Center of Excellence® course, students will have a dynamic learning experience allowing them to see how concepts from the text are applied to the accounting profession.

“I have found that students are always enthusiastic when they are presented with new learning activities in their classes,” Fowler said. “The ethics course is in a format and structure that they have not worked with before, so I anticipate they will be intrigued by this new addition.”

The School of Business and Economics offers two different accounting concentrations leading to a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – a CPA Accounting Concentration and a Managerial Accounting Concentration – can be completed on campus or online. The program also offers a minor in Financial Forensic Investigations.

For more information, contact the School of Business and Economics at https://www.iue.edu/business.