Department of Accounting & Finance

The Master of Accountancy and Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting degree programs are separately accredited by AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Fewer than 2% of business schools worldwide hold both AACSB Business and separate Accounting Accreditation.

Mission

The Department of Accounting and Finance of the University of North Florida shares with the University of North Florida and the Coggin College of Business its fundamental mission.

Within UNF's Department of Accounting and Finance the accounting, finance and financial planning programs are committed to providing high-quality undergraduate and graduate instruction, with particular emphasis on accounting, finance and financial planning education that serves the needs of Northeast Florida. The faculty is committed to teaching excellence enhanced by research and interaction with the accounting and finance professionals in the broader business community. Specifically, the Department of Accounting and Finance seeks:

• To provide Bachelor of Business Administration degrees, which prepare graduates for entry into professional and managerial positions in accounting, finance, and financial planning.
• To provide a professionally oriented Master of Accountancy degree, which enables career advancement and the additional accounting coursework necessary to be licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) under Florida's accountancy law.
• To provide MBA students the coursework necessary to be licensed as a CPA under Florida's accountancy law.
• To provide quality undergraduate and graduate instruction in accounting and finance, which prepares students for lifelong learning and success.
• To provide intellectual contributions that enhance the delivery of instruction to students, improve the application of existing knowledge, and provide solutions primarily to regional issues. The primary emphasis for intellectual contributions is applied research, followed by instructional research, and pure research.
• To provide service, which contributes to meeting the personal, professional, and life-long learning needs of our students, the University community, the business community, and alumni.
• To provide internship and field experience opportunities to departmental students.
• To attract and retain quality faculty dedicated to teaching, research and service activities consistent with the goals of the department, college and University.
• To pursue continuous improvement in teaching, research and service, the department and its stakeholders will regularly evaluate its mission, objectives and outcomes.

The programs in the Department of Accounting and Finance are designed to provide students with the tools and concepts necessary to practice in the complex professions of accounting, finance, financial planning, and real estate. These disciplines are central to the proper understanding and functioning of all sectors of the economy. At UNF, these areas are taught from the viewpoint of the problems they are intended to help solve. Consequently, decision-making implications receive a high priority. Programs of the department are designed to allow the student to pursue a variety of career objectives.

Accounting Major

The objectives of the BBA in Accounting are:

1. To attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds with the abilities required for success in accounting careers.
2. To provide accounting students with analytical, team-building, and technological skills; written and oral communication skills; critical thinking, research and problem solving skills that are necessary for lifelong success in the accounting profession.
3. To provide exposure to economic, global, political, social, legal, ethical, regulatory, environmental, and technological issues.
4. To encourage students to become active in professional organizations in accounting and taxation.
5. To maintain an AACSB accredited graduate and undergraduate accounting degree programs.
6. To prepare students to enter quality graduate programs.
7. To provide students not seeking a graduate degree a means of fulfilling the CPA requirements in Florida.
8. To provide internship and field experience opportunities to students.
9. To provide students the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects.
10. To provide students opportunities for international travel and study.

While the objectives of the various accounting areas of study have several common paths, there is a point where they diverge. Public accountants need more emphasis in the concepts and standards of auditing and financial reporting. Management accountants, serving as controllers, treasurers, and other financial executives need more concentration in the use of accounting data for predicting future costs and income, as well as for evaluative purposes. Governmental accountants need additional emphasis in special accounting methods for non-profit organizations. Internal auditors need to be able to evaluate managerial effectiveness and efficiency.

Regardless of their choice, students will be expected to demonstrate a sound liberal arts education so that their accounting studies can be seen in the perspective of the broader purposes of the organization that employs them, of society's economic, social and cultural institutions, and of their own life goals.

Honors in Accounting

Requirements:

• Must be a declared Accounting major
• Must have a UNF Accounting GPA of 3.5 or higher
• Must be a member of any Accounting Honor Society
  • must be recognized by the department
  • study abroad in Accounting or a semester abroad through Coggin
  • an Accounting internship
  • a Directed Independent Study in Accounting
  • serve as an Accounting Supplemental Instruction instructor for one semester
  • a three credit hour Honors thesis in Accounting (if 6hrs, will satisfy this area)

  Finance Major

  The objectives of the BBA in Finance are:

  1. To attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds with the abilities required for success in finance careers.
  2. To provide finance students with the skills necessary for success in the finance profession, including analytical, team-building, and technological skills; written and oral communication skills; critical thinking, research and problem-solving skills that are necessary for lifelong success in the finance field.
  3. To provide exposure to global, political, social, legal, ethical, regulatory, environmental, and technological issues.
  4. To encourage students to become active in professional organizations in finance.
  5. To provide internship and field experience opportunities to students.
  6. To provide students an opportunity to work with faculty on research projects.
  7. To provide students opportunities for international travel and study.

  The major in finance is designed to develop an understanding of the financial aspects of the contemporary economy, the operation of financial institutions, and the financial management of business operations. Students can consider focusing their finance electives into one of the below areas of interest.

  • Corporate: emphasizes financial management of the firm and focuses on financial analysis, planning, control, and formulation and implementation of corporate financial strategy. The objective of this option is to prepare students for careers as financial managers of corporations or other for-profit or non-profit organizations.
  • Investments: emphasizes security and portfolio analysis, the trading and creation of the various instruments within the markets, and the management of assets and liabilities. The objective of this option is to prepare students for careers as financial analysts and to begin the preparation of students for the Level I test of the Certified Financial Analysis (CFA) designation.
  • Real Estate: prepares students for careers in the diverse field of real estate. The program is designed to acquaint students with real estate brokerage, management, appraisal, acquisition, lending, and development with particular emphasis on real estate appraisal, finance, and investment.

  The selection of courses for the major in finance should be arranged by students with their academic advisor in conformance with the general requirements outlined below. FIN 3403 and FIN 3233 should be the first two finance courses taken. It is incumbent upon students to plan their courses with the semester in which they are normally offered. Students are warned not to delay taking their finance courses because of prerequisites and limited course offerings.

  Financial Planning Major

  The objectives of the BBA in Financial Planning are:

  1. To attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds with the abilities required for success in careers in the financial planning profession.
  2. To provide finance students with the skills necessary for success in the finance planning, including analytical, team-building, and technological skills; written and oral communication skills; and critical thinking, research and problem-solving skills that are necessary for lifelong success in the finance planning profession.
  3. To provide exposure to global, political, social, legal, ethical, regulatory, environmental, and technological issues.
  4. To encourage students to become active in professional organizations in finance.
  5. To provide internship and field experience opportunities to students.
  6. To provide students an opportunity to work with faculty on research projects.

  The major in financial planning is designed for the student who is interested in a career in personal financial planning in particular and the broader financial services industry in general.

  This major integrates investments, estate planning, retirement planning, employee benefits, tax planning, and insurance planning. The objective is to prepare students for careers in the growing financial planning profession. This concentration also emphasizes communication skills. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for the examinations leading to professional designations such as Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC).

  The selection of courses for the major in financial planning should be arranged by students with their academic advisor in conformance with the general requirements outlined below.

  The requirements for a major in financial planning are:

  1. Prerequisites for Coggin College of Business:
     60 lower-level credit hours from an approved institution (See accounting curriculum for complete details).
  2. Requirements to earn the bachelor of business administration degree with a major in financial services are:

  CFP® and Certified Financial Planner® are certification marks owned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. These marks are awarded to individuals who successfully complete the CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

  Department of Accounting & Finance Faculty

  Sean Davis, Department Chair & Associate Professor
  Parvez Ahmed, Professor
  Mark C. Dawkins, Professor
  Reinhold P. Lamb, Professor & Chairholder
  Pieter de Jong, Professor
  Oliver Schnusenberg, Professor
  David Bryan, Associate Professor
  John E. McEldowney, Associate Professor
  Robert Slater, Associate Professor
  Lei Gao, Assistant Professor
  Yvonne Lee, Assistant Professor
  Mark Smith, Assistant Professor
  Inga Timmerman , Assistant Professor
  Hubert W. Gill, Senior Instructor
  Jeffrey Gottlieb, Instructor
  Mark Leininger, Instructor
  R. Michael Morris, Instructor
  Monica Salomon, Instructor

  Department of Accounting & Finance Policies

  Undergraduate

  • All students must meet with a Coggin advisor to receive their official Degree Evaluation and Osprey Map to stay on track for graduation.
  • Students under the Accounting and Finance Department are encouraged to take advantage of internship and study abroad opportunities.
  • Strategic Management and Business Policy - MAN4720 is taken in a student's last semester. An institutional and a program upper-level GPA of 2.0 or better is required before permission is granted to register for MAN4720. Prerequisite courses FIN3403, MAN3025, and MAR3023 must be completed prior to taking MAN4720.
  • Review Coggin's undergraduate academic policies page for additional information.

  Graduate

  Visit the Coggin College of Business website regarding the Academic Policies for the Master of Accountancy and the Master of Science in FinTech (STEM).

  UNDERGRADUATE