Accounting Department Mission, Goals, and Objectives

Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics Mission

The Lebanon Valley College Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics seeks to make LVC the school of choice among selected high-potential, college-bound high school seniors and college sophomore transfer students in Pennsylvania and surrounding Mid-Atlantic states. The specific mission of each departmental program is to build on the flexibility and breadth of the liberal arts curriculum of the college and help each student develop the particular skill set essential to launch and manage their careers. In pursuit of this mission, the Department holds to a set of core values: collegiality, professionalism, and respect for colleagues’ academic freedom; achievement through collaboration and teamwork; integrity supported by ethical behavior; exceptional communication skills; and continuous improvement using ACBSP accreditation benchmarks and best practices. These values facilitate the interactions within the Department and across the campus deemed essential to success in this endeavor.

Accounting Program Goals

Program Goal 1: Global Learning

Students will connect, in a meaningful way, learning across boundaries by the application of knowledge in the discipline area of focus.

Learning Outcomes: 

  • Internship Evaluation: Supervisor Survey
    • 91% of students achieved target in “Listens & Comprehends”
    • 100% achieved “Works well in Cross-Cultural Settings”
    • 100% achieved “Respects Diversity”.
  • International Business Class Project
    • 80% of students achieved targets in Cultural Awareness, Knowledge of Cultural Frameworks, and Verbal/Non-Verbal Communication in Cultural Settings.
  • Peregrine Standardized Assessment
    • Competency in Global Dimensions of Business improved 3.92% from midpoint to outbound.

 

Program Goal 2: Problem Solving

Students will synthesize and apply existing knowledge in order to develop strategies to arrive at creative and feasible solutions.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Internship Evaluation: Supervisor Survey
    • 91% of students achieved target in “Ability to find & utilize resources
    • 100% achieved “Selects & uses appropriate technology”
    • 91% achieved “Uses effective problem-solving abilities”
  • Peregrine Standardized Assessment
    • Competency in Business Leadership improved 10.4% from inbound to midpoint, and an additional 1.19% from midpoint to outbound.

 

Program Goal 3: Critical Thinking and Ethical Reasoning

Students will determine and use information needed to inform decision making and value perspectives.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Internship Evaluation: Supervisor Survey
    • 100% of students achieved target in “Uses good judgement”
    • 100% achieved “Takes initiative”
    • Internship scores in these areas exceed overall internship scores provided by onsite supervisors reflecting particular strength in these categories of assessment.
  • Peregrine Standardized Assessment
    • Competency in Business Integration and Strategic Management improved 8.51% from inbound to midpoint, and an additional 12.83% from midpoint to outbound.
  • Peregrine Standardized Assessment
    • Competency in Business Ethics improved 11.17% from inbound to midpoint, and an additional 2.94% from midpoint to outbound.

 

Program Goal 4: Professional Competency

Students will demonstrate the professional competencies expected by the ACBSP accrediting body.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Internship Evaluation: Supervisor Survey
    • 100% of students achieved target in “Demonstrates Applicable Academic Competencies”.
  • Peregrine Standardized Assessment
    • Overall Baseline Scores in all 17 Common Professional Components (CPCs) as defined by the ACBSP Accrediting Body improved 24.36% from inbound to midpoint, and an additional 12.88% from midpoint to outbound.
      *NOTE: Overall improvement from LVC inbound to outbound in all 17 CPCs = 40.39%. This compares to the overall improvement in inbound to outbound aggregate scores in all ACBSP Region 2 schools of 26.58%.

 

Program Goal 5: Communication

Students will communicate correctly and purposefully, in writing and orally, integrating technology into writing and presentations.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Internship Evaluation: Supervisor Survey
    • 82% of students achieved target in “Communicates well in writing”
    • 100% of students achieved target in “Works effectively in teams”.
  • Principles of Marketing Research Project
    • 86% of students achieved targets in Delivery, Supporting Materials, Organization, Language, and Central Message in Oral Communications.
    • 78% of students achieved targets in Context & purpose of writing; Content development; Genre & disciplinary conventions; Sources & evidence; Syntax & mechanics in Written Communications.


For more information on learning goals and outcomes, contact institutionalresearch@lvc.edu.

Additional Information

Faculty supporting the Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting major at Lebanon Valley College is committed to providing an exceptional learning experience and a supportive learning environment that:

  1. Conveys effectively the knowledge and comprehension of the discipline of Accounting within the context of a liberal arts education.
  2. Produces students with superior written and oral communication skills with an emphasis on the types of communications specific to the accounting profession.
  3. Develops students’ abilities to effectively analyze business and organizational context from an accounting perspective; apply accounting principles and concepts to real problems and opportunities, and synthesize solutions.
  4. Develops a thorough understanding of the ethical challenges facing accountants and accounting managers in the business environment and develops in students the habit of honest, objective, and moral evaluations of the consequences of their actions.
  5. Encourages and assists the development of the multi-disciplinary skill set, the relationship-building skills, and the life-long learning skills that suit each student’s expressed post-graduate career intentions.
  6. Establishes a solid foundation on which to complete preparation for the numerous professional certifications that are now in play.

Students completing a B.S. in Accounting at Lebanon Valley College will demonstrate and possess:

  1. An understanding of concepts of the accounting discipline and the application of those concepts to the intra-disciplinary focus of their own choosing.
  2. An understanding of the fundamental knowledge in the disciplines of economics, finance, business law, management science, and corporate strategy.
  3. Effective reading, listening, writing, and speaking skills appropriate to the accounting profession.
  4. Effective fundamental project management skills.
  5. Effective information research skills including information gathering, databases searching, assessing the value of information, and communicating findings on a focused topic in the discipline.
  6. Effective skills in applying generally accepted quantitative methodologies to the analysis and solution of complex accounting problems.
  7. Critical thinking skills appropriate to the accounting discipline including the ability to describe, analyze, and link the context with concepts and theories, evaluate the situation, solve problems, and make and defend decisions.
  8. The ability to understand, apply and integrate lead-edge information technology in the accounting environment.
  9. The ability to examine and evaluate individual and organizational behavior and its consequences within a moral framework.
  10. An assertive and active approach to launching and managing their careers.