March 2009 Archives

Hi Everyone!

This is my first blog, so feel free to give me a few pointers if you have a mind to.  Let me start by introducing myself.  My name is Jane McDonald, Assistant Director for Student Services in the IU Kelley School of Business.  On a personal note, I've been married just over a year and my husband and I have four furry children; two cats, Rocky and Looney and two dogs, Gracee and JG. It has been an interesting year or so watching them get adjusted to each other, to say the least.

OK, back to Kelley.  As the Assistant Director for Student Services, I do various things for the school.  Foremost, I am proud to serve as one of five academic advisors for the school.  While we each may see any student who "walks through our doors" interested in business, I specifically work with the honors students, student athletes and probation students.  Another responsibility I hold for the school is that I serve as the Kelley Ombudsman.   I'll save the description of this role for a future blog topic.  Another responsbility I have is working the the Director of the program, Jane Lambert with hiring and training/orienting our adjunct faculty.  The last responsibilities that I will mention here are that I work with setting up the schedule of classes for future semesters and enrollment management. 

A misconception I think some students have is that if they see an advisor without a student, then that advisor must be free to see them.  On the contrary, as you can see from my example above, advisors have many responsibilities.  While advising is the most important and we set aside a significant amount of time to see students, we do have other responsibilities to attend to around student appointments.  I must say, I work with some pretty awesome advisors and we believe that you, the student, deserve our direct attention on your situation and concerns.  That is why advising appointments are so important, so you have our undivided attention!

Speaking of advising appointments, Priority Registration is upon us for summer and fall registration.  Now would be the perfect time for you to schedule an appointment with the advisor of your choice.  Please call our front desk staff at 274-2147 to schedule your appointment to day.

Until next time,

Jane McDonald

I was just answering some interview questions regarding the Master of Science in Accounting program and the CPA exam.  The MSA program is one of many tools that will help you for the exam.  The MSA is a great way to get the extra hours you need to sit.  I mean, if you have to take more classes, you may as well take the ones that will benefit you for the exam and earn a Master's degree in the process!

After meeting the educational requirements, the other part of exam is the preparation.  There are several kinds of prep material--just Google "CPA Review Materials" and there are over 427,000 hits!  But there is one precious commodity that you will not find on the Internet--your course notes.  If you're like me, you have notebooks and folders and binders full of pages and pages of notes.  HANG ONTO THEM!!  Those notes are an invaluable resource for you as you prepare for the exam. 

In case someone hasn't told you, CPA exam prep is not for the faint at heart.  To really do well, you need to immerse yourself in the material and basically live it every day, right up until you take the exam.  Yes, it's hard work.  Yes, it's a sacrifice.  But when you find out that you have just passed the last section, there's nothing like it!

So for those of you who are graduating soon (or for those fortunate enough to be finished with classes,) remember:  Those notes are gold!! 

Oh, and by the way, did I mention that we will have a CPA prep course on campus this summer...