School of Accountancy

History of the School

On December 1, 1906, a fifty-member Bulloch County Georgia delegation submitted the winning bid, $125,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, including 300 acres of land for a campus, to the First District Board of Trustees to provide the site for the First District A&M School. In early 1908, the School opened its doors with fifteen students, four faculty members, and three buildings. Such was the determination of the community that the School would be built in Statesboro. The School grew rapidly and underwent several transformations – from agricultural and mechanical school, to teachers college, to its current status as a comprehensive regional institution. The institution’s evolution is reflected through its name changes:

On July 1, 1990, when Georgia Southern College became Georgia Southern University, the institution became the first new university in Georgia in twenty-one years. The new University’s mission statement envisioned a “predominantly undergraduate university devoted to ‘teaching first,’ a student-centered residential campus that nurtures a fulfilling college experience, and a serving institution strongly identified with the heritage and hopes of its region.” The mission is rooted in South Georgia, a largely rural region that encompasses coastline, wetlands, cities with rich histories, and areas of endemic privation but abundant potential. (Source: 2001-02 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog, pp. 8-9.)

In 1969, Georgia Southern College was reorganized into schools and divisions, including the Division of Business. Dr. Paul Lagrone, Professor of Accounting, was the founding Dean of the Division, which two years later became the School of Business and included five departments, one of which was the Department of Accounting. In 1983, under the leadership of Professor of Accounting and Dean Origen James, the School of Business earned its initial AACSB accreditation. Dean Carl Gooding led the School of Business to college status in 1992 and through re-accreditation in 1993. Dr. Karen Fortin led the Department of Accounting through its initial separate accounting accreditation in 1994 and Dr. Ralph Byington became the founding Director of the School of Accountancy in 1997.

The School proposed a graduate program in accounting in 1995 in response to Georgia’s newly enacted 150-semester hour requirement for sitting for the CPA Exam. However, at the request of its new Chancellor, the University System Board of Regents issued a moratorium on all new academic programs until a review of the program approval process could be completed. The School therefore developed an accounting concentration for the College’s existing Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. The Board of Regents eventually lifted its moratorium and the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program was approved to begin in the fall of 1997. An arrangement was approved with the University’s Graduate School and the state agency that administers the state-funded Hope Scholarship program so that students who are receiving the Hope Scholarship may defer their graduation from the undergraduate program and continue receiving the scholarship while enrolled in our graduate program. Upon completing this “five-year program,” these students are awarded both a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and the MAcc (or MBA) degree.