Preparing Professionals for Success, ASAP

By Eliana Chow

The Poole College of Management’s Jenkins MAC Program recently launched a managerial accounting module for ASAP, an accelerated program designed to help pre-MAC students acquire prerequisite accounting knowledge before beginning their master’s degree. New managerial accounting classes are also on the roster for the upcoming Spring 2022 semester.

This expansion comes in response to growing interest for more business-focused content among incoming MAC students from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds. For students looking to launch a career in accounting, as well as current accounting professionals seeking to expand their skillset as they assume a new leadership role, the ASAP managerial course helps set the stage for similar content in the MAC program’s business and industry track.

“Managerial accounting is more than just pushing numbers around,” says Bonnie Hancock, executive director of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative and professor of practice at the Poole College of Management. “While we do teach the technical side of cost accounting, these courses equip students with decision-making, communication and planning skills they can bring back to the firm to help strengthen their teams.”

“While we do teach the technical side of cost accounting, these courses equip students with decision-making, communication and planning skills they can bring back to the firm to help strengthen their teams.”

Adapting to Student Needs

According to Jessica Moran, assistant director for the MAC program, ASAP is uniquely designed to appeal to the financial and timing needs of a rapidly expanding group of professionals. Many professionals do not have the resources to spend years acquiring further accounting credentials, especially if they have already spent their undergraduate and early career pursuing other fields. By participating in ASAP, students can achieve their MAC degree in a little over a year, affordably and efficiently launching them into the next stage of their career.

ASAP’s modular structure also leaves ample room for a personalized learning track. If a student enters the program with a handful of previous accounting classes, as in the case of an undergraduate accounting minor, they only have to enroll in the modules that satisfy the remainder of their prerequisites. “Our goal is always to meet students where they are and adapt to their needs, even as we continue to offer a rigorous course of study through our dedicated faculty,” Moran says.

Serving Working Professionals

The asynchronous and online nature of ASAP opened the door for Sadie Lang, MAC ’22, to simultaneously work full-time and complete her coursework throughout the spring and summer of 2021. “ASAP was the main reason why I chose NC State over other schools in the area,” affirms Lang, who earned her undergraduate degree in environmental science and entered the MAC program after teaching for five years in Raleigh schools. “By the time I entered the in-person MAC program in September, I felt more than prepared to keep up with my classmates who have been studying accounting for years.”

“By the time I entered the in-person MAC program in September, I felt more than prepared to keep up with my classmates who have been studying accounting for years.”

Just Getting Started

When ASAP first launched in 2019 as an in-person, intensive summer bootcamp, 10 students enrolled in the program. In 2020, when the program went fully online, 32 students participated, and the most recent 2021 cohort boasted 39 ASAP learners. “ASAP is opening a door for more and more professionals to earn a MAC degree, and I hope our reach only widens in the years to come,” says Moran.

Moving forward, faculty and staff aim to continue expanding ASAP and MAC course offerings, emphasizing both technical and soft skills, to better serve different groups of academics and professionals in an ever-changing industry. As a professor, Hancock reflects, “It’s inspiring to play a central role in helping people realize they can pivot careers and build a future they’re passionate about, no matter where they find themselves in the present.”