Maryville University Online Accounting Webinar – Spring 2017

Rick Garcia: Hello everyone. Welcome to the Maryville University Online Bachelor and Master of Science and Accounting Information Session. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Rick Garcia and I will be your moderator. Just a few things to cover before we begin here. You are in listen-only mode so please keep that in mind. If you have any questions please type your questions into the Q&A box at any time throughout the presentation. We will also be sending you a link for the recording after the conclusion of the presentation today.So what we’ll cover – here is the list of agenda items for this morning. I will be introducing to the list of guest speakers or panelists today. We will also talk about Maryville and who we are. Then we will go into Student Support Services and then go onto the program’s overview for the bachelor’s and master’s program. Then to the admission requirements and tuition and then we will conclude with the questions and answer session.
So our guest speakers for today. Our panelists will be Summer Anderson, who is a CPA. She is the Professor of Accounting. Tom Nunes, the Online Accounting Enrollment Advisor. Janae Alvarado, she is the Student Support Service Program Coordinator, and Jeannie Deluca, she’s the Director of Admissions and Advising and she will help us through answering any questions throughout the presentation today. At this point I’d like to turn it over to Tom to talk to you a little bit about Maryville.Tom Nunes: Hello, everybody and thank you for your time and for joining us here today. So a little bit about Maryville University. We are located in St. Louis. We were founded in 1872. We have also been ranked as a top private school by US News and World Report, Forbes and Kiplingers. We are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The John E. Simon School of Business is also ACBSP accredited. We do offer numerous corporate partnerships, so during the admissions process if this is something that you’d like to learn a little bit more about, I invite you to reach out to myself or whatever advisor you might be working with throughout the process. And we have also been named the military friendly schools list for the sixth consecutive year.So the Maryville online learning experience. So this is an engaging interactive experience. We do have small class sizes that allow for networking and development of relationships with fellow students and distinguished faculty. So it’s important to note that you aren’t looking to getting into a lecture hall environment. We do keep our classes small group sizes to encourage communication with each other, as well as, as we mentioned, networking possibilities.

This is a fully asynchronous learning environment so it does offer a very high level of flexibility for working professionals. So you won’t have to change your work schedule or really amend anything you have going on. You do have the opportunity to logon when throughout the day would work out best for you and would best fit your schedule. This program does adapt to your personal schedule as mentioned within the structured timelines, so you will want to keep abreast of any daily, weekly deadlines that will be outlined in your syllabus, but you are able to access the platform and participate at your convenience.

Our learning management system is called Canvas. It is very, very user-friendly. Prior to beginning we will also provide you with a lot of tools to assist you in utilizing Canvas, so orientations that will assist you with navigating, getting used to where things are. We also do have technical support should there be any issues on that end. We also do have flexible options for mobile learning so you are able to view course content from any device. So there is no limitations in terms of Mac, PC, or anything of that nature. And Canvas is also great because it does offer some app capabilities as well. All right, and now I’m going to pass it over to Janae Alvarado to discuss the Student Support Services.

Janae Alvarado: Hi everyone. My name is Janae and I am a Student Support Program Coordinator and I pick up where your admissions advisor leaves off. So I’m here to support you once you have begun the program. I know it’s online and I’m your go-to person for anything you might need from the very first day of classes all the way to the end at graduation. So we have different touch points but we each check in with each other. We do talk about registration and I’m here to help you with that process as well. But of course we all know that life does not stop when we’re enrolled in school. So I’m also here to talk to you about how work and family impacts your performance at school and just make sure that you are on the right track at all times. If there is anything that’s outside of my area of expertise, you have a lot of other resources that are available to you. So for example, we have the Academic Success Center that you are able to access even as an online student, tutoring services, writing studio and career and professional development. And as an online student you may use all of these resources or maybe a couple, but I am always here to point you in the right direction if you need. Now I’m going to turn it over to –

Summer Anderson: Hi, I went live too quick. Sorry about that. I’m Summer Anderson. I hope you can see me now. I’m Summer Anderson and I’m here to talk specifically about the accounting program today. So the first slide we want to talk about is why Maryville? So what makes our accounting program special? And the first thing when you do your BS in accounting with us, we position you to prepare for your graduate degree by providing three early access courses. So if you qualify and you’re doing your undergrad, three of your accounting electives can actually be directly applied to the graduate program. So by the time you’re finished with your undergrad, you’re already nine hours into the grad program. So that’s really unique.

Another unique aspect would be with our MS in accounting. We include Becker CPA prep courses in our program. So most programs you go finish your 150 hours and then you go take Becker and start taking the CPA exam. But with us you’re last four courses in the grad program are actually including the Becker material. So you’re studying as you go and as long as you’re close enough to your 150 hours to take the exam, then you can actually start taking pieces of the exam while you’re still doing your grad degree. So it just kind of gets you quicker into your career.

Another aspect is within our MS accounting we have our bridge program offering. So if you don’t already have an undergrad in accounting, then we’ll take you back and have you do those upper level accounting classes and some of the business classes before you can start taking the graduate courses. And that is because most state CPA exams require 27 hours of business and then 33 hours of accounting. So that helps you go back and collect all of those things plus the knowledge that you need along those areas to take the exam.

We also are 100 percent online, no campus residency requirement. You can start in spring, summer or fall terms. The length just varies based on what you already have in your background and are transferring in but the BS can be done in as few as two and half years after your gen eds, and the MS can be done in as little as ten months if you already have an accounting degree or about two and a half years if you don’t have the degree and are doing the bridge program. We don’t require ACT or SAT for the undergrad and we don’t require GMAT or GRE for the grad. Our business school is ACBSP accredited and the accounting program actually has special accreditation, meaning we do a little bit more with the accreditation. So we are highly certified. And then ACBSP just means that we are focused on teaching here at Maryville and not on research. So we are purely here for you.

The program curriculum – so within the BS it’s 128 credit hours. You’ve got 13 business core courses and 11 upper level accounting courses that you have to take within this upper level. So here are the three courses right here. These are the electives that get you into the grad program that double count for both. All of our accounting courses are taught by CPAs with real work experience.

And then a little bit about the grad program. So if you’re going straight to the grad program without the bridge, you’ve got 30 credit hours. That’s six core courses and then your four Becker CPA prep courses. And if you’re doing your undergrad with us and then rolling into the grad program, it’s three of these courses that you’ll take as part of undergrad. So then you would have three left plus Becker to finish your grad. Then the bridge – this is just some detail about what the bridge would look like. It goes back and you pick up your accounting courses, some law, finance, economics, statistics, and then some of the upper level accounting courses. Okay, and now we’ve got online accounting enrollment, so I’ll turn it back over to Tom.

Tom Nunes: Thank you very much, Summer. So jumping into what the enrollment and application process looks like, the admissions requirements here – so you’re looking at a completed application. I did want to mention that this is free so there is no application fee or anything of that nature. We do also require official academic transcripts from all previously attended institutions. The nice thing is a lot of schools these days are transitioning to electronic transcripts that do come via email; so especially when we do get into situations when deadlines are quickly approaching, this is a very, very easy and convenient way to be able to have that process expedited. If you do have any questions about what the process would look like, again, we’re more than happy to assist during the application process.

So on the undergraduate side of things we do require a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. Generally the associate’s degree will satisfy the general education requirements, so if you have completed the associates degree, you should knock off quite a few credits in terms of the program requirements. I do just want to direct you back to the catalog for a listing of the required credits. And something else, too, if you’re unsure of what credits may transfer in or you want a little bit more clarification, during the process we can actually have your transcripts evaluated and give you a really good idea of what your potential degree plan might look like.

We do take a maximum of 68 credit hours from a two year college towards completion of your bachelor’s degree. As mentioned, your completed associate’s degree in a specific area will count as a minor in the completion of a bachelor’s degree as well. And then the last 30 credit hours of your degree must be taken with Maryville University. So that doesn’t mean that you have to be on campus to take those hours, they just do have to come within our program.
And then looking at the graduate side of things. So we are looking at a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. We also do a cumulative GPA assessment. So perhaps you went to a few institutions, did very well on the majority of them, but maybe had one transcript that wasn’t quite as high. We will do an assessment of your whole collegiate career and if for any reason you do fall below that 3.0 mark, what we can also do is look at some other ways we can strengthen your file. By no means does that disqualify you right away in terms of being able to move forward. You’ll just want to work with your advisor, whether it’s myself or one of my colleagues, in terms of what some next steps might be there.

The next thing we are looking for is a personal letter explaining your qualifications for graduate work. So this is going to be about 500 words. So generally about a page to two pages double spaced. As your advisors, we are more than happy to assist in proof reading should you have any rough drafts, or really assisting you throughout that process with any questions you might have.

Applicants with the program with an accumulative undergraduate grade point average below 3.0 may apply for conditional acceptance. So I touched on that a second ago. And what a conditional acceptance essentially means, is that in your first three courses you would be expected and required to get Bs or better in each of those courses.

And for international applicants, if applicable, professionally evaluated transcripts, whether that’s through us, which is probably the most popular service, or any additional services. And if needed, your test scores from your official proficiency exam, such as a TOFL or the IELTS. All right, so in terms of tuition. So for undergraduate students, you’re looking at a total of $500 per credit hour with a total cost of $64,000. You do want to keep in mind that a lot of our students will come in with transfer credits, already completed courses from different institutions, so that number’s going to be really a moving target depending on how many courses are going to be required for you in your degree plan.

For our graduate students we are looking at a total of $750 per credit hour or a total of $25,300. And for our bridge students, this is going to be kind of another one of those situations like undergrad where it will really depend on how many credit hours you would need. If you were required to take every course in the bridge program, you would be looking at $47,800 with all of the bridge courses following the undergraduate tuition rate. However, again, a lot of our students will come in with some bridge course requirements already having been met and we can make sure whether it’s evaluating your transcripts prior to applying or even after you did apply, we’d be able to provide you with a degree planning sheet, really giving you a good idea of what we did accept and in terms of what might still be required.

As Summer touched on, the Becker CPA prep courses, you’re looking at an additional $700 for each of those courses. Those will be the last four courses in the program. I do want to indicate as well that it is a $600 discount from Becker retail. So if you were to pursue that on your own, you are actually saving a little bit of money here if you do it through us. And then in terms of any additional fees. So we do have our one fee. And what this would be would be a total of $650 per semester. So you will pay this once every 16 weeks. This would cover graduation fees, unlimited transcripts and more. And for our undergraduate students that rate would change as well. So if you are an undergraduate student, again, please feel free to reach out to us should you have any questions in terms of the fee structure.

And then financial aid is available should you qualify, as well as corporate discounts that I had mentioned. So this would be another great thing I would recommend. If you’ve already started the application process, or if you’re thinking about it, your admissions advisor would be more than happy to really go through what that would look like in terms of the steps and provide you with any information that might be needed.

All right, so our next steps. So as you’ll see on the right hand side we do have a start date coming up for our spring term beginning January 16th. We had extended our deadline to January 9th, so we still do have plenty of time if this does sound like a program that might be of interest.

The first step would be to apply online at the link that you will see listed there. This is also something that our admission advisors will be more than happy to provide for you throughout the process as well. You can also schedule an appointment with us by following the link provided. The great thing about this is this does allow you set an appointment that will best fit your schedule and we’ll give you access to our schedules as well. So if you are only available early morning, in the evening, whatever that might be, we’ll be able to work a time that does best fit your schedule accordingly.
Once your application has bee completed and all of the documents have been included in your file, you will receive an admissions decision from the academic department. Your admissions advisor will make sure to reach to you with the decision in going over, as I mentioned, what your degree plan would look like. But you will also get a formal letter explaining, again, what the degree or requirements would be and any specific conditions that might arise. So do fee free to contact us. You’ll see the number listed below. Again, myself, I’m the lead advisor for the program but myself or my colleagues do look forward to speaking with you very soon as well as assisting you throughout this process. And now I will turn it back over to Rick to go over some of our questions and our answers.

Rick Garcia: Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Summer. Thank you, Janae. At this point, we can begin our question and answer session. We do have a few questions that have come in. The first one here is in the online environment are there fixed class times that I would need to dial into? There’s a followup question as well. Are there recorded lectures? I think I can turn that one over to Summer to help answer that question. Summer, are you there?

Summer Anderson: Sure, so all of our courses are asynchronous, so that means that we will never require that you login at a certain time and meet with people. So you might every once in a while be assigned team work, but that would be between you and your team to figure out times that work for all of you to meet. The lectures are recorded. And how most courses work is we’ll open up the week on Monday morning and then you’ll have all week to work on your assignments and ask questions and then it will be due Sunday evening and then the next week will open up.

Rick Garcia: Great, thank you, Summer. The next question. I’m a bit nervous about the online environment. Until I get more familiar with the online platform, is there any type of support I will receive? I will hand that over to Janae.

Janae Alvarado: Thanks, Rick. I actually think it’s very normal to be a little bit nervous, whether you’ve taken classes before online or not. So some of the things that we have in place for that, there’s actually a webinar that you can go to that will show you how Canvas is laid out and how to navigate around it. Prior to classes beginning and that’s usually something I usually encourage new students to attend just to kind of help with that. And then any questions that you have after that I’ve become very familiar with Canvas in general and I’m able to walk you through some of those questions that you might have until you get a little bit more familiar with it. Usually after the first class I don’t have students struggle with it. As Tom had mentioned before, it’s a very user-friendly system. So I would say if you do have any concerns, definitely reach out and plan on attending that webinar because it’s become very helpful for new students to get accustomed to Canvas in general.

Rick Garcia: Thank you, Janae. Our next question – are there payment options or financial aid available for the program? I will hand that over to Jeannie.

Tom Nunes: All right, in terms of payment options, this would be something during the application process and even during the admissions –
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Rick Garcia: Thank you, Tom. Our next question as regarding any breaks. Are there any breaks incorporated into the program? I will let Summer address that question.

Summer Anderson: There are no official breaks built in. You get your holiday breaks just like with any academic schedule. You may take off when necessary, so you might want to take off to start studying for the exam and then come back for the next section or something, I can see that happening, and that is fine, but we’ll probably need Jeannie to talk about the length of break because I know there’s probably only a certain amount of time you could take off and then roll right back into the program. So I’ll jump off.

Rick Garcia: Thanks, Summer. Jeannie may be having some technical issues with her system at this point. But let’s roll into the next question. Here’s the question. If I’m an online student, can I participate in school functions and events? That’s a good question. Summer, can you handle that question as well? It looks like Summer may be having some issues as well. Let’s go to the next question if we could. The question is I’m currently enrolled in a non-business program. Can I still attend Maryville University for accounting? Are there any specific prerequisites I need in order to get in? Tom, I’ll hand it over to you.

Tom Nunes: All right, thank you very much. The great thing about the accounting degree, and even some of the business degrees in general, they do appeal to students from both the accounting and business background as well as students that do come outside of the business realm. So in terms of the bridge program, so if you have already completed an undergraduate degree and you are looking to move forward in a graduate program for the Master of Science in Accounting, this is where the bridge program will come into play. And essentially what we would do is we will look at anything that you’ve taken in your previous undergraduate program that is in that business area that you may have already fulfilled requirements for. And this will be done during the process as well. We can do this – in terms of if you want your transcripts evaluated before hand, when you submit your file. We’ll give you a good idea of what that degree plan will look like.

In terms of any specific foundation courses, generally, computer applications course and a college mathematics course are what we’re also looking for. Most students in general fulfill these requirements for the most part. There may be some one-off situations but what we try to do is really if you’re looking to see what your specific requirements are before you move forward, we can of course make sure we do get that evaluated for you prior to applying. Back to Rick.

Rick Garcia: Thank you, Tom. That is our last question for today. So we can wrap it up. I just want to thank you all again for participating and taking the time out of your day to be with us today. We hope to hear from you in the very, very near future. Thank you and have a great day.

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