Alumni Newsletter Fall 2021

Karneisha Wolfe Earns 2021 Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship

“Companies are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the accuracy of their accounting processes. Karneisha’s research examines how external auditors utilize this data during their audit judgments. She is a highly motivated, bright, and committed doctoral student who is examining a timely topic that has the potential to contribute to the practice and theory of auditing” says her advisor, Dr. Sudip Bhattacharjee, Professor of Accounting and Information Systems. Last year, another Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech was also awarded the Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship. “Given the competitiveness of this fellowship, winning this award two years in a rowmeans that our Ph.D. Program has risen to a high level with national recognition. It’s a great achievement for our Ph.D. Program.” says the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Accounting and Information Systems, Dr. Ling Lisic. A native of Charleston, SC, Karneisha graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting and human resource management. She also holds a master’s of accountancy from Wake Forest University and she is a licensed CPA in the state of

North Carolina. Prior to entering the doctoral program, Karneisha worked as a controller at a Fortune 100 company and an auditor at a public accounting firm. She is also a 2018 AICPA Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program scholar. Karneisha’s primary research interests are auditing and financial reporting. She enjoys researching topics that align with her unique work experience. After completing her Ph.D., Karneisha hopes to join the faculty at an university that champions research and values teaching, where she can help to increase diversity within the accounting profession. The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives that help develop the next generation of diverse business leaders, and their influencers, and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum innovation. The Foundation sponsors an array of national programs relevant to a variety of professional services, benefiting high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and educators.

Karneisha Wolfe

Karneisha Wolfe, a third-year Ph.D. candidate, is a recipient of the prestigious 2021 Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship.The award is designed to support outstanding accounting Ph.D. candidates in hopes of strengthening the quantity and quality of accounting professors. Each year, the foundation awards fellowships to 10 top accounting Ph.D. candidates across the U.S. from the approximately 100 universities invited to nominate a doctoral candidate for the fellowship.

Highlights of ACIS Department Achievements 2016-2021 Under Dr. Jack Maher • Perhaps the biggest achievement we have accomplished together is the hiring of 17 of our current 32 full time faculty members, 1 new staff member, and 5 adjunct faculty members. These hirings of very high-quality people have had a transformational positive effect on our department that should last for many years. • Becoming one of nine high quality universities to partner with membership in the KPMG MADA program with its associated training for our faculty in accounting analytics that flows through many of our undergraduate and graduate courses. • Implemented our ACIS technology initiative to ensure technology projects are incorporated in every one of our upper division and graduate courses. • Initiated our writing initiative last Fall and hired PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing to help assess and improve the critical written communication skills of our undergraduate and master’s students. • ACIS undergraduate student placement rate shortly after graduation is 94% to 95% the last several years while the ACIS graduate stu- dent placement rate has averaged 97% prior to graduation. • Successful AACSB Re-accreditation with several department activities lauded as “Best Practices”. • Increased research profile and rankings for ACIS Department, e.g., BYU rankings increasing 37 places from #82 to #45. Even more dramatically, our UT-Dallas rankings have increased 57 places from below 100 in 2015 to #43 in 2020. ACIS rankings should increase even further based on what faculty have already achieved due a lagged effect of already-accepted publications. • Perhaps most importantly, we have fostered and maintained a very supportive and collegial atmosphere for everyone in the workplace.

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