MAcc PROGRAM
INAUGURAL MAcc LEADERSHIP SUMMIT EDUCATES, CULTIVATES ‘AUBURN FAMILY’ SENTIMENT 30
The SOA Connection
Fall 2015
“During the inaugural MAcc Leadership Summit which began with an evening social on April 30, 2015, our goals were to not only expose students to the importance of strong ethics and leadership styles, but also impart a strong sense of the Auburn community and family,” said Amy Murphy, Director of Accounting Graduate and Online Programs. “Based on the feedback we received from students and the numerous ‘War Eagle’ goodbyes we received when students departed, I’m confident our goals were met.” On May 1, 2015, ninety-nine Master of Accountancy students (on-campus and distance) were treated to lessons in ethics, compliance, and the consequences of fraudulent behavior.
Upon arrival, a group of online MAcc students took a walking tour of campus. This was the first time many of them had ever visited Auburn. The May 1st ethics seminar featured three speakers convicted of engaging in accounting fraud. Diann Cattani, who pled guilty in 2000 to embezzling nearly $500,000 from a human resources consulting firm in Atlanta, Ga., William Owens, dubbed by many as the architect of the $2.7 billion accounting fraud at HealthSouth as its Controller, CFO and COO, and Andrew Fastow, the former Enron CFO who pled guilty to two counts of securities fraud, each gave three-hour lectures at the Auburn Alumni Center and shared their respective stories.