Back to class

By Tori Smith 

Harold Martin, CPA, played guitar at an AICPA conference. Jessica McClain, CPA, is a season ticket holder for the Washington Commanders. Jonathan Saad, CPA, enjoys playing golf and tennis in his free time. Hope Cupit, CPA, has a son whose football games air on ESPN. But you’d never know that from their syllabi. 

Harold, Jessica, Jonathan and Hope are all adjunct professors and also full-time CPAs.  

Adjunct professorships provide a way for accountants to teach skills gleaned from their real-world experiences to interested college students — all while keeping their full-time positions at CPA firms or in other finance roles.  

As the number of accounting students declines and fears grow about keeping the pipeline full of CPA candidates, and as the number of full-time accounting professors also declines, adjuncts are key to enticing students to pursue accounting careers when they graduate. 

Here, four VSCPA members share their journeys to the classroom, demonstrating how teaching can fit into a variety of circumstances and careers, from teaching one online class to creating a post-retirement teaching career. 

Lecturing from a laptop 

Jessica has been entranced with the idea of accounting ever since elementary school. When she saw a substitute teacher who was also an accountant with money in her purse, she knew she wanted to enter the profession.  

Jessica graduated from Towson University with a degree in business in 2006 and then saw the vast career opportunities the accounting profession can provide. So, she graduated with her master's in accounting shortly after earning her bachelor's degree.  

Since then, Jessica has worked at a Big 4 Firm, public accounting firm, nonprofit and various other companies. She is currently the CFO of Girl Scout’s Nation’s Capital in Washington, D.C. 

Although being an adjunct professor wasn’t at the top of her priority list, she kept it in the back of her mind during the pandemic. While on the AICPA Student Recruitment Committee, she gave presentations to high school and college students about the CPA profession. 

“Eventually, someone reached out to me on LinkedIn and asked me if I was interested in applying for an adjunct position,” she said. Because she had just given birth to her second child, it wasn’t the right time. But six months later, another ping on LinkedIn led to an application.  

There was an opening at Nichols College for the class “Current Issues in Accounting.” Jessica went through the application process and secured her position as adjunct for the fall 2021 semester.  

Because Nichols College is in Massachusetts, Jessica was able to teach the class remotely.  

“What was appealing to me was that the course was already created. Of course, they gave me the opportunity to change things. But for someone coming in and teaching for the first time — the quizzes were already created and the questions on the assignments were already there. It worked out for me great,” said Jessica.  

Jessica believes that as a professor and a CFO, if you can take the time to teach, delegate and mentor, young people will benefit and be empowered.  

“Even as a senior manager, I would sit next to the new associate. That has been a great benefit on the professor's side, taking the time to have offline conversations and explaining the course material to them. Or even talking about the accounting profession.” 

There is a need for professors who have actual experience, Jessica said. 

“Those that have experience in these areas benefit our students and our pipeline. We’re doing more than just being an accountant and having many titles at all the different organizations that we work for. We need to show that.” 

Care in the classroom 

Jonathan earned his master's in accounting from DePaul University in 2009 before starting his career in public accounting at Groupon. He is now self-employed.  

Jonathan said he remembered this about working for other people: “I was working late and trying to go above and beyond. I realized if I left the office at 8 p.m. or came in on a day off, I was still going to make the same amount of money. I always wanted a direct correlation to the engagements and hours I put in.” 

It seemed everyone around Jonathan — friends, brother, cousin — were creating businesses. 

“One of my friends created their own travel agency. I thought, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’ I’m just as capable as anybody. That was the trajectory for the business.” 

When Jonathan was working at Groupon, he noted that it was not the day-to-day work he enjoyed the most – it was the interaction. “We had whiteboards in the office, and I drew on it and talked with them. We were challenging and teaching each other, and I got really energized by that.”  

In his business now, he handles taxes for individuals and small businesses while also working as a fractional CFO. 

Jonathan also decided to reach out to people on LinkedIn to find an adjunct professorship. 

“I’ve never harassed more people for a job than that,” said Jonathan. “It was not George Mason specifically, it was everywhere. I looked at every accounting school dean and every university within an hour of Virginia.” 

Jonathan met with the dean of George Mason University and was offered a 7–10 p.m. class in the business school: ACC 303, Accounting for Non-Accounting Majors. He has now taught four semesters since his position first started in 2018. 

Jonathan is one of the younger adjuncts, which he thinks gives him an edge.  

“They force you to learn things like journal entry by hand; but accounting software does all of that for you. There are times we don’t need to know this, but we have to learn it,” said Jonathan. “They appreciate that sort of honesty. I can talk to students about what I know and I’m closer to their position that is newer in the workforce.” 

Even though prioritization and good work ethic is important to Jonathan, having empathy and care for students plays into the position as well.  

“You’re a support person for them. I love giving them advice about public accounting versus private. Obviously, you’re not going to give them the ‘right’ answer, but instead poking and prodding to find out what’s important to them. You need to have empathy and care for your students,” said Jonathan.  

Jonathan knew he was meant to be an adjunct when he felt so excited to talk about it.  

“I felt the most energized after my 10 p.m. class. I looked forward to my Thursday nights. I would come home and want to tell my wife about it. It felt like a really good fit for me,” Jonathan said. 

Community college class leader 

Ever since Hope Cupit took a bookkeeping class, she knew she wanted to be involved in accounting.  

Hope, a Virginia native, eventually went on to her master's degree in accounting. She has worked in a school setting, a hospital, and is now the president and CEO of the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, a nonprofit that works with environmental issues, social justice, and workforce development.  

Hope has always had a goal of becoming a professor. One day, Hope decided to take a few steps into the dean’s office at Virginia Western Community College to see what she could offer. That was in May. By August, she was teaching a class. 

“I just spoke with the dean and said, ‘Hey, I want to teach accounting.’ Then, she gave me the book,” said Hope.  

Hope teaches ACC 211, Financial Accounting. While originally the class was one night a week on campus, it’s now entirely virtual.  

“When COVID-19 hit in 2020, I had a live class and we had to shut everything down and figure out how to use those online resources,” said Hope. “The technology was always there; there were just a few of us seasoned employees.” 

Hope says that she’s grateful that the class remained virtual because her full-time role is very busy. And the VSCPA has been helpful to her as well; the educator community helps keep her connected to trends and training opportunities. 

“What I take from a part of my CPA affiliation is real-life situations, when we talk about fraud and embezzlement, I can bring those back into my classroom,” Hope said.  

Hope is happy and honored to be a part of student’s lives. She said she enjoys interacting with the students, being a reference, helping them find jobs, and sitting down and mentoring them. 

“This is a two-way street,” she said.  

For other CPAs that are considering becoming an adjunct, Hope says that you need passion for teaching and open time.  

“I teach on Mondays, and Tuesdays I’m starting to prepare for the next class. The students know if you don’t prepare. You want to have their confidence,” said Hope.  

Hope knows personally what it can be like as a student who has a discouraging teacher.  

“I had a professor tell me I couldn’t do this career because I didn’t do all that well in school and was very young,” said Hope. That didn’t stop her from continuing and having a successful career anyway.  

 “I could’ve gotten really depressed over her comment, but I took it as an action plan for myself. For anyone that’s working in this field, do not underestimate a student’s feelings. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  

A post-retirement plan 

Harold, a partner at Keiter in Glen Allen, started working on a litigation project early in his career by accident. Since that time, he has continued to focus on providing litigation consulting and expert witness services, as well as financial investigation services in his professional practice.  

As an adjunct, Harold may have an edge compared to other CPAs — he’s got the writing skills he earned from his undergraduate English degree.  

“Most accounting majors are very technical, so they definitely don’t have in-depth writing courses. The further up you go in any organization, the more important your written and oral skills are. I’m constantly writing for internal and external uses,” said Harold.  

Harold has been interested in teaching since obtaining his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His interest was also piqued when he was given advice early in his career from an experienced professional regarding becoming a good expert witness at trial.  

“I was told, ‘Harold, if you want to become a good expert witness, one of the best things you can do is teach,’” Harold said. “When you teach something, you learn it inside out.” 

Harold initially began his teaching career by serving as an instructor of professional courses for the AICPA and VSCPA. His opportunity to teach as an adjunct instructor at the university level resulted when a former colleague, who had accepted a position as the assistant dean for the master’s of accountancy program at The College of William and Mary, contacted Harold regarding a teaching course in forensic accounting. The request originated as a result of students in the program requesting an elective course in this subject. As none of the current professors at the College possessed experience in this field, the assistant dean reached out to Harold. He was hired as an adjunct professor at William and Mary in 2005 and has now taught there for 17 years.  

Harold believes his real-life experiences give him a unique perspective.  

“Students love learning about cases I’ve conducted and talking about the actual concepts we’ve learned in class. I’m able to add that additional knowledge of an actual case to illustrate the point,” Harold said.  

In addition to his own experiences, he also invites guest speakers in related fields to speak to his students, including an FBI agent, an attorney, and an expert in related forensic accounting disciplines, including forensic lexicology, behavior detection, and facial mapping.  

Harold had already earned a master's degree which qualified him to teach as an adjunct instructor at the university level. However, he noted that universities’ requirements vary and CPAs may be qualified to  teach as an adjunct based on their undergraduate accounting degree, CPA license, and professional experience. 

“Other than the technical qualifications, it is very helpful to have the prior experience of teaching in other venues,” Harold said. “When you’re in a classroom, you want to have interaction with the students, and you must be able to carry the ball for a large block of that time. If you’ve done it before, you’ll know ways and techniques to make things more interesting.” 

Harold plans to transition to teaching full time when he retires. 

Interested in adjunct? Start here. 

Adjunct professorships can supplement your career or also be a way to dip your toe into higher education before making a permanent career move. Schools all have different requirements to teach adjunct; some may require a master’s or Ph.D., depending on the class or program. 

An article from The CPA Journal breaks down teaching opportunities in depth. Find it at tinyurl.com/AccountingAdjuncts.

 Tori Smith is the VSCPA 2022 communications intern. She is a journalism student at Ball State University.