REENGINEERING THE INTERNSHIP: A NEW APPROACH TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22,1995 229 REENGINEERING THE INTERNSHIP: A NEW APPROACH TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Carol M. Bruton, University of San Diego Gary P. Schneider, University of San Diego Christopher M. Juracka, Price Waterhouse ABSTRACT This paper describes a unique internship learning opportunity with the Controller’s office at our university. The intern had direct responsibility for several major projects and learned by doing--not by observing. Key factors identified in the paper that led to the internship’s success include careful planning, involvement of accounting faculty, and the cooperation of the Controller’s office. The intern learned a great deal from the variety of experiences. The Controller’s office benefited by having the intern act as a professional staff member. The accounting faculty benefited from a close working relationship with both the intern and university financial management. INTRODUCTION The Vice President of Finance for our university sought the accounting faculty’s advice regarding how to manage the workload in the Controller’s office while expanding the services they provide. After discussing a number of alternatives, we agreed that a carefully planned student internship could be an ideal solution. Together, we envisioned an internship that would provide the student ample opportunity for experiential learning in a broad range of accounting settings. All too frequently, an intern serves as a low-level assistant that performs mundane tasks under close supervision. What interns do learn about higher-level tasks, they learn by observing--not by doing. Experiential learning, learning by doing, has many advantages over learning by observing [Bruce, 1993; Specht and Sandlin, 1991]. We planned this internship so that it would include significant experiential components that would benefit both the intern and the Controller’s office. The intern was to have direct responsibility for several major accounting assignments including internal audit activities. Before this internship the university had no internal audit function. The close involvement of accounting faculty was essential to the success of this internship. Accounting faculty members played key roles in selecting an appropriate intern candidate. Accounting faculty were also involved on a continuing basis as advisors to the intern. The intern’s independent learning activities included four major projects: - Writing the report that analyzed disclosure requirements for the university’s post-retirement benefits liability. - Converting the university’s general ledger to a form that the external auditors could use. - Conducting an operational audit of the university bookstore. - Conducting an operational audit of the university ticket sales office. The intern also completed other tasks for the Controller. The next four sections of the paper explain how the four major projects became valuable learning experiences. DISCLOSURE ANALYSIS The first project was for the intern to analyze the university’s post retirement benefit disclosure. Recent changes in accounting standards [Adler, et al., 1991; FASB, 1990; NACUBO, 1991] require the university to disclose liability for post-retirement benefits in its financial statements. No member of the Controller’s staff was familiar with the new standard, therefore, the intern began by carefully reading the authoritative literature on the subject. He worked directly with the personnel director to extract the relevant information from the university’s records. Next, he drafted a report summarizing his findings. To enhance the learning aspect of this project, an accounting faculty member reviewed the report and suggested a number of revisions. After revising the report, the intern presented it in a meeting with the universities outside actuarial consultants. At this meeting, the controller assisted the intern in his presentation- -a notable reversal of the usual roles! After this meeting the intern became the liaison with the actuary, answering questions and providing additional data. The intern performed all of these tasks without needing to consult the university’s outside audit firm, a significant cost saving. The duration of this project was two months. Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22,1995 230 GENERAL LEDGER CONVERSION Generally accepted auditing standards permit external auditors to use clients’ staff to assist them in their audit [AICPA, 1994]. The intern’s second major project was to convert the university general ledger to a form that the external auditors could use efficiently and effectively in their conduct of the annual audit. This project took three weeks, one week working with the external audit senior and two weeks working alone. BOOK STORE OPERATIONAL AUDIT In an operational audit, the auditor evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization’s operating procedures. Operational audits are frequently more difficult than other audits because they require the auditor to make subjective judgments in evaluating evidence [Arens & Loebbecke, 1994, p. 5]. The university bookstore operational audit presented the intern with a number of special challenges. The intern interviewed all five-department heads and wrote narratives of the operational flows in each department. He then used the narratives to create an integrated system flowchart for the entire book store operation. Using the flowcharts and the narratives, the intern conducted follow up interviews with book store employees and investigated numerous data processing discrepancies. The intern’s audit report, which exceeded thirty pages, included seven major audit findings and recommendations for improvements. In planning and carrying out this audit, the intern: - Organized a complex activity. - Learned how to conduct structured interviews and summarize the results in written narratives. - Experienced a full cycle of audit activities. - Used flowcharting software to create the systems flowcharts. Since the intern had not yet taken an accounting information systems course, he had to learn flowcharting on the job. He used one of the controller’s reference books and purchased a microcomputer graphics software package that had flowcharting capabilities. Identifying relevant activities is one of the most difficult aspects of learning flowcharting [Faye and Mock, 1986]. The intern struggled with this issue, but, with help from accounting faculty members and the controller, successfully mastered the necessary skills. TICKET SALES OFFICE OPERATIONAL AUDIT The last major project was an operational audit of the university ticket office. The university ticket office sells tickets for events throughout San Diego to students at reduced prices. The ticket sales office is a simpler system than the bookstore. However, this operational audit focused more on internal controls, letting the intern experience a very different audit environment than the book store audit environment. SUMMARY AND EVALUATION OF THE EXPERIENCE Clearly, the intern learned a great deal from his varied experiences. The university benefited by having a self- starting professional staff member working with the Controller’s office. The accounting faculty benefited by working closely with the intern and developing a partnership with the financial management team of the university. All too frequently, the accounting faculty and university accountants never forge a working mutually beneficially relationship. We feel fortunate to have developed such a relationship at our university. REFERENCES Adler, J., P. Delaney, B. Epstein, and M. Foran, GAAP Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, (N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, 1991). American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, A/CPA Professional Standards, (June 1994) Arens, A. and J. Loebbecke, Auditing: An Integrated Approach, Prentice Hall, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1994). Bruce, C., “Experiential Education’, The Black Collegian, (Vol. 24, No. 2, November December 1993), pp. 76-80. Faye, D. and T. Mock, “How to Prepare Better Accounting systems Flowcharts,” The Practical Accountant (November 1986), pp. 106-118. Financial Accounting Standards Board, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, Statement No 106 (Norwalk, CT Financial Accounting Foundation, 1990). Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22,1995 231 NACUBO, Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions, Advisory Report 91-2, (WA: NACUBO, 1991). Specht L. and P. Sandlin, ‘The Differential Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes in Accounting’, (Vol. 22, No. 2, June 1991), pp. 196-210 Table of Contents Volume 22, 1995 Simulation Performance, Learning and Struggle Are Good Simulation Performers Consistently Good? Cognitive and Behavioral Consistency in a Computer-Based Marketing-Simulation-Game Environment: An Empirical Investigation of the Decision-Making Process Chalk & Cheese: Executive Short-Course vs. Academic Simulations Revisiting Personality Bias in Total Enterprise Simulations Are Good Strategies Consistently Good? Investigating the Use of a Computer Simulation as an Effective Pedagogical Tool for the Application of a Strategic Model The Problem of determining an Individualized Simulation's Validity as an Assessment Tool A Simulation Based Analysis of the Value of Information in the Hrebiniak Joyce Typology of Adaptation Relative to Porter's Generic Strategies The Impact of Sales and Income Growth on Profitability and Market Measures in Actual and Simulated Industries A Comparison of a Stand Alone Version of a Simulation with the Traditional Competitive Version Computer-Assisted Gaming of International Business Analyzing Simulations with Computer-Based Programs and Applying the Experience to a Real-World Business A Preliminary Investigation of the Use of a Bankruptcy Indicator in a Simulation Environment Graduates' Views on the Use of Computer Simulation Games Versus Cases as Pedagogical Tools An Analytical Advertising Model Approach to the Determination of Market Demand Dealing with the Complexity Paradox in Business Simulation Games A Prototyping Approach for Incorporating Large Data Bases into Media Planning Simulations: An Example Using Magazine Media Through the Looking Glass, Inc: Superior-Subordinate Personality Type and the Leniency effect Evaluating the Effectiveness of Role Playing Simulation and Other Methods in Teaching Managerial Skills Student and Teacher Perceptions of a Management Simulation Course Performance Evaluation: The Effect on the Propensity to Create Budgetary Slack Management Team Formation for Large Scale Simulations Comparative Static Analysis with the Complete PPA Package: A Strategic Market Planning Tool Consistency in Intent: Learning Objectives at the 1994 Intercollegiate Business Policy Competition A New Twist on an Old Game: The Business Strategy Game: A Global Industry Simulation 3ed Evaluation of Performance in Management Simulation: A Management Coefficients Model Building SimuWorlds: Strategic Management Games of the Future Bulls and Bears: A Stock Market Simulation A Systems Thinking Paradigm and Think Computer Simulation Model of Broadcast and Cable Television Industry Competition Jacket Factory The Sales Management Simulation The Marketing Management Simulation A Demonstration of Promodel Demonstrating A New, Cross-Functional Business Simulation: Vision+ A Cost Chain For The Business Strategy Game Simulation Special Session On Experiential Teaching Compensation Dilemmas: An Exercise In Ethical Decision-Making Organizational Storytelling: Telling Tales In The Business Classroom Evaluating Experiential Training: Case Study And Recommendations The Internship Portfolio: An Innovative Tool For Experiential Learning, Critical Thinking, And Communication An Ethnographic Analysis Of The Pedagogical Impact Of Cooperative Communicating Consumer Behavior: A Long-Term Integrated Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals And Consumer Analysis Papers An Experiential Paradigm For Teaching Business Problem Solving Developing Leadership Skills The Spss® Student Assistant: The Integration of A Statistical Analysis Program Into A Marketing Research Textbook Negotiating With Your Students Using TQM Principles To Transform Accounting Systems Into An Experiential Exercise Enhancing The Effectiveness Of Outdoor-Based Experiential Training Using Virtual Reality Concepts Case Writing In A Developing Country: An Indonesian Example Experiential Learning Using Focus Groups How Real Should Experiential Pedagogy Be? A Viewpoint From Our Students Reengineering The Internship: A New Approach To Experiential Learning Utilizing The Cosmopolitan/Local And Marginal Man Constructs To Measure Students' Propensity For Creativity Developing Experiential Processes For Teaching Quantitative Techniques For Business Team Learning Roles: A Cooperative Learning Technique Creating the Ultimate Small Business Student Experience: Melding Score/Ace with SBI The Development of Trust in Work Teams: The Impact of Touch Some Outcomes of Experiential Learning: How the Cultural Dynamics of Different Countries are reflected in Workplace Norms & Values Incorporation of Job Analysis Results in Various Forms of Selection Interviews Chudesno, Inc.: An Evaluation of an Experiential Training and Development Simulation An Exercise for Exploring the Relationship between Jungian Psychological Types and Organizational Dynamics Partnership: A Radical Approach to Experiential Learning Partnership: A Nice Idea, But How Do I Get Started? Recognizing Discrimination at Work Using Critical Incident Skills Questions to Help Students Become More Successful at Job Interviewing The Video Project Introduction to Psychological Type Theory Come On Down Understanding Facilitation for Development and Continuous Learning: A Micro-Workshop Leadership and Empowerment: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Selecting a Manager for Maquiladora, Inc. Experiential Training In Multi-Cultural Corporate Settings The Role of Facilitation as an Aid to Complete Learning An Experiential Exercise to Illustrate Difference in Information Processing Behaviors and Styles How to Deliver Accessible Survey Results Age Diversity in the Workplace- Family Feud Style Nafta Standoff: A Cross-Cultural negotiating Role-Play Three Strikes and You're Out!: A Downsizing Experiential Exercise