As chair of the American Accounting Association (AAA) 2019 New Faculty Consortium, Professor Elizabeth Gordon of the Department of Accounting helps support new faculty members during their critical transition from doctoral student to colleague. The annual event brings together over 130 new faculty members and 30 senior faculty members for three-day conference, held this winter in Leesburg, Virginia.

“We want faculty to be able to succeed in the profession, so the AAA has made the commitment, with the funding of Ernst & Young [Foundation] to provide this development opportunity,” says Gordon. “We help them understand and identify what’s expected at their institution.”

A premiere event for the American Accounting Association, the New Faculty Consortium has been running for decades. Gordon attended the conference as a young academic and has presented on balancing research, teaching and service in the past. She was selected to join and chair the New Faculty Consortium Committee because of her commitment to the profession and to the development of the next generation of teachers.

The program’s mission is to support recent doctoral graduates and new faculty members as they develop into successful scholars. The AAA’s working definition of a scholar is “someone who gains new knowledge and disseminates it to others through teaching, research and service to his/her institution, to the academy and to the accounting profession.”

The senior faculty members present on topics such as: enriching your career through service; understanding the editorial process; navigating the research and administrative process; and balancing your career and your personal life. The program also provides valuable workshops on teaching and learning, for attendees who may not have taught as PhD students. Senior faculty also mentor the new faculty in groups and individually, with the hope that the connections built at the conference continue.

For Gordon it is important to include members who have had more challenging career paths. “For some it might have been a bit rockier road and that’s always good for the new faculty to hear,” adds Gordon. “Sometimes you might hit some bumps but your success is out there.”