Digital Commons Network^™

Client Size, Auditor Specialization And Fraudulent Financial Reporting, Joseph Carcello, Albert Nagy

Albert Nagy

This study examines the effect that client size has on the relation between industry-specialist auditors and fraudulent financial reporting. Most of the major accounting firms have organized their audit practices along industry lines, reflecting a belief that industry specialization leads to higher quality audits. Furthermore, regulatory bodies and extant research suggests that larger clients have greater bargaining power and are more likely to be able to convince the auditor to acquiesce to aggressive accounting. Also, it may be more difficult for an auditor to possess industry expertise for larger clients who are likely to be more complex and operate in …

Audit Firm Tenure And Fraudulent Financial Reporting, Joseph Carcello, Albert Nagy

Albert Nagy

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) required the U.S. Comptroller General to study the potential effects of requiring mandatory audit firm rotation. The General Accounting Office (GAO) concludes in its recently released study of mandatory audit firm rotation that “mandatory audit firm rotation may not be the most efficient way to strengthen auditor independence” (GAO 2003, Highlights). However, the GAO also suggests that mandatory audit firm rotation could be necessary if the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's requirements do not lead to improved audit quality (GAO 2003, 5).We examine the relation between audit firm tenure and fraudulent financial reporting. Comparing firms cited for fraudulent reporting …

Faculty Salary Compression: A Model For Response, Elizabeth Reilly, Chand Midha, Thomas Calderon, Richard Steiner

Thomas Calderon

This paper describes a process used by The University of Akron to address salary compression. The process allocates salary adjustment resources to disciplines based on relative salary ratios derived from benchmarks. Amounts earmarked for specific disciplines are then distributed to departments for allocation to individual faculty based on merit. The process also invokes concepts of fairness and equity, and includes a component distributed to productive faculty members based on rank and experience. Outcomes, challenges, and implications of the process are examined.

Using Existing Resources To Enhance Blackboard Courses: Copyright And Access Issues, Melissa Koenig, Heather Jagman

Heather Jagman

No abstract provided.

Criminal Procedure: Examples And Expanations, 4th, Mark Brodin, Robert Bloom

Robert Bloom

Third and Fourth editions

Introduction To The Civil Procedure Puzzle, Robert Bloom

Robert Bloom

No abstract provided.

Signposts To Improved Test Scores In Literacy And Numeracy, Julie Mcmillan, Sheldon Rothman

Dr Sheldon Rothman

A recent study of year 9 students' results on reading comprehension and mathematics tests, by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) found that a positive school climate is associated with higher literacy and numeracy test scores. In other key findings, socioeconomic status, language background, Indigenous status, gender and educational aspirations were found to have significant effects on achievement in both literacy and numeracy. Parents' education had a significant effect on literacy but not on numeracy. This article gives an overview of the findings.

It Works For Me, Online!: Shared Tips For Online And Web-Enhanced Teaching, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, Douglas Robertson

Hal Blythe

It Works For Me, Online is designed primarily to aid instructors in two major types of classes: fully online and web-enhanced/hybrid courses. Those who teach fully online classes will find tips on such things as tricks you can use with synchronous chats, how to use blogging in your classroom to replace traditional chat-rooms (talk about your superannuation), and even ways of adapting Blackboard to meet administrative needs. Those who prefer web enhancements to the traditional classroom will find advice to navigate between the virtual and real world. And, truthfully, we are hopeful that even dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Luddites will skim through …

Total Team Teaching — Sharing Teaching Duties Equally, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

In his excellent book on team teaching (Interdisciplinary Courses and Team Teaching), James Davis posits two extremes on the continuum of team teaching. One pole consists of “courses planned by a group of faculty and then carried out in serial segments by the individual members of the group” (p. 7). At the opposite pole are “courses planned and delivered by a group … . They take primary responsibility for individual class sessions, but sometimes [italics ours] two or more faculty are involved in planning and delivering the instruction of a particular class.” (p. 7) The two of us take the …

Does Relative Deprivation Predict The Need For Mental Health Services, Christine Eibner, Roland Sturm, Carole Gresenz

Roland Sturm

This paper uses cross-sectional data from the HealthCare for Communities (HCC) study to investigate whether an individual’s income status relative to a reference group predicts mental health outcomes. Reference groups are defined using combinations of location of residence, age, marital status, sex, and education. Our measure of relative deprivation is based on Yitzhaki’s index, a term that quantifies the expected income difference between an individual and others in his or her reference group who are more affluent. Even after controlling for an individual’s absolute income status, those with low relative income are at higher risk of experiencing a mental health …

Ecolodge Performance Goals And Evaluations, Gregory Osland, Robert Mackoy

Gregory E. Osland

Note: full-text not available due to publisher restrictions. Link takes you to an external site where you can acquire this article from a local library.

Developing Standards Of Practice For Leaders In Victorian Catholic Schools, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson, Anna Mcdonald

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

In 2003-4, the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook a project to develop standards for school leadership. A specific aim of the project was to provide a 'bridge' to leadership that would encourage teachers to undertake leadership tasks and to consider moving into formal positions of leadership. This paper reports on the experiences and challenges of developing standards that matched this purpose. It also reviews school leadership standards that have been developed in Australia and overseas over the past decade. A comparison is drawn between standards for teachers and standards for …

Teacher Accountability In Australia : Current Policies And Practices And Their Relation To The Improvement Of Teaching And Learning, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

The strong link between teacher quality and student learning outcomes calls for effective systems of teacher accountability. School systems in all Australian states have established policies and practices to raise levels of teacher accountability, but it remains doubtful whether they have the capacity to deliver on teacher quality assurance or improvement in teachers' practice. This paper reports some of the recent findings of an ARC funded project that mapped teacher evaluation practices across all Australian states and territories. After providing a brief historical overview of teacher evaluation in Australia, it discusses three recent initiatives at the 'accomplished teacher' level; namely …

Evaluation Of The Standards And Professional Learning Project 2003., Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Launched in 2003, the brief of the ‘Standards and Professional Learning Project’ was: to develop professional teaching standards for full registration, and to support new teachers (who were mostly newly graduated teachers from tertiary teacher education programs) to move from provisional to full registration at the end of their first year of teaching. The role of the ACER team was to assist the VIT Standards and Professional Learning Branch (SPLB) in: Revising and using the interim Standards for Professional Practice; Developing a final set of standards, based on wide consultation on the interim standards; Developing appropriate assessment tasks to gather …

Policy Issues For Australia's Education Systems : Evidence From International And Australian Research, Gary Marks, Julie Mcmillan, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

This article discusses education policy issues in the context of empirical evidence. It notes that many commonly held beliefs about Australian education such as, the relative performance and participation levels of Australian students; the importance of socioeconomic background on educational outcomes both relative to other countries and changes over-time; gender differences in mathematics and science; and the labour market situation of early school leavers; are not supported by empirical research. Such findings have implications for government policies. The article also questions current policy directions toward increasing Year 12 participation, expanding both secondary and post-secondary vocational education and reducing class sizes. …

Texas Family Law: A Focus On Property Issues, Sydney Beckman, Heather King, Bruce Beverly, Randall Wilhite

Bruce L. Beverly

No abstract provided.

A Preliminary Investigation Of The Links Between Interpersonal Skills Training, Team Emotional Intelligence And Team Performance, Jane Murray, Peter Jordan, Neal Ashkanasy, Sally Hall-Thompson

Jane Murray

A debate exists regarding the efficacy of training interventions in emotional intelligence. While some authors claim that emotional intelligence cannot be learned, others argue it can. Despite this ongoing debate, emotional intelligence training is being offered to organisations. These training packages range from simple interpersonal skills training to more emotions focused programs. In this paper, we report our preliminary findings from one study in an overall research project seeking to determine the extent to which training increases team performance and / or emotional intelligence. The results presented in this paper provide evidence that while basic interpersonal skills training improves team …

The Efficacy Of Training In Emotional And Behavioural Skills: Links To Emotional Intelligence, Peter Jordan, Jane Murray, Sally Hall-Thompson, Paul Connors

Jane Murray

Australian organisations continue to offer relational training interventions designed to change employee behaviour within the workplace. However, the success of these programs is often determined through asking supervisors to report on individuals’ behavioural changes rather than obtaining proof of their effectiveness. The purpose of this research is to measure the success of training programs offered by a Queensland Public Sector organisation following Kirkpatrick’s (1977) model of providing proof of behavioural change after training. In particular, this research measures the emotional intelligence of individuals undertaking these training programs to determine whether emotional intelligence actually increased because of the training. The preliminary …

Courts Should 'Send Message' To Prosecutors, Timothy O'Neill

Timothy P. O'Neill

Managing Better: Measuring Institutional Health And Effectiveness In Vocational Education And Training, Graham Maxwell, Peter Noonan, Mark Bahr, Ian Hardy

Mark Bahr

Vocational education and training (VET) policy is increasingly focused on the importance of quality in each VET institution's capacity to deliver effective programs. This report addresses institutional-level monitoring and evaluation of performance and provides a comprehensive model which institutes can use for this purpose. The model draws on background theory and practice and identifies a range of relevant indices across three dimensions: inputs, processes, and outputs/outcomes. The results are an important first step to an improved and empirically based understanding of the factors that contribute to successful outcomes from VET providers.

© Copyright Australian National Training Authority, 2004

The Free Radicals Of Tort, Mark Grady

Mark F. Grady

Rational and irrational people are typically held to an identical tort standard when it is a question of their own liability. On the other hand, when it is a question of whether someone else has encouraged some dangerous behavior, as under the doctrines of duty and proximate cause, the encouragers will be liable only when the persons were part of a group whose members typically lack rationality. The courts' apparent purpose is to prevent accidents in every way possible even if it means diluting the incentives of irrational people in order to increase the incentives of responsible people to refrain …

Affective Engagement : A Person-Centred Approach To Understanding The Structure Of Subjective Learning Experiences, Sarah Buckley, Galit Hasen, Mary Ainley

Dr Sarah Buckley

Accounts of students' learning have increasingly emphasised the role of affective engagement in achievement settings. Although most studies have focused on negative emotional experiences such as anxiety, more recent studies have investigated the role of positive emotions. This study examines the structure of students' subjective learning experiences in relation to individual interest profiles. It measured two components of affect: activation as positive arousal that indicates engagement, and valence as an evaluative quality of the students' experience. Senior secondary students (females, N=162) completed measures of individual interests, curiosity and prior knowledge, read three social issues texts and then answered some questions …

A Place Of Mercy: Finding God On The Street, Thomas O'Brien

Thomas W O'Brien

A Place of Mercy: Finding God on the Street What is it? • A series of roughly chronological snapshots reflecting theologically on experiences at the House of Mercy in Rochester, NY. The House of Mercy itself is an outreach to the homeless and poor in a medium-sized, rust-belt city. They engage in food distribution, emergency housing, advocacy and assistance with welfare, utility companies, landlords, chemical dependency, medical problems, veteran benefits etc. It was founded by Sr. Grace Miller who spontaneously began handing out surplus food to people out of the back of her car in 1985. She eventually received funding …

Journalism Ethics In Wartime, Erik Ugland, Karen Slattery

Erik Ugland

No abstract provided.

Self Efficacy, Alcohol Expectancy And Problem-Solvingappraisal As Predictors Of Alcohol Use In College Students, Nancy Taylor, Michael Biscaro, Karen Broer

Nancy P. Taylor

This study updated that of Broer 1996 and re-examined self-efficacy, alcohol expectancy and problem-solving appraisal as predictors of alcohol use in undergraduate college students. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that alcohol expectancy of Global Positive Changes and gender were significant predictors for both number of drinks and binge episodes.

Why Johnny Can't Lead, Peter Navarro

PETER NAVARRO

No abstract provided.

Investing In Peace And Security In Africa: The Case Of Ecowas Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This paper argues that, by investing in good governance and democratisation—two factors fundamental to West African security—ECOWAS is also contributing to sub-regional peace and stability. An inclusive approach is needed to forge effective relationships between governance and security in West Africa. ECOWAS has designed a strategic framework that identifies priority areas for conflict management. At issue, though, is its capacity to confront and deal with issues that straddle security, peace, good governance, and democratisation. This paper analyses the dynamics of ECOWAS’s security-sector reforms. The perception that the security sector itself is still a major source of insecurity in West Africa …

Biomimetic Actuators: Where Technology And Cell Biology Merge [Review Article], Michael Knoblauch, Winfried Peters

Winfried S. Peters

Slavery: Annual Bibliographical Supplement (2003), Fred Drogula

Fred K. Drogula

The Role Of Intra-Industry Trade In The Service Sector, Robert Shelburne, Jorge Gonzalez

Jorge Gonzalez

The role of intra-industry trade (IIT) in the service sector is examined. Methodological issues in calculating IIT indexes for the service sectors are discussed. A new generalized index for dealing with the negative numbers that are often present in the data is provided. The different hierarchical structure of the services data provided by the OECD and the US BEA are discussed. The factors that explain the level of services IIT across countries are explored, as well as the factors that affect the level of IIT in U.S. bilateral trade with other nations.