About the School

History of the School of Accountancy

Accountancy

1970s -- The teaching of accounting at Massey University commenced from the earliest days of the teaching of business studies at the University. Prior to 1970, business studies was not seen as an independent discipline but was accepted as part of the studies of farm management. As early as the 1970s, business studies and especially accounting was taught at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management. During that time, an "Interim Board of Studies - Business and Administration Courses" was set up to oversee these studies. The growing popularity of business studies soon became apparent as extramural papers in accounting were first offered at about this time. In 1975, a single separate Department of Business Studies was created, with one professor and a staff of 12 academics of mixed business qualifications and backgrounds, under this Interim Board.

In April 1977, accountancy was established as one of the three groups within the Department of Business Studies. Penny Farron, who had the distinction of being the first woman appointed at Massey to teach business studies, was appointed convenor of the Accountancy Group. In the same year, the Faculty of Business Studies was established.

1980s -- By 1980, the Department of Business Studies expanded to a staff of three professors and 34 academics. With the growing interest in business studies and the growing number of enrolments, it was decided to establish the Department of Accountancy and Finance on 1 January 1981. Because of its fundamental role in business activity, accountancy experienced no difficulty in establishing itself as an independent stand alone department, and was one of the earliest departments to separate from the Department of Business Studies. The first professor of an independent Department of Accountancy and Finance was Terry Heazelwood, July 1980 - 1986.

In December 1986 Michael Pratt was appointed Professor and Head of Department. He remained until the end of 1989. It was during Professor Pratt’s time in 1987, that the Department of Accountancy and Finance separated into two Departments - the Department of Accountancy and the Department of Finance - following the recommendation of the Fraser Committee.

1990s -- The years 1990 to 1992 saw a period of experimentation. In the 1980s there was a strong trend of increasing staff and student numbers. In view of this, it was decided in 1990 to turn the Department into a Division of three departments, Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, and Applied Accounting. Professor Hector Perera was appointed interim Acting Head. The move towards a Division was motivated primarily by the prospect that in the future it may have been possible to establish a School of Accountancy.

1992 -- Professor Mohan Lal was appointed Head of the Division of Accountancy in January 1992. By 1992 the changing environment led to a review and the structure of a division was abandoned in favour of a single unified department. In 1992, the newly established Massey Campus at Albany, Auckland, started offering papers in Accounting. In December 1995 Professor Lal stepped down as Head of Department and Professor Perera took over as Acting Head of Department. In October 1996, Dr Jack Dowds was appointed as head of department.

Business Law

1980s -- Business law had a similar beginning to accounting studies and was taught as early as 1971 within the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management. From 1975 to 1992, business law was taught as part of the Business Studies Department which was later renamed the Department of Management and Administration (1984). In 1987, a major review of the Faculty of Business Studies saw business law being accommodated within the Department of Management Systems (formerly the Department of Management and Administration), where it remained until 1992. During these few years the Department of Business Law staff operated as a semi-autonomous group with its own convenor within its various host departments.

1990s -- In 1989, Massey University forwarded a supporting submission to the University Grants Committee for a fifth law school in New Zealand to be established at Massey. However, this proposal was not accepted, resulting in the fifth law school being developed at Waikato University. In response to the recognition of business law as a distinct academic discipline and the growth of staff and students, the Department of Business Law became an independent department on 1 January 1992 with Professor C.E.F. Rickett as its foundation Professor and Head of Department. Associate Professor L.G.S. Trotman became Acting Head of Department from July 1993 to July 1996. In 1993 the Department expanded and introduced business law papers at the Albany Campus. Julia Pedley was appointed Acting Head of Department from July 1996 to December 1996.

Accountancy and Business Law

1996 -- In October 1996, as part of its restructuring, the small Department of Business Law amalgamated with the Department of Accountancy to become the Department of Accountancy and Business Law in 1997.

2000-- On 1 April 2000, the Department of Accountancy and Business Law was restructured to become the School of Accountancy. The School brings together, under one administrative structure, accountancy education and research at Palmerston North, Albany, and Wellington Campuses and puts Massey University in a strong position as an international provider of internal and distance accountancy education.

2003- The School commenced offering the Bachelor of Accountancy and Professor Fawzi Laswad joined as Head of School.

In addition to the accreditation by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) the accountancy programme has been accredited by CPA Australia, ACCA and CIMA.

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Last updated on Thursday 23 February 2012