The University of Texas at Dallas

AIM 6335 – Ethics for Professional Accountants

Fall 2005 (8-week course)
Instructors: Charles Solcher JD, CPA Office: SOM 4.810
Amy Troutman MS Accounting Office: SOM 4.419
Martin Stewart JD Office: SOM 4.224

Office Phone: 972-883-6347 (Charles Solcher)

972-883-6719 (Amy Troutman)
214-965-5137 (Martin Stewart)

E-mail: For class related matters, use WebCt.

For non-class related matters, please use

solcher@utdallas.edu
amybass@utdallas.edu
mastewartlawfirm@aol.com

Office Hours: By Appointment

Course Objectives

Use of Critical Thinking:

Understand and apply ethical concepts that influence the lives and
decisions of accountants on a day-to-day basis. The course will
concentrate on ethics and professional responsibilities for
accounting professionals.

The course focuses on:

• Ethical concepts and expectations

• Approaches to ethical decision making
• Texas Administrative Code: Rules of Professional Conduct
• AICPA Professional Standards: Code of Professional
Conduct
• Legal responsibilities and liabilities under common law to
clients and third parties
• Ethics and responsibilities in tax practice
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• Licensing and disciplinary systems imposed on CPAs

Enhancement of Communication Skills:

By online participation and discussion, students’ communication skills will

be improved.

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Grading System
Maximum Points
Two Tests (100 points) 200
Class Participation 100
Ethics Journal 50
Final Examination 100
Total Points 450

Tests: Each test will be comprised of 15 true/false and 15 multiple-choice

questions of equal value. Each test will be given through WebCT.

Class Participation: At the beginning of the semester, students will be

assigned to discussion groups in WebCT. During the semester, there will
be six ethical topics (denoted in course calendar) for which students are
required to submit a posting or response to a posting in their assigned
discussion group. Grading will be based on both quality and frequency of
responses.

Ethics Journal: Your effort in this course will result in knowledge that may
change your beliefs and/or behavior. As such, you will be required to
keep a personal ethics journal during the duration of the semester. It
should be a Word document with weekly entries. A typical week’s entry
may include personal analysis of materials discussed in class, ethical
dilemmas encountered and implications of those encounters, and
consequences of conclusions. You will turn in your journal, via WebCT
email, before the final examination on 10/7/05.

Final Examination: The final examination will be comprised of true/false and

multiple-choice questions. The final examination will be proctored. An on-
campus class exam session is scheduled on Friday, October 7th from 5:30-
6:45pm Room TBA under the supervision of the instructor.

Students who are not able to attend this exam session with the instructor can
arrange an individually proctored exam with a testing service of their choice at
any date within this required exam time window: 10/3/05-10/7/05. For local
students, a testing service is available at the UTD Learning Resources Center.
Students who find UTD geographically inconvenient may use a testing service at
a convenient location to have the exam proctored. All individually arranged
proctored exams must be completed within the required exam time window.
Students using either the UTD testing service or an outside testing service are
required to inform the instructor and the Global MBA Online office
(gmbasupport@utdallas.edu). Students must complete a proctored exam form
and send back to GMBA Office before 9/15/05. Please go to the Proctored
Exam Information page at:
http://som.utdallas.edu/globalmba/gmba_proc_exam_info.htm to download the
Proctored Exam Form and to find all the detailed information on arranging a

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 proctored exam. All completed exams must be received by 10/7/05 to allow
timely grade reporting to the UTD Registrar.

The GMBA Office requests that all students who need to use testing
services strictly follow the proctored exam scheduling deadlines. If a
student fails to submit his/her exam form on time, he/she will have to
come to campus to attend the scheduled class exam session or seek
approval from the course instructor for any special arrangements.

Course Materials
1. Required Material:

Leonard J. Brooks, Business and Professional Ethics for

Directors, Executives and Accountants (Thomson Southwestern,
3rd Ed., 2004). ISBN: 0-324-20066-8.

2. Recommended readings and reference material:

Texas Administrative Code, Title 22, Part 22, Chapter 501 - Rules
of Professional Conduct
AICPA Professional Standards: Code of Professional Conduct
and Bylaws
AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards dealing explicitly with
training and proficiency, independence and due care
AICPA Statement on Standards for Tax Service
Pronouncements from The Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board and the SEC
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Textbook can be ordered online through MBS Direct Virtual Bookstore or Off-Campus
Books web ordering site. It is also available at UTD Bookstore and Off-Campus Books.

An E-book (electronic version of the textbook) can be purchased directly from the
publisher at http://custom.thomsonlearning.com/OLC/eBook/.

Technical Requirements

In addition to a confident level of computer and Internet literacy, certain minimum

technical requirement must be met to enable a successful learning experience.
Technical requirements include but are not limited to:

Hardware
• A Pentium processor or equivalent Mac system; Windows 98/Me/2000/XP or
Mac OS 9.x or OS X 10.1.
• Internet access with 56.6 modem (minimum). A high-bandwidth connection is
recommended.
• 32 MB system Ram; 200 MB free disk space or sufficient storage
• Sound card
• CD-ROM capabilities

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Software
• Internet Explorer 5.0 to 6.0 (but 5.5 SP1 not supported), or Netscape Navigator
6.2.x (see notes) and 7.0 (4.78, 4.79 and 6.0-6.1 not supported), or AOL 7.0 and
8.0. See browser configuration information below.
• MS Office 2000 is the minimum standard. (Microsoft software is available at a
nominal cost from the UTD/Microsoft Program. For more information, visit the
Global MBA Online Student Service web page at:
http://som.utdallas.edu/globalmba/gmba_online_services.htm).
• Virus detection/protection software (such as McAfee)
• “Plug-ins” including the most current version of RealPlayer (http://www.real.com),
Java – Sun Microsystems (http://www.java.com ) and Adobe Acrobat Reader
(http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
• A zip file expansion tool such as WinZip or Stuffit Expander (available at:
http://www.download.com).

Web Browser Configuration

For WebCT courses to work properly, you will need one of the WebCT supported
browsers listed above with JavaScript enabled and cookies enabled. It is also
important that you set the cache settings of your browser to verify web
documents “Every Time”. The methods for configuring these settings vary
among browsers. Please follow this web link provided by WebCT to tune-up your
browser: http://www.webct.com/tuneup/.

Course Access and Navigation

This course was developed using a web course tool called WebCT. It is to be delivered
entirely online. You will be notified by email about the course access information at the
start of the course. You’ll need to have a UTD NetID and password to access the
course. If you have not set up a UTD NetID account yet, please go to the UTD NetID
page at http://netid.utdallas.edu to initiate your account shortly before or at the start
of the semester. Your UTD NetID is your WebCT ID. It is to be used to access all of
your UTD WebCT courses plus other UTD computing systems e.g. your UTD email
account. Please note that it’s required that your account password to be updated
every 6-12 months. UTD IR will send you reminding messages to your UTD email
account towards the time when your password is getting expired. To update your
password, please login at the above NetID page. For more information, please visit the
NetID FAQs page.

The URL for the course login page is: http://webct.utdallas.edu. The course may be
accessed at any time. You are required to meet all assignment and exam deadlines.
Participation in scheduled class activities is required. You should login to the course site
regularly (at least three times per week) to check course updates, and discussion board
messages.

You’ll access the “My WebCT” page after you login. The page lists all courses that you
have registered for. You can click the course title to access the course Home Page
which displays several icon links. Clicking each icon link will take you to different
subsidiary pages containing the course content elements or built-in course tools. Some
navigation components such as the Navigation Bar with Course Menu on the left side,

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the Menu Bar and the path link on the top, and the Action Menu on the content page can
help you navigate within the course site.

To get started with a WebCT course, please see the Getting started: Student WebCT
Orientation link. For more information about WebCT tool usage, please see the WebCT
Student Help Index. Within the course site, you can always click HELP on the WebCT
Menu Bar to find information and answers. You can also check out the Orientation
Center to Online Learning and WebCT provided on WebCT’s web site. For more
WebCT information and its learning resources, visit http://www.webct.com.

If you have any problems with your UTD account or any problem with the UTD WebCT
server, you may email to: assist@utdallas.edu or call the UTD Computer Helpdesk at:
972-883-2911. If you encounter any technical difficulties within the course site, please
send an email to gmbasupport@utdallas.edu.

Back to Top

Communications

WebCT built-in communication tools: There are three built-in communication tools to
facilitate learning, communication, and collaboration. The Discussion allows
communication among all course participants. Discussion topics or groups can be set up
for topic discussions and homework assignments. You can use the course Mail tool to
communicate privately with the instructor and any class participants. The Chat tool can
be used for real-time communication among course participates. Please see specific
information for accessing Chat tool. Small groups may use the Chat tool for group
discussions.

Interaction with Instructor: We will communicate with students mainly using the Mail
tool. Students may send personal concerns or questions to us using the course Email
tool. We will reply to student emails or Discussion board messages within 3 working
days under normal circumstances.

Emails directed to a particular instructor should contain the instructor’s last name
in the subject line.

Emailing: Besides using the WebCT course internal email, if there is any need, students
may contact us via external regular emails. UTD provides each student with a free email
account that is to be used in all communication with university personnel. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individuals
corresponding and the security of the transmitted information. Beginning September 1,
2004, the Administration has informed faculty to require any email communications to be
through UTD email accounts.

To access your UTD email, please go to: http://pipeline.utdallas.edu and login with your
UTD NetID and password (same as WebCT login). The Department of Information
Resources at UTD provides a method for students to forward email from other accounts
to their UTD address and have their UTD mail sent to other accounts. Students may go
to the following URL to establish the email forwarding if necessary:
http://netid.utdallas.edu. For any assistance with UTD email account, call 972-883-2911
or email assist@utdallas.edu.

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Scholastic Dishonesty

The University has policies and discipline procedures regarding scholastic dishonesty.
Detailed information is available on the Scholastic Dishonesty web page. All students
are expected to maintain a high level of responsibility with respect to academic honesty.
Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the
University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of
the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

Course Evaluation

As required by UTD academic regulations, every student must complete an evaluation

for each enrolled course at the end of the semester. An online instructional assessment
form will be made available for your confidential use. Please look for the course
evaluation link on the course Homepage towards the end of the course.

Course Outline
Week Instructor Topic Sub Topic
8/18- Troutman Accounting as a Seven Characteristics of a Profession
8/21 Profession Professional Designations
8/22- Stewart Ethical Expectations The Ethics Environment for Business
8/28 Ch. 1 (Read pp. 1- New Expectations of Business
24, 37-38 only) Responses and Developments
Stewart Governance, Governance and Accounting Reform
Accounting and Enron
Auditing - Post Arthur Andersen
Enron - Ch. 2 (Read WorldCom
pp. 55-61, 66-71, Sarbanes-Oxley
78-94, 97-108 only)
Solcher General overview of Principles of Profession Conduct
the Codes of Section 50-57 AICPA
Professional Texas Board Rules Sections 501.51 -
Conduct .53
8/29- Solcher Independence Section 101 and the Ethics Questions
9/4 Texas Board Rule 501.70
Solcher Integrity and Section 102 and the Ethics Questions
Objectively Texas Board Rule 501.73
Troutman* Independence Discussion Group
Troutman* Integrity and Discussion Group
Objectively
9/5- Test One -online
9/11
9/5- Stewart Corporate Ethical Emerging Governance and Accounting
9/11 Governance and Framework
Accountability - Threats to Good Governance and
Ch. 3 (Read pp. Accountability
128-145 only)
Stewart Professional Stakeholder Expectation

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 Accounting in the Judgment and Value
Public Interest - Sources of Ethical Guidance
Ch. 4 (Read pp.
203-219, 295-299
only)
Solcher Responsibilities of General Standards-Accounting
the CPA Principles

9/12- Solcher Responsibilities to Section 300 - AICPA

9/18 Clients Confidential Client Information
Contingent Fees
Texas Board Rules 501.75 and 501.72
Troutman* General Standards Discussion Group
Accounting
Principles
Troutman* Responsibilities of Discussion Group
the CPA and the
Public Interest
Troutman* Responsibilities to Discussion Group
Clients
9/19- Test Two-online
9/25
9/19- Stewart Approaches to Measurement of Quantifiable Impacts
9/25 Ethical Decision Measurement of Non-Quantifiable
Making - Ch.5 (Read Impacts
pp. 310-325 only) Comprehensive Decision Making
Approaches
Stewart Managing Ethics Ethics Strategies
Risks and Workplace Ethics
Opportunities - Ch. 6 Ethics in International Operations
(Read pp. 352-374
only)
Solcher Other Section 500 - AICPA and the Ethics
Responsibilities and Questions
Practices Discreditable Acts
Advertising and Other Forms of
Solicitation
Commissions and Referral Fees
9/26- Solcher AICPA's Statement Discussion of the Tax Services
10/3 on Standards for Standards
Tax Services
Solcher Accountant's Liability Legal Theories, Fraud, Negligence and
Retention of Client ‘s Records
Troutman* The Texas State Discussion Group
Board of Public
Accountancy
10/7 Final Examination
* denotes required discussion group participation