• BusinessWeek
• BusinessWeek Exchange

Search all of BusinessWeek.com:

Favorite Professors

Making Accounting as Painless as Possible

USC prof Merle Hopkins wins plaudits for a basic accounting class that students enjoy—and understand—thanks to his friendly approach

  STORY TOOLS

Printer-Friendly Version

E-Mail This Story

Reader Comments

  PEOPLE SEARCH

Search for business contacts:

First Name :

Last Name :

Company Name :

PREMIUM SEARCH
Search by job title, geography and build a list of executive contacts

For a special series, BusinessWeek asked business undergrads to tell us about their favorite professors. Here's an installment:

Professor Merle Hopkins knows the stereotypical image of accountants. He knows most students aren't curious about the subject on that first day of Principles of Financial Accounting. The course is a business core requirement, so every semester hundreds of students and an army of TAs pack into the mega-sections of more than 700 students. Hopkins realizes most don't understand how indispensable accounting know-how is for future execs, and most expect a robotic PowerPoint lecture about putting debits on the left and credits on the right.

Merle Hopkins
Professor of Clinical Accounting
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
mwh@marshall.usc.edu
Bio

Instead of that, Hopkins tells students how much he loves teaching, especially teaching accounting, and that they can just call him Merle. Being called by his first name makes Hopkins more comfortable, which makes the students more comfortable. "I'm a casual human being," says Hopkins. "Nobody would ever accuse me of being a stuffed shirt or pompous."

Hopkins shows students they need to understand accounting inside and out, no matter what area of business they're in. He reminds them that income is an accounting term, and business language is full of other such terms, so knowing what they mean is knowledge that can't be skimmed. More importantly, he says, accounting smarts help executives ask the right questions and distinguish between good and bad answers. Grades are based 90% on exam scores and 10% on homework and quizzes that are given throughout the semester. Participation is encouraged but doesn't influence the final grade.

THE PROFESSOR IS IN.  Maybe students aren't perked up yet, but most warm to the subject when they see that Hopkins wasn't joking about his love for teaching accounting. He tries to explain the subject clearly, which is almost impossible, but students say he makes the material easy to learn. That doesn't mean the coursework or exams are a walk in the park, but Hopkins posts old exams online so students can reference them. He also writes out problems during class and walks students through the solutions. He keeps the class light by admitting that he doesn't want to be in class at 10 a.m. either and by telling jokes, like how he's about to release his first blockbuster accounting film.

Rising junior Robert Bovino transferred to Marshall from Dartmouth to pursue a business degree and loves how Hopkins is anything but intimidating. "Coming from an Ivy League background, he's a nice character change from other profs," he says. "Serious academics and serious egos can be a problem."

Since just being nice isn't enough to encourage students to approach him with questions, Hopkins holds about seven office-hour sessions every week and even more by appointment. "When they do approach me, I don't bite," he says. "Then the word gets out that you can actually go in and talk to me." It's not uncommon to see a line out his office door. Jose Deras, a junior, recalls one office-hour visit when Hopkins was busy, but asked Deras to sit down to write an accounting problem, like one from class, and then solve it. Hopkins responded to e-mails, answered the phone, and happily helped Deras create and solve his own problem, all at the same time. Before exams, Hopkins will even come to campus on Sundays for a full day of reviews.

Despite more than 20 years of teaching college students, Hopkins still loves his job more than any accounting job he's ever had. Before joining USC's faculty, he worked for a couple of accounting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, and taught at Pepperdine University. "I couldn't write a book on how to teach at the college level because I still don't understand it," he says. "The chemistry just works." Students agree—even if they don't all end up swapping their major in favor of accounting.

By Kristin Dew

Advertising | Special Sections | MarketPlace | Knowledge Centers

Terms of Use | Privacy Notice | Ethics Code | Contact Us

Copyright 2000- 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
All rights reserved.