19th Annual Student Research Conference
Business & Accountancy
Accountability and Control in Higher Education
Ebube Nwazota
Dr. Jeff Romine, Faculty Mentor
With recent cuts in higher education funding, there is an increasing need for universities to seek funding from outside sources and thus, a need for them to be more accountable both financially and in achieving stated outcome objectives. This research uses Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 as a stepping stone to explore the idea of accountability and control in higher education. The act is a formal response to recent corporate accounting scandals with the goal of improving corporate accountability. The research also uses principal-agent theory to explain who the major stakeholders are in higher education and how their goals vary. Next, the research includes a case study of some universities and colleges to see how institution size and the environment affect accountability and control in higher education. The case study findings are explained using organizational theory, and recommendations are included and justified using the same theory.
Keywords: Accountability, Control, Org. Theory, Principal-Agent , Higher education, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Outcome objectives, Stakeholders
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 2-3
Location: VH 1010
Time: 9:00