CSU, Chico received a Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant in the Fall of 1992. The purpose of the grant was to completely redesign our two-semester introductory accounting sequence. A second FIPSE grant was received in October, 1995. Eligibility for this second grant was dependent on previous grantees showing that their projects were successful based on outcome assessment results. Further, these potential disseminator institutions were required to recruit adapter colleges or universities. Each adapter had to have enough faith in the CSU, Chico model to implement the model at their own institutions.

The CSU, Chico model has now been used at CSU, Chico for nine semesters, and has been "beta tested" at six adapter institutions for four semesters. The faculty teams that developed the materials-- known as the Accounting 1 project team and the Accounting II project team -- are now in the position to offer their materials to other institutions that may be considering change in their accounting programs. In fact, the serial case used in the second course of introductory accounting won the James Bulloch Award for Innovations in Management Accounting Education at the 1997 American Accounting Association meeting in Dallas. For a brief overview of the case and more information about the award, click here.

The past 5 years have been a real learning experience with many success (but not without problems). We encourage others implementing change to review our experience so that you are better prepared for the journey. Please visit Chico’s FIPSE homepage. To download a paper describing our experience entitled "Curricular Revision Starting at Ground Zero: The Case of Introductory Accounting", click here.