Meet TSCPA Member: Rebecca Shortridge
For Rebecca Shortridge, Ph.D., CPA (inactive), a career as an accounting educator was a natural choice. “When I was young, I would count my money and record in a ‘record’ book each month,” she recalls of her early interest. “I tracked a variety of funds (allowance, babysitting, gifts, etc.) that I would use for different things.” Watching her grandmother run her own kindergarten class and both of her parents work in education inspired Shortridge to pursue a career in higher education. She is currently the Gary W. Rollins Endowed Chair of Accounting and department head at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Midwestern Roots
I am from Southern Indiana and attended Indiana University and graduated with a B.S. in Accounting. I started my career at Arthur Young in Indianapolis; shortly after I started working, the firm merged with Ernst & Whinney to become Ernst & Young. This was an interesting time to start as a new professional; thus, I departed for a smaller firm in Indianapolis a year later. While working in public accounting, I completed my MBA at night at IU in Indianapolis. After five years of public and completing my MBA, I earned a Ph.D. in public accounting from Michigan State University.
Road to Tennessee
I have had faculty positions at Ball State University (five years) and Northern Illinois University (16 years). While at NIU, I served as the assistant chair, the director of the master’s in accountancy program and the last six years as the Donald E. Kieso Endowed Chair in Accountancy. I interviewed at UTC several years ago but the timing wasn’t right. Robert Dooley, the dean, reached out and asked if I was interested in interviewing for the position in 2020. I was impressed with all that the Gary W. Rollins College of Business has accomplished in the past five years, so I accepted the opportunity.
On the Next Generation
Accounting and business have evolved significantly in the past five years. Students definitely want more flexibility in the positions they accept; some are concerned about overall hours, some about working remotely and some about contributing to society. Current students grew up with cell phones in their hands and online relationships as part of their life. I think they will easily adapt to technology changes throughout their careers. The demands of current students to have a more balanced life will be a challenge for public accounting to overcome. I think the current students will rethink “busy” season and how work can be delivered more effectively.
On the CPA Exam
Research shows that the success rate on the CPA exam drops significantly as students are farther away from their education. I would love to see the profession support students to pursue that one extra year so they are ready to focus on their career instead of trying to complete classes and an exam while working.
Fast Track to Success
When I graduated from Indiana, I was assigned to the audit of one of the largest banks in Indiana. Much of my time was spent standing at a copy machine copying loan-loss papers to include in the audit files. I wondered why I spent four years at college to stand at a copier. Students today must get up to speed on analysis, technology, communications and every other skill MUCH faster than they did when I started in public accounting. I think this change can make the profession both more interesting and more rewarding for students.
Greatest Influences
As noted above, I had strong women role models in my mother and grandmother. I have numerous mentors in higher education who were very important to my career: Jim Young (chair at NIU before me), Denise Schoenbachler (prior dean at NIU), Lynne Richardson (my dean at Ball State who has had several positions since then), Yvonne Hinson (currently the CEO of the American Accounting Association), Balaji Rajagopalan (dean at NIU) and many others.
Career Challenges
I don’t know that I can name one specific challenge but will provide a few. First, being a woman in accounting and business is sometimes challenging. Second, being a driven woman who is also a mother can be difficult to balance. I think I overcame these challenges by talking to others with similar challenges and following my mentors. There are some amazing women in accounting … most are willing to lend a hand or an ear as needed.
Career Highlights
Two come to mind: being named as an Illinois CPA Society Woman to Watch and serving as the president of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy. Outside of formal recognitions, seeing my former students succeed never gets old: one did a rotation as a post-technical assistant at the FASB, another completed a two-year postgraduation position at the IASB (she had never been on a plane before), several have become accounting faculty and many have wonderful careers in public accounting or as business leaders in industry.
Free Time
I spend a significant amount of time with my puppies. My oldest son and I have adopted two in the past year. In addition, I enjoy traveling and wish I had more time for this. Currently, my mom is in Texas and my youngest son is in Illinois, so I spend quite a bit of time in those two locations.
This article was originally published in the September/October 2022 Tennessee CPA Journal.