Northern Michigan University Assistant Professor Stacy Boyer-Davis is the recipient of the 2021 Accountant Teaching and Excellence Award from the Michigan Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA). The award recognizes educators in the profession for the crucial role they play in shaping and growing the CPA pipeline and the future of the industry.
The MICPA recognized her efforts in developing NMUs 4+1 MBA program, which allows students to sit for the CPA Exam and earn their MBA in five years. She said the award will enhance advocacy and opportunities for NMU and Upper Peninsula students, along with the College of Business' accounting and business programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
“A teaching award is a collective, team-based recognition, for teaching is only half of the equation,” she added. “The other side of the equation is learning: student outcomes, achievements, successes, and prepared graduates for the accounting and business jobs of today and tomorrow. This award is symbolic of the transformation that an education can have on the dedicated learners who embark on a degree-seeking path. As a first-generation college student, I can speak to the importance of higher, continuous learning and the influence that a college education has imparted on my life.
“Our work as educators is to encourage our students to challenge themselves, think more broadly and deeply, and develop their moral, ethical, and intellectual selves. The following words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. motivate me as an accounting professor: ‘The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.'”
Boyer-Davis said she is appreciative of the accounting student who nominated her for the award, her MICPA Educators' Task Force peers, NMU College of Business Dean Carol Johnson and faculty colleagues.
The Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, established in 1901, is the leading statewide professional organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing the value of the CPA profession. The MICPA will host its 2021 awards celebration virtually on Tuesday, Nov. 9. For more information, visit www.micpa.org.