Skip to main contentCambridge University Reporter

No 6464

Wednesday 10 May 2017

Vol cxlvii No 30

pp. 505–521

Reports

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Professorship of Organic Chemistry

The General Board begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The General Board recommends the establishment of a Professorship of Organic Chemistry as set out in paragraph 2 below. The funding arrangements were approved by the Resource Management Committee by circulation on 27 March 2016.

2. The Board has accepted an academic case from the Council of the School of the Physical Sciences for the establishment for a single tenure, from 1 October 2017, of a Professorship of Organic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry. The full salary costs of the Professorship will be met from existing resources available to the Department. The Board has agreed that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that the candidature should be open to all persons whose work falls within the general field of the title of the Professorship.

3. The General Board recommends:

I. That a Professorship of Organic Chemistry be established in the University, for a single tenure from 1 October 2017, placed in the Schedule to Special Ordinance C (vii) 1, and assigned to the Department of Chemistry.

8 May 2017

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

A. L. Greer

Philippa Rogerson

Chad Allen

Roberta Huldisch

Helen Thompson

Philip Allmendinger

Patrick Maxwell

Graham Virgo

Abigail Fowden

Martin Millett

Chris Young

David Good

Richard Prager

Report of the General Board on the introduction of a Master of Accounting Degree in the Judge Business School

The General Board begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The General Board proposes that a new degree of Master of Accounting (M.Acc.), be introduced from October 2018.

2. The proposal has been submitted by the Judge Business School and has the support of the Faculty Board of Business and Management, the Judge Business School Advisory Board, the Council of the School of Technology, and the General Board’s Education Committee.

3. The M.Acc. Degree is part of the Cambridge Judge Business School’s strategy to achieve critical mass in accounting research and teaching, and will fulfil the need for a post-experience professional accountancy qualification addressing the increasing challenges in the discipline. The M.Acc. will provide rigorous and intensive training in advanced accounting, data analysis, and process management not currently met within existing provision. The General Board is satisfied that the remit of the proposed degree cannot be encompassed within the existing degree courses offered by the Business School.

4. In formulating the proposal, the Business School has reviewed existing programmes in accounting at other universities across the world, and consulted a range of senior practitioners, professional accounting institutes, and employers throughout its extensive network, from which the Business School has received strong support for the introduction of the M.Acc. The resulting proposed programme is clearly differentiated from the competition in terms of its prerequisites and its advanced level of teaching, satisfying a need of the profession which is not met by existing provision. Existing accounting degrees across the world target undergraduates, or postgraduates before/during their professional training. The M.Acc. is instead targeted on students who normally are already professionally qualified and experienced in accounting.

5. The M.Acc. will offer advanced courses in accounting and audit, informed and augmented by specialist courses in data analytics. It will focus on the most challenging areas of accounting practice linked to the latest developments in IT, drawing on the School’s expertise in big data, information systems, process management, and statistics. The teaching hours for the Master of Accounting will be intensive, with over 300 contact hours in the classroom as well as personal project supervision and other activities, commensurate with other Judge Business School post-experience degree courses.

6. The regulations for the degree make provision for full-time (one-year) and part-time (two-year integrated) arrangements. It is anticipated that in the first instance the Business School will offer only the part-time (two-year integrated) programme. The M.Acc. aims to attract a cohort of 50 students in each year, although it is acknowledged that in the start-up phase numbers may initially be lower. To help achieve this target, the School would explore with major employers the possibility of sponsoring their employees on the programme.

7. The M.Acc. will be subject to normal review by the General Board, and to regular external review by the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), a leading accrediting body.

8. The M.Acc. will have a fee in line with its intensive teaching nature, with fees of £42,000 for the full-time course and £49,000 for the part-time integrated course (payable in two instalments of £29,400 in year 1 and £19,600 in year 2) starting in 2018–19. This level of fee corresponds to similar post-experience provision offered by the Business School, and is competitive with respect to other programmes in the intended market.

9. In order to support access to the programme, the Business School would introduce a scheme of bursaries to ensure that the most able students were admitted irrespective of their financial backgrounds. The Business School will seek external support for accounting as part of its regular fundraising and in the form of benefits in kind, scholarships, sponsorship of students, student projects, case material, and contributions of specialist speakers. The School’s other post-experience programmes have been very successful in gaining the support of eminent practitioners, and this programme would secure substantial engagement with the accountancy profession.

10. The General Board recommends:

I. That the degree of Master of Accounting be established with effect from 1 October 2018, with regulations as set out in Annex I of this Report.

II. That, if Recommendation I is approved, consequential amendments be made to certain other regulations with effect from 1 October 2018, as set out in Annex II.

8 May 2017

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

A. L. Greer

Philippa Rogerson

Chad Allen

Roberta Huldisch

Helen Thompson

Philip Allmendinger

Patrick Maxwell

Graham Virgo

Abigail Fowden

Martin Millett

Chris Young

David Good

Richard Prager

Annex I

Master of Accounting

1. A candidate for the Master of Accounting Examination must be approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Business and Management, who shall assign to each candidate a date of commencement of candidature.

2. The Degree Committee may approve as a candidate for the Master of Accounting Examination any student who has satisfied the Committee that by reason of previous study he or she is qualified to engage in postgraduate work in Accounting.

3. Applications for approval under Regulation 2 shall be sent to the Secretary of the Degree Committee so as to arrive not later than 31 March next preceding the date on which the applicant wishes his or her candidature to begin, provided that the Committee shall have power to consider applications submitted after that date.

4. The course of study leading to the Master of Accounting Examination shall cover the following aspects of accounting: advanced topics in financial accounting, management accounting, and data analytics. The course of study shall consist, at the choice of the candidate, of one of the Options outlined in Regulation 12 below.

5. No student shall be a candidate for the Master of Accounting Examination or for any part thereof on more than one occasion.

6. The Faculty Board of Business and Management shall have power to issue supplementary regulations determining the scope and manner of assessment of the examination in either Option, and shall be empowered to amend such supplementary regulations from time to time as they may think fit, due care being taken that sufficient notice is given of any change.

7. The Faculty Board shall nominate such number of Examiners and Assessors as they may deem sufficient, including a resident member of the Senate as Chair of Examiners.

8. The names of the candidates who satisfy the Examiners shall appear in separate class-lists according to the Option that they have followed. The names of the candidates in each class-list shall be arranged in alphabetical order in a single class; a mark of distinction shall be affixed to the names of those students whose work is of special merit. The Chair of Examiners shall communicate the marks of all candidates to the Registrary.

9. While following the course of study leading to the Master of Accounting Examination a student shall pay the appropriate University Composition Fee for each year of the course (including periods spent away from Cambridge).

10. On completing the requisite number of terms, or hours of study, as set out in Regulation 12 a student who has satisfied the Examiners in the Master of Accounting Examination shall be entitled to proceed to the degree of Master of Accounting.

11. A student who has taken the Master of Accounting Examination shall not be entitled to count the period or any part of the period during which he or she has been a candidate for that examination towards a course of research for the degree of Ph.D., M.Sc., or M.Litt.

12. The Master of Accounting Examination shall consist, at the choice of the candidate, of either Option A or Option B as follows:

Option A: one-year course 1

A course extending over one academical year, including three terms’ residence in the University. The examination for Option A shall consist of compulsory modules, elective modules, and project work, as outlined below. Examination of the modules may be by written paper, essay, coursework, or another mode of assessment announced by the Faculty Board. Each candidate shall complete a minimum of three written papers, the duration of which shall be announced by the Faculty Board.

(a) Compulsory modules

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the topics and form of assessment for each compulsory module by the end of the Easter Term immediately preceding the start of the course.

(b) Elective modules

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the topics for elective modules by the end of the Easter Term immediately preceding the start of the course. The Faculty Board shall give notice of the form of assessment for each elective module by the end of the term immediately preceding the term in which the work is to be completed.

(c) Project work

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the list of summer activities and the format for submission by the end of the Lent Term, provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and they are satisfied that no student’s preparation for the examination is adversely affected.

The Examiners shall have power to examine a candidate viva voce on any or all of the three sections of the examination (a)–(c).

Option B: two-year (part-time) course

A course extending over a period of two years comprising a number of course units and project work, which shall include not fewer than 300 hours of formal instruction in the University and not fewer than 120 hours of open study prescribed by the Faculty Board. The examination for Option B shall consist of compulsory modules, elective modules, and project work, as outlined below. Examination of the modules may be by written paper, essay, coursework, or another mode of assessment announced by the Faculty Board. Each candidate shall complete a minimum of three written papers, the duration of which shall be announced by the Faculty Board.

(a) Compulsory modules

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the topics and form of assessment for each compulsory module by the end of the Easter Term immediately preceding the start of the course.

(b) Elective modules

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the topics and form of assessment for elective modules by the end of the term immediately preceding the term in which the work is to be completed.

(c) Project work

The Faculty Board shall give notice of the format and length for submission of project work by the end of the Lent Term, provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and they are satisfied that no student’s preparation for the examination is adversely affected.

The Examiners shall have power to examine a candidate viva voce on any or all of the three sections of the examination (a)–(c).

Footnotes

  • 1Option A is suspended until further notice.


Annex II

(i) By adding ‘Master of Accounting’ to the list of primary degrees in Section 1 of Special Ordinance B (i) (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 70).

(ii) By adding a reference to the degree of Master of Accounting before the reference to the Master of Business Administration in the following regulations:

Regulation 8(a) of the regulations for Residence and Precincts of the University (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 174);

In the Schedule to the regulations for the Review Procedure for Examinations for Undergraduate and Certain Other Qualifications (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 238);

Regulation 9 of the General Regulations for Examiners and Assessors (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 241);

Regulation 3(a) of the regulations for Payments to Examiners and Assessors (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 242).

(iii) By amending the regulations for Academical Dress (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 182) as follows:

In the regulations for Black Gowns, by replacing the entry for the M.Fin. Degree with the following: ‘M.Fin. and M.Acc.: the M.A. gown but with four buttons joined by cords forming a diamond on the upper edge of each arm slit;’.

In the regulations for Hoods, by adding after the entry for the M.Fin. ‘M.Acc.: the M.Fin. hood but with a part lining of white silk four inches (10 cm) deep;’.

(iv) By amending the regulations for the Admission to Degrees (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 174) as follows:

By inserting reference to the Master of Accounting into the Forms of Presentation for Degrees, after the reference to the Master of Finance.

By inserting the following in the Schedule to the Forms of Admission to Degrees, after the reference to the Master of Finance:

For the M.Acc. Degree

Magistri in Arte Ratiocinandi

(v) By inserting reference to the Master of Accounting into the Order of Seniority of Graduates (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 181), after the reference to the Master of Finance.