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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR 1998/1999 promises to be an exciting year for the ABO Section. The Section is currently going through fundamental changes in leadership and officer composition. This year, I have increased member participation by appointing individuals to various committees to serve the Section. A plan is in process to broaden member participation in the Section's governance and to attract new members. If the current trend continues, the Section will accomplish several projects before the end of the 1998-1999 academic year. I am pleased to report a number of developments that are currently taking place within the Section. The Behavioral Research in Accounting (BRIA) Editorial Search Committee has selected Sue Haka as the next Editor of BRIA. The announcement for the new Editor is included in the Newsletter. I would like to thank the members of the Search Committee: Jake Birnberg (Chair), Michael Shields, Philip Siegel, Arnold Wright and Steve Sutton for their time and active involvement in the selection process. The Section held the Research Conference in Orlando, Florida, October 16-17, 1998 at the Walt Disney Coronado Springs Resort. The Conference was well organized and included several research paper and forum sessions. Congratulations to the Conference Coordinators: Jean Bedard (Northeastern University), Jeff Cohen (Boston College) and Dennis Hanno (University of Massachusetts Amherst) for organizing an outstanding conference. The 1999 Research Conference is in progress and will be held in Los Angeles in October 1999. Please contact the Conference Coordinators: Chee Chow (San Diego State University) and Joan Luft (Michigan State University) for information on paper submissions and details on the conference. The ABO Board has approved the year 2000 conference and there is interest in having the conference in Canada to increase member participation in both the United States and Canada. Any interested individual who wants to be involved in organizing the conference, please contact me before February 1999. The ABO Bylaws have been completely rewritten to be consistent with the AAA Bylaws. Thanks to the members of the ABO Bylaws Committee: Sue Haka (Michigan State University-Chair), Ken Euske (Naval Post-Graduate School), Ken Ferris (American Graduate School of Management) and Jane Kennedy (University of Washington) for their contribution in the revision of the bylaws. The bylaws were presented at the October 18 ABO Business Meeting in Orlando. The officers discussed the bylaws, made minor changes and recommended that it be published in the Winter 1999 issue of the Newsletter for review by all members. A ballot will be included in the Summer issue of the Newsletter. Please review the bylaws and if you have questions feel free to contact the Chair of the Committee, Sue Haka or myself. Jake Birnberg (University of Pittsburgh) is the chair of the Publications Committee. The committee is currently drafting the first publication guidelines for both the Journal-BRIA and the Newsletter-ABO Reporter. These guidelines will be presented at the 1999 ABO Business meeting at the AAA Annual Meeting in August in San Diego for approval by the membership. It is expected that the Section will have publication guidelines that are in compliance with AAA publication policies and procedures. The Section is accepting nominations for the Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer posts. Mark Haskins, University of Virginia, is Chair of the committee. The Call for Nominations has been included in this Newsletter. Your input and participation in the nomination and election process is important for the success of the Section. Sandra Vera-Munoz (University of Notre Dame) is Chair of the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Committee. A call for submission is included in the Newsletter. Please encourage your students and/or colleagues to submit their dissertation to Sandra Vera-Munoz to enter the competition. The ABO Membership Coordinator, Ron Davidson (Arizona State University-West) is working on a membership directory based on research interests. The proposal is to use email addresses to develop the research directory and post it in the ABO web page. If successful, the directory can be used by members to share research results and collaborate on future research. Stacey Whitecotton (Arizona State University) is the Section's liaison for the AAA Annual Meeting in San Diego in August 1999. This year there is a plan to increase the number of ABO sessions at the national and regional meetings. To reach this goal, the national and respective regional coordinators are soliciting paper submissions for presentations at these conferences. On their behalf, I am encouraging members to submit papers for consideration for both the national and regional meetings. To better serve the international members, I have appointed Regional Coordinators for Canada, European and Asian, and Australia and New Zealand Regions. This arrangement is similar to that of the United States Regions in that the international members are grouped by continents rather than by countries. This format will allow coordinators to work with more members than in the past. All indications are that the ABO Section is progressing well. This is possible thanks to the continued support of the AAA Executive Committee, Craig Polhemus and the ABO Board of Trustees: Mary Stone (University of Alabama) and Andy Bailey (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). I am very grateful to have their active involvement and support in conducting the Section activities. Seleshi Sisaye, |