The Grass Is Green for Accounting

As the new director of the UO School of Accounting, Kyle Peterson is eager to maintain the exceptional enrollments the major has achieved while also growing faculty expertise and embracing evolving technology like artificial intelligence.

Throughout his time at the Lundquist College of Business, Charles E. Johnson Memorial Professor of Accounting Kyle Peterson has helped cultivate an accounting department where collaboration thrives, innovation is embraced, and students are empowered to see the vast opportunities in the accounting profession. Under his leadership, the School of Accounting seeks to continue to grow and adapt, proving to prospective students, and the world, that the grass is indeed green in accounting—especially so at the University of Oregon .

Peterson joined the University of Oregon Lundquist College as a newly minted PhD back in 2008. His arrival coincided with challenging times in the job market, following the 2008 financial crisis. Despite the turbulence around them, the welcoming atmosphere created by colleagues like Professor Emerit of Accounting Dave Guenther and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Jack O. Rickli Professor of Business Angela Davis , along with the groundwork laid by Professor Emerit Helen Gernon , made Oregon’s School of Accounting feel like home.

The department’s success stems from a collaborative approach, bringing together faculty with diverse specialties—financial, tax, and theoretical accounting. Peterson and others worked to create a nurturing environment at all levels, including the Master of Accounting (MAcc) and PhD—but especially for undergraduate students.

In this way, the UO School of Accounting is a leading force in higher education. Facing an industry-wide trend of declining enrollments further exacerbated by COVID-19, Oregon’s School of Accounting took immediate steps to attract and retain students.

“We started to see a small decline in enrollment and realized we weren’t leading students to the major through excitement about what the accounting profession could mean for them,” Peterson said.

To address that, initiatives included restructuring introductory accounting courses to include larger student counts and more engaging practitioners, introducing lab sessions led by PhD and MAcc students, and hosting targeted, invite-only prospective accounting major receptions to help broaden students’ understanding of the diverse career paths available in accounting.

The department has also formed a CPA advising committee to help students navigate the complex and varying requirements for CPA certification across different states. This personalized guidance has proven invaluable for students planning their academic and professional futures. These efforts have been so successful that other institutions have sought to replicate its strategies.

Peterson says one key to the School of Accounting’s approach is helping students, especially first-generation college-goers, see the potential of an accounting degree. Peterson himself started out as a computer science major.

“I knew nothing about business or accounting, but someone showed me both computer science and accounting operate within a set of rules and applied concepts,” he said. His first course was led by an “amazing instructor” and Peterson was hooked.

“Turns out the best professional decision I’ve ever made was choosing accounting,” he said. “It’s an impressive vehicle that can take you a lot of places.”

Looking ahead, Peterson acknowledges the ongoing challenges, including the need for continued fundraising to attract and retain top faculty. He views alumni donations as investments that increase the value of every Oregon accounting degree, past and present.

The School of Accounting is also embracing the future by incorporating AI into its curriculum. Starting with the introductory accounting course, students will learn to use and critically evaluate AI tools for financial forecasting, preparing them for the evolving landscape of the profession.

— AnneMarie K-S ’05, Lundquist College of Business Communications