The Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Australia Accreditation Ceremony for UIC’s Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) Programme was organised by the Division of Business and Management (DBM) on 21 May.
Group photo of representatives from UIC and CPA Australia
UIC's Vice President (Academic Affairs) and Dean of Graduate School, Prof Chen Zhi, spoke about the long standing relationship between UIC and CPA Australia and how fast and efficient DBM was to apply for accreditation. “The successful accreditation of UIC’s MPAcc Programme is indeed a piece of good news that all of us at UIC should celebrate.”
Prof Chen Zhi talking about the relationship between UIC and CPA Australia
Prof Chen praised and expressed his appreciation to everyone involved, even giving Ms Ada Huang a heartfelt thank you for taking the time to officiate the ceremony. He continued his speech: “I am exceedingly grateful for the accreditation of our MPAcc Programme. I commend Professor Cho’s dedication and leadership in establishing and maintaining such a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Assistant Dean of DBM, Dr Donna Chan, introduced the Dean of DBM, Prof Stella Cho. Prof Cho provided the opening address where she talked about the background of the relationship between UIC and CPA Australia. She mentioned that UIC-DBM’s collaboration with CPA Australia started in 2007 when the BBA (Honours) in Accounting Programme was accredited by this international professional body.
Prof Cho said “I am extremely grateful to CPA Australia for its continuous support to help DBM advance its educational mission. The accreditation by CPA Australia signifies to our students and their prospective employers that UIC’s accounting programmes are of international standard.”
(From left) Mr Max Shao and Ms Ada Huang present the accreditation plague to Prof Stella Cho and Prof Chen Zhi
Prof Cho continued to explain that in 2016, UIC’s proposal of introducing the Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) Programme was approved by China’s Ministry of Education. This was followed by the programme was endorsed by the Senate of the Hong Kong Baptist University in June 2018. Then MPAcc was successfully launched in the 2018-2019 academic year with 17 students in the first cohort.
The regional manager of South China for CPA Australia, Ms Ada Huang, gave a speech where she mentioned that it was her great honour to award UIC this accreditation, and how the college has a “creative and innovated model”.
Ms Huang acknowledged that UIC combines both the West and the East cultures when it comes to education, which results in students having “global knowledge” and being “open-minded”. Ms Huang spoke about how the Greater Bay Area is developing and will have a demand for internationally recognised accountants.
Prof Chen Zhi and Ms Ada Huang exchange souvenirs
After the speeches, there was a presentation of the accreditation plague by Ms Huang and Senior Business Development Manager at CPA Australia, Mr Max Shao to Prof Chen and Prof Cho.
During the second half of the ceremony, Mr Shao gave an introduction about CPA Australia. His presentation began by him telling the story of a woman he knew who successfully received a job at a decent company. He asked her why they had selected her rather than the other applicants and she explained that she got the job offer as she was the only one to have achieved her CPA, which she had obtained when studying.
Mr Shao giving a presentation about CPA Australia
Mr Shao continued to say that accountants have a serious role in the workforce and can be seen as business partners, consultants and even compared them to goalkeepers. He then explained the benefits of the CPA programme as well as all the flexible features. This was followed by a Q&A session where members of the audience inquired about local CPA test centres.
Once the ceremony had concluded, everyone was welcomed for a big group photo.
Group photo of DBM faculty and CPA Australia representatives
Group photo of DBM faculty, students and CPA Australia representatives
Eerlier on 16 April, UIC's MPAcc Programme was also accredited by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).
Reporter: Samuel Burgess
Photographer: Wei Xiaojing
Editors: Deen He, Marissa Furney
(from MPRO)
