In 2025, Miami continued its very successful EY Teacher-Scholar mentoring program, in which an undergraduate spends the summer engaged in research with a Miami University faculty member, EY Teaching Scholar and Arthur Andersen Alumni Professor Tim Eaton.
With a strong group of applicants and four exceptional finalists, Jocelyn McAliney ’27 was selected to be the 2025 Undergraduate EY Student Scholar. While several areas of research were explored, ultimately, she and Dr. Eaton developed a focus of exploring in depth the evolving changes to accounting licensure. As part of this research, they investigated the fascinating early history of the licensure of the profession within the United States throughout the last 100+ years. They also considered the impact of the current changes taking place in Ohio and in many other parts of the country. Further, they discussed curriculum and classroom implications and developed a research article on the topic, titled “There’s a New Pathway to the CPA License: How Did We Get Here, and Where Are We Going?” This manuscript is currently being revised for potential publication.
In addition to the work with Jocelyn McAliney, continuing work occurred during the summer of 2025 with the 2024 scholar Anastasija Mladenovska. The 2024 research she completed as an EY Scholar was published with her mentor, Professor Eaton, in the Spring 2025 issue of International Accountant (official journal of the Association of International Accountants), titled “The Resiliency of the Accounting Profession.” They also completed a very in-depth empirical research study on issues impacting academic integrity, “Cheating in the Age of AI: A Campus-Wide Portrait of Academic Integrity,” which is currently under review at an academic journal. In the Spring of 2025, Anastasija Mladenovska ’26 won the highest undergraduate award at Miami University—the Provost Student Achievement Award—in part for this body of research she conducted as part of her term as an EY Scholar. She is now the third EY Scholar to receive this highly prestigious award.