Otago Daily Times

Accounting lecturer voted top by students

- ELENA MCPHEE

IF learning accounting sounds a bit dull, Nicola Beatson might change your mind.

The University of Otago accounting lecturer has won the Otago University Students’ Associatio­n Premier Lecturer Award, given every year by students.

Ms Beatson, who is completing a PhD and joined the accountanc­y and finance department in 2010, said she won the divisional award for the business school last year.

‘‘I love accounting. It’s my thing,’’ she said.

‘‘Not all students share my view at the beginning. Lots of them are pretty honest about that.’’

Her passion for accounting led her to win the Three Minute Thesis competitio­n in 2015 for master’s students, and in 2017 for PhD students.

The firstyear paper she taught was compulsory for bachelor of commerce students, and her students came from various academic areas, from tourism to finance.

It was great to see some of the students who were initially sceptical change their majors to accounting, and the premier lecturer award was a huge win for a subject seen as the underdog.

The ‘‘nature of the profession’’ was changing and rather than calculatin­g it was more about interpreti­ng data and making it understand­able.

Accountant­s needed people skills as well as knowledge of the technical basics, Ms Beatson said.

Every year, her students ‘‘surprised, astonished and impressed’’ her, she said.

‘‘I wouldn’t do anything else. I absolutely love it.’’

 ??  ?? Nicola Beatson
Nicola Beatson

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