Thomas G. Calderon is Professor of Accounting and Chair of the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy at The University of Akron. He has served as Chair since 2005 and recently completed a two-year term (2014 - 2016) as Chair of The University of Akron’s caucus of department chairs and school directors.

• THEME 1: CAPACITY BUILDING AND PROGRAM LEADERSHIP 1. Enhancing the Benefits of Accounting Doctoral Consortia; Anne L. Christensen, Ph.D., and Shelley C. Rhoades-Catanach, Ph.D. 2. Accounting Department Head: The Road Less Traveled; Thomas G. Noland, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CDFM, Shawn Mauldin, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CFP, and Robert L. Braun, Ph.D., CIA 3. Gender on Performance in Accounting Courses During and After Shock Periods; Hossein Nouri, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, CFSA, and Maria S. Domingo, LLM 4. Data Analytics in the Accounting Curriculum; Vernon J. Richardson, Ph.D. and Yuxin ShanTHEME 2: CLASSROOM INNOVATION AND PEDAGOGY 5. A Class Exercise: Accounting for Stock Option Modifications and Option Service and Performance Conditions; Natalie Tatiana Churyk, Ph.D., CPA, Shaokun (Carol) Yu, Ph.D., CPA, and Brian Rick, CPA  6. Student Group Work Across Borders: A Teaching Innovation and Exploratory Study; Kim Key, Ph.D. and Emer Mulligan, Ph.D. 7. Using Ten Teaching Modules and Recently Publicized Data-Breach Cases to Integrate Cybersecurity into Upper-Level Accounting Courses; Saeed J. Roohani, Ph.D. and Xiaochuan Zheng, Ph.D. THEME 3: ENGAGEMENT WITH PROFESSIONALS THROUGH ADVISORY COUNCILS 8. Accounting Advisory Councils: Engagement Between Practice and Academe; Carolyn Strand Norman, Ph.D., CPA, and Nancy A. Bagranoff, DBA, CPA 9. On the Use of Advisory Board Input for Revising Master of Accountancy Curriculum; Kenneth Snead, Ph.D., Fred Coleman, Ph.D., CPA, and Earl McKinney, Ph.D. 10. Using Accounting Department Advisory Councils and Higher Quality Continuing Education Requirements to Improve the Accounting Profession's Ethical Reasoning Skills; Alan Reinstein, DBA, CPA, Natalie Tatiana Churyk, Ph.D., CPA, Eileen Z. Taylor, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, and Paul F. Williams, Ph.D.

This issue of the accounting education reference journal presents 10 articles on capacity building and program leadership, classroom innovation and pedagogy, and engagement with professionals through advisory councils. The topics include accounting department head: the road less traveled, data analytics in the accounting curriculum, student group work across borders: a teaching innovation and exploratory study, using 10 teaching modules and recently published data-breach cases to integrate cybersecurity into upper-level accounting courses, and on the use of advisory board input for revising master of accountancy curriculum.