To graduate with full university honors, students must complete a capstone project supervised by a faculty mentor. Students completing associate university honors have the option to complete a capstone project, and after working with their students throughout the semester, or sometimes longer, faculty mentors can nominate their students for Outstanding Capstone Awards.
Each semester, the University Honors Program recognizes outstanding capstone projects in different academic categories. This semester, accountancy graduate student Crystal Wong, who earned her B.S. in accountancy in May 2024, was awarded the Outstanding Capstone in Business Award. As part of her coursework last spring, Wong’s Honors thesis was recently published in Strategic Finance — the award-winning flagship publication of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®).
“By receiving the Outstanding Capstone Award, it means to me that my research thesis is recognized by people as a valuable and useful project greatly contributing to the accounting profession regarding the accounting pipeline shortage,” Wong said. “It is an honor to receive this award, and I feel very grateful.”
Wong’s article examines the pipeline of accounting majors and how to overcome the challenges of a shrinking accountancy student population. She presented her work at the NIU Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement (CURE) in May, just as she was earning her bachelor’s degree in accountancy. This fall, Wong began pursuing her Master of Accounting Science (MAS) at NIU.
“Recently, the number of college students majoring in accounting has significantly decreased, resulting in fewer new accountants entering the industry. This presents a talent shortage while the demand for accountants remains high. The objective of my research study is to identify the potential methods that can be implemented to attract more students to major in accountancy and to contribute insights that may be useful in solving the accounting pipeline issue,” she said.
To gather data, Wong used an anonymous survey funded by donor support to our Department of Accountancy. She distributed the survey to current students in NIU’s College of Business, asking questions about factors that influence students’ decisions to select their respective college majors and their perceptions on the accounting profession.
“The first major finding of my research is that most non-accountancy students are unaware of the versatility and different career paths that an accounting degree can offer them,” she said. Wong hopes her research will help public policy organizations to develop action plans that may attract more college students to major in accountancy.
Department of Accountancy Associate Professor Candice Hux served as Wong’s advisor for her research project. Student-centered research publications, like Wong’s, align perfectly with the NIU Department of Accountancy’s focus on creating student learning experiences and supporting research that advances the profession.
“I nominated Crystal for this award because of her exceptional dedication, intellectual curiosity and the meaningful impact of her work,” Hux said. “Working on this project with Crystal was incredibly rewarding to me. Her findings on refueling the accounting pipeline illuminated key challenges and opportunities, inspiring me to reflect on how I can help raise awareness and guide students toward the versatile and dynamic career opportunities in accounting. It also reaffirmed the value of fostering collaborative, high-impact projects that not only advance students’ professional growth and thought leadership abilities, but also create meaningful contributions to the profession. For me, this project was a reminder of how rewarding it is to mentor and empower students to make a difference.”
The feeling of gratitude was mutual, as Wong reflected on her experience with her mentor and professor.
“I feel extremely thankful to Professor Hux. She always gave me the best advice and suggestions to ensure the success of my thesis,” Wong said. “Professor Hux always reassured me that I was on the right track throughout every step of my research. She is the best advisor and mentor that I could ask for.”
Wong added that she learned valuable and important skills during the capstone process that will positively impact her career.
“I developed and honed skills such as research, data analysis and visualization, public speaking, time and project management, professional writing, collaboration [and] interpersonal communication. I strongly believe all these skills will continue to be paramount and useful skills required in both the NIU MAS program and my future professional career in accounting. My Honors thesis, research process and magazine publication will all represent work that I’m proud to show as I pursue more incredible experiences in my future.”
