Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Oklahoma State University School of Accounting (SOA) launches its first center for students this fall: the SOA Communications Center. The center will support accounting students through teaching effective written, verbal and visual communication skills.

The center is designed to assist accounting students in the imperative development of essential communication skills and in turn provide a competitive edge to students considering internships, employment or graduate school.

“The accounting profession has always been one of change and that pace is only accelerating,” said Angela Spencer, interim head of the School of Accounting. “One thing, however, has remained constant: effective communication is a vital part of the accounting profession.”

JTaylor — an accounting, assurance, consulting and tax service company — is the lead donor for the center.

“This is a major move for the accounting program and will further empower OSU accounting graduates for purposeful and rewarding careers with enhanced trajectories,” said Joseph Taylor, chairman of the board of managers at JTaylor. “JTaylor is most appreciative of the opportunity to assist with the genesis and development of the SOA Communication Center. As a significant employer of OSU accounting interns and graduates, we are excited about how this program will further elevate these students. We now have one more reason to build our team with exceptional talent from OSU.”

Spencer applauded the support from JTaylor.

“Innovation requires leadership and we are grateful for JTaylor’s willingness to assume a leadership role by sharing their financial support and expertise with us as we bring the center online,” Spencer said. “We couldn’t do this without them.”

The SOA Communications Center will assist students in developing a full suite of communications skills, crossing the spectrum from informal to formal communication. The center will collaborate with faculty to develop and provide grading support for communications- focused assignments, provide remediation opportunities for students and provide advanced skills workshops to support student development.

Peter Margaritis will serve as the director for the SOA Communications Center. He has spent the last 12 years building a leadership training business focused primarily on the accounting profession. Margaritis earned his bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Kentucky and a master’s in accountancy from Case Western Reserve University.

“The SOA Communication Center is a game-changer for our OSU accounting students,” Margaritis said. “The accounting profession is moving away from pure number-crunching to more of an advisory role where effective communication skills are even more important than before. I am excited about this opportunity to lead this initiative and work with faculty, students, and JTaylor to make this the gold standard for accounting programs across the country.”

He is a licensed, non-practicing CPA in Ohio and has authored three books, Improv Is No Joke, Taking the Numb Out of Numbers, and Off Script: Mastering the Art of Business Improv. He is a professional speaker, improv virtuoso, podcaster, leadership coach and fractional CFO.

Peter Margaritis

Margaritis has held leadership positions for the Ohio Society of CPAs, the Ohio CPA Foundation and the American Institute of CPAs.

“The School of Accounting has a long history of graduating technically skilled professionals ready to meet the profession’s demands,” Spencer said. “Along with other training our students receive through our programs and Spears Business, this new center will allow our students to be even better prepared for their future careers. Even more exciting is that every student in our program will have full access, providing each of our future alums the opportunity to level up their communications skill set.”

For more information on the School of Accounting Communications Center, contact Margaritis, 405-744-5378 or pete.margaritis@okstate.edu. If you would like to become a donor for the center contact Tyler Hewitt with the OSU Foundation at 405.385.5610 or thewitt@osugiving.com.