The Society of Management Accountants of Ontario has notified McMaster University that it is one of nine universities to be granted accreditation toward the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) Entrance Examination.

This means that MBA students with an accounting major will be given an exemption for Part I of the CMA Entrance Examination and will only be required to write Part II of the exam.

The honours bachelor of commerce program has also been granted accreditation with qualification. Honours commerce graduates with a 75 per cent average in their accounting grade point will be also given exemption for Part I.

Graduates from accredited university programs will receive exemption from Part I of the Entrance Examination for a period of up to five years, beginning with the June 2001 entrance examination.

This is good news for our faculty, said Lillian Chan, chair of the accounting department in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business. We will attract students interested in pursuing a career in accounting, as they will have fewer barriers to overcome to obtain a professional designation.

The other eight universities include the University of Regina, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba and Wilfrid Laurier University as well as four schools in Quebec.

Information concerning credit towards these professional designations can be obtained from the School of Business academic programs office or from the CMA Web site.