About the Department

Curriculum
The Economics Department has two majors: accounting and economics, and minors in each (For traditional reasons, the accounting major is called the "economics-accounting" major.)  As of September 2009, there are 86 accounting majors and about 300 economics majors.  The minor programs are being phased out.
Description of department in College Catalog

The accounting major is a very highly regarded and carefully structured program that prepares students for careers in public accounting and other fields. Admission to the accounting major requires application. Economics-accounting majors take economics courses, and many economics majors take accounting courses as general electives.
Accounting program page

Accounting majors are required to take Financial Accounting, a year sequence of Intermediate Financial Accounting, Auditing, Federal Income Tax, Managerial Accounting, a year of Business Law, Advanced Accounting, the Principles of Economics sequence, one year of Calculus, the intermediate-level Statistics, and two electives.
Accounting major requirements
Accounting course descriptions

The Department offers an honors program for accounting and economics students that allows for close faculty-student work on a variety of research topics. A number of student-faculty papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Department Honors Program Page

Most accounting major graduates seek (and find) careers with public accounting firms. Other graduates find employment in financial management training programs or with financial services companies. The College has a Pre-Business Program (in addition to other pre-professional programs) for students interested in careers in business
Pre-business program page

Faculty
The department consists of 19 full-time tenure track faculty, 15 with an economics Ph.D. teaching economics major courses, and 4 economics-accounting faculty with advanced degrees in various fields teaching mainly accounting courses. Department faculty have a range of experience with 5 Professors, 7 Associate Professors, and 7 tenure-track Assistant Professors. Faculty have research interests in many applied and theoretical fields and publish papers regularly in respected economics and related field journals.
List of faculty with links to web pages
Department working paper series

Research support
The College offers a generous one-semester paid research leave for tenure-track faculty in the third year and sabbaticals every seven years. The College has an internal grants program that funds expenses and summer research, and an active grants office to assist faculty secure external support. The College has a large library with complete interlibrary loan opportunities as well as borrowing privileges at other local colleges. The Library subscribes to standard electronic tools such as EconLit, FirstSearch, JSTOR, and ASAP. The department subscribes to COMPUSTAT and uses a variety of econometrics programs.
Library page
Grants Office

Summer Research Program
The Smith Charitable Trust funds a summer research program in which undergraduate students work as research assistants on faculty projects.
Summer Research Program 2009 Page
Profile in Holy Cross magazine

   
                           Main Library
 
          Summer research assistants

Facilities
The department occupies the fifth floor of Stein Hall, with generous office space, a small computer lab, a conference room, a kitchen and lounge (shared with the College community). In the same building, the department has a large computer laboratory classroom (right). All offices are equipped with a new PC or Macintosh and high-speed Internet access. Blackboard and ERes are available for all classes. Every classroom has a networked computer and LCD projector.

Course load
Department faculty teach five courses per year, usually with a maximum of three preparations. Average class sizes for introductory Financial Accounting is 25 students.

The campus is designed for learning. The hilltop setting provides inspiring views, the architecture and landscaping are inviting, and the facilities and technology are first rate. Holy Cross is located in Worcester, Massachusetts, a forward-looking city of 170,000 that has many resources, including 13 colleges and universities. With a tradition of academic excellence that dates to its founding in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and has grown increasingly diverse in the last decade. (from http://www.holycross.edu/abouthc/)

College Web links
Mission statement
Main College web page
Photo Tour of campus
College Catalog
Recent Features and Events on Campus
List of Departments and Programs

Worcester is the third-largest city in New England (after Boston and Providence) with a vital night life, restaurant and arts scene. Such attractions include the Worcester Art Museum with its wide ranging permanent and special exhibits, the full-time professional Foothills Theater and Light Opera Company, well-known concert halls including Mechanics Hall, the Worcester Tornadoes independent league baseball team (with home field located on campus), and the DCU Center with many events and a minor league hockey team coming soon. The College is located 45 miles west of Boston, and is approximately one hour from Logan International Airport.

The College is a member of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium of 13 area colleges. Students may take courses in these institutions and faculty have full library privileges.

The College is also a member of the New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium. The New England HERC was developed to address issues related to academic recruitment, particularly the dual career challenge. The central component of the NE-HERC is a web-based search engine that includes listings for both faculty and staff jobs at all member institutions and is available at no charge to anyone seeking employment in higher education (from NE-HERC website).

Holy Cross Guide to Worcester
Worcester Calendar of Events
Worcester Telegram newspaper