When attending academic conferences, Melissa F. Western, associate professor and Robert J. Smith Fellow in BYU Marriott’s School of Accountancy (SOA), always attends any presentations given by her former research assistants. It’s important to Western that all of her students not only receive one-on-one guidance from her while at BYU but also feel she can be a resource for them after they graduate and pursue their careers.
“BYU Marriott alumni in academia have a natural support system,” Western says. “They’re out in grad school, which is hard, but they have faculty that genuinely care about them. I want my students to know I’m rooting for them wherever they are.”
In addition to providing professional support, Western, who teaches in the junior core and conducts much of her research with students, also helps interested students leave school with a “complete research experience,” she says. “One great thing about working on a paper that is published while you’re still a student is that you participate in all phases of research including initial idea generation, design of the experiment, collection and analysis of the data, and also the grueling peer-review process.”
In 2019 the Journal of Business Ethics published a paper that linked employee pornography usage to negative organizational impact. The paper was authored by Western; David Wood, associate professor of accounting and Andersen Fellow; and Nathan Mecham, who graduated from BYU Marriott with his MAcc in 2018 and is now pursuing his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh. Mecham was part of the project from start to finish, which provided invaluable experience for him as he moves forward.
But Western doesn’t just work with students headed for higher ed. Her research assistants also include students eyeing the job market rather than another degree. “Critical thinking and the ability to use data to improve decisions is helpful regardless of the particular avenue chosen by students,” she says.
No matter her students’ goals, Western devotes her time to giving them as much hands-on experience as she can. “Our students are prepared to be good leaders in their fields,” she says. “And we’re also producing students who are getting their PhDs and then going on to be faculty at universities all over the world. What a great way to have a positive influence on people’s lives.”
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This story was featured in BYU Marriott's 2019 Annual Report.