Rate My Professor Michelle Avila

Michelle I. Avila serves as Associate Professor of Accounting, Chair of the Department of Business, and Accounting Program Head in the School of Business and Leadership at Our Lady of the Lake University. She earned her BBA in Accounting from Our Lady of the Lake University in 1993, graduating magna cum laude with a 3.89 GPA, and her MBA in International Business from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1996. A licensed Certified Public Accountant in Texas since passing all four parts of the Uniform CPA Examination on the first attempt, Avila began her career in public accounting as a Staff Auditor at Arthur Andersen, LLP and KPMG, LLP, followed by roles as Experienced Staff Auditor at SBC Services, Inc., and Accounting Manager positions at Arabela Blooms, Inc., Avila Enterprises, Inc., and Wells, Lightfoot, & Co. CPAs. From 2004 to 2011, she worked as Lead Instructor at Becker Professional Education, mentoring students for the CPA exam. Joining Our Lady of the Lake University in 2011 as Lecturer of Accounting, she advanced to Visiting Assistant Professor in 2013, Associate Professor in August 2013, Accounting Program Head in 2016, and Department Chair in 2022. Avila teaches a range of courses including Principles of Accounting I and II, Intermediate Accounting I, II, and III, Cost Accounting, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Professional Ethics for Accountants, Managerial Accounting, Controllership, Contemporary Issues in Accounting, International Business, and special topics in management, healthcare, and finance, delivered in online, face-to-face, and hybrid formats.

Avila's scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed publications such as 'The Interaction of Generation and Gender: Differences in Leadership Assessment of the Dark Triad' in the Journal of Management Science and Business Intelligence (2018, with Esther Gergen, Carol Wheeler, Meghan Carmody-Bubb, and Mark Green), 'Leadership and Job Satisfaction: Implications for Leaders of Accountants' in the American Journal of Industrial and Business Management (2016, with Yu Sun, Esther Gergen, and Mark Green), and accepted works 'Current Impact on Auditing Statement Revisions' and 'Risk Analysis: Financial and Internal Impacts' in the International Journal of Business and Society (2015). She has presented at conferences including the Financial Education Association/Academy of Business Education Annual Meeting (2022, 'A Comparison of R, Python, and Excel Power Query with Open-Source Financial Data,' with Ronald Crowe and Kathryn Winney) and the Southwestern Council of ACBSP (2019). Recognized with the Texas Society of CPAs Outstanding Accounting Educator Award (2021) and the 1895 Commemorative Award for Faculty Excellence (2021), Avila contributes to university service as Graduate Council member, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Chair, Faculty Search Committee Chair, and Sustainability Task Force member. She represents the university with professional organizations like the Texas Society of CPAs, IMA, and Financial Executives International, and advises student groups including the Accounting Saints Club and ALPFA.